The weather is great today... and I played my first game of frisbee in a very very long time. Come to think of it, I'm not very sure if I played frisbee before.
Booked my ticket home!! It's a very big incentive for me to study harder... and my dispensing results are great today!
So all in all, today was a good day.
In my previous post I mentioned that I chipped my lens and needed a new pair of specs. Well, today I had my eye test.
Eye testing here is quite complex. My eyes were put through 3 stages of testing. One, taking a photo of the back of my eyes and also roughly testing how blind I am.
Next, I get to see the optometrist. He wanted to see the back of my eyes, and he did that by shining bright light at my eyes, nearly blinding me. Next, it's the same old routine of reading the letters of the eye chart, but somehow the chart I was shown is different from the ones I'm used to. A piece of really cool machinery. Makes me wonder why I didn't take up optometry in the first place.
Ok... I won't even go through the last stage of testing because I'm bored of writing about it. I'll just go straight to the conclusion.
I get a voucher to help with the cost of glasses, but apparently it is only towards the frames. My lens would cost at least 60 pounds! Then, the optometrist refers me to the GP for a second opinion and referral to a opthalmologist as he found a fairly large choroidal naevus (I think that's what he wrote in the letter to the GP), some kind of beauty mark (or mole) according to him. He told me there was nothing to worry about but in the letter he added "To see ASAP". Should I be worried?
Anyway, don't know if I should do my specs here or not... The frames aren't that nice either. And here I was, thinking that I can get the specs free. I got my eye test free though...
Well, I'm back from Penzance. 9 hours train trip! I'm quite glad to be home.
When we reached Penzance on Monday afternoon. This was what greeted us:
Ominous clouds gathering together. It didn't really mark a very good beginning to our trip. Despite that, the scene was breathtaking. Good thing the weather was quite beautiful for two days in the morning, even though it drizzled in the afternoon.
Penzance is a very small town. We manage to explore the whole town in a few hours. Monday afternoon was spent exploring but most shops were closed by the time we had checked into the Penzance Backpackers (at 5pm) and went out again. The streets were basically deserted by 5.
The next day, we took a bus to Marazion so that we can go to St Michael's Mount. To reach to the small island, we took the ferry as the the tide wasn't low yet. During low tide, you can actually walk to the Mount from the beach.
Trawlerman's Lunch
On the way to Land's End, the bus passed by Sennen Cove. The beach was beautiful. We didn't get down here but I managed to snap some photos from the bus.
Land's End. Cliffs and cliffs and more cliffs.
I like this photo. Sun, sea, sky, clouds and a rainbow.
All in all, the trip was an enjoyable one, although we didn't have enough time to explore more places in Cornwall. But we managed to explore the tip of England.
Back to the main purpose of going to Penzance. I did not manage to find accommodation there as the only places available are bed & breakfasts which cost a fortune. So, unfortunately, I will have to compose a letter soon to decline my placement.
I managed to chipped the lens of my specs. So have to go make a new one soon. ai~
Yay!! Cornwall tomorrow! but the thought of a 9 hour trip just makes me get motion sickness already. Hoping to get more photos out of this trip and also find accommodation for summer.
Baked banana cake for tomorrow. It looks ugly so no photos but tastes ok (well, how bad can it be?)
So I'll be away for 3 days... Miss me k?
For those who read, I'm sure you've read in stories that how wonderful the aroma in the house is when you bake. Or if you bake then you know first hand, which is even better. 
Ta-Dah!! Bacon and onion rolls... It looks good... smells good.... and tastes..... not as bad as I expected! Val Val!! Our snack for Monday!!
Got me worried for a while when the dough did not rise the first hour I put it out. I forgot how much cleaning up you have to do after a baking session...
It was snowing again today but unfortunately, only lightly and it wasn't cold enough for the snow to cover the ground.
Trying my hand at baking. Want to make bacon and ham roll. Now just waiting for the dough to rise (but it doesn't seem to be cooperating). Why do I have the feeling it might not turn out? If it doesn't turn out, I'm going to give up on baking and go back to cooking dishes...
Will let you know how it turns out (but only if it turns out properly, if not there will not be any further post regarding this matter).
It looks to be a very nice day outside and the sun is streaming through the windows, shining its warm rays on my bed. And I'm trying to find a cool spot to sit down in my room to type this post out.
It's the irony of it that strikes me all the time. When it's cold, I need the heater on. When it's a bit warm like today with the sun shining on me, I need to open the windows to let some cold air in and maybe switch on the fan if that does not sufficiently cool my room down. Sometimes I wish I were cold-blooded so as to easily adapt myself to any room temperature I am in. Being warm-blooded, I need the room temperature to be just right.
The sun in the morning is the warmest here. After a while it just wanes off. It is a cheerful thing to do - waking up early morning and looking out to see the sun without any clouds bothering it. One thing for sure is, when you look out in the morning when it's bright and sunny, it doesn't feel so bad to be here in UK, and for a minute or two, you can forget the infamous climate of England and think, maybe it's not so bad to be living here for a while.
Anyway, should I go for a walk or not? Seeing the wind shake the bare tree standing outside, I think not. It's all fine and dandy staying at home but once you get out, the sun deceives you. It's cold anyway.
Being alone at home is not a very good thing. I seem to lose track of time and do nothing at all! Tried doing some dispensing exercises but it's so disheartening when you don't get a positive mark! Why...
Apparently I'm not the only person stuck alone at home. It's not so bad being alone at home, but it just gets boring sometimes.
I really need to start making trips to the library. Anybody kind enough to help me get all the information I need into my brain? Tq in advance..
I was trying to make some kind of point in this post and I got sidetracked and totally forgot what I wanted to write. So.. It's just random stuff
Today is the start of the Easter Break. And frankly, I'm already bored. There are things I should be doing but progress is slow. But at least I managed to tidy my room today.
Went to the dentist today. Left house around 11.35am (my appointment was at 11.50) and was rushing to the dentist, and manage to reach there with 5 minutes to spare to catch my breath. I sat down, and was immediately called in (guess the dentist was very free today). It took less than 5 minutes to ask me what's wrong, check my wisdom tooth, and pronounce to me that I need to take antibiotics again and this time is referring me to the hospital where they will decide whether or not to extract my wisdom tooth (teeth). Apparently there's a waiting list of 3-4 months, so am now wondering what to do about it if the appointment falls in summer where I will not be here in Nottingham. Forgot to ask the dentist about it. Oh well, just have to wait til I get the letter from the hospital.
More food photos now:
Baked Salmon glazed with Honey, Shallots, Garlic and Balsamic Vinegar. Sides: Baked potatoes, baby corn and asparagus.
Black Vinegar Noodles with Spinach and Egg (also shallots and spring onions.)
Rather ugly-looking kuih kodok. A recipe that I got from some Malaysian food blog.
Kuih kodok is some kind of banana-made er.. kuih.. A bit like banana fritters but the banana is incorporated into the whole batter. I think it's suppose to be rounder and not so flat, but since I was trying not to use so much oil to deep-fry, it turned out to be flat. It tastes a bit like banana pancakes. Only decided to take photos of it after I had eaten most of it.
I can't wait for my Cornwall trip next week!
We had responding to symptoms today. And we had to role-play. Being asked to work with someone that we have not worked with before and someone that we do not know very well, it could have been difficult to do role-playing but I found it easier to work with someone I do not particularly know compared to someone that I know.
Anyway, there were different scenarios being given out to different pairs and I had the fortune (or misfortune) to getting the scenario of a woman wanting to request for emergency hormonal contraception. What makes it worse is that we had to plan our own scenarios (as the patient) and let the pharmacist (the other student) to guess and make their conclusion on whether or not to sell EHC.
This is one scenario that I had done before in dispensing class when the "patient" came in to request for EHC. A lot of research had to be done and also a lot of questions had to be asked to find out if it can be legally and ethically given to the patient. Another thing that we are told if a patient ever comes to request for the morning-after pill is that we should inform them about the cost of the medicine itself (which is very costly and some patients might be unwilling to pay for it).
Somehow I feel that it is very hard to talk about this kind of situation - be it as a pharmacist or a role-playing patient. I do hope that I might not get any of these cases when I am a pharmacist but I don't think that's very realistic as I have seen quite a lot of people come in for the EHC when I was doing my summer placement. So what are the odds that I not get a single case of this in my years to come as a pharmacist?
I figured I have depriving you all of my food... so here they are again:
Chickeny rice type with broccoli and Chinese sausages fried with onions and egg. The rice is so yummy! I am surprised at myself sometimes at the tasty food I make.
Dinner for tonight: Steak! Potatoes fried with onions, grilled tomatoes, brocolli, asparagus and baby corn! yum yum..
Yesterday was when the Malaysian society held their annual Malaysian Night event. For 11 pounds, you get to view the play (Tangisan Selendang or The Weeping Shawl) and several other performances, and also some refreshments (which consist of curry puff, 3 other kuih and teh tarik or rose syrup with milk). I didn't really like the rose syrup drink and the kuih wasn't very nice except the curry puff.
Well, you don't expect me to pay 11 pounds for this right? Well, in fact I didn't. I think I mentioned before in a previous post that I volunteered to help out in decorations and we get free food and entrance. I think we did a good job in decorating. Wish I could put up photos but my camera has been hijacked by Jojo! haha.. So you will have to wait until I get my camera back.
Anyway, we were told to wait near the post office at 9am so that someone can pick us up to bring us to the venue which is one of the uni's campus - King's Meadow Campus. So, being the punctual people we are, we waited there at around 8.55am and just stood there a bit like idiots being blown around by the wind for about half an hour. Nobody showed up. So we decided to walk to Rachel's house which was the nearest and wait there, out of the fury of the elements. The president of NMS only came at 10, and said we were supposed to wait at the post office, only apologising when I told him that we waited there for a long time before waiting in the house.
So, decorations. Nothing much to be said of it. We hung the wau that we made and also blew up balloons with helium gas (We tried breathing in helium to make our voice go squeaky but it didn't seem to work). The decorations in the studio was a bit redundant as they didn't turn on the lights in there so nobody can actually see anything.
Went back home around 3pm to rest a while before returning at 6 for food! And of course the performance. Well, disappointing thing is, the food wasn't waiting for us when we got there. In fact, nobody seems to know where the volunteers get their food. Imagine that.. helping out the whole day, and no food in return! We were told that volunteers were supposed to get Chinese Fried Rice (which didn't taste like Chinese fried rice at all), but we got the pack of kuihs instead. How do they expect growing people like us to be full on kuih?!
Main event: the play. It was intense. The actors were quite good but apparently someone said that they are the same actors every year. lol.. give others a chance, maybe?
Anyway... photos will be uploaded when I get them. Can't continue to update anymore as my back is killing me.
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Btw, my election thingee... ai~ I thought I could win as it was an uncontested post when I checked on Monday, and apparently it wasn't so. Oh well.. according to Val, the other girl brought a gang of people to vote for her..
Maybe I should run for music group manager?
For people who have been waiting anxiously regarding the results... I didn't get the post for International Rep.. (collection of awwws).. hehe..
Will update when I come back from sports on the Malaysian Night I went to last night.
My back is killing me by the way..
We were recently sent a mail by the University asking us to be careful of what we post in our blogs, Facebook or anywhere else on the WWW, as to avoid any defamation or any legal action being taken on us. The mail also stated that we had to abide by the University's regulations on IT behaviour.
I think this is email has reminded us that even though we have the freedom of speech, we still need to be careful when using that freedom. As we progress into the world of technology, it is inevitable that someone somewhere who is or will be connected to you in some way (read: employer) will read anything that you have posted up in your webpage. If you are careless in the thoughts that you immortalise on your blog, people are going to read it and form their own opinions about you. It will not be a good day when you go for an interview, and the interviewers start asking you why you wrote such and such.
It may be frustrating and you may say that a blog is my own and I can write whatever I want, if you don't like it tough. But, remember, there are readers out there, and in this time and age, many people will eventually stumble upon what you have wrote.
I do not know if I have defamed anyone in my blog, but I hope I have not done so. When you are struck by the writer's bug, you do not think for an instant that maybe what you are writing might lead you to a law suit, but spare a thought for that. We are always governed by legal aspects, be it internet conduct or dispensing (as I am still worrying about that).
Why is so hard to do dispensing??!! Why do we even need to do dispensing.. All those legal stuff.. arghh... why can't doctors be more knowledgeable on legal stuff so we don't need to check so many things??
I have no idea how I'm going to pass my dispensing.. sob.. I totally lost all my confidence in doing anything right during dispensing classes. How to gain it back? This is how ZEROES can cut away at someone's self-esteem and break a person...
Ok.. I really wanted to take a photo of my dinner and post it up as I realised that I haven't been doing food posts for a long time. Unfortunately, my camera battery died on me and thus I am unable to make you all salivate all over your keyboard. I'll just go on and describe what I cooked.
Baked Chicken Stuffed with Ham and Mozzarella Cheese with Broccoli, Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Butter Rice.
First, to remind myself, never ever buy Tesco's chicken anymore. Just shop in Sainsbury's.
On to the recipe:
First, clean chicken (I used thighs). Then pulling the skin away from the meat (but do not tear the skin away, only make a space between the skin and meat), stuff it with ham and cheese (actually you can stuff it with anything you like). Sprinkle sea salt and pepper on top of the chicken to taste.
Wash broccoli, mushrooms and tomatoes. Cut to desired size and put together with chicken into the tray.
Rice. Put cooked rice into the tray and a bit of butter over it. You can put butter over the broccoli and mushrooms as well. Also sprinkle sea salt and pepper to taste. Crush some garlic and put them on the rice and around the chicken (everywhere basically.. lol)
When you're done, put everything into the oven that has been preheated to 200 degrees Celsius. Bake for around half an hour (basically just check how it is cooking).
That was what I did. What you should do is, put the rice later on in the baking process as it might just burn. I had to take the rice out early before continuing to brown my chicken. hehe...
Should've taken a photo... Description of the recipe probably won't make you drool..
Today was a good day to do some good. I went to donate blood! Dragging Puisan with me, we took the hopper bus and off we went to the sports center where the Blood Donation Drive Campaign was at.
So, when we got there, the turnout was huge! There were a lot of people waiting for their turn. I wasn't expecting so many people to be so generous but there you have it. We waited nearly 2 hours just to get screened and another 10-15 minutes to get called to donate our precious life fluid.
It was painful... Here, they don't use local anaesthetic prior to putting that huge needle into us, so you can feel every prick, push and pull. I donated 470mls of blood while Puisan only managed 4 test tubes (LoL). Must be the weather too cold so her blood froze.. hehe..
Anyway, the site of entry is still painful now. Wonder if it's because LA wasn't use thus the pain is magnified, as I don't remember this much pain when donating the last 3 times.
Btw, we got lots of biscuits. (yea yea.. I went just for the free food.) We were there from 1230... and we only left at 4.. -_- ..
