Rainbow Light

2006-04-25T09:39:00.000+08:00

I just realised it's more than a month since I updated this blog! My excuse had always been that I was just too busy. But can that really be valid? I guess I just didn't feel like it.

Just finished the series of midsemester exams yesterday. Never felt like I had to study so much for a midsem before. Take yesterday's Anaesthetics and Surgery for e.g., I practically studied my entire week of holidays away, and didn't do anything else! I had wanted to revise my other neglected subjects during that one week but in the end, didn't do much.

Feels like I have neglected a whole lot of other things in my life... composing, emails to my friends/sisters, baking etc...

So, for yesterday night I cooked dessert to share with my housemates, and made an Apple Crumble Cake. In my opinion it was rather successful, probably because it was a simple recipe to begin with. But it was not only till after dinner when I started surfing around on food blogs, that I realised Apple Crumble is not the same as Apple Crumble Cake. The creator of the recipe I used decided to add a cake component to her Apple Crumble. I want to make a real one someday! Anyway, so here it is (or rather, a part of it):

Haha... looking at too many food blogs have made me wish that I could photograph my finished 'masterpiece' too... :P

Morning's a flop

2006-03-19T11:43:00.000+08:00

How stupid is it to forget to put sugar in the baking of a cake? That' s precisely what happened this morning. As the first month of school draws to an end, I thought I would do something different, something I like to do but can't allocate enough time to. So I was surfing for recipes online to try, and decided to make a yoghurt cake and some cookies. Turns out, somewhere in the midst of preparation, I was so preoccupied with finding an alternative to veg oil as an ingredient, that I completely forgot about sugar, till I took a bite out of the finished product. ARGHz. And the cookies were a tad too sweet.

Maybe I should produce a cookake?

I need more practice!!

It's the start of a one week "study break" for us students, but for the first time I won't be nuahing at home, like I always did. While others view it as an opportunity to catch up on all those lectures that they fell asleep at, I will find myself doing my first week of clinical experience attachment at a vet hospital nearby. Hopefully I have learnt enuff over the past few years to apply some of the acquired knowledge, compared to 3 years ago in Singapore where I spent 2 weeks at a clinic not knowing anything, and mainly cleaning equipment and sorting x-rays. Got to finish 10 weeks in total... my rough plan is to complete 1 week now, 3 weeks in July, 3 weeks in Australia immediately after exams, go back Singapore and do 2 weeks there, and finish up 1 more week in June 2007. For a long time, it really bugged me that I couldn't exactly plan my time ahead because allocations for end of year attachments at my uni's vet hospital won't be up till a few weeks earlier to that. Ah well. Out of my control, so not going to think about it.

Had my horse rotation prac class just 2 days ago. I really tried revising as much as I could before the class so that hopefully I won't feel too lost. Perhaps it kind of helped, in terms of knowing the anatomy of the horse, but in the end, the lecturer still went at a faster pace than I could process the information. I realise, developing better observational skills would help heaps. After all, to be able to observe all the signs of abnormality in an animal requires a quick mind and processing ability. Anyway, the prac class was on lameness of the horse. We are required to go through the various steps of finding out where exactly the problem lies, because most of the time, the client would not be able to provide the right information. I feel like we're all playing detective here... need to carry out the right tests to find the right clues and think quick. After all the horse can't speak! and it doesn't help that the animals all think u're trying to hurt them... and end up hurting u in self-defence. =( There has to be a way to get round the problem of girls struggling against the weight of a large animal. If a girl not much bigger sized than us can handle a horse with ease, why can't we? You simply wonder how incredible it is, that they say animals will bully you upon sensing your fear and apprehension. How DO they know?? They must have a better 6th sense than we do. We have live proof right in front of our eyes all the time, at every prac. All the subtle movements and gestures that we send out are just picked up by the animals better than we are actually aware of them...

Time to do some work, before ktv session ;)

May everyday be a feel-good day

2006-03-13T20:26:00.000+08:00

Wonder how there are just some days when u feel it's been a good day, even though nothing significant has happened? Today just happens to be one of them. On the way to school, I was driving me and my housemates when we discovered that the extension of the highway which we had been waiting for was open. That made quite a nice surprise, and meant that we didn't have to weave through as much traffic as we usually do, and so we got to school earlier than usual. The 2 repro lectures we had today were also hilarious... well, I probably found the lecturer's jokes funnier than usual because I was in a good mood to begin with. Know how there are lecturers who are funny by nature and do not have to try very hard to amuse his/her students? My lecturer, who's just like that, managed to turn all the dry facts of reproduction into the funniest imageries in a matter-of-factly way. Although today was the longest day so far that we had to stay back in school for, imaging pracs in the afternoon turned out to be more interesting than i thought, making the long afternoon pass rather quickly. Of cuz, I was pretty happy to find out that we were to do our afternoon pracs with our surgery group members.

But I really think what set off my good mood today were those games of mindsweeper I played with somebody yesterday night.... ;)

I need to practise squirting stuff up a moving nose...any volunteers?

2006-03-11T00:33:00.000+08:00

Finally survived those 5 hours of Imaging lectures today! Actually it's pretty interesting, come to think of it. I'm kinda amused everytime the lecturer goes at such a fast speed that u could just feel this uneasiness in the air, and the LT becomes really quiet.. and u could tell that everybody is just dying to get out of there as soon as they can. The remaining 3 hours of imaging rotation pracs comprised partially of manoevuring a gigantic soft toy dummy dog and cat under the Xray machine so as to teach us accurate positioning.. Hmmm... I think I would like to own one of those big soft toys for my own practice as well... My previously owned soft toy dog, which I attempted to pass off as a sheep so that I could practise tying knots on its legs, is now lying on the floor outdoors, somewhere. All thanks to leaving it behind at the cat boarding hotel over summer so that Misha can continue licking it and feel 'more at home'. Now I haven't dared to reintroduce it back into my room ever since V found dead maggots on her towel left at the same location as well...

Went to the RSPCA yesterday with the rest of my prac rotation group. According to the book we were given beforehand, we're supposed to be excited that we're finally "there in the role of veterinarians for possibly the first time!!!". Errr. Based on our current state of inexperience, I don't even feel comfortable saying that we're there as 4th year students! haha.. anyway, we were split into smaller groups again and asked to give a physical examination to the dogs, which I presumed, just came into the place. My group got this little scrawny terrier while the others got mainly staffys and bull terriers. Cute little thing, but at the end, when we were required to give it its vaccinations and pills. I decided to go for this intranasal injection. Ended up squirting everywhere... should have known it doesn't feel nice to have someone squirt something up your nose. I would struggle too, if I were the dog.

That's it! No more visits to the RSPCA... I think. No more simple handling and giving physical examinations. I suspect things can only get more complicated, involving BLOOD........ and more needles.

Being ambitious kills....

2006-03-09T01:01:00.000+08:00

I'm going crazy wanting to do a milion things at the same time. Starting this year, I had set goals of wanting to keep up with the lectures as the semester progresses. Better yet, I wanted to have the time to prepare ahead of lectures, or at least read up on previous notes before attending the relevant lecture. Ideally, revise the previous year's notes because I had forgotten most of it, and read additional material to supplement the lack of practical experience. But what I found out was that, what the lecturer covered in an hour's time, I spend triple of that amount of time trying to understand while going through it. There are only so many hours in one night, and while I am already not doing anything else but study other than preparing meals, there is only so much I can do.

What to do!?!?!?!? Sacrifice quality for quantity? Sacrifice preparing ahead for revising notes of the day itself? Sacrifice detail for a broad overview?

Then I tell myself.. maybe I am just not studying efficiently enough.. n I suspect this is true. What is scary is that I am sleeping my standard usual hours and yet, I struggle to keep my eyes open at lectures. I look forward to going home each day knowing that at last, I have some hours ahead to read and understand what I wasn't able to comprehend in the day. So NERDY.

Tired of feeling that I shouldn't feel stressed but I still do. Knowing that I shouldn't complain but not having the energy to act like it doesn't bother me.

Like this how to cope under future pressure? *shake head*. I need some time to think things through. Need to re-evaluate what's really necessary and what's not...

Try this...

2006-03-07T21:06:00.000+08:00

I am so so so sleeeepy........... and it's only Tuesday!

New piece of fact learnt today at Obstetric lectures. Have you ever tried shitting with your mouth open? That is supposedly a difficult thing to do. To be more exact, you need to have your epiglottis (the structure that blocks off your trachea when u swallow/eat) closed so that the pressure from straining is maintained and helps u do ur shit. If u can shit with your mouth open, u are probably not breathing.

My friends and I were pondering over this fact at the dinner table. Imagine a table of pple mentally visualizing if they could strain with their mouth open at the same time.

Thank god for 'tidbits' like that during lectures. Helps to reduce the number of times one nods off.

A new lifestyle

2006-03-02T22:56:00.000+08:00

It's coming to the end of the 2nd week of school now... and i suppose that I'm settling in to the new routine lifestyle. Every morning, wake up , spend 5 minutes saya-ing Misha, then do toilet sutff and then check that lal the books/notes for the day have been placed in the bag before dressing up to go to school. Give hay and water to guinea pigs, breakfast to Misha, then if there's time, have my breakfast. If not, there's my great theory of being actually more awake during lectures wthout breakfast in the stomach! All the better. Bring muesli bar to school just in case halfway during lectures cannot tahan anymore. Next is to drive to school in moderate to heavy traffic.. I'm trying to improve my cutting lane skills and I've got good reason to do so.. it's embarassing how I can leave the house early and reach sch later than my housemates who left much later!

Following that, we'll have 4 hours of different lectures till 12.30 in the same lectures... between lectures, I'll just sit there, stone and watch everyone get out their own stuff to eat, or go toilet, talk, whatever... when lunchtime finally comes, some of us would bring our prepacked lunch into the vet common room, either wait for the use of hte 2 microwaves or just eat some dry/cold food. Other whod are more 'lazy' would walk 5 minutes to buy lunch from nearby.. and I'm beginning to fall into this category. Following a one hour break, we then proceed to whatever afternoon pracs that we've been assigned to, which would usually drag on till 4.30. Then, still must drive about 20+ minutes to get home, or rather, a big oven. Summer's officially over, but the weather obviously decided that it wants to cook us a little longer.

nice life? i know it isn't too bad, compared to some other pple, maybe those in the medicine field. Definitely good that our lectures are packed together, and that we don't have any night classes. It's just that we have been too slack for the past 3 years it takes a little bit of adjustment to get used to.

Events from this afternoon.. I was doing small animal medicine rotation with V and M. Our coordinator PI, assigned us to this dog in the hospital, for which we were supposed to identify the breed at the very least, and then find out what's wrong with it. So there we were, 3 pple with the dog in the X-ray room. We looked at it, and thought it looked like a terrier cross with poodle. (actually come to think of it, the poodle bit was added by me... )... PI came back into the room after a few minutes to ask what breed we thought it was. Turns out, it is a purebred terrier, possibly worth over a thousand dollars because it's a rare breed. So he went away, and we were left to do a physical examination on the dog. After listening to the heart and lungs, we thought we heard heart beat irregularities and crackling sound over the lungs. PI came back and told us that there weren't problems with either the heart or the lungs. So there goes our diagnosis. Next we said that the chest area felt spongy, so perhaps there could be oedema, or fluid accumulation. He palpated the dog's chest, and told us that what we are feeling is pretty much fat. Shot down again. Turns out that the dog's real problem was with his abdomen, but we didn't realise it. As it was, the dog was under pain relief, and we couldn't see his flinch/reaction to abdominal palpation at all.

I'm looking forward to Friday... time passes pretty quickly after all.

First prac of the year.

2006-02-24T00:45:00.000+08:00

Damn. I've been sneezing pretty much non-stop for the past hour. Don't know why these few days I feel like I'm going to come down with flu at night, but by morning it's gone. Not that I have anything to complain about its disappearance. Been eating medicine on and off but that can't continue like this? Strange. I think I'm eating pretty well and sleeping the same number of hours back in Singapore too.

Had my first practical class of the year, and it happens to be a Small Animal Medicine rotation for me and some other students. All the students in the 4th year are split into small groups of ~10 and put through different practical components through a rotation system. Anyway, so we put on our light blue clinical coat (reminded me of my secondary sch uniform) and equipped ourselves with stethoscope, penlight, thermometer, pen and stopwatch, and off we went. Considering it's our first Small Animal prac, it was introductory as expected, and then some of us went into a small conference room to talk about cases. Though we had a very nice vet/lecturer conducting the talk, overall it was still quite like a blow in the face. We jumped straight into discussing some clinical case examples, and everything that we ought to have learnt but have forgotten stings. Especially when he suddenly requested for us to each give a possible cause of polydipsia/polyuria. How the hell do I remember? For the umpteenth time this week, I wish I had read more extensively.

Following an hour of that, we then proceeded to a room to palpate the hospital greyhounds. These were very docile gentle creatures, and they were standing there patiently for us to prod them all over and manoveur their body parts around. Anyway, a lady vet then went through the steps of proceeding with a normal physical examination, and basically I just can't remember them all, cuz she went through it so fast. I suppose they expect us to know these things already. The poor dogs.. each of us were just tugging at their skin here and there trying to find the lymph nodes. Somehow I feel, that perhaps everyone was just learning the skill of touching somewhere and then go "ahh.. yeah, yep, I think i feel it" with the right expression on the face to accompany that.

When u think about it.. 2 years seem pretty short. While all these skills have not been acquired yet, the general impression is that we OUGHT to have already picked up somewhere. which may be true for certain people but surely not everyone.

Unlikely paradise

2006-02-23T20:04:00.000+08:00

My neighbourhood is huge and beautiful!! I only just realised it, after taking a jog around my house for the first time since I'm back in Perth. My original plan was to get a better idea of where my home lies in the maze of houses in this new suburb, because I don't even have a map of my neighbourhood.. yes, that is how new this area is. The road on which I'm now standing on is not even listed in the 2005 street directory. Right now I only have 2 neighbours on this road, with a few others under construction, and some up for rent. I must say, the landscape designers are good.. I found this very pretty lake in the midst of the neighbourhood and to top it off, it was at sunset when I chanced upon it... if not for the fact that I didn't want to stop jogging, and that I was worried that I would not be able to find my way home once it gets dark, I would have stood there and enjoyed the view. No highrise buildings, nothing but one to two-storey houses in the vicinity... could definitely admire the sunset. A good place to idle when you don't have a zillion articles and books sitting at home, waiting for you to read them.

Music does me good.

2006-02-22T21:03:00.000+08:00

Today, I suddenly felt the need for music therapy. And then I found this song by Guang Liang. Somehow, he always gets to sing some songs with nice tunes and he sounds so sincere too :P. This happens to be one of them... its feel-good factor can almost rival that of 天堂... in my opinion.

歌曲：都是你

歌手：光良

谁改变了我的世界
没有方向没有日夜
我看着天这一刻在想你
是否会对我一样思念

你曾说我们有一个梦
等到那天我们来实现
我望着天在心中默默念
下一秒你出现在眼前

想念的心装满的都是你
我的钢琴弹奏的都是你
我的日记写满的都是你的名
才发现又另一个黎明

这是我对你爱的累积

And why do I need music therapy? Because the imaging lectures today are freaking me out. I don't know if it's because I let myself be easily influenced by everyone around me, but I find it really hard to be positive and upbeat right now. Everything seems like such a drag, and to think this is only the 3rd day of school. Silly, isn't it.

First day of school - 4th Year

2006-02-20T19:49:00.000+08:00

First day of school, and a start to a brand new semester. Many things have changed. Although I'm sure many of us would have been prepared for the gigantic leap to the next level in terms of the workload, I cannot help but find the semester ahead a little daunting. It's not just the sudden increase in the amount of things to read up on or the long days ahead of having to sit in the same lecture hall for hours on end. Rather...it's the aspect of suddenly having to recall and apply previously learnt knowledge to the more practical tasks assigned to us. And the warning bell just goes off in the head with "uh-oh.. i can't remember much of what I've learnt in the past 3 years". There is a sense of increased responsibility for ourselves... cannot relax and sit back anymore, not unless one wants to graduate in 2 years' time with nothing but the plain bare facts of what we're being tested on. That day of going into real practice seems scarily near... and to think that after 3 years of studying, we still feel almost as incompetent as before.

But it's definitely going to be an interesting year ahead. I foresee a lot of mistakes made and insecurities in dealing with the animals themselves. But by the end of the year pple will surely have developed more confidence with the new skills picked up.

And so, it's time to work really, really hard. I tell myself I've got everything I could possibly want, and more. No more excuses not to put in my best effort in everything I do.

Music website up at www.projmusic.com - a compilation of some songs that me and my best friend created together, and only achieved through great help from some other wonderful friends :) I cannot be more grateful.

Yay! a piece of gd luck !

2005-11-03T21:35:00.000+08:00

Finally.... we found our house!! My housemates and I had been house-hunting since two weeks ago when we received a letter out of the blue from our property agent telling us that we had to vacate the place within the next 60 days. The past 2 weeks has been kind of hellish... we were checking out average 2-3 houses a day but none could meet our "high" demands and many requirements. Our moods were constantly alternating between highs and lows as we went through the prospective houses. By this morning, honestly speaking, we were feeling really depressed, as what we had thought to be a potential place to stay yesterday turned out to be a dismal disappointment. Today, housemate B found an ad placed on the Western Australian classifieds, and we made an appointment to see this house which is somewhat near our current location but much further from school than we would have liked. Maybe it was because we're desperate, or maybe it's because we went with little expectations... but the place seems perfect for us! Now, for the next few days, there's gonna be a mad rush to move before our exams start end of next week. I just want to get it over and done with SOON!!!!!

Current update

2005-10-19T09:24:00.000+08:00

Hello, I'm back. Been neglecting this blog for so 'long' that it's really difficult to even think about getting into momentum again. Not to mention there's no easy way out of simply putting photographs of my cat, for there's no need to.. since Misha simply looks just as cute as he did when he first came ;P I still think he's the most adorable animal in the world.. ok, maybe my housemates' cat Baki ties with him for first place. Just a cat fact that I discovered the other day, while studying Vet. Parasitology. Anyway, there was this particular parasite called "Aelurostrongylus abstrusus" and I decided to google "Aeluro-" to find out what it means. Apparently, that word = cat, in Greek. Therefore, you can tell people that you are an aelurophile in future if you have a fondness, or love for cats. Or you could be an aelurophobe (someone who has a morbid fear of cats), or perhaps you'll like to explore the realms of aeluromancy (divination or prophecy by observing a cat's manner of jumping ?!?!?) . I should just go and learn Greek next time.

So yeah. This semester has flown by in a flash and now it's only a month away to flying home for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to it... I can't believe that I've been away for a year. The duration that I've stayed away seems long, yet, not quite. I don't feel as though I've changed, but then everyone else around me has. Most of my friends have made the transition from uni to working life this year, and much as I would really like to meet them and catch up on news, I am apprehensive to whether we'll still be able to talk with the same wavelengths. BUT! I am probably worrying too much, as usual. It is not as if that is something within my control, isn't it? I would really love to see my old friends again anyhow, and meeting up with my "ya-ya-sisterhood". Then there's a Japanese vet friend coming to visit in early December, my eldest sis returning home shortly after I do, and couple weeks of attachment to do (yippee....ya rite). And then there's that free available IN TUNE piano sitting around at home to play and write some tunes with.. see, life only gets better!

The only thing that spoiled the prospect of looking forward to going home, is that my housemates and I are being evicted from our currently rented house. And such a piece of news came out of the blue. Rental prices have gone up as well, I foresee it's going to be couple of distressing and worrying weeks ahead. We have to find a place to move to before our exams, as we are leaving almost immediately after. The few places we've checked out are pretty bad... for instance, who uses spotted bricks in their homes? We were standing outside of one particular house the other day, and were trying to figure out what on earth were those black tarry spots on the bricks... one of our guesses was that someone had been smoking and left cigarette marks on the walls. Or perhaps it was black fungi. I thought it looked more like bits of chewing gum left over for a long long time it had turned black. Anyway. I just wish for a wonderful house to drop down from the sky now and land in front of us......

City to Surf - First timer

2005-08-28T14:40:00.000+08:00

City to Surf is a charity run held annually, and this year I decided to join in the 4km event. It was not the first time that I had heard of this running event, but every year I would find some excuse or another to get out of it. Initially it was K who told us about it, when he ran 12km two years ago. Inspiring as it was, I could not forsee myself running 12km, but maybe in future, who knows? Anyway, I thought it would be good to experience the adrenaline (epinephrine!) of running in a group (No doubt my adrenoceptors are getting a good workout this weekend especially when I panicked for Monday's pharmacological test).

And indeed, it was a unique feeling... of AMAZEMENT at all the people sprinting off like crazy once the starting horn blew and the kids whizzing past me like they had all the energy in the world. of FRUSTRATION when I could not push myself to run faster in order to conserve energy to run throughout... as I had not mastered how to distribute my energy evenly through the distance. of HUMILITY through having to accept that I have leaps and bounds to improve if I wanted to run like these people. Then it suddenly occured to me that running is a bit like life, isn't it? Everyone paces themselves differently, and we cannot always thrive on comparing our speed of growth and development with someone else's. If we want to move forward, we can only do with our own efforts. Nobody can force us off track for good... if we are blocked, all we have to do is to be flexible and find a way around our obstacle(s). We won't get anywhere by just planning and thinking; instead we need to just set ourselves in the right direction and take the first few steps before letting momentum carry us off on our journey. There is no distance that cannot be covered, no destination unreachable. We limit ourselves with psychological barriers, which if overcome, can release our ability to achieve anything we want.

I've always envisioned long-distance runners to be incredibly strong mentally. We can all learn a thing or two from running, n'est-ce pas?

Early start to Half Way Day!

2005-08-26T03:16:00.000+08:00

Having gathered at the carpark to wait for the chartered bus that will fetch us to the hotel for breakfast, we arrived only to join in the photo-snapping frenzy that seemed to have infected everyone.

Nuns galore! It's amazing how a theme of "halfway to heaven, halfway to hell" could have produced this many nuns. I deduce it's a state of purity and peace that everyone desires to attain, once in a lifetime, men and women alike. Notice there's someone out of place here?

The photo taking doesn't stop even after we have reached our breakfast destination.

Let me explain. It's pretty self-explanatory really, but how it came about is a mystery (to me). Our vet halfway day marks the point in time of our 5 years where we would have finished half of our course. Truthfully be told, it's probably signifies the end of heaven and the beginning of hell. Perhaps that's why our chosen theme for this year was "Halfway to heaven, halfway to hell" ?

Misc pics of the Winter Dinner

2005-08-26T03:04:00.000+08:00

Shades of grey between black and white

Taken by a professional photographer, who helped to "place" us in such a layout.

More good memories

2005-08-26T02:19:00.000+08:00

Maybe flowers have that effect on me? *shrug* :)

Table shot, + 2 extras!

Who's red with happiness?

It would be a pity not to be able to show off our hairdos, and so we did

Comprising most of the year 3 vet students that we could find that night. See, so many mei2 nu3 in our vet class.

The dessert wasn't that good, so we had to do something to convince ourselves otherwise ;P

The strange things people do when they've lost some inhibitions... not all of it, yet...

Fun memories

2005-08-17T00:03:00.000+08:00

We look good, don't we? hehe

Whatever the event, we always take a Stellfox (our house) photo ;)

Brian and Kelvin. I must say they look good that night.

This picture was taken pretty much after 20-25 minutes of drinking, thus accounting for the colour change in Brian's face. Apparently the girls' makeup foundation is really strong. I could never have avoiding turning red in the face otherwise. Weird attempt to be coy.

The "stuck-together girls" photo. We wanted to do a different pose so I suggested hugging one another. Unfortunately, my hair really did get tangled up with Lydia's hair, and we spent the next few minutes after taking the shot trying to remove ourselves from each other! Ok, it might be amusing for others, but pretty embarassing at that point of time.

Prelude to Tipsy event

2005-08-16T23:17:00.000+08:00

Two Saturdays ago, a bunch of us Singapore vet students attended the annual Vet Winter Dinner. As expected, it was a classy event, being held in a hotel ballroom in the city. Honestly speaking, although we had already made the decision to attend the dinner 2 months back before the end of last semester, I didn't really give it much thought till few days before the event. I guess I just thought of it as a second "prom", and I just wanted to go and experience what it's like in Australia as compared to Singapore, and of course, have some fun with my friends. But then, the excitement and hype about dressing up and makeup finally got to me when William's dad, who does makeup professionally, flew down a day before the event and helped us with our hair and makeup. Thanks to his impressive skills, I think I looked better than what I did for prom 5 years ago! Face was still as white, but I guess that can't be helped. He did the makeup/hair for most of the girls in our group, and so, helped build up the excitement as we gathered at our house before setting off...

2005-07-30T01:39:00.000+08:00

Recently, I got into a car "accident". I'm reluctant to use the word "accident" because I wouldn't term it that way. It was simply a "miscalculation" on my part that I scratched the car of XXX while I was backing my car out of my garage. Anyway it turned out that the owner of the car, XXX, wld like the car re-spraypainted, refitted, and re-adjusted, and all that comes up to $340. What really bothers me is, is all that worth it for a scratch like this?

Over time, I've come to realise that perhaps I'm biased. Perhaps I should not judge others by my own standards. Personally, I would not have requested for such bold claims from anyone who caused such a minor scratch, but I cannot expect others to hold similar views.

I do not really want to dwell on this matter anymore but I'm tired of explaining to people that it's only a 1cm scratch. People can tell me I'm stupid for agreeing to pay the amount requested, or say that I should just pay and forget about it. I don't care anymore. There's probably no right way to go about dealing with this. It just revolves around the issue of how much one would want to protect oneself, and how much one is willing to give in to avoid conflict. Sigh.

Cats at play

2005-07-28T23:06:00.000+08:00

Playing in the bathroom

The curtain is a favourite spot for hide and seek between the two cats

Baki stuck in the gap between the wall and the bed

Ball of fur in the bathroom

Sudden fascination by the TV

Play biting

Trip to Swan Valley, or was it not...?

2005-07-27T14:42:00.000+08:00

Day after the steamboat, we wanted to take a trip up to Swan Valley, just for fun. Only it turned out that we hardly spent any time visiting the wineries, and found ourselves in the Midland market choosing beads to make earrings (?!?) and ended our day at the Margaret River chocolate factory eating chocolate fondue till we were sick and had to be shooed from the place at closing time. I guess we weren't that serious about buying wine in the first place... we had wine tasting at every winery we stopped but found most of them too dry. Honestly I think it reflected that we weren't that great wine-drinkers in the first place... or is it just too much of a coincidence that we all prefered the sweeter tastes of white wine?

2005-07-27T14:35:00.000+08:00

We had a steamboat dinner the week before school started to mark the welcoming of our new housemate, Wan Hon. Fine dining right at home :)

Series of cats photos

2005-07-27T14:18:00.000+08:00

This is Baki, the cat belonging to my housemates Valerie and William. Isn't he cute? I didn't realise what a nice effect his reflection in my window would make. Now if only that scratching post wasn't there...

Misha sleeping on my table by the window. I love the way their eyes slit up an an angle.

Baki at my window, again. Before I had Misha, I never knew that cats love sitting by the window so much. Just being around him helped fine-tune my hearing senses... now I'm so much more aware of the chirp of a bird or bark of a dog from a distance.

2005-07-14T08:23:00.000+08:00

Cross-eyed and dazed from watching TV... he totally ignored me for the next 10 minutes

Winter Holidays here in Perth

2005-07-13T23:03:00.000+08:00

It's been quite a while since I last wrote. At one point of time I guess I really wanted to leave it at that. Then Misha came along and made me want to tell the whole world about my cat.

Three weeks have gone by since the start of the holidays, and very soon it will be over and it will be back to school. I envision this upcoming semester to be more eventful than the last - there's the annual vet Winter Dinner which a couple of us have signed up for, and the Halfway-Day event for which we have raised money (to buy beer) just to be able to celebrate the halfway point into our vet school days. And hopefully, some of us vet Singaporean students would be able to go on a short trip somewhere together, since we have never travelled together before, and will probably become too busy when fourth year comes along. Not to mention we just have a new housemate moving in this Saturday, and holding a garage sale on Sunday. This weekend is going to be busy.

I'm real glad that I stayed behind this school hols. Despite not being able to fly back to Singapore to meet some friends who have graduated, I felt that at long last, I have managed to do something different. It has been fun with my housemates around. During a particular dessert session, a major blackout occured in the neighbourhood and we brought out all our candle holders and lit all the tealights to create the lovely picture above. Our house never looked more romantic ;P It was so nice that even when the lights returned, we switched them off and admired them just for a bit longer. I've realised that they have helped me a lot, particularly when I met into some trouble when I scratched somebody's car while backing out of my garage and oh gosh, the story just goes on... and also in the acquiring of a cat. I really, really appreciated all that support.

Speaking of my cat, Misha, he is sooooooo so so cute. Yep, it's a HE, despite the feminine-sounding name. Misha was born on the 21st December 2004 to Ragdoll and Russian Blue parents owned by a Polish family here in Australia. The day prior to meeting him, I went to RPSCA and the cat haven shelter to source out their cats. But none of them were as perfect as Misha, whose details I obtained from the local classified ads. I had to drive 45 minutes away just to check him out at his previous home, and on my way there I had thought I would take a look at the cat and give myself a day to think about it if possible. However, that thought just flew from my mind... he was so adorable! Well, he was a little shy, as I was informed by his owners, especially with strangers. I thought I could probably get over that. When Brian and I brought him into the car, he just went crazy and scratched Brian in the arm. Luckily, he settled down when we stuck him in a box, else that would definitely have seemed longer than the 45 minutes it took us to get there.

On the first day, Misha just hid under my bed all day and only came out to eat and defaecate in his litter tray. During the entire night I simply couldn't sleep... cuz he was checking out the entire room and mewing through the night, which got me really worried. On the second day, he started coming out from under my bed more frequently and we brought him to the vet to be checked and vaccinated. He was surprisingly good about it, except the part where my housemate Val had to drive him from under the bed with a metal pole so that I could catch him and put him in his carrier bag. By the third day, he had already begun to sit on my bed whenever I wasn't in the room, and then he discovered a favourite spot sitting by the windowsill. On the fourth day, Misha started sitting around and on the table, especially on top of my laptop. We socialized him and Baki that very night and they seemingly got on ok... we were expecting more violent interactions between the two cats. By the fifth day, he started to allow me to stroke him without him running away or retreating in fear. Today, the sixth day, I can finally touch him with ease and carry him without him protesting... he has become quite the attention seeker! I was trying to write my emails earlier on today but he just sat around and mewed at me till I gave him the physical attention he craved. He is just so cuddly now. Over the last few nights, he came to sit at my feet while I was in bed, but I was so tired I fell asleep immediately, and probably kicked him off without realizing it =P

I admit, I am now obsessed about cats. Please don't mention cats to me if you do not want me to launch into a long speech about Misha =)

2005-07-13T21:29:00.000+08:00

Misha

2005-07-13T21:17:00.000+08:00

I would like to introduce to everyone my new Darling - Misha.

Misha stands for "Bear" in Russian. I did not give this funky name but it was given to him by his Polish family who reared him from a kitten along with the rest of his litter mates.

Now he is the "centre of my life", so you can bet more stories to come =)

laptop problems

2005-06-20T09:26:00.000+08:00

Looks like I'll be disappearing from the Internet for a while, which is not much of a loss considering how infrequently I update my blog. My computer has finally decided that it has suffered enough abuse from me and now it has totally crashed on me. There were signs, of course, which I noticed but chose to ignore. Despite having tried to reformat it three times in the brief hope of starting our "relationship" anew, it would't complete the reformatting process each time and would shut down having detected a "kernal_data_inpage error". Ok, I admit, I have totally no idea what that is. The people at the Murdoch IT helpdesk weren't of any help either (so maybe I feel slightly better for being ignorant?) and told me to have my hardware checked at a computer repair shop. When I asked where I could bring my laptop for repair, they couldn't give me a satisfactory answer, or even the name of ONE computer store in the vicinity! Where have all the computer hardware experts gone to?

So as it is, I do not even have an operating system on my laptop now. More things to do after my exams :_(

Help.

Dare to Dream

2005-06-05T00:22:00.000+08:00

As inspired lately by my friend Nokoso's broadening of horizons during her Germany trip, I decided to check out the IVIS website in an attempt to keep myself more up to date with world veterinary events. The first link that I clicked led me to the website for the 28th World Veterinary Congress held in Minneapolis, July 2005. For some reason, just idly browsing through the itineries and programs they offer for vet students and practising vets was enough to make me feel pretty excited... but also a little frustrated. Because I realise that the U.S. is THE PLACE to be, even for a field like veterinary science. All the major events are held there, and just by looking at a few itinery pages, it is obvious that they offer SO SO SO much. It just makes me wish I had, somehow, managed to perservere and graduate with a biology degree in the U.S. and move on to get a vet degree after that. But I do not want to look back now, or regret any decision I had made. Cuz I don't believe that there is only one right path to take on my journey. Surely, I can focus on the benefits of an early graduation and make up for some lost opportunities?

Now, if only air tickets from Australia to America is waaaayyyy much cheaper than it currently is..............maybe I can aim to attend the 2006 WVC... Better still, why don't they hold it in Australia?

2005-05-08T21:45:00.000+08:00

Now she's ready to go sailing

2005-05-08T21:43:00.000+08:00

Too small a hat for my "brainy" guinea pig

2005-05-08T21:41:00.000+08:00

That's how Scooters will look when she gets older

2005-05-08T21:39:00.000+08:00

Let's be all girly

2005-05-08T21:38:00.000+08:00

That's my slipper

2005-05-08T21:37:00.000+08:00

Cute ain't she?

2005-05-08T21:35:00.000+08:00

I hope Scooters like flowers

Dolling up my guinea pig

2005-05-08T21:31:00.000+08:00

Next, I wanted to use the remaining battery life to take some photographs of my own guinea pigs. So I picked Scooters to be my subject.

2005-05-08T21:28:00.000+08:00

Chimes and Toci

2005-05-08T21:26:00.000+08:00

Toci

2005-05-08T21:25:00.000+08:00

Chimes and Toci

2005-05-08T21:24:00.000+08:00

Chimes

2005-05-08T21:21:00.000+08:00

Chimes and Toci

2005-05-08T21:20:00.000+08:00

Chimes and Toci

2005-05-08T21:19:00.000+08:00

2005-05-08T21:17:00.000+08:00

Chimes

2005-05-08T21:10:00.000+08:00

Chimes

2005-05-08T21:09:00.000+08:00

Chimes

2005-05-08T21:07:00.001+08:00

2005-05-08T21:07:00.000+08:00

Chimes in our dead *ahem* backyard

2005-05-08T21:05:00.000+08:00

Irresistible Chimes :)

In the mood for ANIMALS

2005-05-08T20:56:00.000+08:00

Perhaps it's because I've been spending the last few days sorting out my old photographs from the past 5 years, but I suddenly felt like pursuing an old dream of mine - to shoot photographs of animals. That is why, when I learnt that Kelvin will bringing his dog Chimes for a socialization activity with Brian's friend's dog Toci, I knew I wanted to tag along and take pictures of the dogs at play.

I'll be putting some of my favourite pictures up here :)

It's a lifestyle, not a career

2005-05-06T23:26:00.000+08:00

Yesterday during our break, there was a career talk "Life of an equine surgeon" given by Dave Murphy. Talks like these are rare, so off we went to listen to what he had to say. Man, was he humorous, especially when he gave us an account of one of his first few disastrous consultations with strange animals like gerbils. Meanwhile, I've always known that as vet students, what we learn in school is nothing compared to the valuable experiences gained during the first few months of practice immediately following graduation. Yet, everytime I attend these talks, the magnitude of our inexperience and "vulnerability" just hits me, and it's scary to realize that we're so poorly equipped even after studying for 5 years in this school. I was shocked to learn from my friend today that we're not going to be practising much surgery even in our 4th and 5th years, because there just aren't anything much for us to practise on, other than dead material. A minority of us might have friends who conveniently have pets requiring a free castration/spay when the time comes, but not many of us are going to be that lucky, I think.

Back to the topic of the career talk yesterday. I thought he was probably going to tell us what it's like to be an equine surgeon. But what we got out of it exceeded my expectations, for, in general, he tried to convey to us what we can expect out of our careers, be it equine or small animal or something else. His ideas are VERY inspiring. Some valuable words that I remember in particular was that, to be a vet is "a lifestyle, not a career". Which means that if we expect a 9 to 5 job, we can't be more wrong. That doesn't particularly bother me, because I guess I had always known that, and I don't seem to place much emphasis on a stimulating personal life as of now. Some student in the audience then asked him a question which was on our minds, as to how relationships and family commitments fit into the whole picture of being a vet. I can't recall what his exact reply was, other than the idea that we'll be lucky if we can find someone who's willing to travel with us to the other end of the world! To put simply, relationships can be difficult, till one has really settled down. Upon graduation, due to our inexperience and lack of exposure, we really need all the time and opportunities to "play around" with till we are sure of what it is that we exactly want to do. Research? small, mixed or large animal practice? Specialization in a particular type of animal or a certain expertise in a body part? Wildlife? Production systems of farm animals? Drugs? The opportunities are limitless. I have to thank Dave for once again opening our eyes to the multitude of possibilities awaiting us, especially those of us who have not quite decided yet. Oh wait, what was I talking about? That's right, relationships. I'm sure that Dave didn't mean to be discouraging, but the implications cannot be denied... it DOES matter to most people who want the best of both worlds... a family AND a career. Can we really have both and still excel in what we do? Not only is the matter of time and commitment a problem, but can we find others who truly accept what we do without the slightest bit of deterrance? Yesterday, Val and I were talking to a guy we met at our Lindy Hop class, and it was just as plain as day to me how disturbed he was when we were discussing some of the tasks that faced the vet students. His whole body literally went into spasm in order to exaggerate his disgust for the dissections that we have to do. Hopefully he's just an exception, but I seriously doubt it cuz I've had similar reactions from friends before. Some people can tolerate a clear distinction between work and relationships, but not me. If I work with animals whom I love, then how will I be able to live my life with someone who sees it merely as a job and doesn't show an appreciation for what I love?

I think I may be getting carried away by my thoughts :P

A link to a cute picture

2005-05-05T17:11:00.000+08:00

I bookmarked GrowABrain website a long time ago, and was just compelled to revisit it again today. Clicked on a particular link and up come this really cute picture. Try it. It's simply too adorable to be resisted. Guess it's going to be my wallpaper for a while :)

Pigs stink, so I stink

2005-05-04T20:06:00.000+08:00

If anyone ever thought that vet students act like a stuck-up, hoity toity bunch, I would recommend the following therapy: visit the vet students at their weekly pig prac class. The only thing that would be stuck-up is the thermometer the students each have up the pigs' asses, while they waddle around on crouched legs in a desperate attempt to keep the thermometer up there. Honestly, there is no dignity left. Maybe there is a reason why there are not many accounts written by students on their vet school life. Sheer embarassment probably?

I'm not putting down the activities that we have to do for our pig prac today, however. I think it's kind of fun, in a way, if not for the time constraints. And of course it is absolutely necessary to learn how to draw blood from the pigs both from the veins in their big flappy ears and the jugular vein. Now if only they would stop screaming the shed down. It sounds just like Jurassic Park whenever they do that. Someone should seriously think about changing what most people deem to be the sound that pigs make - pigs don't OINK. They SCREAM. They GRUNT and SNORT, if they're in a more accomodating mood. There is absolutely nothing in their "speech" that remotely resemble an OINK. When I see and hear them screaming, I feel like doing the same myself.

There came a point this afternoon when we had to draw the blood from the vena cava of the weaners. Horrors never cease, when I felt my needle hitting something SOLID within the chest cavity. The initial conversation that followed:

me (to K): Did you hit something hard before you drew blood just now?
K: Yeah, I think so. At first.
me: Oh my gosh, it's disgusting....ew..Is that supposed to happen?
K is unsure. and I continued piercing the needle into something that had the feel of "cartilage".

Later did we realise, upon finally mastering the right angle at which to insert the needle, that I was probably hitting the spine or something ( hopefully it's not the trachea), and no it was not supposed to happen. I hope I haven't punctured anything serious in that little pig. I'm definitely not proud of this, but my point is that I felt we are clueless, partly because there was only one ole' Buddle guy walking around. Maybe the whole point of the exercise is to learn by trial and error. But still, couldn't the learning process be less painful for the pigs if we were given clearer instructions at least?

Exam Timetables are Out!

2005-05-02T13:21:00.000+08:00

I must really be looking forward to the end of semester if I'm that eager to know when my exams finish! Well, the nightmare starts on the 13th and end on the 21st June. It's quite a relief to find out that they do space out our vet exams quite nicely this time round. This upcoming break holds infinite possibilities, since I don't know what I'll be doing then yet... but I shan't worry about something that is not even remotely within my control :)

First of May

2005-05-01T11:07:00.000+08:00

First of May - BeeGees

When I was small, and christmas trees were tall,
We used to love while others used to play.
Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Some one else moved in from far away.

Now we are tall, and christmas trees are small,
And you don’t ask the time of day.
But you and i, our love will never die,
But guess we’ll cry come first of may.

The apple tree that grew for you and me,
I watched the apples falling one by one.
And I recall the moment of them all,
The day I kissed your cheek and you were mine.

When I was small, and christmas trees were tall,
Do do do do do do do do do...
Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Some one else moved in from far away.
------------------------------------------------------

No, I have not waited patiently for this day so that I could post a song on the date itself.
No, the lyrics do not have any special meaning to me.
But yes, I love the tune to this song, and that sparked off my curiosity for the lyrics.

It's just a little sad, to recognize that time will continually pass us by, and it's even sadder to realize that we just have to let go of the past and live in the present instead. This month of May marks the moment when all of my friends in the US and Singapore will be graduating at last. It affects me to some extent, although there is no reason for it to.

Dogs as a diagnostic tool for cancer?

2005-04-21T07:12:00.000+08:00

I've just discovered the perfect reason to own a dog! All dog lovers out there: rejoice! If dogs could sniff out cancer from urine samples with a reasonably high statistical accuracy, as is indicated in this article, what more miracles can these furry creatures bring to our miserable existences?

Of course, I cannot imagine some paranoid human owning a trained-in-sniffing dog just for the purpose of identifying any self-threatening disease...

I want my shetland sheepdog :(

Goat Anatomy quiz

2005-04-21T07:00:00.000+08:00

As I was surfing idly early morning to escape from the reality of studying for my microbiology test, I came across this goat anatomy quiz. Try it, you might find that you'll have learnt something new today if at least one anatomy term sticks in your memory. I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't get all right.

Stressed... for the time being

2005-04-20T20:19:00.000+08:00

I never thought I would admit being stressed out over something as minor as a string of tests, but as I flipped through the pages of my Animal Nutrition reader just now and just simply could not find the pages on Vitamin B12, I started to panic. It's better now, because I just found it while waiting for these "create new post" page to load! It's ridiculous. I always try to keep my sanity by telling myself that I've been through worse... and emerged unscathed even though I've studied less.

When I looked through the questions that came out in the past year Nutrition test, I thought to myself, that I would be a very knowledgable, happy and satisfied girl by the time I'm done with studying all these vitamins and minerals. Provided that I'm able to answer all those questions off the top of my head. There's simply too much information to absorb at one go! Not to mention the essay that I had wanted to tackle before starting my test revision is UN-DOABLE. What kind of lecturer would give an essay question on "Histopathology: Witchcraft or sensitive diagnostic technique? " Ok, so now I do realise that the witchcraft part of the question is not meant to be taken seriously at all, but I cannot start an essay having scattered, meaningless material to begin with. Sigh.

Think I shall attempt to go and make myself comfortable at the library with no choice but to study the material placed in front of me. Would anyone be kind enough to lock me in a bare room with nothing but the essentials so that I cannot leave on impulse?

2005-04-15T22:33:00.000+08:00

This is the lovely woman Jane. As Lydia says, she has the beauty and grace of that of a willow tree.

2005-04-15T22:32:00.000+08:00

That's me on Chiko. He's way too small for me to ride, but I got on him all in good fun and because Dane said I wouldn't squash him to death.

2005-04-15T22:31:00.000+08:00

Isn't the sky beautiful? The photo would have been more perfect had it only been the horse in the picture

2005-04-15T22:27:00.000+08:00

That's me hoof-picking. It's no joke when you think about the strain placed on the lower back every day.

2005-04-15T22:25:00.000+08:00

Brushing Laddie on my last day

2005-04-15T10:24:00.000+08:00

This is Katie, my favourite horse. Notice her trademarks - a cut tail, and a roman nose which made her look as though she's Chinese.

2005-04-15T10:23:00.000+08:00

Finally some response from Milly.

2005-04-15T10:22:00.000+08:00

Milly, the dog, bo-chap me

Mirravale Riding School - Day 6

2005-04-14T21:52:00.000+08:00

Second last day here, and am I looking forward to going home in Perth, even if it's only a rented home. I guess it's knowing that there is a personal space for you out there, where u can do anything u want without fearing of being judged by anybody but yourself. I'm happy that I ended up doing my "farm attachment" with Lydia, for I thoroughly enjoyed all the talks we shared when we were merely sitting around and feeling bored.

I love the horses and the ponies, but I think I will never be able to support one on my own. I'm quite happy that I do not desire having a horse of my own, unlike so many kids who are learning to ride. There is this girl around the age of 12, who works here in order to save up to buy her own horse. That is an admirable dream, but one that I guess I will never understand since I have not been placing horse-riding as one of my favourite major activies of my life ever since I was a kid, unlike them. To me, a city-dweller, going to all that trouble just to place a further burden on yourself is impractical. Can I still be considered a true animal lover? It's different from having cats and dogs, I think. These small animals can live under the same roof, but a horse can't. One has to drive miles to see your horse in some stable far away, only to enjoy at most a 2 hour ride together. Is it worth it? And why do I continue to assess worthiness simply by the returns I can get out of things? Why does my mentality have to revolve around practicality, when it can choose to believe in passion instead?

Horses are smart creatures. They are said to be able to sense fear in humans around them. If you allow them to bully you once, they pick it up quickly and will continue to push you around. Over the past week, I think I have more or less learnt to behave more assertively around them, and have lost my fear of being kicked by horses. After all those stories that I have heard from workers at Mirravale, there is no big fuss to be made over injuries that arise due to handling horses, as long as they aren't serious. I now understand that falling off a horse does not always mean broken bones, head concussions or paralysis. It can even be said that injuries are likely to be common, but what matters most is that you pick yourself up again and laugh the matter off. Horse people always have stories to share among themselves, and some of that include tales of being kicked by a certain horse or falling off because the horse suddenly reared. But to them, it is all part and parcel of working in this line, and despite the risks, they love what they do.

2005-04-14T09:42:00.000+08:00

Lydia managed to capture a picture of Finbar peeing. I admit that I was partly responsible for talking her into it. I guess, we as humans are "sick" at times. Why we are fascinated by the way other animal species pee continues to baffle me.

2005-04-14T09:41:00.000+08:00

Picture taken with Terri before we said our farewell to her. She's a good sport, and is always very encouraging even when we make all sorts of mistakes.

2005-04-14T09:39:00.000+08:00

Terri doing up the stirrups on a chesnut horse.

2005-04-14T09:38:00.000+08:00

More on Apollo. I know no other way of hugging a horse I like other than this. ;P

2005-04-14T09:37:00.000+08:00

This, in contrast, is Apollo, a dark bay standardbred.

2005-04-14T09:35:00.000+08:00

More on Laddie and me, but don't I look silly with a "curry pok" on top of my head? I had to resort to using Lydia's pins to stop my hair from falling all around my face.

2005-04-14T09:33:00.000+08:00

This is Laddie, one of the smallest ponies around the place. Has got quite a sweet nature.

Mirravale Riding School - Day 5

2005-04-13T21:10:00.000+08:00

I guess I'm just not fated to have a hot shower at this place. The water crisis is finally resolved, so after a long day of work, we were prepared to enjoy a hot shower at last. But what awaited me was half a hot and half a chillingly cold shower. Apparently the gas ran out while I was having my shower.

I had a wierd dream last night, which was not surprising, considering how many times both me and Lydia wake up in the middle of the night since we got here. I dreamt that I was to choose between Brad Pitt (the bad guy in my dream) and Tom Cruise(the good guy, only, in the dream he was under the name of Mark), who were fighting for my attention. Then, the dream turned to the topic of my guinea pigs, who started multiplying like crazy for no apparent reason. And then there was this computer program attached that predicted they will continue to reproduce 500 babies if unstopped.

Lydia was calling home and her bf outside our room as usual, when she suddenly came in tonight and asked me to hurry outside to look at the stars. What an amazing view. Within two minutes, we witnessed two shooting stars. It's a pity that I know nuts about astronomy. I'm sure I could have a thousand-fold appreciation for the night's beauty if so.

2005-04-13T09:10:00.000+08:00

Jane's horse riding lesson in progress.

2005-04-13T09:07:00.000+08:00

"Snoods", or however they are spelled. I mentioned earlier that there were to be placed around the muzzles of the horses to prevent them from eating on their trail rides. After we wash these, we hang them up to dry before their next use.

Jane's house

2005-04-13T09:05:00.000+08:00

In the lovely house resides a lovely person.

2005-04-13T09:04:00.000+08:00

Helmet Room - fits all shapes and sizes, regardless of the contents inside (or the lack of it)

2005-04-13T09:03:00.000+08:00

Tack Room - on the left are the saddles, and to the right are the bridles.

Mirravale Riding School - Day 4

2005-04-12T20:40:00.000+08:00

Lydia and I went on our second trail ride today. We have advanced to riding to horses this time! Lydia rode on Apollo, while I got George. When Jane asked me to get on George I think I must have given her an incredulous look. I felt like asking her "Really? U are asking me to ride on this horse otherwise known as the badtempered crazy horse? sheesh!" But somehow I didn't say anything and just did as I was told. I felt that I wasn't in a position to make any demands. My motto right then was that I'll go along with whatever that's available. True enough, he went berserk occasionally and certainly wasn't the meek type of horse that would go trudging behind the other horses in single file. George kicked the horse behind me and the rider behind me gave me a dirty look. As if I could help it! Because Lydia was in front of me riding Apollo, who kept waiting for a bit before going into a trot, George tried very hard to keep up and started racing off at high speeds. Because he's so tall, I felt like I was on higher ground than everyone else, and I was also the one who keeps getting my head bashed into some of the taller overlying branches. It was terribly undignifying to constantly crash into trees while wobbling around on the horse back.

Water supply is back, but there is still no hot water. Things get a little miserable when you're not used to the dirt and grime on yourself, and yet knowing that there is no way of cleaning yourself thoroughly.

2005-04-12T08:38:00.000+08:00

Dane with Milly the kelpie

2005-04-12T08:35:00.000+08:00

I think I should get a degree in picking up horse shit ;)

2005-04-12T08:32:00.000+08:00

Thinking of food and acting stupid

2005-04-12T08:29:00.000+08:00

Muah Chee in the making

Mirravale Riding School - Day 3

2005-04-11T20:03:00.000+08:00

"Disaster" struck yesterday night, when we discovered there was no hot water. Possibly our little incident with the water trough could have triggered this water problem, but the real cause cannot be determined. Everyone seems affected by it, even Jane herself, who seems tired by the series of unfortunate events. Luckily for her, Jane's bf, Dane, arrived last night and he's going to be helping out here at the school for 2 whole weeks. (Btw, Jane and Dane. Is that cute or what?) Dane is also a Murdoch student but he's doing secondary teaching in the arts department.

Anyway, just when one thinks that the problem can't get any worse, today we realised that there is completely NO water at all. So today we would all have to get by without taking a shower, and tomorrow they would figure a way to fix the water shortage. We switched to using rain water for our water supply when attending to essential needs such as the cleaning of bridles and giving water to the horses.

Have I mentioned how I actually like clearing the horse shit from the saddling up shed? Usually either me or Lydia would push the wheelbarrow around, while the other one of us would use a rake to lift the piles of manure up and into the wheelbarrow. We both concluded that it reminds us of muah chee. That is exactly how it looks, coated with a thin layer of sand. I suppose we are amusing ourselves here for our own benefit, in order to maintain our sanity. Everyday the tasks and jobs are exactly the same, after disregarding the water crisis. I find it monotonous. It sounds sad if I said that we looked forward to dinner each night, but it's true, because dinner is the only thing that changes every day, so there's something to wonder about and anticipate. Jane would cook something different for us each night and we would sit around eating dinner and watching tv, not that there is ever anything gd on tv.

Jane has this silly dog called Milly, who is a kelpie true to its herding instincts. Crazily enough, whenever we bring a horse or two from the paddocks, it would block our paths as if to herd us back into the paddock. Thanks to Dane who suggested that we need to stop in our tracks and shoo Milly away in order to discourage her bad behaviour, I did exactly just that this morning, and Milly got so excited that he jumped up and nipped me in the thigh. I didn't take Dane's advice ever again after that.

Hoping that time would pass more quickly.

The pony paddock

2005-04-11T14:28:00.000+08:00

Using a bathtub as a water trough... now that's what I call resourcefulness.

2005-04-11T13:50:00.000+08:00

Horses all saddled up by the fence

Ponies ready for trail riding

2005-04-11T13:45:00.000+08:00

From left to right: Sophie (the pony I rode on for my first trail ride at Mirravale), Tammy, Cassy (supposedly Little Miss Fatty), and Chiko (who got his name from being cheeky apparently)

Mirravale Riding School - Day 2

2005-04-11T01:58:00.000+08:00

Given Mirravale's "ulu" location, I would not have expected the continuous stream of customers that arrive at the riding school. Perhaps that is only because it is the holidays for the Aussie kids right now. I must say that Mirravale's popularity way surpassed my expectations. This riding school caters to mainly trail rides in the Australian bush, since it is located next to a nature reserve. There are 5 rides available throughout the day, at 9am, 10.30am, 1.30pm, 3pm and 4.30 pm. Each ride is usually an hour long, but the last ride of the day, also known as the twilight ride, is an hour and a half long in duration. On some days, depending on demand, Jane would give lessons to kids at 9am as well.

Here at Mirravale, Lydia and I were expected to help the workers with their daily jobs, which include brushing, hoof-picking, saddling, de-saddling, placing and removing the bridles from the horses. At 7am, we were to feed the horses and ponies in their respective paddocks. It was not just a matter of putting hay in a stack in the middle of the paddock, but rather, it involves walking round the entire paddocks and placing each biscuit of hay in a different pile at distances apart, so that all the horses get their own pile of feed. Even horses have a hierarchy of dominance, and if the hay is laid out in a one stack, the less dominant horses would never get a chance to get to the food, and one cannot afford to have the skinny horses becoming even skinnier. And on top of the different piles of hay, we were to scatter bits of dried bread on top of the hay for extra nutrients.

After the morning feeding was done, Lydia and I were to have breakfast by ourselves, having been provided with the materials to make our own breakfast. At 8am, preparation of the 9am rides begin. According to the list of horses required for the first ride of the day, we went into the paddocks to bring in the respective horses and ponies. The difficult part of this routine wasn't to "catch" the horses, because they have already been used to the same routine every single day, but rather, to remember the different names of the horses! There were altogether 42 horses and ponies together, and there were only so many colours they can come in. Initially we could only depend on the other workers for identification of the right horses to bring in, but it can result in stressful situations, especially during times when everyone is just so busy doing their own tasks and they point off in a vague direction to which you can only hope you are getting the right message!

So, anyway, before the customers arrive, we have to bring in the horses, brush their coat, hoof-pick all that gung out of their feet, find the right saddle and bridle to put on the respective horses... there's a lot going on. When all that is done, Lydia and I would stand to one side and be ready to help whenever we can, while the other workers would go around assisting the customers onto their horses and instructing them on the necessary procedures. After everyone has set off on their trail rides, Lydia and I would pick up the horse shit around the place, get the horses in for the next ride, and begin the entire cycle of brushing, hoof-picking and saddling.

When all that is done, there is bread to be broken. Breaking bread is a skill not to be looked down upon! Jane gets a whole load of bread from the bakery in the nearby town every night, and we break the bread in the morning so that they dry up by evening time, and then we would bag the broken bread up in sacks to be fed to the horses in the morning. This is my favourite activity of the day because it's relaxing compared to the rest of the jobs.

Before long, the 9am trail ride customers would have returned and we have to make sure that each horse that is going out again for the next ride has a bucket of water placed in front of it so that there is no danger of any horse encountering dehydration. We have to take the bridles off every horse so that the kids can feed carrots, apples or bread to the horsies. If the horses are not going out again till much later, we would unsaddle them to give their backs a break, brush and hoof-pick them again, then put them out in the paddocks before washing their bridles and "snoods" (<-- net-like bags placed over their muzzle so that they will not be muching away on vegetation during their trail rides).

And so, this cycle would repeat 5 times throughout the day.

Jane told us that we could join in for a trail ride at 3pm, so we did. I rode a black pony named Sophie, while Lydia rode on a pony named Finbar. Off we went, with Terri in the lead, who is constantly checking back upon our progress. I had taken riding lessons last year, so trotting wasn't a problem for me and I thoroughly enjoyed myself whenever we went into a trot, but as for Lydia who last rode a horse when she was 9, she ended up bouncing up and down when the horses/ponies trotted, and she got a sore bum as a result. Actually, the view on the ride wasn't fantastic or anything, but there were kangaroos to be seen along the way, and I found it easy to go into a relaxed daze while ambling forward on a horse/pony. Almost therapeutic, if you're comfortable with horse-riding.

I must say, that initially, I was very afraid of hoof-picking the ponies and the horses. There was this one pony named Eddie who wouldn't stop kicking with his hind leg whenever I am working on his hind leg. My self-positioning wasn't great as well, and I ended up with sore legs trodden on by Eddie. Nothing serious though. And to make matters worse, I started recalling stories where horses turned around to nip people in the butt, and it didn't help that some of these ponies/horses do that... you'll be hoof-picking and suddenly there is a sensation of a muzzle probing around your rear end, and you start wondering if the animal is merely curious and smell-deprived, or that it is preparing itself to nip you should you not be careful.

Just to end on a funny (or rather, gross) note, horses have this tendency to fart when you have lifted either of its hindlegs. I have no idea why it does that, but it's true. Most of the time there is no accompanying sound, but occasionally there is that familiar farting sound that is both long and varying in pitch, which can crack everybody in the stable up. Lydia claims that their farts stink, but I haven't encountered any that would make me gag, so far.

Mirravale Riding School - Day 1

2005-04-10T12:40:00.000+08:00

Lydia and I decided to do a farm attachment together at Mirravale Riding School, largely due to good reviews from Val and William, who did theirs just last summer. Setting off in Lydia's car, it took us approximately 4 hours to reach Mirravale, which is located near the town of Dunsborough down south of Perth. Jane Hayter, who is charge of running this school, is indeed a very nice lady. On first contact, you can immediately sense a certain sense of gentle beauty radiating from her mannerisms. We also met Terri, who is Jane's right handed helper. Terri, in contrast, is jovial and loud, and I guess it was her outward friendliness that helped me feel "at home" more quickly than usual.

And guess what? Within the first five minutes of our arrival, as Lydia and I were moving our belongings from the car to our allocated room, I bumped into a wooden gate with my pillow and the gate just collapsed. That really shocked me.. especially since it was a pillow, for goodness sake. Terri and Jane told me not to worry about it, that it must have been rusty at the hinges from the start, but still, I find it a little difficult to dismiss the fact that I broke something so quickly on my arrival.

Anyway, basically, there were few customers today so Terri told us to hop up the back of the ute while she drove into the paddocks to check upon and clean the water troughs. There were 2 troughs that we were to clean out. The three of us managed the first trough with little trouble, and as we arrived at the second, Terri suddenly spotted some customers waiting, and took off after telling us to do exactly what we did for the first trough. Problem is, the second water trough is of a different mechanism, and we were baffled as to how to cut off the water supply so that we could bail all the water out and clean the insides of the trough. So, while we were trying to figure it out, Lydia stuck her hand into the murky water to grab hold of the water pump just like what Terri seemed to have done previously on the first... and out came part of the pump with her hand with seemingly little effort on Lydia's part. We both stared at the object in her hand, and panicked, because we didn't know if we had broken the pump, or simply removed a detachable part of the mechanism. So while Lydia tried desperately to stick something back into where she thought she had pulled it out from, I was bailing water out of the trough as fast as I could. We must have made a pretty comical sight, only that there weren't anyone to witness it (the horses, maybe?) Eventually, when it seemed like we were getting nowhere, Lydia ran off to get Terri, who returned hurriedly to our side, only to confirm our worst fears that the water pump was broken. Lydia ran off once more to get Jane, while Terri and I continued scooping water out, but Terri couldn't figure a way out to stop the water from gushing into the trough. Jane finally arrived and calmly told us to simply turn off a tap by the side of the trough. So much for all that hype and distress, but it doesn't change the fact that we broke their pump. Jane and Terri were extremely nice about the matter though.

Morale of the story is: never leave your vet students unattended on their first day. Be prepared to have parts of your property destroyed.

We need courage

2005-04-04T08:18:00.000+08:00

"Courage doesn't always roar. Courage can be the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow".

-unknown

I don't know who it was who came up with this quote, but I simply love it! Maybe because, it struck a chord in me, somehow.

2005-03-28T12:32:00.000+08:00

and so concludes the theme for our Easter potluck gathering --- "Animal Socialization"

2005-03-28T12:30:00.000+08:00

I am in love with the dog already

2005-03-28T12:29:00.000+08:00

Here's Brian who is clearly besotted with dogs

2005-03-28T12:28:00.000+08:00

We all wanted to take photos with it...

2005-03-28T12:27:00.000+08:00

Named Chimes, it's supposed to be a cross between fox terrier, blue heeler and a chihuahua, but looks like a golden retriever pup to us

2005-03-28T12:24:00.000+08:00

And there there was the pup with its new owner