The Penlight

I see a penlight at the end of the tunnel.

A penlight is supposed to be an essential part of the nurse's gear...along with the stethoscope, and other medical-nursie equipment. You are supposed to shine it in the patient's eye and measure the pupil diameter or something like that...

Note that I'm being all blur and fuzzy because I'm only 3 weeks into my first semester as a nursing student. Or maybe its because the last time I studied this much was 3 years ago for SPM. Or maybe its because I should probably be in bed...10 hours ago.

But back to the penlight...

...essentially it is a torchlight in the shape of a pen. And has a pupil measuring scale at the side of it...and it has a nifty little clip...just like a pen.

But let me introduce you to a awesomer version of the penlight:

Cool eh? Now THAT is a pen with a light. It also has an awesome moo which may be useful for when you need to wake a patient up. That, or send him/her into cardiac arrest.

Road Trip *woooot!*

I'm turning into a galavanter, a galavanting person, a person who galavants.

Last weekend was labour day, and a couple friends and I made a road trip *wheeee!!* down to Dallas to catch a show.

So we all piled into the car and I realised just how Asian I am.

You all know the hierachy of car seating, right? Dad is always in the driver's seat and the passanger seat is taken up by the mother or the eldest boy (depending on the length of the leg etc). And however rest of the world aranges themselves, the youngest child always ends up in the middle back where the hump between the two seats are. Correct me if I'm wrong.

It was only on my way back when I realised how natural the whole arangment was to me. My brain did the math and the butt found its way to the middle without me thinking twice.

Yes, I was the youngest kid in the car. I always am, and always will be.

But back to the show.

We went for this show called Medieval Times where there are a bunch of knights dressed up and they have a script about some prince getting kidnapped etc. And there were a bunch of jousting matches (hawt!!) and horsey parades (cute!!). What was really cool was that we got to eat dinner with our hands - medieval style! But cooler than that were the outfits we bought.

Now most girls in their right minds would go for the princessy stuff. Whether or not we want to admit it, we all want to be pweety.

But then I saw the suit of armour. It was in kid's size, but whatever. Minor details.

Now when I was a baby girl, I played with barbies and teddy bears like all the other baby girls. But teddy always had a gun on hand and barbie hid behind a fort. 10 years later and I'm still fascinated with boy's playthings. Blame the big brother for my tomboyish ways. But then again, how many knights in shinning armour carry pink handbags? If you ever find one, let me know.

Cokesbury 424

Somethings in life never change. Take for example last year when it took me 2 months before I got my hands on my adapter and was able to charge my camera and get pictures of the apartment.

This year, it only took me one month. This blog would have been pictureless for another 9 months if mum had not decided to sweep under my bed at home and discover that I had left my nikon camera charger back in Malaysia. Or if there was no Janice Kok to fly to America ship the charger to me for a fraction of the price.

But mum decided that the floor under my bed was in dire need of sweeping, and Janice was willing to spend 5 bucks shipping a camera charger to a scatter brained friend instead of spending it at a taco truck for a midnight snack.

So, as before, the first thing I did with the camera was to take pictures of my new apartment.

Living room: couch
Living room: TV set

Dining/Kitchen Area

My bedroom:

Disclaimer: I regret it inform you that I cannot confirm or deny the use of any cleaning appliances before taking those pictures.

Apartment mates:

Yes, the 2 roommies on the left are wearing wigs. And yes, I have blue hair. Sue me.

Everything

Ask me to describe my college experience in 4 words and I will give you this.

"Party"

"Pubs"

"F's"

&

"Shop"


And then I'll laugh, say "not really" and then give you this:

In no particular order: school, work, the apartment and church. And this time around, everything changed.

Most obviously, I started nursing school in earnest. No more random history and art classes for me, no more fooling around dissecting cats and playing with skeletons, and most devastating of all, no more classes so obsolete I forgot the names to. This year, I will bury my head in a stack of medical books thick enough to make a grown man cry. (This by the way, is a hyperbole)

Now work. I've been at my current part time job for a year and a half now and am the most ancient student worker in the entire office. This year, I came back to a new boss or rather a semibossless state. No boss! No boss! Lala-lala-lala!! (Think hyena. Think lion king) Another change.

The apartment is awesome. I struck the lottery and got an apartment with new furniture, new carpets and an interior designer to boot. Okay, maybe the interior designer did not come with the apartment, but she did sign up as my roommate. My new roomies, by the way are as kick-butt as roomies can be. =)

Church is different too. A couple old faces gone, and a bunch of new faces gained. But because of that, my cell group is neither here nor there. Lets just say its complicated.

So yes, the 4 areas that define my life as a college student have turned upssiedaisy. Everything's changed. Everything's different.

Worrying never produced gas.

Ever thought of what you'd do if you knew tommorow would be the last day of your life? Would you go sky diving? Bungee jumping? Over eat at a super buffet? Go on a hot date? Visit disney land? Or maybe you'd be all noble and say that you'd just continue living your life just the way it is.

Well, I went on a road trip. And it was fun.

Now everyone knows that your life ends once you get into nursing school. And I've heard enough horror stories to know that there is some truth to that. Thats why I jumped at the opportunity to do something totally un-usual and un-me before tommorow comes.

So we took a roadtrip to Tulsa and met up with some old friends, ate sushi, watched a movie, got ice cream, and forgot to take pictures. Typical awesome girl stuff. But there was one thing I learnt from it all:

Worrying never produced gas.

Okay, sometimes it does produce gas. But thats besides the point. On our way back, we had an eye on the gas tank. And some 30 minutes before reaching home the light started blinking at us, and we began searching for a gas station in earnest. But we never passed one and after awhile, we started to get pretty anxious. But as I said, worrying never produced gas, and we kept our cool and tried to digest that sushi to make the car lighter you know? After a bit, the car started slowing down, and we were really working on the sushi in our tummies, when we finally saw a gas station.

Yay for full tanks, and the knowledge that indeed, worrying never produced gas. Sometimes.

Airthoughts.

Airthought #1
Ever got shot for trying to smell decent?

I did - shot by a deodorant ball thingy. Open the cap and BANG, the thing flies in your face. Something about altitude and air pressure, I believe. Whatever it is, it gave me a scare, I tell you.


Airthought #2
Never complain about a flipping 12 hour journey.

So this high school kid walks into the baggage collection area, sees her parents, and exclaims, "I'm never going on another flipping (language has been modified for children) 12 hour flight!!" Honey, I've been on the road for twice that amount of time, and its gonna take me another 12 hours to reach my destination.


Airthought #3
Necessity is the mother of invention...and strange looks.

After clearing customs, I had to take my huge 28 inch bag and recheck it into the next airline. Problem is, it was past midnight, and the check in counter wasn't open till the next morning. Problem is, I also had my cabin bag and another overweight carry-on baggie containing my overweight laptop. Problem is, I had to take several escalators to the top floor. Problem is, once I got there, I had to pee. Problem is, the bathroom was on the bottom floor. Problem is, in America, I look like a poor, scrawny little asian girl.

So imagine the looks I got lugging all those bags up and down the escalators. As for me, I just smiled and waved. Cute and cuddly, ya know?

This is my 303th post

3 months and 3 pounds later, I find myself returning to my 3rd year on a 33 hour flight with 3 layovers.

from KUL.