Fear and Terror...

Man, the massively heavy rain, causing a flash flood, really hit Bairnsdale bad~!... ** read more about it from www.theage.com.au **


What used to be like this... *the town centre*

Is now...


Like this... The shops around Bairnsdale all stacking sandbags to prevent further damage to their property/goods.


This is the Mitchell River bridge. The river that we have to cross to get to and fro the hospital to our accomodation in Eastwood. Mitchell River alongside a few others burst their banks yesterday.

Remember a few weeks ago, when I was saying that we dined @ Lake Whadie's Cafe?!


Where the view of the valley is fantastic from the cafe?


Well, let's just say, there's no valley now... It just looks like the sea! Flood water from the Mitchell River is soooo high that I can't believe my own eyes!


Check out the traffic and the road condition on the northern part of Bairnsdale, heading towards Lucknow...! It's scaryyy!!!! I don't think I'm game enough to drive back to Bairnsdale even if the roads are opened again! The condition is just horrible!


If a house can get swept away, what's to prevent this little girl, and her little car, to be washed off by the tide, and the strong winds??

I AM TRULY SCARED TO DRIVE BACK TO BAIRNSDALE. I understand that it's my duty of care to go back to work and see my patients, but this... is... unusual. Apparently the worst flood since the 1990's.

I only hope that my friends and colleagues are okay. Addy and Clarissa had to stay in the hospital last night, cause the road back to the house was blocked. Poor girls... sighh...

Oh well, back to calling VicRoads again to enquire about the road conditions, whether they are open to public again. Or else, I won't be able to get back to work... Wish me luck!

Sue me cuz I'm vain!

After much procrastination, I finally got my haircut today! :) Feels so much better now. My hair's been feeling really flat and heavy, and the ends were starting to split. And besides, I didn't really like the highlights to begin with. Thought it was a little too blonde.


Went to a Korean hairdresser in Box Hill, as recommended by Chee Yoong and Ade. She was pretty good... Did a good job with my hair. :D She snipped off quiteeeee a lot of my hair man... :( But it's alright... it'll grow back anyways.


Recolored it to a darker shade. It's deep mahogany copper brown now... I likeeeee.... Relayered it as well...


it's really soft and light now cause she put some treatment lotion thingy on :)


Big smile on my face, big hole in my wallet. Hahahaha.

And to those who don't/can't notice the difference... Just "layan" me abit and say that it's nice k? Hahahahah... ok ok? Bleh!

I.SUPPORT.YOU.

It is true that:

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; and nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
- Thomas Jefferson.

Always believe in yourself, because then, you've already won half the battle. And of course, I'm fighting the rest of it with you.

We're Back... and broke :(

The girls drove back to Melbourne on Saturday morning... to be more specific, I drove back on Saturday morning, while Addy slept in the car. (o.O) Was supposed to start our journey around 7.30 am, but that girl only woke up at 7.40am when I banged on her door! Hahahahhaa.. Oh well, doesn't matter. we still got back before noon, which was good :) Had the whole of Saturday to shop and do stuff still... Heheheh...

Reached home, left our luggages and headed out again, for lunch. Feels so good to eat some nice Asian food again. Hahaha. Went to Chaddy to burn some holes in our pockets, and then back to The Glen (and Addy burnt more holes in her pocket) cause Jon had a haircut appointment.


Addy's new hoodie :) "Paul Frank is my friend".

Headed to Springvale for dinner cause it was really cold! I needed some nice hot soup to warm my stomach. Hehehe :) Dinner was yummo, but as usual, I couldn't finish it.


So good to see Jon again after a whole week! *HUGGGG* *SQUEEZEEE* Poor baby's been having trouble sleeping, because of the stress, AND cause I'm not around! :P Bleh...

Addy had to go back to Bairnsdale on Sunday cause she's working on Monday. Hitched a ride back with Clarissa. *Thank God you reached safely* We were quite worried about you when we were having dinner last night, cause you haven't called or anything.

We went out for lunch with Karen and Addy before she went back to Bairnsdale. Richard and his parents were around as well, so it kinda became some group outing. Hahahaha...


Ade, Karen & Mei.

Well, I'm going to get ready now, and have lunch with Jon :) Meeting him at his work place... Hehehe. *more DFO shopping for me?* and then heading to the city to get my new cardiology stethoscope! Hehehe... subsidised under CME of course. :D Yippie! Hahahaha...

Alritey, shall blog more later *since I'm on leave now* And I'm back in Melbourne! :D This is great... NOT having to work is great... Being home, is even better! Hahaha...

Recap...

This week:

* I was part of a failed resuscitation for a full arrest on my first day in ED. It was my first "Jane Doe". It was really sad, as we couldn't even contact her family members to let them know of her passing.

* I totally embarassed myself at the morgue. Had to certify a death in front of police officers, and funeral directors who have come for the body - AND MY PEN TORCH DIDN'T WORK. In the end, the police officer lent me his "big ass torch". Needless to say, everyone had a good laugh.

* Glued a little bub's forehead up, after her falling and hitting her head. Mom was totally entirely freaked out, of course.. But was very appreciative. Bub loved me, which made me really happy. *Yes, I'm good with kids*

* Intubated a patient in ED to be flown down to Melbourne.

* Sutured a man's face who got cut by a chainsaw - under local anaesthetics, in ED~! The local GP didn't want to do it, as he was concerned he had fractured his skull bones and thought he needed a surgeon.

* I had my fair dose of appendicitis that needed urgent theatre. Both my appendices were really nasty. Apparently, now I'm known to be the resident that attracts all the appendix! Right... (O.o)

* Bludged in ED, drinking tea and writing discharge summaries when it was quiet. Joked around and counted the leaks in our new Emergency Department the day it rained cats and dogs.

* Had heaps of fun plastering each other in the plaster room in ED. Was squealing and giggling when they sawed my plaster off. I absolutely couldn't tolerate the vibrating saw on my hand. Made Vlad rip the plaster cast off instead! It was hilariously anxiety provoking.

* Epistaxis on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - I'm known as the packing expert now. Hahaha.

* Sent a "constipation" home only to come back two days later as "perforated diverticulitis". Felt really crap, apologized to her. The worst part was, she was not angry, but instead, said to me "That's the way the cookie crumbles, love". I held her hand, and wished her good luck. Came home, cried, and felt like slapping myself hard on the face!

My deepest appreciation to my friends, colleagues, senior doctors who have been superbly supportive this week. Telling me that I did well, and could not have known, given her atypical presentation. I still feel bad, but at least I know it's not my fault. ( I did consult a senior doctor, I did not just send her home )

--------

My share of the good, the bad, and the ugly...

Yet, I had a great week, and am looking forward to my next week of work. Meanwhile, I'm going to be off for 6 days, and will be driving back to Melbourne tomorrow morning... :)

Nostalgic...

I haven't really written anything close to my heart recently. I know I've been writing about my travelling, yummylicious food excursions, but really, I haven't had time to really sit down, and reflect on my life until tonight.

Maybe it's because the weekend's coming. (That means I've been here in Bairnsdale for a long time!) I'm working my last ED day shift tomorrow before my 6 days off! *yippie* But I guess, being away from Jon, not having him around to always pick-me-up and cheer me up, does make a difference. Makes me revert to the person that I was... the thinker that I was. Always pondering about my life, my career, my future...

Browsing through friendster really made me miss my friends. Suddenly, I thought to myself, maybe I should have made extra effort to keep in touch with some of them. Seeing how everyone's grown up, and gone their separate ways. Most are working and successful. Some are engaged or married, and some even have kids! It really makes me feel like I haven't put much effort into "being there for you" or "being a good friend".

Browsing through some of pictures kinda made me feel that, perhaps I should have been nicer to them? That, perhaps if I wasn't the "snobby, popular girl" that I was, that I would have been more approachable and likeable? Or, perhaps... if I made an effort to salvage the friendship when we started drifting apart, that I'd still be in contact with them now... or even, be their best friend, or bridesmaid, or godmother to their children??

I couldn't help but wonder... Did my "achievements and popularity" back in school then make me a snob? I know my true friends didn't think so, and would still love me for who I am... but maybe, if I were to be a tad bit nicer to the others, would I be in their life now?

Perhaps, I could fix things now that I realise they are "broken"?

OR... Is it too late to find out?

To those that I might have offended in the past, I'm truly sorry.

** I wish I could attend the reunion - just because. Once a BBGSian, always a BBGSian **



BBGS - We pledge to thee.

*** Don't think you can spot me, but I was right at the back, and had my hand raised up. ;) Yup, that's me ***

Seafood Overdose!

Tonight, the girls decided not to eat the "free" eeky dinner provided by the hospital, but to be adventurous and drive out to Metung after the heavy rain yesterday... *keeping our fingers crossed that the roads are not blocked cause of the flood. We were lucky enough to get to Metung, only to find that the water level at the river and the sea was reallllyyyyy higggghhh...

It was pretty scary really! It felt like we were literally driving next to the sea on a narrow one lane road, and the waves were gonna hit us any minute. Addy was like "OH MY GOSH, I better drive carefully, or else my car will end up in the sea!" BUT, it was quite tremendous at the same time, cause we were sort of on the same level with the yachts, like... right next to them :) How cool was that??

I couldn't really snap any pics cause it was really dark... :(

I digress, but back to the point... we got to the Metung Hotel, a waterfront restaurant, for seafood, seafood, and more seafood! :) To our disappointment, they weren't serving their seafood platter tonight!!!!! :( :( I was so devastated, I nearly died! Hahah, not really.

So we settled for something else instead...


I had the chilli prawn pasta... Clarissa ordered the same thing too.
It was spicier than I thought! Cause when you actually go to a restaurant and it says "chilli" on their menu, it's usually pretty lame, but this was goood!!!! It was really yum! Chilli, spring onions, topped with a tinge of lemon :P HHmMmMmM...

Needless to say, I licked my plate clean! **well, I didn't literally lick it, of course**


Addy had the baked whole baby snapper. The snapper was really fresh! The meat was tender and sweet, it was perfect yummylicious!


Happy, contented, stuffed Mei, and smiley Clarissa... Gosh, I look so tired in the photo. ED was complete chockers today! Barely had time to breathe!!!


Clarissa and Addy @ the Metung Hotel Bistro.

We will definitely be back during the day one of these days... preferably when the water level's a little lower... so our anxiety level decreases a little :) and besides, I believe the view will be soooo much better during the day!

And baby, I'm so proud of you. I hope it all goes well, and you'll get what you want! And I'm so so so flattered that you mentioned me? as one of your greatest achievements over the past 2 years! You have no idea how over the moon you made me feel... *hugz*

Melbourne, I'll see you on Friday!

Just Why...

Addy and I were watching Grey's Anatomy over dinner tonight and...

"People die", George said...

I know people die... People die in front of us everyday.
But I believe in the good...

I believe it's been hell of a year,

And I believe that in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary,
that we'll all be okay.

And I believe that if I eat a tub of butter and noone sees me,
the calories don't count.

And.. I believe that surgeons who prefers staples over stitches are just, lazy!

I believe we will survive, George.

I believe that believing we survive is what makes us... survive.

------

And Izzie's words made me tear...
Just like that...
I couldn't help it.

As corny as it may sound,
I felt like Izzie...
That I am just like Izzie...

Too.emotionally.involved.

Back in Woop Woop

I'm back in Bairnsdale, and am as sad as ever... *nah, just kidding*
Well, not yet as least.

Addy gave me a ride back this arvo :)
And I just fetched Clarissa from the train station,
cause we're starting work again tomorrow morning...

Well, bubby's not here with us obviously, but these are...


My new wallet :D Bubby bought this for me last week cause I was sick... *still am :( **


AND... he walked into Sportsgirl and bought these for me!
These warm, fuzzy, wooly, cutesy socks...
To keep me warm here, on cold, lonely, winter nights...

Poor bubby had to walk around Chaddy carrying a Sportsgirl plastic bag! He was really shy about it...
But these are only small reasons to why I adore him so so much!

Thanks baby...

I Am...

BACK IN MELBOURNE!!!


Mei in the V Line train, on first class seats.... on the way back to Melbourne.


Passing the town of Traralgon.

IT'S GREAT to be back....
SOOO SADDDDD to be leaving again :( Sigh....
Well, I guess, that's life...
You gotta do, what you gotta do...
Boohoohoo...

I'm gonna miss Melbourne heaps... for the next week.
I'm gonna miss the sales,
I'm gonna miss the quaint little cafes..

But most of all, I'm gonna miss my home,
And I'm gonna miss YOU :(

Pick Me Up...

The best pick me up for a sick little girl,
Is YOU...
and those funny, thoughtful little things you do.

Thank you bubby...
For making my day a whole lot brighter.

Love.you.to.bits.

**Good luck for the paper. I'm sure you'll ace it**

How To Make A Baby...

The Smiths were unable to conceive children and decided to use a surrogate
father to start their family. On the day the proxy father was to arrive,
Mr. Smith kissed his wife goodbye and said, "Well, I'm off now. The man
should be here soon."

Half an hour later, just by chance, a door-to-door baby photographer
happened to ring the doorbell, hoping to make a sale. "Good morning,
Ma'am", he said, "I've come to..."

"Oh, no need to explain," Mrs. Smith cut in, embarrassed, "I've been
expecting you."

"Have you really?" said the photographer. "Well, that's good. Did you know
babies are my specialty?"

"Well that's what my husband and I had hoped. Please come in and have a
seat".

After a moment she asked, blushing, "Well, where do we start?"

"Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the bathtub, one on the
couch, and perhaps a couple on the bed. And sometimes the living room floor
is fun. You can really spread out there."

"Bathtub, living room floor? No wonder it didn't work out for Harry and
me!"

"Well, Ma'am, none of us can guarantee a good one every time. But if we try
several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles, I'm sure
you'll be pleased with the results."

"My, that's a lot!", gasped Mrs. Smith.

"Ma'am, in my line of work a man has to take his time. I'd love to be In
and out in five minutes, but I'm sure you'd be disappointed with that."

"Don't I know it," said Mrs. Smith quietly.

The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his
baby pictures. "This was done on the top of a bus," he said.

"Oh, my God!" Mrs. Smith exclaimed, grasping at her throat.

"And these twins turned out exceptionally well - when you consider their
mother was so difficult to work with."

"She was difficult?" asked Mrs. Smith.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. I finally had to take her to the park to get the job
done right. People were crowding around four and five deep to get a good
look"

"Four and five deep?" said Mrs. Smith, her eyes wide with amazement.

"Yes", the photographer replied. "And for more than three hours, too.
The mother was constantly squealing and yelling - I could hardly
concentrate, and when darkness approached I had to rush my shots.
Finally, when the squirrels began nibbling on my equipment, I just had to
pack it all in."

Mrs. Smith leaned forward. "Do you mean they actually chewed on your,
uh...equipment?"

"It's true, Ma'am, yes.. Well, if you're ready, I'll set-up my tripod and
we can get to work right away."

"Tripod?"

"Oh yes, Ma'am. I need to use a tripod to rest my Canon on. It's much too
big to be held in the hand very long."

Mrs. Smith fainted...

___________________

And to think that I got this email from Jon's dad... HHhHmmMM (O.o)

Fishermen's Wharf @ Paynesville

We went to Paynesville on Sunday night for MORE seafood before Jon headed back to Melbourne on Monday. This region has sssooooo much nice fresh seafood, cause everywhere's a fishing town! :D

After our second round of archery that evening, we came home and had some rest, showered... and then made reservations with the restaurant before heading over. We rang the Metung Hotel Bistro, but they were completely booked out that night! **must be the long weekend** so we decided to give Paynesville a try.


Jon & Mei - looking tired, after a long day of exercising! It was really good though... We only paid 21 dollars per person and spent the whole day in the games park! Quite worth it I would say!!

The restaurant we went is called Fisherman's Wharf - and it's located right next to the Raymond Island Ferry. The ferry transports cars and people across the river/lake between Raymond Island and Paynesville :) The restaurant looks really nice and cosy, a perfect hangout place in summer, with a glass of cocktail, or a mug of beer...

The food was yummy too!! Mostly fusion dishes, and of course... more gluten free stuff!


Jon had prawns with asian noodles and XO sauce // I had pork belly served with chilli, onion, garlic and some asian vegetables // Clarissa ordered crispy duck with salad // and Addy had 7 spiced fish with wombok and dashi.

The funny thing was, we had to place our orders from the cashier counter, and pay for the food before it arrives... like, in fastfood places... I just thought that was rather weird, in a nice looking restaurant... where the waiters/waitresses will usually come to you and take your orders. Hehehe. They're just... different I guess...


Addy & Clarissa... and some random woman on the background. Teehee..

All-in-all, we had a good day... Although we were all quite knackered by the end of the day, at least we didn't spend the weekend in the country, not having done anything or gone anywhere! :D

Next on the agenda is mountain biking in the National Park, and of course... horse back riding... or if you're scared... they have ponies too :D WHEE~!

But it's not gonna be this coming weekend, cause I'm sooooo going back to Melbourne for some retail therapy... and of course, to see my munkey! Missing you heaps already, my darling baby boy :(

On Being fit and healthy...

Jonny boy's been pestering everyone to go archery. The moment we went past the place yesterday, he was like "Archery, archery! We have to go there". But his opinion was overruled and we went to Lakes Entrance instead. So we decided to make him happy today, and went to do archery instead.


Ade having a go at archery.


Jon taking a shot...


Mei looking all weird and awkward...


Addy and Clarissa. Clarissa's cool cause she has transition lenses on her glasses. Hhahahaha. :D

Well, being the only guy, Jon won the game of course!

Then we decided to play mini golf... and...


Mei trying to putt... *guess who won the game?!* Hehehe... I had a few hole-in-ones! :D I can't believe it myself! Hehehe... Jon wasn't happy about me beating him at the game at all! Hhaha!


Mei and Jonny boy...


The kids! :D


Addy and Mei with the gnomes in the games park... She claims that the gnome's staring at my chest, and the bunny's staring at her bum! Tsk tsk tsk... "Perverted chinese girl!" Hehehehe...

Took a break from the games park and went out to have lunh at Lake Whadie's Cafe. The thing I realise about Gippsland-ers is that they're really considerate bout Coeliac's. Every restaurant we went to has a gluten free diet.. At least a couple of items on the menu if not more! How nice...


Us at lunch.

The weather was really nice, so we sat outdoors, enjoying the scenery... and the fresh air :D


Clarissa and Addy.


Isn't the scenery just breathtaking?

The enthusiastic us returned to the games park to make our money's worth... since we got the day pass, we were entitled to unlimited access.


Had a go at lawn bowls instead :)


Jon doing his 'thang'. But still he didn't win! Hahaha... I guess it was just my luck today!

But lawn bowling didn't last long, cause it was a kinda a little bit, well, just a wee bit too slow paced for us. So we decided to have another go at archery. I was leading all the way, until the last shot, where Jon beat me by 6 points! I'm soooo maddddd.... SO SO MAD! Hmph! Hehehe... only kidding.

I had a great time! It was a really good day! How was everyone else's weekend? :P

I'm leaving, on a cruise ship...

Jon came to visit us in Bairnsdale cause he has a long weekend for the Queen's birthday. We poor souls have to work, cause apparently, the RMO's don't get leave~!! Boohoohoo...

Anyways, we decided to have a road trip today and headed to the Nicholson River Winery...


for some wine tasting...


Addy and I turned red in no time!! Hahaha... Doesn't help that I was wearing a red jacket too!!

After wine tasting... we drove down to Lakes Entrance :)


View from the restaurant, while having lunch...


Addy and Mei.


Addy and I had the pan-fried scallops with rice :) They were yummo!!


Clarissa's grilled salmon.


Jon had pasta...

After lunch, we went on a cruise...


Clarissa & Addy onboard the cruise


The girls...


We went past Metung, the town of the rich and famous, with waterfront properties... and a hotel that faces the lakes too... We're planning of heading there for lumch today...


The hotel in Metung.


Us, heading towards Paynesville.


The houses in Paynesville were simply spectacular!!!


They all have their own jetty/docks... and this one even has a swimming pool... AND two boats!!
THIS is lifeeeeee mannnnnnn.... I'm so super jealous!


We wanna own a property like that too!! :P


Us still oogling over the nice houses..... *sighhh*


Isn't it the perfect plce to be??? HEHehehe...

We even saw dolphins!!! THAT was my highlight of the day :) Didn't manage to snap any photos of those fella cause they were really quick... but we saw at least... 6 of them I reckon!! Made me scream like one excited little girl! :) Hehehe...


Well, the cruise ended after 2.5 hours... and we were back in Lakes Entrance... Walked and drove around Lakes, and then we came back to Bairnsdale... went to Safeway to buy some stuff, and cooked Jon's favourite tom yum noodles cause we bought fresh seafood from Lakes...

YUMMMMM... It was good. The hot tom yum soup definitely compensated for the cold cruise ride...

Oh, and we saw DOLPHINS :) We saw DOLPHINS....