life is supeeer boring without school. I can't imagine not going to school...
at home, its always study, go out and eat, come back and study some more. perhaps surf the web. and check some email. and study.
in school at least there are things to observe and conversations face to face. and nice lectures to attend.
its probably unusual for someone to say this. after all, isn't it fun slacking at home? and isn't school ever-so-stressful?
to the former i reply: i feel useless doing nothing. but i do agree that school gets frustrating and the stuff gets realllly overwhelming at times... like how everyone seems to be seemingly well-read about stuff.. and how people can appear so calm when the looming exams are drawing near..
ARHGH!
buts thats the life i chose, and one that i have to live with. its a crazy balancing act between slacking and overdoing things. I will strive on :)

What's On This Week

Biochem: Genetics
Anatomy: Deep dissection of Neck, Inframandibular Region (2 PRACTS!)
Physiology: Endocrine Tutorials
PBL on Tuesday!

Nothing particularly interesting.. but i'm looking forward to the endocrine tutorial, and PBL.

What Went on Last Week

Chinese New Year:

thursday

• Visited my maternal grandparents place - for once the whole family was around, and received *quite a few* angbaos.
  
• had dinner - a nice hearty meal (better than usual since it was new year) It comprised of prawns with mango, mushrooms and veggies, carrot cake (a first!), oyster omelettes, fish and yummy chicken soup
  
• watched tv - nothing new there,
  
• played table soccer - v fun. this time 2 of my cousins joined in!
  
• and lighted sparklers - made the letters CNY, and some happy faces ;) & =o & =)
• (visit sister's blog for details. she's MUCH more descriptive :))

friday
-spring cleaning day-

saturday

• watched Jay Chou's latest flick - Kung Fu Dunk - as a family. (mainly my sisters idea actually) as can be expected from such a show, the plot wasn't exactly realistic; its more for the laughs and entertainment value. haha. probably should have kept an open mind watching it. but it's fun to see and laugh ur head off a bit. =)

sunday
time to hit the books! and prepare for another week at med school...

Messages and comments

• On a different note, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR. AND VALENTINES.
• wishing Mavis a smooth flight to australia
• yk: yar! that book is super depressing. couldnt sleep after reading it.
• michelle: medicine is okay lar. not too stressful if u dun stress urself too much :)
• sandya: haha. i havent figured that out yet :S

A poem seemingly fit for Valentine's day. Got this while randoming in wikipedia.

水調歌頭¹

丙辰²中秋³， 歡飲達旦，
大醉，
作此篇，
兼懷子由⁴。

明月幾時有？
把酒問青天。
不知天上宮闕⁵，
今夕是何年？

我欲乘風歸去，
唯恐瓊樓玉宇⁶，
高處不勝寒。
起舞弄清影⁷，
何似在人間⁸！

轉朱閣⁹，
低綺戶¹⁰，
照無眠¹¹。
不應有恨，
何事長向別時圓？

人有悲歡離合，
月有陰晴圓缺，
此事古難全。
但願人長久，
千里共嬋娟¹²。

Notes on the Poem

	Characters	Pinyin	Explanation
1.	水調歌頭	shuǐ diào gē tóu	The name of a tune.
2.	丙辰	bǐng chén	the ninth year of the reign of Song Emperor Shenzong (1076 C.E.), when Su Shi served as magistrate in Mizhou, present-day Zhucheng County in Shandong Province.
3.	中秋	zhōng qiū	the Mid-Autumn Festival, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (lunar calendar); a traditional Chinese holiday when people gather to enjoy the moon, drink wine, and eat. moon cakes
4.	懷	huái	to think of, miss.
	子由	Zǐ yóu	Su Che (蘇轍/苏辙), courtesy name Ziyou, Su Shi's younger brother, also a famous author; at this time Su Che was in Jinan, Su Shi in Mizhou; the brothers had not seen each other for seven years.
5.	宮闕	gōng què	a spectacular palace.
6.	瓊樓玉宇	qióng lóu yù yǔ	a building made of beautiful jade, here, the Moon Palace.
7.	弄	nòng	to play, to sport; here, "to dance".
	清影	qīng yǐng	crisp, cold shadow in the moonlight.
8.	何似	hé sì	how can it compare to...
9.	朱閣	zhū gé	a red pavilion.
10.	綺戶	qǐ hù	a door or window with carved patterns and designs.
11.	無眠	wú mián	sleepless; here, refers to a sleepless person.
12.	嬋娟	chán juān	originally Chang E, a beauty; here, used to refer to the splendid moon.

it was odd how soon what i read would become relevant. a week after reading Jame Watson's introductory book on DNA, my lectures in medical school started to focus heavily on this topic. Genes and cystic fibrosis, genomes and achromoplasia, heterozygous and whatnot. basically A level biology genetics, all over again, except with a medical slant. and what a slant. i quickly found that there was much much, more to medicine than just hard science. unlike the clear, hard facts we get in biology class, genetics in medical school was more greyish, and probability was the buzzword. In many cases, the physician, far from being certain of the cause of a genetic disorder, has to figure out mind-boggling chances of so-and-so having such a genetic condition and blah blah. And there is usually more than one possible cause. What good does all the figures do for the anxious parent-to-be if you tell her that she has a 25% chance of having a baby down with ABC disease? When all she wants is some reassurance that she can have a safe and healthy baby, not a headache worrying if she should have him given the chance of abnormalties?
yet despite all the dilemmas that it brings to patients, genetic medicine is becoming increasingly common in clinical practice. and until the science becomes more precise (or amniocentesis gets safer) genetic medicine will remain something that we shall just have to live with.