Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Training, training and more training..

A lot of ppl have asked.. how much do I actually train a day? I'm into running, cycling, swimming, climbing, trekking, diving, rafting, yada yada yada. So, to repeat the question, how much do I actually train a day? To put it simple, its based on a few factors - weather, fatigue level, boredom and how much I can get myself out of my ever too comfy bed at times - in other words, it's really how I feel on that day at that moment itself. There were a few weeks that I did swimming x1hr, runningx1hr and cycling x1hr, all in a day, 5 days a week. Then, I took a week break to recuperate.. It can get exhaustingly tiring, but I just never show it out :). For those who think I never tire out ... ask some of my best mates who have seen me crash out before.. not a pretty sight, plus I tend to sleep 15 hrs straight during the weekends if I overtrained in the weekdays :) I'm not superwoman, though I do try hard to be Catwoman (she's waaaay hotter in a black cat suit - not the Halle Berry version though).. meow meow...

So this past week has been a resting week, partly I'm preparing my injured left knee for the upcoming ultramarathon on Sat night. I just want to complete it, so not into the timing strictly... It's a 84 km run.. so wish me well...and that I survive the ordeal. YY's my designated emergency contact, so... if anything happens... er...welll......

:) trudge on all, will report more on lala's life later on.... after the race :), after all, i dont expect my fingers to be incapacitated, just my hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, toes.. and my brain ...

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Accuracy Of Death

Just went to watch a new show today – Accuracy of Death – starring, the ever cutie heart throb Takeshi Kaneshiro. Interesting show, it depicts Takeshi as the Grim Reaper, who goes around judging soon-to-die ppl for 7 days, before deciding if the person should or should not expire. Even with a grave theme, the show is light-hearted and displays a poignant sentiment, in which, the Grim Reaper, even with immortality, can never understand the meaning of death as he is clueless about the meaning of living. And it is this cluelessness that Takeshi displayed very very well.

The show takes it viewers into the simplicity of Takeshi’s character as the Grim Reaper. He is as though a Junior Reaper, still new to the whole ball game, and has almost no experience in human emotions. Intertwined in the lives of 3 human characters, slowly, but surely he starts to understand what he must do, and the effects of it all can only be seen in the last character he got involved in, where he finally come to a realization of what living means. The first character, a despairing OL, learned to live again, with what little hope there is. The second featured a yakuza as the dying person, but innuendo-ly was about his sidekick, and the third character, the one that links it all together, was about a 70 year old hairdresser, who has seen it all but has one more wish to fulfill before she says goodbye.

Other Reapers were in the show too, to brighten the mood and provide somewhat of a comedic relief, and it really is fun to see them. ☺ Somehow, I really wish they were shown more in the show too.

The theme song “Sunny Day”, has a few deeper meaning to it, and to each character in the show. Only in the end however, do the audience get to hear the whole song.. sort of like to keep the suspense reined in.

Death in this show was not a sad thing, it was accepted smoothly, in which the person has finally fulfilled his purpose in life, and has no regrets in dying. Good and simple show, I would say, that would make a person think back of the things he or she has done in life.. I would give this a “watch if you want something simple” rating…

Trudge on…

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Life...

Life, a question many has pondered to but nil satisfactory answers to it. I'm sure everyone has, at one point or another asked themselves, what is the meaning of life. No one is ever happy with life all the time, and vice versa, but sometimes, I wonder, what keeps us wanting to go on, wanting to move on, and more importantly.. is it in the direction we all want it to move in?

Living in itself, is the biggest adventure of a lifetime. That's one thing I am hundred percent sure of. There's no other greatest sadness in life than to lose a loved one, and no other greatest happiness in life than to see someone you love happy. Or no better sense of achievement than when you succeed in something. And yet, as humans, we are never contented, we always have desires, and either hide it deep down to never surface up, or try to find someway to fulfill them. Weirdest of all, is that when we finally truly have something we want, we tend to find someway to "sabo" it, just to prove that we are not worth it. Ever have that "what if" thoughts, before doing something? Why then do we ever consider both sides of the coins before going ahead with anything in life? Hmm.. so, then, what do we truly want if we keep thinking we're going to fail?

Life is full of hesitations, doubts, and yet we all continue living, so do we live in a big lie after all? Sometimes, or most of the time, sadly, I do feel like I'm living a life full of lies, and that it's hard for me to be free, and be myself. I try hard to impress others, but when I ask myself if it really is what I want, I usually come up with a "no". The past few crazy trips and adventures (and other life experiences) have really taught me well enough to finally realise what I want in life.. and am now not afraid to go out and get them. I'm not afraid of changes anymore, cos it is part of living and is actually the biggest part of this adventure called "life". It's hard to handle failures at times, but I'd rather handle it face on than to think about failing before I even do it. So to any of you out there wondering where I actually got all this craaazy ideas to do craaazy things.. it's more because I don't think of the end where I fail, it's more because I dream of what will happen when I succeed, and I guess, that's where I get more energy to do more and more things :) Life in itself sux, big time, .... but you know what ;) , being alive takes the cake of being the most interesting adventure there is....

So to all out there, who needs the extra push to move on in this non-celebratory part of the year (where there is no Xmas, CNY angpows, New Year's party, etc etc etc), trudge on.. and always try new adventure there are in life.. it never stops, and so shouldn't you...

Anyways, anyone up for Rafting this June?

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

New Posting!!!

There are a few dates that are important in the medical health system in Singapore aka... dates to avoid getting sick/dates to go to private docs if you do fall sick. These dates are not very known to the public, but are some dates that all docs (esp mid level seniority docs) dread. These are the changeover dates (other then exam dates, larr). It's basically when there is a changeover of junior docs around the hospital. Last one was on the 2nd of May... where all the new House Officers/ Interns are released into the real world.. with almost no practical knowledge whatsoever, and still dreamy-eyed about how real-life doctors work.

Let me straighten a few things out first. In medical school, we are only taught THEORY stuff and PROPER BUT ALMOST UNPRACTICAL ways of examining patients. We are NOT taught how to take bloods, set IV cannulas, do wound debridements... etc etc etc ... In other words, the first time we do all these are probably on the first day of work, with minimal, if any, supervision from seniors. :) so in other words... we're very much on our own most of the time, when we first start out... yup... so all of you out there can imagine the horror that happens on the first day of work as an intern. :) so....err....not a good time to go to public teaching hospitals, larr...

But anyways, that doesn't concern me now... did that a year ago, and don't ever want to repeat it again. Now I'm in MI - Medical Informatics. It's quite a new field, and it's about managing information systems in Medicine... Can hear all the hah??? coming out now... hehe... ok, in short in means trying to merge in Medicine with IT as most doctors will alw be IT- illiterate and IT ppl have almost no idea what doctors are doing most of the time (and so do most of the doctors themselves, anyways). MI tries to bridge the gap between these two, and in short tries to prevent any breakdowns in communication and workflow processes in the hospital. So for this posting, very minimal, if none at all clinical work for me. But, I'm kinda liking it in a way,where I get to think up scenarios and play them in my head while trying to see where things can go wrong. Though I don't think I can ever beat Murphy's Laws, but at least try to minimise mistakes so that most patients will not die of some sad failure of the system.... :) The only thing I don't like so far are the late evening meetings. They usually end at 8-9pm... sigh... which then makes me too tired to do my trainings for my events. I'm still adjusting to it, so might take a while before I get into late late night exercise routines. Either that, or start waking up at 5am just to go for runs.

Well, that's all the updates for now.... still at work, testing out the new system that we're rolling out in at the end of the year. Just hope I'll survive through this posting and come out alive... :)
Well, slightly dead-ish wouldn't be too bad either... hehe

Trudge on....