Sunday, September 14, 2008
The inevitable, and what to do with itI haven't written for a long, long while. Last time I thought about writing, it was just half an hour before doing a weekend night call. And yep - as would be expected, the call was filled with horrors and I didn't get to write at all. At least I intubated my first patient that day (I almost sound like the freak Christina Yang in Grey's) and got to know my registrar much better. It's times like these that I start questioning my would-be career choice. I
know I'll miss internal medicine.
Anyway, I finally succumbed to lust and desire. No fancy parties for a long, long while I guess. And yet my resolve was sorely tested yesterday when I went for a kitchen-utensils sale (how
Auntie is that?!?) and I started drooling over the gleaming knives and cold, bright silverware.
Random pictures. I just need more practice!
One of my favourite shots - Brownie doing his bunny-bounce towards me.
Felicia's new puppy
***
Tuesday.
I went to the surgical ICU with my mom during lunch to visit an old acquaintance. For as long as I remember, I had known her as "Tak Tahu" ("I don't know" in Malay), a nickname my mom coined for her, which later stuck for years amongst her own friends.
I must admit, I never knew her real name. And neither did my mom, I suspect.
I remember her as this kindly old Malay dame who would shop at my mom's old mini-market every other day and stay to chat. What's more, she'd bring goodies. The nicest nasi lemak, mee soto and kuehs - which eventually my mom placed in her shop to sell. She was admitted after being found unconscious - a massive bleed in the brain. Her children, for some unknown reason, had called up my mom on her third day of coma and told her of the news. As drama would have it, we reached the ICU not a moment too soon, and arrived to find that she had passed away. The trolley was in fact waiting, and if we had arrived a minute or two later, we wouldn't have had a chance to see her. She was unrecognisable. Not after all these years. Standing there, looking back at a small and conveniently-forgotten part of life's experiences, the memories of those primary school days just came back.
It was an abrupt closure to a special friendship between my mom and her. And how odd to finally know her real name only at the end, though she'll always be Tak Tahu for me and my mom.
***
Had an uncomfortable day earlier this week, during lunch when one of the registrars started broaching a rather horrid topic to me and my friend. It just got me more and more irritated. I suppose it's more pertinent to my friend for now, since I'm not affected - not yet anyway. But that time will come. And what do I foresee myself doing then? I know I'll be miserable. It's part of the deal - misery. Unless you are, like that registrar, one of those who can talk about it and preach for others to try and do well. It just got me thinking that maybe it's because of people like these who have perpetuated this very uncivilized rite of mental rape and theft of youth. Good for them. I'm glad they are enthusiastic.
I've actually begun exercising, no thanks to Yx who dug out old pictures of me and asked me earnestly what the hell happened to me. I'm glad to say that despite my bulk, I'm still able to glide gracefully on wheels set in tandem. I really do miss youth.
Remember those Triops from the December before last? I'm so tempted to grow them again. The eggs are sitting in my drawer, I just need to get down to preparing a tank. Oh! And I made up a tupperware-pond right outside my window! Yx doesn't really catch what's going on, but it's like a childhood dream come true for me. I've got one of those miniature lilies in it, miscellaneous aquatic plants, a floating plant (could someone please point me to what those black 牛角 things we eat during the Autumn festival are? These floating plants produce them ...), some small shrimp, a group of 10
Badis badis fish, and of course the carnivorous plant part - some
Utricularia aurea. I intend for this tupperware pond to eventually hold
Aldrovanda vesiculosa. Or wait. Why destroy a perfectly nice pond? I could have another one! *wink*
And finally, just an aside, I attempted a New England Clam Chowder from scratch not too long ago, and the recipe is up on the food blog. I told myself I'll never touch the crap they sell outside again.
Wenky
9:32 AM
2 comments
Post a Comment
