God has blessed me in so many ways in my life. For 5 years I have been blessed with great friends, my manchester family.. the family I have away from home.


A special thank you to Rach, Mingwei, Yipei, Jian Hui, Ai Ling, Abdullah, Farah, Kang Loon, Wani and Ida for the wonderful coffee maker turned speakers ( they are the coolest EVER speakers I have ever owned!)

Thank you, WengHong, Paran and Mo for the webcam! ( i was really pleased to know that you've remembered that I didnt have a webcam previously, and bought me one just so that I can speak to my parents more often and they can see me! )^^


Thank you, Cass for the lovely doodlebook ^^ now i can doodle more 'artistically' when I'm bored.. rather than scribbling all over my notes!

Thank you, Melissa for treating me lunch, and the lovely poem and hymn =) you help me keep my faith in God, my dear sister in Christ.

Thank you, Charles and KangLoon my new found kind friends! The gifts and cards was unexpected, but of course I am pleased! and grateful ^^

Thank you my dearest pa, and mummy, who sent me a text wishing me happiness every minute of my life.

Thank you, Adrian for your yearly effort to visit me on my birthday! =)

Thank you, my bffs Helen n PP, for coming all the way from London and Edin, just to spend a 'birthday weekend' with me!

It may be the last birthday I'll be celebrating in Manchester, but it was certainly another unforgettable one.

Thank you, everyone. Love you guys muchie! xoxo




On another note, today was my first day at Ashton Outreach centre.. and boyy was I impressed with the facilities we have there! Digital radiography, excellent sterilising facilities,state-of-the-art dental chairs, intercom facilities, qualified dental nurses.. a dynamic community oral health promotion team.. you name it they have it! And they're blardy damn good at what they do too, apparently!

It still feels abit surreal, coming back to the UK to do dentistry, when not long ago.. i was in Cambodia, doing basic dentistry with basic equipment! The VAST difference between countries in terms of facilities, manpower basically EVERYTHING dental related just hit me in the face quite hard.

Yes I've done 4years of Dentistry, why the surprise now??

I guess becoz when we had this talk about 'inequality' in the type of treatment provided to various community 'classes' in the UK this morning.. I had flashbacks of the children in Kampung Speu.

Manns speak about inequality.. and human rights to gold standard 'healthcare'??

After which I had this strong urge to contribute to my own country's oral healthcare system.. hahaha speak about ambition!

I think it was a spur at the moment thought bcoz the team was really impressive in terms of their oral health promotion strategies and efficiency. The team leader who spoke to us was so motivated, I could tell she really believed that we could make a difference as health care professionals.. it was contagious!

Anyways, pictures from my amazing experience in Cambodia is loooong overdue! Here are a few =)

these kids in the orphanage we visited was cutting coconuts from their tree for us to quench our thirst ^^

this orphanage was as basic as anything that I've ever seen in my life

the kids in Kampung Speu childcare centre was much more priviledged, this is where they live

uncle sunny's impressive effort to educate the youngsters in the centre to be young entrepreneurs by buying them veggie seeds to plant and look after, after which the harvest is sold to get some money.they have cows too! and rabbits as pets =)

a fraction of the loveable kids, on our last night there. Yes we dentists inflict pain occasionally, but children hold no grudge. They even thanked us profusely, they had so much love to give, and want so much love in return, its heart breaking

hahaha and of course the unforgettable nerve wrecking 'oral health promotion' talk in front of almost 100students from the college nearby.. which we didnt even prepare for! yes spontaneity is the best policy ( or not) haha

i will always remember 'coconut hair girl' and her daily tight hugs that she gives whenever she sees us walking pass

and of course, our lovely helpers/ dental nurses/ friends from the centre! we bonded, over patients screaming with tears, and 'stubborn teeth and roots' that refuse to come out.

No this is not a colgate advert!

and yes, I cannot begin to even describe what an AMAZING experience doing dentistry in Cambodia was.. something I will never forget for the rest of my life!

I am OLD-er today.

I hope that with age comes maturity and good sense this year!

thankyou everyone, for all the lovely wishes and gifts. ^^

Making decisions

today the fact that i am actually in my final year hit me hard in the face.
so many decisions that will determine the path in front of me this coming 9months, i have to make.

and it hit me harder to know that whatever decision i make, it is entirely my own. Yes, my tutors are there to give me advice when I need some, but at the end of the day, the consequences of the path I've chosen will be on me alone.


my 'potential final year case presentation' is so complicated, that four different tutors (including one consultant) are not encouraging me to take it on.

but today i met the consultant who first saw this patient, and he was positive about treating this case, regardless. I voiced my concerns about not being able to finish it in time for my final case sign-up, but he reassured me that ' well, it is a learning experience. it is very complicated, yes, but you'll learn loads out of this.'

' ..but what if i can't finish?'

'.. you can always write it up as your 2nd case.. i don't see why not..'

should I be realistic, or idealistic?

the realist in me, strongly feels that this is something beyond my capabilities. this lack-of-self confidence, and realising the dire shortage of time for such an extensive treatment... pushes me close to the path of 'giving it up' before starting, and not risk messing it up in the future ( which I probably will).


however the idealist in dr X (my consultant) feels that i should take it as a challenge, regardless of the time constraint. He was so encouraging about it, and it makes me feel like crap to not have the confidence to actually 'take the risk'.. and 'jump into it'.
When I saw him he even asked my colleagues in the room, 'is she always this timid?? I don't think so, right??' with a big and kind smile on his face, whilst patting my back as i left the surgery..looking worried about what's coming next in my uncertain future.

Sighhh. At the end of the day this decision is mine, and mine alone.

If i decide to undertake this now, there is no turning back. In dentistry, things can go wrong so easily, and I have a dateline to meet. Should I listen to the realist in me, and look for a more 'do-able' case instead? ( keeping in mind that time is running short and that 'case' might not come?)

Or should I just take a leap into this complicated scenario set up for me, mustering as much confidence as I can to help me along the way? Should I just push back all the doubts that are creeping and crawling into me every single time?


I don't want to make a decision I will regret.

Which path should i take? Oh help me God, my final year nightmare is here.

6 words :

I am BACK in this 'shithole'.

2 days before I get on the plane and go back to that 'shithole' as rach puts it =(

Sighhh I'm trying so very hard not to depress myself further by the thoughts of final year..

but the looming days filled with countless worries disturb me even in my sleep.

Arghhh. =S


Looking forward to my sis coming back from Sabah tomoro though! =)


Haha I know. This is a very short and pointless post. ^^

hello folks! sorry for the lack of creativity when it comes to title-ing my posts =)

I've been intending to blog my head away but every time i open this page i have one million and one reasons to look at it and close it again, saying aah.another day la.

partly becoz i don't have the pictures from cambodia.. i had it but i stupidly left it in a friend's place in KL before heading happily for HOME..

and of course the ever-usable reason of LAZINESSS.. the root of ALL evil. =_=

the conversation i had with my friend on msn reminded me of how I am about to reach the 'old-ripe-age' of 24 (O-M-G) and still havent achieved anything that I can truly be proud of.. how-now-purple-bougainvillae!!! ^^ ( don't ask me why how where this phrase came from.. I KNOW IT DOESN'T RHYME! haha )

Hahaha anyways, I decided TODAY I would stop being such a slug ( I wonder how long this resolution will last ) and post a few piccies up!

Of course,becoz I am HOME, it will be HOME-related ^^

yummilicious penang famous coconut jelly ( haha I didn't even know about it but apparently this stuff made the newspapers ^^) brought to us by dollie's tireless driving around penang's madd traffic and madly confusing roads trying to find the shop, all the while with us praying in the car that the shop will not be closed..hahaha phewww and it was not =) thx dollie!

this time around I have seriously been coconut-overdosed.. especially in cambodia, where we tried almost every type of coconut available! From very young to medium young to old and durian icecream in coconut hahaha you name it we've had it!

But i still *heart* coconuts.. there's nothing more refreshing in this super hot tropical weather! =)

after which we drove to Batu Feringghi to have our annual relax-by the beach whilst playing some beach games =) funnn as always!!


also had a get-together with my ex-convent schoolmates (plus hsbm-ers) in Autocity.. met some people that I havent seen since F5! not forgetting enjoying the mamakstyle teh tarik and roti canai.. ahhhh I've missed that so much! ^^

another important meet-up with my ex-piano teacher, teacher PAULINEEE! OMG I havent seen her since F3, after I stopped my piano classes,we lost contact ever since! Twas really nice being able to catch up and reminisce the old days.. and teacher still looks as young as ever!


Not forgetting spending some quality time with my ol'paps.. who showed me the bird-lings (whatever you call them) who built a nest amongst his bamboo tree in our garden, and whom he has been watching from egg-stage until they were able to fly!!! (too bad i was only able to see the pictures of those cutesies.. they flew away to live their independent lives just before I came home!) but I can tell papa enjoyed seeing them grow from all his stories ^^

arent they cute! ^^


and of course, spent some quality time baking creampuffs with mummy.. they turned out great! hahaha of course abit of mother-daughter bickering was necessary^^ mummy as usual wanted the measurements, methods to be perfect, whilst I was just wasn't that bothered about minute details! In the end her meticulous-ness proved necessary, for if not.. the puffs wouldnt be as pufffy as they were!!


Sighs I REALLY DON'T WANT SUMMER TO BE OVER. =( 9 more days to Manchester, and the dreaded countdown begins..

*sobs*