cadbury factory in dunedin

we managed to go on the last cadbury tour on friday, after an exhausting 2 weeks of lectures!

with the cadbury vintage car


at the start of the tour

Balwin street in Dunedin New Zealand

thought we at least could go visit the steepest street in the world

the houses are still on the flat ground, but the street does look pretty steep from the side

me before the start of 'conquering' the steep street

the official plaque w the street

Life is a gift

from SZ's blog. thanks dear, it's very nice, thought i might share it w other people too

Life Is a Gift
Today:
before you say an unkind word – Think of someone who can’t speak.
before you complain about the taste of your food – Think of someonewho has nothing to eat.
before you complain about your husband or wife – Think of someonewho’s crying out to GOD for a companion.
before you complain about life – Think of someone who died too early on this earth.
before you complain about your children – Think of someone who desires children but they’re barren.
before you argue about your dirty house someone didn’t clean or sweep – Think of the people who are living in the streets.
before whining about the distance you drive – Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.
and when you are tired and complain about your job – Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.
but before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another – Remember that not one of us is without sin.
and when depressing thoughts seem to get you down – Put a smile on your face and think: you’re alive and still around.

wedding dresses

just because i've been following the other brides-to-be for wedding gown shopping, i thought i might look around too! (nb: this is NOT a hint)

http://myweddingplanningtips.com/2009/08/20/chinese-wedding-traditions-the-cheongsam-or-qi-pao/

http://mazzario.blogspot.com/2010/08/wedding-cheongsamfor-ariel.html love this one... :)

http://mazzario.blogspot.com/2010/05/wedding-cheongsamfor-eileen.html very nice...

another hurdle...

job match results out on monday: and am officially jobless for next year. crap

a whole combination of causes: 1) applied for a bpt3+ year when i'm not even a proper bpt2. 2) only applied to 2 hospitals. arrogance is a cause of my downfall sometimes.

so now, instead of hastening the whole process, i've slowed it down.

upset that the hospitals don't acknowledge my efforts at work. ah well. disillusioned and disappointed.

going to reassess and regather my plans for the future.

after 9 months...

after 9 months, i think i'm still in love w him.
he's got a boy's brain. That day, he said, 'can this venesian talk martian for once?' Cracked me up big time.
So far, i've thrown all these weird silly questions at him, and he's not rejected me yet. he's in fact treated them really seriously.
he's been gentle w me. encourages me.
thanks dear.

reflections on relationships

because i like to think about these touchy-feely topics, i think about relationships in general.
so presented Y a few questions, which of course he kindheartedly and openly obliged.
1) does this feel rite to you?
2) why me?
3) why not someone else in between?

maybe it's my insecurities. but i think it's more due to my logical brain trying to work out something that isn't quite logical. i then threw the questions back to myself. and we've both wisely decided to withhold judgement for now.

4 more ED shifts to go

survived my 7 nites. 5 of which were sooooo busy!
grateful to Y for listening to my whinges every nite b4 my shifts started. u made it slightly easier to do the shifts.
grateful to L for sending me to work and buying those chips so that i could take them into work.
grateful to my bosses for not being so inpatient w me.
overall it was all ok... :) had fun in the end...

ED... soon to end

11 more shifts to the end of ED!! (hopefully no more ED for the rest of my life)...
this is the only thought that i can carry to make this any easier for me...
night shifting for 7 of the 11 shifts

how to fix a light bulb that i can't reach

maybe the best way to fix a light bulb is to get a ladder, not a tall man. :p

being apart now...

When it gets painful being apart, i turn my focus onto someone else and give them some loving care.
It might mean that i'm getting too attached to this person that it gets painful when we are apart.
it lessens the pain, but doesn't get rid of it completely.

phillip island

one of the photos (that i took w my lousy camera) from phillip island. Y took more photos and W took even more photos! so all the photos are in their cameras (and their cameras are better too).

apollo bay

for Y's great ocean road marathon (45 km! in 4h15mins... i'm so proud of you!)

view from merriner's lookout

finishing line...

mr and mrs cockles and hep b vaccination

http://app2.nea.gov.sg/news_detail_2002.aspx?news_sid=20081016414284324901

now there's this ad in sg that has mr and mrs cockles recommending the hep b vaccination. and i had always thought that mr and mrs cockles give u a hep A infection (which i'm right of course, according to the above link).
so have the hep b vaccination anyway, but it won't protect u from mr and mrs cockles.

'whose life is it anyway' Nina W Brown

by new harbinger publications, inc.
found this book in the library and thought it was quite interesting.
it asks whether you are enmeshed/ catch ppl's feelings easily, then suggests a few exercises to help increase ur psychologica/ emotional/ spiritual strength to prevent that from happening.
it's rather interesting in families which have got these people and the 'senders' (who apparently just sends out these emotions).
i think i'm getting interested in human personalities, interactions, responses and consequences.

taiwan stop 7: sheipa leisure farm

i thought this was sorta the highlight of the trip. sheipa leisure farm is at the doorstep of the sheipa national park. the park is quite diligent in its conservation efforts and trying to preserve the local species of vegetation and creatures.
the farm you go to during different seasons for different things. we were there at the flower season, so we got to admire the flowers in bloom. in the fruit seasons, one can go pick the fruits around the place. it is quite a cool concept.
the people are really friendly too!
definitely worth a trip there.
http://sheipa.hotel.com.tw/eng/, http://www.sheipa.com.tw/
the reception area








the flowers at bloom now. called 'zi teng'














our attempt to see another sun rise, but it was too cloudy. but believe it or not, this is the view from just outside our room. that's the view you have at the leisure farm.

taiwan stop 6: Hsinchu

the food was pretty exciting here. so many things that i had never seen before!

the skin tasted weird. this one is the vego version, but apparently they put pork in these ones most of the time. they soak it in oil, then when u order one, they deep fry it for you, then serve it to u in a sauce. it was just odd. hmm... interesting, all the same.






hsinchu train station

taiwan stop 5: Gu Guan hot springs

this was not so much of a surprise after lu shan hot springs. luckily there was a bus from taichung to here. had to go through the winding mountain roads (again)

taiwan stop 4: Alishan -- morning sun rise

breathtaking

taiwan stop 3: taichung

one of the night market signs. we were pretty early. there weren't that many ppl there yet










i think this is supposed to say taichung train station on the sign. i took this picture from across the road as an afterthought, so probably didn't capture the sign very well. we were here as an afterthought. had come from sun moon lake to taichung before moving on to chiayi.
there apparently is a newer town in taichung. where we were was the 'old taichung'. no wonder the city had an old run down feel about it.

taiwan stop 2: Sun moon lake

took a bus from Lu shan to Puli to sun moon lake. it was rather cold and foggy when we got there.

a sign just to say that we are here








a typical view. we had then taken the cable car up and down for the views. we also took a boat that went around the lake w a chinese tour guide explaining the different sites around the lake. them both were really cool.






walked this trail between xuan guang temple and xuan zhuang temple. was pretty steep. but it was a pretty cool hike

back from taiwan

first stop was at Lu Shan hot springs. It was raining that day when we went

this is the sign that says Lu Shan hot springs. the water was nice, cloudy and made the skin real soft

what i was trying to show in this picture, was that everytime we walked pass a drain, there was hot steam coming out of it. hot spring water must flow in every tap/ drain. hmm...

To taiwan

M planned this trip to taiwan on her own. i'm abit apprehensive because she's planned it. i probably should've helped. i'm still waiting for her to say, 'i did it all alone ok, u never help.' haa. she hasn't. which i'm impressed about.
it'll probably be fun. will post pictures up soon!

happy chinese new year!

starting nites tomorrow for 7 nites. so since i had a day off yesterday and today, decided to cook. so it was the lo mai kai on monday and some other vego recipes today.
C and K were so eagerly looking forward to my food today. they musta been really hungry after work.
was sorta a pretend cny reunion dinner tonite. since C and i were going to be working that day.
nice that ppl like my food. :)

ongoing culinary adventure: vego lo mai kai

got this vego lo mai kai recipe from one of my vego books that i'd bought from singapore.

didn't have the small round rice bowl, so used this big bowl.

this lo mai kai can serve 4. (erm, it only served 3 for dinner)

didn't know which one was the dark soya sauce, the rice stayed light in color.

tasted ok...

ongoing culinary adventures: raspberry cheesecake slice

no bake recipe

the gelatine didn't quite help set the cheesecake bit, so it sorta became a frozen yoghurt texture.

it was delightful all the same :)

absolutely heavenly on a hot summer day!

start of 2010 medical yr

survived obs and gynae. it has actually been quite a nice change where i only see females of my age who are healthy and where being pregnant is a perfectly normal physiological state to be. it also is the ONLY place in the hospital where people are happy. elsewhere, u see ppl crying, upset and grim.
tempted to do obs and gynae now, but erm, on 2nd thought, maybe not.
so this year, i'm doing a medical year. and decide about physician training.
if this year doesn't work it, i'm heading towards gp land. :) outta hospital, more autonomy

annual leave 2010

that is from march 15--> april 17. so keep those dates free to meet me. :)

chocolate from china

C remembered that i wanted to try the chocolate that he was promoting in china. so here it is after 7 months. he was the marketing manager there for this product.

christmas 2009

had C and K's parents over because they were on call at the hospital. so it was a family affair that day.

C bought a real x'mas tree. we spent about 10mins decorating it. it smells good. this is the tree right after being decorated. it then had presents under for a short while. of course that's all opened and gone.

happy new year!

can't believe it's 2010 already.

shortbread

part of the whole x'mas spirit: shortbread. recipe from one of those magazines. lotsa butter.