end of 2nd week in edinburgh

whoa! time sure flies! end of my second wk, and i am beginning to feel right at home in edinburgh. i can hop onto buses by myself, walk to western general hospital by myself, and i can even go home and unlock the 3 irritating doors myself! heck, i guess i can even stroll along princes street (that's like our orchard road) myself!

it has been an exciting two days. yesterday, i wore knee-high boots for the first time in my life and i felt exhilarated! thus the fulfillment of a childhood dream to hobnob around a cold country in stylish boots. heehee *beams* i wonder if i would get a heatstroke if i wear boots in singapore! anyway, have decided to wear them (else i wont be getting enough out of my boots!) have made a pact with ahma to have a puss-in-boots ktv day! YAHOO! huiting wants boots too! but she wants them to have very high heels. ooooooo *wolf-whistle*

we went to rosslyn chapel yesterday armed with a da vinci code book! haha hilarious. so we posed for pictures with the book! it was quite far from the heart of the city and i was feeling carsick! but it was worth the trip after all! it was really a quiant little place, and as my malaysian friend who studies here put it, its the size of a small bungalow. but the carvings were so intricate! at every nook and cranny of the place, you would see vastly different designs and the occasional spooky faces... the chapel has soooooooooooooooo many stories and mysteries surrounding it! as told to us, there were many masons working on the chapel in the 15th century, and there were two pillars which needed carving. the stonemason had already finished one (the Mason's Pillar), and decided to travel abroad to seek inspiration for the other pillar. while he was gone, his apprentice had a dream and was inspired to carve the second pillar. when the master mason returned, he was so full of jealousy and rage about his apprentice's doings that he struck him across the forehead with his mallet, killing the apprentice on the spot. the mason as subsequently executed. in the two corners of the chapel, if you look closely enough, you can see two faces: one of the apprentice (with a huge scar just above his right eyebrow) and one of the mason. the interesting thing is that the mason's face is carved at the corner where he would be forced to look in the direction of the Apprentice Pillar for the rest of his life! cool!

there is also a vault beneath the chapel, which no one has been able to access for the past 250 years. it was rumoured to contain many treasures, among them the holy grail and the bodies of 12 Knights Templar... etc...

among the intricate carvings of the chapel, there include carvings of maize and aloe vera. what is interesting is that these exotic plants hail from America, and America was supposedly founded by Colombus after the chapel has been built. there have been theories that the Knights Templar went to America far before Colombus "founded" the land!

another interesting story was regarding the scottish king, Robert Bruce. He was on great terms with the St Clairs, who were the people who commissioned Rosslyn Chapel. however, due to some reasons which i did not catch, he was excommunicated by the church (have no idea what that means) and he was extremely afraid that he would not be able to enter heaven. hence, he gave instructions that upon his death, his heart was to be transported to the holy land Jerusalem so that he can ascend to heaven. St Clair's two sons were among those chosen to embark on the mission. however, as they were journeying across Spain, they were ambushed and many Knights Templar perished in the fight that ensued. in the end, out of respect for the courage of the Knights Templar, Robert Bruce's heart was allowed to be brought back to Scotland where it was placed at the borders. (sigh, poor guy. his heart didnt make it after all).

oooo. by the way, Knights Templars were "warrior monks" who seek to protect the pilgrims.



thats all i can remember for the moment! no time to type liao, huiting waiting for me to go shopping. ahah

oooo. and i am happy today! although my tutor is still on holiday, i met a really nice doctor who brought me to see a patient with him (this is the second time he kindly adopted me voluntarily!) yay! thanks dr chris! we saw a very interesting patient who had some great signs like Hoffman's reflex. he was a very nice gentleman... hope he gets well soon!!!! i think i am going to try to superglue myself to dr chris next week. haha. hopefully i he wont hate me! hehe. next week is going to be really busy! no more local students, so i have free rein of ALL the clinics! finally can go clinics! mz chiong ah! *warrior look*

ooo i like dr lizzie too! i think she the only dr who can remember and pronounce my name. ahhaha! shes so nice. i want to leave my prawn rolls for her. =)))))))0


and pighead sister: stop insulting my blog! i shant buy anythg for u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAH. neni neni poo poo.

hey louis! i dont think we can go york! =((((((((((( no more time! this wkend gg on a one day highland tour, then we gg to tour edinburgh itself on sunday! next wkend we would be gone, off to london! sigh. i feel a sense of regret. heard york is nice!!!!!! shucks.


oh yes, the last exciting thg today: huiting locked herself out of the flat. ahah. i had to go back home to rescue her! poor girl. she was standing in between two doors with no specs on... scary!

its sweltering hot in here. (no i dont mean edinburgh, i mean the computer lounge). as it is such a cold place most times of the year, naturally there is no air-conditioning or even any form of ventilation in the rooms! *argh*

but yea, i should not complain rite. aye, i know i know. (aye = yes) heehee

its wednesday and i still have whole-body aches! i think i am far too old to go on long distance driving! but whoa, do we not feel proud of ourselves! on 19th may at exactly 12pm, 5 singaporean girls embark on their first ever overseas road-trip! in a MANUAL car. omigosh. and taadaa! the main driver is non other than me! (since i am the only person to drive a manual car back at home!) and my honorary co-pilot is of course miss huang yiqing, who has had years of driving experience... =P

thinking back it was quite amazing how the girls had the courage to embark on such a trip. thanks to huiting's uncle and aunt who convinced us it would have been a wasted trip if we did not visit the scottish highlands! and hence the girls convinced the ultra cowardly me that i can do it. and once we put our hearts down to it it wasnt so bad after all! congratulations to huiting and yiqing for doing such a marvellous job of navigating that we did not get lost. at all. amazing isnt it! and so we drive past lovely mossy mountains, picturesque cobblestoned cottages that looked straight out of a storybook, never-ending fields dotted with grazing sheep, cattle, horses and the occasional pigs, sunshine-yellow fields of daffodils dancing merrily in the wind,and journeyed with snow-white seagulls (i think) soaring above us... it was a fantastic feeling! we covered close to 500 miles within 1.5 days! that is like 800km i think. i think we felt really grown up during the road trip (and i probably grew another bunch of white hairs trying to drive through the scary narrow roads and hiding from parking officers). hah.

cheesie was the DJ, and music was the likes of Lee Hom and Stephanie Sun... and of course not forgetting Ahma, who was the backup singer when the music is off. haah! she was the entertainer in short (though we hastily tried to get cheesie to play some more music whenever she starts on her mushy oldies...)

so i would say, this is a trip i would never forget in my life! i totally adore scotland; it's beautiful, clean, nice weather (when you are not freezing your butt off), great folks! the youngsters actually give up seats to the elderly here! WOW! and the local lothian buses are wheelchair-friendly! and when you walk along the streets people actually smile at you and you naturally smile right back! (quite a strak contrast to singapore when you would either put on "mask-like facoes" or you pretend that the floor is simply fascinating! ok not that i hate my country, but i think its lovely the way scottish behave... =D

in short, i love the people, place, shopping, scenery, but i hate the foood. no more ham and cheese sandwiches please! gonna regurgitate soon. URGH.


for photos and more updates, please refer to http://www.ahham.blogspot.com
huiting's blog with lots of pics!!!

edinburghrrrrrrrrrr

hello hello!!!!

welcome to edinbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (coined by miss huang yiqing, and for good reasons too!)

YAY!!!! we survived our crazy 13++ and 1hr++ international and domestic flights to edinburgh!!!!!! firstly, want to thk my family for all their love and support (and help during packing). secondly, thx TXL for sending us off at the airport on your birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

its been an interesting 4 days! it was dreadfully cold, such that u shudder like a leave and breathe "smoke" like a chimney (air too cold that's why). u wrap urself up like a bak zhang (dumpling) and look totally fat and grotesque only to find u still cant stop shivering. and yet the locals traipse by as if it was a warm summer day!!! outrageous!

to my utmost horror, instead of finding myself penny-pinching, i went crazy shopping. for food that is. everything looks so cheap! (cos after awhile you forget to convert everythg into sing dollars). one flake chocolate: 25 pence. OMG!!!!! can u imagine how can anyone stay slim living in UK? impossible! i salute them man. i know i won't last long. prob would have blocked coronary arteries and every other vessel by the time i am 10. and the variety of frozen dinners was simply shocking! but i think my new-found malaysian friend says it well: food in UK sucks. haha. lunch consists of sandwiches... and salads... thats what most people sustain on i think! i cant survive! i am thinking of my piping hot home-cooked food... yum. lets just hope i dont switch to a full-choc diet when i finally cant stand another sandwich anymore.

and shopping! wow! glasgow is shopping heaven! i think all shopaholics should go to glasgow, its definitely a dream come true! its cheap and nice in the shopping centres! their sales are not pseudo-sales, its really cheap. the end-result: 6 extremely broke girls. haha =P luckily their shops close at 5 or 6pm, and we were thrown out into the streets! think of how much damage we would have done to our wallets if we stayed there for one whole day instead of the mere 2.5 hours.... *shudder*

if i have a choice, i think i would spend on shopping then food. its not worth it. i had my first taste of haggis! hmm. but truth be told, i was so humchee i only had one cubic millimetre of haggis. haha and i dont love it. the girls are going to source for the really good haggis though! eeew.

ah ok. i should slack off now. bye folks! yawn.

why did the blog website become so confusing.

hello hello!
wow. a whole new yr and yet i have yet to blog. how incredibly long a time it has been! ah well, what with the electrical appliances in my house lining up to break down before the rise of GST, its little wonder my old computer decided to join in the fracas. all well now! new comp, new screen, yummy!!!

hmm its been rather an exciting half yr! Obstetrics n Gynae posting was really kind of fun! even though it was super xiong! delivering babies was a v unique experience... somehow i seem to have an affinity with malay mums, and FWAH, they really have my respect! they refused epidural, and one of them was so serene throughout! and the husband-wife rapport was out in full force... i am really grateful they let me share their special moment. =P and the babies were soooooooooooo very cute! (but of course watching too much of deliveries may make u think twice abt giving birth... at least no guys fainted as far as i know... ahah)

and i totally adore my tutor! dr citra was v inspiring, she seems to know everythg! i think having good tutors somehow make you a more enthusiastic student. and i met a very interesting tutor during my posting, dr stephen! was telling me abt how he and his wife share a love of cooking, and they had managed to make mushroom soups that were tastier than the restaurants! too bad i cant rem what he said abt the secret to gd home-made mushroom soup. alas. but if i ever see him again, i really would like to say a big thank you to him! i appreciate his blunt honesty, although it came as a bit of a shock to hear him telling me i have really bad acne and i should seek treatment. THANK YOU! his words kind of woke me up, and i realised what my prof has been giving me isnt that great for acne. so here i am, 5 months later, enjoying my life much more now that my skin is more normal. i no longer hate my steroids so much anyway. heh. hmm i didnt even realised that i have been avoiding the world for the first six months since treatment due to my acne prob. i guess it really made me feel ashamed. i only want to avoid being under scrutiny. at least i am confident enough to venture out again. ahhh. new lease of life! =)))




i can feel a kind of nervous energy building up in me. 5 days to UK!!! ARGHHHH!!!! my first time in europe! and i am flying off with huiting, her first time there too! doesnt help that we heard so many stories of thugs especially in london paris. pls, let us be safe. but i am really looking forward to seeing the buildings and scenery! and the CASTLES! *swoon* and men in kilts! shld b interesting! and rosslyn chapel! (i am trying to re-read my da vinci code) no way am i going to eat haggis though. it sounds absolutely revolting. urgh. i dont even eat organs lor. the louvre! madame tussauds! london eye! champs elysees! eiffel tower! everythg i have ever read abt would become very real... *hops around*

i do wonder however, if i can sustain on sandwiches and maggi mee for 4 whole wks. i may bcm stark raving mad. no daily choc fix smmore. help. maye i can forage in the dustbins for some leftovers... anyone wants to contirbute to "save huili fund"? ooooooo. clever ahma actually smuggled bak kwa over!!! my idol! but she finished it liao. none left for me when i reach. *grouch*

i hope i have some money left to shop. harrods! hmm. i think supermarkets would be one of my fav haunts. shld be able to find some pretty interesting chocs there. eheh.

4 weeks away from home. have never spent so much time away from home (and family!!!) before! 2 weeks in myanmar was enough to make me homesick. but at least we had leaders to take care of us then. now its js us! argh. frightening. i guess its going to be a period of growing-up for me. =(((

am going to miss the openings of so many gd movies! pls friends, wait for me to catch them! lh!!? haha. shrek3, pirates of the caribbean. lucky harry potter opens in july.

alritey! i suppose i better go read neuro. my prof in edin is some bigshot in neuro i think. haha cannot dui lian! i hope i can understand their accent. ahma is not having much luck the last i heard. =P

so long folks! may i come back stick-thin! *grin*