to another place: IcedTeaMonster
been a long time now.
well, ta.
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Even though there are no coconut trees where I can test my limbs at climbing (and falling), this beach is still a lovely place to go. Just for a walk. I’m thinking of going there again today to do some serious kite running. More on that later. I have so much to tell. So many incredible memories have been made these past few weeks. And with that, a whole load of pictures.
So, this is the continuation. Salthill.
See people sunbathing everywhere
Blending in with the rocks
I’ve been thinking of getting macro lens for my camera. It’s like a whole new world opens up for you when you look through the lens. Easier to catch a spider weaving its web, a bumble bee searching for nectar (or honey?) 🙂
Mother and baby, looking out to sea. Doing obs and gynae makes me look out for these moments. Just the two of them.
Happiness in colours. I like the dress 🙂
The wind, playing with the sari.
And yet, another lamp.
Finally, we reached Westside Dunnes, to get something to eat.
I’ve just been given an evaluation by the prof. Happy with it. *grin* He even said that he hopes I enjoy the rest of summer. Well, nearly every one says that. In a pretty good mood.
Ward rounds today was quick. We only have 4 inpatients at the moment. One with PROM (prelabour rupture of membranes) and she’s to be induced. Nothing much. Tomorrow, I have a long theatre list to contend with. And tomorrow will also be my last day with the team as I’ll be heading off home this Wednesday. I’m really, really going to miss every thing here, even the early morning ward rounds and the hours of standing in the OT. I love doing what I do here, but I’m still not sure if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I have another year left to think stuff through.
I’ve nearly finished packing.
Posted in Magic! | Tagged Salthill, Westside | Leave a Comment »
we joined the tourists, taking hundreds of pictures around Galway. The route I took was: UCHG – Town centre – Spanish Arch – Salthill – Westside. So, here they are:
Spanish Arch. People everywhere. Japanese tourists, the lady from the tart shop, people who look like hippies with guitars, a cameraman, seagulls, swans..
A little girl, looking for swans’ feathers.
And here is one
The real thing
What’s this building again? I can’t remember
I like watching them looking for those tiny fishes. Dip and fish.
Boats with cute names
There were seagulls, pigeons, swans, all eager for the food in the bag
hehe
Well, loads more, but maybe for the next entry. Because there are a lot. Really.
Posted in Magic!, town | Tagged Salthill, Spanish Arch, swans | Leave a Comment »
Girl in red – Is she smiling for the camera or what? Trying to run away maybe. I like the red. Well, anything red looks lively. That’s why blood looks nice.
Lamp post – My interest with lamp posts must have originated from Mr Tumnus in Narnia which inadvertently brings me back to Frodo who resembles the Doctor who has left us for a job in Dublin. Hmmm…
Rainbow – now this reminds me of Amsterdam. Maybe the colours made me think of magic mushrooms and other hazy stuff which I left for other people to test out. It’s actually a bit like the place we stayed at.
Like a tower (I want a tower in my dream house, where I can make my art studio there and paint and read and become a hermit and only venture out for instant noodles and Bianconi’s pizza)
River – No one’s fishing there, I can see. Back here in Galway, there’d be at least 2 people knee high in the water, waiting for the fishies to take their bait. During summer that is.
I love my sleep and I love sleeping in this big bed, right in front of the TV. I don’t know why, but I suddenly imagined I’m a mafia boss wit de mafia accent. Or a yakuza ring leader. With Sakaki Makio as my righthand man. Mwahahahah!!
Well, that’s it people.
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which is fine. Not wow or anything. Yeah, meeting dearest papa is great but I don’t really like Dublin. I guess I’ll always like small, quaint places like Galway. Dublin’s too… loud, big, dirty at times. It felt like I was in a different country, with strange people. I am officially a country bumpkin.
Went walking around town, just walking and taking pictures. Should have brought my dslr. The weather’s great, not too warm, nice fluffy clouds and stuff. I like the colour at Temple Street/Bar whatever. Can’t remember the name. There were stalls selling secondhand books and irish cds and a few other things. The buskers aren’t as good as ours. Oooh.. it’s the comparing game. Anyway, Dublin’s just… Dublin. Maybe I’d feel different if I don’t have to think about my rotation so much. I’m wondering what I still haven’t done in the hospital, what I’ve forgotten, what I need to recap on. Bleh.
Other good stuff:
Seeing papa dearest 😀
Those pots of flowers, all vibrant colours, hanging from the lanterns. I love them.
Staying in Marriot 🙂
Being full all the time 🙂
free internet connection 🙂
Seeing people in strange attires (according to this small town girl): emo-looking, punk, mohawk, those with masks, other weird clothing.
Pictures later.
Well, I’ll be back in Galway tomorrow evening, lamenting my remaining hours of freedom (probably sobbing into my sky blue pillows). Monday starts off with theatre again. Wish me the best!
Posted in travelbug | Tagged Dublin | Leave a Comment »
… like my legs are made of timber… sooo heavy. My brain is numb. My tummy is growling. Translated into: I am absolutely tired. Didn’t think theatre would last that long. Nine whole hours of being on my feet the whole day, observing, assisting, doing, yawning, humming during hysteroscopies, c-sections, mirena insertions bla di bla… It was fun when I get to assist. Fun when I actually get in contact with bodily fluids. When I get to do something. But not so when I have to stand for hours on end, my feet aching, my eyes fluttering to stay open. It wasn’t fun when I was happily eating sandwiches in the OT lunch room (free!) and the pr0f suddenly came in and I stopped in the middle of chewing a huge chunk of sandwich, my mouth all squirrel-with-nuts-in-cheek-looking and I stared at him and he looked at me, surprised to see me there all squirrel-looking when I should be in the OT. I was hungry!
But I guess today was alright. I did scrub in. I did help hold open the uterus. A humongous ovarian cyst managed to make my eyebrows shoot up and my mouth assume the shape of an ‘O’ at the mere size of it. Bigger than my two fists put together. I did do a speculum exam. I got splattered by blood and that’s nice. And I got a wink. Plus a ‘you did enough today’ which should be a good thing, right?
I don’t like the changing room. Actually, I don’t like all changing rooms. People just whoosh off their clothes with no regard to how poor me find it awkward and embarrassing. Look up, look down, look away. I mean, the doc
I’ve been busy fiddling with my new love.
Backyard wilderness
Yellow (lack of creativity re titles)
Let’s eat!
Spider at the doorway
Little creeper
More pine-y tree
More experimenting to come
Posted in Madhatter, O&G, Surgery | 4 Comments »
exhale…
I still haven’t seen the head of the team since he’s always busy. I hope he won’t think that I’m some lazy student just because I was never with him.
What I’ve done:
– emergency admissions: normal stuff like checking the breathing, heart and I did a speculum after months of leaving speculum-y things behind.
– ante natal clinic which was a bit of a bore since it’s the same thing: inspect, palpate, bla bla…
– ward rounds: which was also so-so because we only have 2 inpatients at the moment. It lasted for- what, 15 minutes?
*chuckles to self*
Since we finished a bit early yesterday (it’s summer, even 8pm seems early), we headed off to town. Just for a walk. I ended up in argos, getting a 150 euro voucher for that old, kaput mp3 I bought and now, I’m thinking of getting something very, very nice with that sum… something on promo… I still have to top up a bit…
Anyway, we just sat in Eyre Square, enjoying the sun, taking pictures of each other in embarrassing poses. Remember the one we did on facial expressions? No? Well, we did those. Then, there was the Marilyn Monroe pose, the Pepsi advertisement, Ultraman pose, squinty eyed pose, puppet, lemons, cucumbers, even one with a Dove deodorant. Someone sat beside us and asked what we were doing with the lemons… 😀
I still feel like laughing
There’s just so much I wanted to blog about, but they’ve all disappeared, like magic… like water trickling away from my hands. I guess happy moments are meant to stay as these memories which you just can’t find the words to explain.
After the price cut and the voucher, I’ll be getting it for 289 euros. Do you think it’s ok? Wait, I’ll give you the link: snap! and class!
Yep, I’ve been taking Dr Dunn3’s advice. Work hard (and smart) and play hard. No stress. Well, maybe a bit. But it’s still great. I can’t believe the Irish weather’s been so tropical-y these past few weeks. Well, minus this morning when it was pouring like crazy and it even transported me back to the winter months again.
Now, need to:
– take histories
– do more clinical examinations
– scrub in – there’s going to be a lot of C-sections next Tuesday
– refrain from buying unnecessary things
– sleep
Soooo tired.
Posted in Magic!, O&G | 4 Comments »
I took off my earring for a while because it hurt.
2 days later, I see the hole is no more.
So, I went to the not-yet-qualified-surgeon of the house, Lorraine and from her stash of hospital equipments (various sizes of venepuncture needles, alcohol swab, several IV cannulas, a speculum! – dunno what she’s doing with a speculum…) she took out:
It doesn’t really look like this, but this is the coolest one I found.
We looked around for any lidocaine (local anaesthetic) but I think I threw mine away.
So, she gave me this instead
To squeeze during the torture.
Meticulously, she cleaned my ear lobe with an alcohol swab, cleaned the coagulated blood and the tiny procedure began.
Poke, poke, poke.
Blood: drip, drip, drip.
Me: Oh the pain! The pain! – I am exaggerating here. You can tell, right?
The surgeon: OK, keep still. Turn towards the light…uhuh… I can see a tiny hole..
Me again: cringe, squeeze Pooh, frown, grin, laugh (this one was because Lemon started recording us)
Finally, the needle went through. No picture here. Just imagine a 2-3 inch needle poking through my ear lobe. Hey, this can be a new fashion trend! It looked a bit like those industrial piercing.
The surgeon wanted to thread a string through the needle, to prevent the hole from closing again, but it was too difficult a procedure (the thread was too thick). So, we opted for a new earring which hopefully will help in the healing process.
I hope it won’t get infected.
PS. The needles were given by the GP people, so that we can practice taking blood
PPS. We used sterilized needles and all procedures were carried out in a sterilized manner
PPPS. Only qualified crazy ex-hazelnutters can try this at home
Posted in Ouch! | Tagged blood, ear, operation, venipuncture | Leave a Comment »
Having nothing to do is torture. I thought it would be relaxing, but I guess I can’t just keep still and do absolutely nothing. I’ve painted (but you can’t really paint all day for a week or so). First water colour test:
I’ve shopped (and I have to stop now, to let the bank recuperate).
I’ve walked around town, by the river, through small alleys which I’ve forgotten they existed.
I’ve baked and cooked and pottered about in the kitchen like a responsible little housewife. Cake with summer berries which turned out nicely.
I’ve watched jdorama till my eyes feel like they’ll fall off. I’ve slept at 3am everynight/day and would wake up at 9am. I saw various performances. Now? hmmm…
I forgot that there’s a vascular conference yesterday. Shoot. Missed a chance.
Most people I know have gone home for the summer. I miss home! I want to go back!
Or maybe I just need to be busy. Next week, my attachment with the O&G team starts. I’m in a pickle-y situation. Half looking forward, half dreading it. Looking forward because I can stop this mundane routine of nothing-ness. Dread because I’ve mostly forgotten what I did in O&G last year and I need to relearn everything again. But then, that’s a good thing. Also, I don’t know what to expect from the prof. I wasn’t in his team last time.
So, expect to hear more moaning and complaining coming from me again, soon. For now, I’m still relaxing.
Oh yeah, I was in Kebab Klub, when I thought I was having hallucinations, hearing Michael Buble’s voice coming from somewhere outside. We went out and there, on a green stage-truck thingy, a jazz band was performing in Eyre Square and they were awesome!
He sang ‘The way you look tonight’ and my inner sakura-ness swooned. As good as Michael Buble, I’d say ^_^ And then, there was ‘Blue Moon’. *sigh sigh sigh* I can’t remember the other songs, but they were equally good. An old couple started dancing in front of us, twirling about… they looked so cute! ^_^ And can they dance! A young mother danced with her daughter while their sausage shaped dog sniffed about, trailing his leash. I couldn’t stop smiling 🙂
Lemon and I, we stayed there the whole time, leaning against a green wall, which I now realize, is a public toilet (bet it’s a clean one though). There were a few spots around Eyre Square where some gymnasts were flipping about, guys were playing basketball, kids running around, splashing in the fountain. Perfect day 🙂
Summer is nice, neh? I need to go out again. My partner in exploration is missing though.
Just a month left… yay!
PS. I sound like an old lady, going to see orchestras, listening to oldies and jazz, baking… hahahah…
Posted in Quiet days | Tagged black magic!, jazz, Michael Buble, water colour | Leave a Comment »
One of the best times ever!
Hear me gush now, if you’re willing.
I can’t find the appropriate words to describe it. Exhilarated? My heart is still making tiny acrobatic moves, leaping, bounding.. just at the thought of it. No, it’s not in arrhythmia.
The RTE concert orchestra 🙂
Entering the hall, I was already buzzing with excitement. Added to the fact that I could hear them tuning their instruments somewhere behind the stage. We were in the front row and I could see their every expressions, some smiling, others solemn. Fingers nimbly moving. *sigh* Strings, percussions, woodwinds. There’s even a huge harp.
More tuning.
And then, the conductor, David Brophy, entered. He’s this really animated guy and I just love seeing the way he conducts; moving about, leaping and sometimes, slowing down to gentle gestures as he guides the orchestra throughout the night. I was afraid he might topple or trip over during those frequent high paced episodes…
See. He moves around a lot
The first was Overture Roman Carnival by Berlioz. Oh. My. God. I was sucked in, hooked, mesmerized (and any other synonymous words you can find). Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance made me feel like dancing myself 😀 I can’t even paint a decent picture of how it was. And of course, there was Pachelbel’s Canon. Michael Seaver, a clarinettist and John Leonard, a bassoonist?/the guy who played the bassoon? – did the Duet Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon by R. Strauss accompanied by the orchestra. One word: Awesome.
Scherzo from Midsummer Night’s Dream by Mendelssohn.
Offenbach’s Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffman.
Overture Gypsy Baron by J. Strauss.
(Yeah, I had to look at the programme guide for the spellings)
*sigh*
I have fallen hopelessly in love 🙂 I wonder why I’ve never really attended these kind of things previously. I haven’t done much in terms of exploring more of the musical part of Galway. In a way, the night was really magical. The others couldn’t agree more.
Before the event, we were walking around the city:
Yummy crepes – mine was the Walter’s special
African Festival day in Eyre Square – they did capoeira – captured on video!
And finally, the painting of the muffins I finished… 😉 done on a 50x50cm canvas. I’m over with my muffin-crave now. See, painting works.
Posted in Acrylic :), Magic! | Tagged David Brophy, RTE Concert Orchestra, Town Hall Theatre | Leave a Comment »
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