Assalammualaikum.
As I've said earlier, I'm going for a vacation trip ALONE and I refused to disclose where am I going except to those close to me. And till now, not many ppl knew where I went to.
I planned to write some notice here on my blog before I set off for the vacation but I couldn't make it since there were a lot to prepare for the trip.
So, for those who still do not know, I went to JAKARTA, INDONESIA.
I flew to Jakarta and arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 8.05 am (Indonesian time) on 7th July 2010 (Wednesday). I was fetched by my cousin, Verni who has been waiting for me at the arrival terminal for almost an hour. Blame my bag for coming out so late. =p
I can actually write a very detailed account of my journey there, including the 45 seconds the pilot took to accelerate the plane before taking off; yes, I counted how long was it before the plane leave Malaysian soil. But I think i'll just bore the readers if I do really write all those minute details.
So let me just write some little things about my trip there.
I was supposed to be in Jakarta from 8th July to 17th July; 10 days altogether. But at last minute, I texted my mum in KL and she made a few phone calls to AirAsia and I managed to defer my flight back to Malaysia. Thus I went back on 19th July, making my trip over there 12 days in total. =)
One the first day of arrival in Jakarta, Verni brought me to MoI (Mall of Indonesia). This place is something like Berjaya Times Square, there is a theme park in it. Difference is, we pay for per entry in Times Square but here in MoI, we pay for every ride we take.
And in Indonesia, shoppers need to be scanned before entering big and grand shopping malls like Mall of Indonesia and Grand Indonesia. I think this is mostly because of the few bombing cases happened there some time back.
Verni and Me =)
After some camwhoring and JCo-ing in MoI, we went home and later that night, went to have dinner at my 2nd aunt's house. Fyi, I've nvr met most of my relatives here, and the last time I met Verni was almost 10 yrs ago. So really, this trip of mine also served as long-not-lost-relationship-get-together.
The next day, July 9th 2010 we went to Tanah Abang, the largest shopping place in South East Asia (as told by another cousin sister of mine, Zora). There are about 13 floors if I am not mistaken, and that is only 1 building! There were a lot more buildings around. And I was really shocked to see the business of the building. And there was even a mosque on the top-most floor. Wow!
On the Saturday July 10th 2010, one of my grandfather (it's quite a long story how am I related to him but, he's my grandfather nevertheless), Ungku Sufyan fetched me from Verni's hse and bring me to his hse. We went to Bogor for a lunch in Restoran Sederhana Nasi Padang and that night his wife brought me to PRJ (Pekan Raya Jakarta, I think). It's also knowned as Jakarta Fair which is held every year for a month, marking the anniversary of Jakarta City. There were really lottsss of people. There were almost 10x the visitors of PC Fair in KLCC.
And guess what! I saw Proton being sold over there! Hahahah... The sense of familiarity knocked me at that moment. =p
And oh yes, Upin Ipin is a hit over there. I was dubbed as Kak Ros. Yea yea, Kak Ros is a fierce sister but really, she loves Upin Ipin a lot!
And the next day, Sunday 11th July 2010, Ungku Yus (another grandfather) brought me to Taman Safari Indonesia!!!! It was a splendid and enjoyable day. I've never been to any place like that. We drove into the Safari using our own car, and there were all the animals being let walking freely everywhere. And we brought carrots to feed the deers, elephants and some other animals I do not know the names (all of them looked like deers to me, heh)
We get to watch the hilarious cowboy show and cute dolphin show in Safari Park, after parking our car.
And the dolphin should really be proud. =p
This snake is 10kg, and I kissed it. =)
The next day, on Monday 12th July 2010, Verni brought me to Puncak with her friends. There were lots of exchanging language sessions, since the Indonesian language and Malaysian language were different. We first dropped by Masjid Attawun for prayer and continued our journey to the hilltop.
We reached Cibodas Park but since it was raining, we did not go into the park. Instead we went to eat at the nearest warkop (warung kopi) for lunch up there.
And on our way back, we dropped by Cimory Restaurant, a company specialising in dairy products. It was something like Secret Recipe over here, but bigger. We bought some yoghurt milk and cookies and reached home at around 9pm.
On Tuesday July 13th 2010, I followed Ungku Yus and his family for a walkaround Jakarta. Our first destination was Ancol, it's a beach park but we have to pay to get in. There are SeaWorld (our Sunway Lagoon) and Dufan (our Genting Highland) but we did not go there, only the beach and a ride on a boat.
Next was lunch time! We went to Soto Padang Hj Sutan Mangkuto, a famous Soto Padang restaurant there. And after filling our "sumatera tengah", we went to Monas (Monumen Nasional). Monas is like our National Monument coombined with KL Tower. It was a very high tower with its uppermost point being built from gold. This project was by the infamous first president of Indonesia, Sukarno. The only building at that area was the Monas itself. Thus, when a heavy rain suddenly falls while we were walking at the park, we did not know where to run to. It was all so bare, without any shelter. And the trees were not helping either. Thus, we were all soaked. Luckily, we managed to make our way to the viewing deck of the tower, and I get to see Jakarta from top. It's beautiful.
After Monas, we went to Pasar Baru I'd say it's like the Masjid India for us in KL. After shopping there, we went for dinner at Satay Goyang Lidah, and I ate cow's tongue! Hahahahahah... I didn't know it was tongue until half way finishing my plate. But of course, I finished it.
And this is the end of the first part of my vacation to Indonesia, I'll start writing the second part a little while more. =)
Catchy huh?
Well, few weeks back, before my exam, I read this one post in Marina Mahathir's blog. She talked about this one Hindustani movie, yes you read it correctly, Hindustani movie; titled "My Name is Khan". And so, I made a mental note to buy the DVD once my exam is over. I surreptitously went to buy the movie on Friday night and two hours later made my family sit in the living hall and put the movie on, without them even knowing what movie am I forcing them to watch.
And this is the official trailer for it.
I know just by mentioning the word "Hindustan", the images coming into people's mind will be heroes and heroins singing and dancing on beautiful hills, near the beach, changing their costumes every there and then, and suddenly tens of background dancers appear behind them, dancing together.
Although I am not a big fan of Hindustani movies like, I don't know why some people were shocked when I say I do watch Hindustani movies. Hahah... Yes, I do find it illogic that suddenly a group of dancers appear out of nowhere, or only after the hero had kicked the villains a** off only will the police arrive, I do still enjoy the music, dances and fantasies in the movies (though not all).
Anyway, I just want to tell everyone that
This is NO USUAL HINDUSTANI MOVIE
There is no sudden appearance of dancers dancing on the hilltop, nor heros fighting the villains with that exaggerated "dush dush" sound effect. The main character of "My Name is Khan" is Rizvan Khan, played by dearest Shah Rukh Khan.
Rizvan Khan is a Muslim man with Asperger Syndrome, an autism disorder. Although an austistic, Rizvan is a very intelligent man, gifted with values normal men lacks. He is innocent, and due to that, he's fearless. He cares not about what other people think of him, he worries not of being laughed at and he scares not about how people might hurt him. And because of that, this man can do wonders.
The Hindu-Muslim riot in India occured when he was small, and so his mother taught him that there are only two types of human; the good people and the bad people. Hindus can be good and can be bad, and so do Muslims, there are good Muslims and bad Muslims. And I dare say his mother did a terrific job. After the death of his mother, Rizvan's brother brought him to the States where he met Mandira, a beautiful Hindu lady whom he believes has a very good heart. And when he expressed his intention of marrying Mandira, his brother was so angry that he decided to cut all ties with him. Rizvan proceeded with the marriage anyway, living happily with Mandira.
Until Sept 11 happened.
And Muslims in the US were labelled terrorists.
They were oppressed, Mandira (now Mandira Khan) had to close her salon because people started to fear she might just blow their heads up while cutting their hair. And just by watching how Muslims were being unjustly treated over there, attacked for no reason, and even the Punjabs were being attacked because the community thought they're Muslims, made me think, "Who is the terrorist now?". Who is who now? The ones who blindly accepted the accusation that the WTC was attacked by the-so-called Muslim Terrorists, hit below the belt and went to punish all the Muslims around them, or the people who were oppressed and misunderstood and judged based on their appearance?
I wouldn't want to tell you the whole story.
But there are some scenes I'd like to share:
1) After the 9/11, Rizvan's sister-in-law, who has been wearing her hijab all the while, was being harrassed. Someone came to her and pulled her hijab off her head, shouting "Get out of my country!!" Frankly, I was very suprised with that act, and saddened over it too. And it actually really happened over there.
2) Rizvan was in a restaurant with another Muslim couple. And he told them he needs to pray. The man said he should not pray at that time; he should pray according to the place and people around him. They were on the same bus, stopping by a roadside restaurant and so the man do not want Rizvan to be perceived "weird" by praying there. Rizvan's reply was: "No, prayers depend on your faith". And the man was embarrassed.
Well actually, there are a lot more scenes I love in that movie, but I wouldn't want to spill them all here. So, if you have the opportunity to own the DVD, please do so and watch it. It's really an eye opener. Although it did not comment anything on the accusation that 9/11 was done by Muslims, it did not show any sign of agreeing with it either. The film was made such that thinking audience can still refute the accusation that 9/11 was done by the-so-called Muslim terrorists. (Click here for the fact behind the fall of WTC)
I actually took 4 days to write this post. =.="
Another good thing about this movie is it also potrays bad Muslims. Not that it's good to have bad Muslims but, there ARE bad Muslims around. And by potraying good and bad Muslims, at least people do not judge religion by the people. Just because a Muslim man is bad, does not mean Islam is bad. As Bro Shah Kirit (one of renowned Muslim speakers) once said, "Muslim does not equal to Islam".
I actually want to write more, but I don't think I'd want to make this post longer so I'll stop here. Do watch the movie, it's good.
And as for my family, they really enjoyed the movie although my siblings grumbled at first knowing it's a Hindustani movie. All of us stayed up till almost 2am to watch it, while other people were watching World Cup. Ahah....
Mmmmmm.... My freedom has this taste of Chocolate Indulgence and New York Cheese cakes plus two cups of Flat White in Secret Recipe Sri Petaling with my bestie, Hui Fong.
And I was totally happy on my way back home that I don't even mind the about-to-get-heavy traffic, and since I almost have all the time in the world, and there were no piles of notes waiting for me on my desk at home, I decided to drive slowly, and calmly.
And for those who do not know why am I super calm and happy today, let me tell you,
I HAVE JUST FINISHED MY 4 DAYS OF END OF SEMESTER 3 EXAM!!!
Should I rant about how my OSCE today went?
Or how I spent my evening after the OSCE?
Okay okay, I will want to read this post again some time in the future, and so I think I'll start with how my OSCE went so that I'll still be able to recall and feel for the emotions the next time I read this post.
This time, my history taking stations weren't as good as yesterday's. One of the patient didn't tell me much, and I went blank didn't know what to ask. He told me of him being pale, lethargic, weak, tired etc etc. And when I reached the next station i.e the station where I'm supposed to answer Qs based on the history I got from him, one of the Qs that caught me was,"How was the patient's vision disturbance?". *Die!* I didn't even know he has vision disturbances, let alone how to describe it. So, I created my own answer,"Patient had bad vision at night, patient feel pain in the eye if use eyes too much, bla bla bla".And I'm pretty sure the examiner will know I did not ask these Qs to the patient, that was why my answers were just so ridiculous. But since I can't stand submitting a half unanswered paper.........
My 3 PE stations were fairly okay, or perhaps good I'd say.
Palpation of the neck lymph nodes, locate the apex beat + auscultate the chest and the last was general inspection and examination of the hand.
I think all the examiners I got were GOOD and NICE examiners. They weren't intimidating, and so I felt more relaxed. I know some of my friends from other groups got that fierce-looking examiners, or those examiners that snap you when you did something wrong. I really felt blessed. =)
The doctor in my last station before the exam ended was even very friendly with me. I came in, greeted her and the patient, handed her my student ID sticker and while I wash my hands, she asked, cheerfully, "Is this your last station?". And I answered, grinning, "YES!".
Okay, move on to the taste of liberation.
I felt like jumping and dancing around the area, relieved that one BIG, HEAVY burden has been lifted off my shoulder.
Okay, I'm gonna bore you guys with some "history".
Rewinding back to the day after Summative Exam in Semester 1 last year, I asked HFong out for Secret Recipe, and she agreed. But it turned out that, her boyfriend and his friends wanted to follow as well. And upon reaching Sri Petaling, suddenly the plan was changed. The boys wanna go for Pizza Hut instead of Secret Recipe, and come on, of course I can't ask HFong to stay with me in Sec Rec and let her bf go to Pizza Hut. And due to my crave of the cake, I bought a slice of it, and went to Pizza Hut to eat, with them. And so after our Semester 2 exam, I know for sure that her boyfriend will want to celebrate the liberation with her, and of course she wants too. Again, come on, people will want to celebrate moments of happiness with their beloved. So, I was wiser, didn't ask her out.
But this semester, I tried my luck. And luckily, her bf was in the group after us. Means, he'll end his exam about 1hr after ours (IMU has arranged it in such a way that there will be 5 groups taking the exam in 5 different times but none of this 5 groups will be meeting each other to pass the questions; we were being quarantined before and after the exam). So, HFong can go out with me. =p *Oh no, I feel like an evil girlfriend trying to steal her bestfriend from a guy. And no, I'm not filming Gossip Girl here.* Anyway, I was glad I went out with her. It's been a long time since both of us get to talk nonsense.
After the Secret Recipe treat with Hui Fong, I drove back home and enjoyed my evening tidying up my room, doing some hand crafts, surfing the internet, REPLYING THOSE MESSAGES ON MY FB WALL WHICH I HAVENT GOT THE TIME TO REPLY TO BEFORE THIS, and writing this post. =)
And oh, I even managed to chat with my dear senior in Cardiff. *grin*
I don't think my holiday will be boring.
I suspect it'll be busy, and full.
So many friends to catch up with, so many books to read, so many posts to write (yeah, I've been thinking of a lot of things lately, just have no time to pen or rather, type them down), and so many other interesting things to do.
Right now, I'm really anticipating my trip to a far far away land (it ain't really THAT far, I'm exaggerating it, heh...), which will be somewhere next week. Fyi, there are few groups in my batch going for nice holiday trips. There is one going Perlis, I think they'll be departing tomorrow (this is Hui Fong's group), there is one going Korea somewhere next week (yes, you read correctly, KOREA, that country of beautiful actors and actresses), and two groups going to Sarawak. I'm pretty sure there are more groups going for trips.
Interestingly (or so I think), I'll be going ALONE for my trip, and not many people know where am I going to, and this make this whole trip thing fun!
Anyway, I should go to sleep now.
Enough of letting my heart getting control of my fingers, I'll say good night for now!
*smiling from ear to ear*
Assalammualaikum.
Huurrrmmm..... I can smell freedom. :D
Wellll, what should I write about now?
How I fared for my OSCE today?
Or how am I anticipating tomorrow's freedom?
Let's start off with the OSCE.
There were 5 stations altogether; 3 PE stations and 2 history stations. The PEs were: patient with haemothorax, BP measurement and palpation of the abdomen. I think I did fairly well for the first 2. *clap clap and grin*
You see, once we start reading the question outside the room during the 40secs they gave, we're supposed to visualise how the patient should be positioned in the room, what examination are we going to perform, and what should we expect in that case. And usually, students get caught when the station requires the patient to be examined while lying flat but when we came in, the pt was lying on a propped up bed. The student should REMEMBER to correct the bed. And I did.
So, after the exam, I went out of the Skills Centre with friends and in that hustle of other students discussing the case, scolding some examiners, scolding themselves, someone came and asked me, "Did you realise that the patient in the abdomen palpation station was CROSSING HIS LEGS?" And I was "WHAAATTT????" I didn't notice anything at all! He wasn't supposed to cross his leg, and if he was I should have realised and asked him to uncross his legs. *dush!*
So yes, that's how I fared for the last station, I'm not sure how many marks that cost me. Rumours are if you got the position of the patient wrong, you FAIL that particular station, and one station is 20marks. Please, just minus few marks, don't fail me. Please please please.....
And one of my weakest skill is taking BP measurement. But today, thanks to Him, the patient's Korotkoff sound was very clear and audible. And I think I managed to get a reasonably accurate BP. But, I forgot to inspect the arm before taking BP. Teeeet, minus mark!
And the student before me wasn't able to complete the station, she came out in a rush, later than usual. So it gave me that "OMG this station is gonna be hard" feeling.
And while putting on the BP cuff on the patient's arm, I was practically trembling, trying to be CORRECT and FAST at the same time. And when I inflated the cuff, there was this velcro sound, the sound you hear when you pull apart the BP cuff after measuring BP, know that sound? Yes, that was the sound, indicating the BP cuff I applied on the patient's arm wasn't secure and tight enough, but I didn't have time to correct it so I just continued. And luckily nothing bad happened, bad as in the cuff fell down or the examiner asked me to re-do etc.
History station, nothing much to say. Just this one patient, I asked him if his fever came with any other illness, he said "No". But he kept combing his hair with his finger so I asked if he's having rashes, then only he admitted he's having rash. And that was the hint that lead me to ask other questions and apparently, he's suspected of dengue. Thankfully, I realised his act of scratching himself, or I won't be able to arrive at my possible diagnosis.
Why was I disappointed with the OSPE yesterday?
Let me tell you, there was this one station, with 4 pictures.
They were pictures of the machines one will find in a blood bank eg blood centrifuging machine etc. The questions required us to name the 4 machines, state their functions and at what temperature are they operated on. And it cost 10 marks!
I can only identify correctly one of them i.e the blood centrifugation machine (I THINK it is one) and functions of the 3 other machines, and the temperature of one of them.
I hope I can at least get 5 marks for that. And that wasn't the only difficult station.
Ok, another 5 stations of OSCE to go tomorrow!
Hope I'll do it alright. =)
And after that, is freedom time!
I'm excited with this coming holiday as I planned a lot of things to be done already. I hope I'll have the time to complete it all. =)
*smile*
Looks like I'm gonna blog about my exam days everyday. And for today's OSPE (Objective Structured Practical Exam), my comment will be:
AaaaaaRRRRggggGGGGhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
Okay. That's it.
Let's move on.
No wonder seniors said OSPE is the paper that will either kill you or bring your grades up.
Anyway, tomorrow is OSCE (OS Clinical Exam).
And this is my first time doing an OSCE, apart from the mock OSCE IMU gave us before.
And since I feel like talking writing, I'll just explain how OSCE will be held.
There will be 5 stations altogether and everyone will start at a different station. Since we've got our timetable and grouping already, I know that I'll start with station 7. So, what will happen is, in front of the room (station 7), there will be a question paper. And once the bell rang, I have 40seconds to flip the paper and read the instruction. It may be a history taking station, where I'll need to take history (basic and sufficient information) from the patient in that room. Or it can be a physical examination question. Eg, question says patient has tension pneumothorax, perform physical examination etc etc. So, I'll have to decide what to do, how to do it or what they possibly ask.
Then the bell will ring again, and I'll have 5 minutes to go into the room, take history or perform the examination, with an examiner standing there, observing how I do it. After 5 minutes, the bell will ring again, and regardless of whether I've finished examining @ questioning the patient or not, I have to get out of the room, go to station 8 (the next room) because another set of question will be waiting for me, and the 40 seconds had actually started! And if station 7 was a history taking station, station 8 will be where I need to answer questions based on the informations I asked from the patient in station 7.
See the tense?
I'm afraid I might go blank when I see the examiner. Some of them are really fierce (I heard from seniors and friends).
But some of them always try their best to hint us what we missed *May God bless them*.
1) My left middle finger is swollen, I've been practising my percussion during every free time I had for the past two days.
2) I got jaundice, pallor and cyanosis all confused and jumbled up, since they are all abnormal discolouration of the skin.
3) And I hope I get "nice" examiners tomorrow. Even if they don't help me with the hints, at least they won't put the "I-know-you're-not-going-to-score-well" face on them.
4) I think I'll continue reading my notes after this.
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