Special treat for our STOMACHS №1

On the 23rd Feb, I cooked...

Homemade Spicy Fried Chicken with mushroom soup and a simple salad

.... and tried my own recipe: Blackberry Gin - I bet you would like to try it too... =D

*****

Then, on 24th Feb, we had our group CNY celebration in my room, I love the food and the atmosphere, everyone was enjoying and laughing. This would be the last CNY together for us....

First come our 5 happiness Cold Plate

Then, come the Peking Chicken, Fried Chicken, Mushrooms with Broccoli, Black Fungus with rice noodles, and so much more......

"Gong Xi Fai Choi"

Cook - Shu Shien Yong, Boon Beng Goh, S.Y. Soo; Special Feature - Eric Kim; Guests - All the members of group 61 =)

~~Medical Student

From carbon to diamond...

Whenever the teachers wanted to sign my credit book, they would be astonished by the the photo in front.
The question is, "Is that you?" With my face blushed, I would always say, "Yes, that's me."

I would not blame them, it's a huge different. If you are to see my secondary school photos, you will not believe those are mine.

I think most of us have the same experience. Came as a innocent pure little girl, return as a confident bright doctor.

Moscow - a place I grew up

Moscow - a place I learned to build relationship, a place I saw true friendships, a place I fell and a place I learned to get up back on my feet. Recalling the excitement to study abroad 6 years ago, saying goodbye to my beloved family, I left home to go after my dream. My dream - to be a doctor; my dream - to help the helpless; my dream - to see people got healed.

There was no fear in me, when some others were crying homesick, I was just too excited to be here, in Moscow. Moscow is not the place I have dreamed of, not the place where you will consider to go to, not the place you will migrate to, not the place you will want to stay for the rest of your life.

Remembering coming out of the airport feeling tired (as I had just vomited in the plane), I was curious, nervous and excited! Just knowing the least of the language ("Da" and "Net" - "Yes" and "No"), we started our 6 and a half year journey.

Things were expensive (and are still expensive now), we just had chickens and cabbages for the first 3 months. It wasn't easy to start to decide to buy or not to; to eat or to fast; to walk or to take cab; to cook or to eat out. I have to spend every single penny wisely, not to waste daddy's hard-earned money.

There were many times we complained, we complained the rise of the hostel fee to doubled, the rise of the tuition fee which was supposed to be as stated in the contract, we fought our way out. Though we failed most of the times, we learned a lot. We learned to deal with those wise cunning businessman, we learn to be good. (You know who I am pointing to.)

Even at the end of the journey, we have to organize our own graduation ceremony, as it's not our school tradition to have one; design our own robe; find our own sewing company; and pay for our own robe.

Life isn't easy; there were ups and downs; there were success and failures; there were regrets; there were many many more.

In these years, I didn't just study to be a doctor, I was a part-time cook, plumber, electrician, brochure designer, robe designer ... and so much more. I was a carbon, but now a diamond.

Life isn't always sweet, it has much fun when you look at it in a bright side. What do you think most of the student will do if we turn all these into self-pity? As I have said before, did you do your part well? If you can't do it here, find somewhere else where you can. You wouldn't want to waste your time struggling with self-pity, waiting for somebody to understand you. When there is someone there, you thank God; what if there isn't anyone?

The life is yours, decide to hide or to fly!

~~S.Y.Soo

Ladies and Gentlemen...

"Most of the time, we can define the fetus's gender at 20 week and very often even at sixteen."

- Joseph Woo (in Obstetrics Ultrasound)

We are who we were born to be, whether male or female. In ancient China, males are precious. Son, is the one who inherit everything: surname, properties and so on. Daughter, is to get married to somebody and help the family to "breed". To assure a surname being carry on for another generation, some families would just keep trying until they got a boy.

When China introduced "one-child policy" in 1978 for population control, many "daughters" were killed, so that the family could have another chance to give birth to the one who could carry their surname to the next generation - this is what we called "sex-selective abortion" or "female infanticide".

In this modern era, we often heard some mothers claiming that daughters are better. But why? Daughters are more concerning, they listen, they cry with you, they care about you. Sometimes, the husband even shift in to stay with the mother-in-law, which is totally different from our tradition.

Ladies are suppose to be feminine, and men are suppose to be masculine. But, is it so?

Masculine - manliness. In all cultures, the basic characters of manliness includes physical prowess and courage. Physical prowess includes strength, fitness and lack of laziness. But, is it so?

A friend of mine always says, "Let the men carry the weights, and ladies carry the babies (being pregnant)."But, is it so?

In today's world, I see men fighting seats with ladies, and ladies carrying stuff for men. Can men change? Will there be more gentlemen?

But, I thank God for gentlemen. In my life, there are quite a number of them. They are really gentle. They respect you, help you and care about you. They will lend a hand when you need, they will give a space for you to sit. Bravo to you guys!

Almost a century ago, in 1918, 23rd February was marked as the Red Army Day; in year 1949, it's renamed as Soviet Army and Navy Day; in year 1991, it's called Defender of the Fatherland Day till current. The holiday celebrates people who are serving or were serving in the Russian Armed Force. Unofficially, this day is often referred as "Men's Day"

Happy Men's Day!!

Let guys be the guys and girls be the girls!!


~~Medical Student

When macrophages meet their enemies...

Thinking that our class would be starting at 9.00am, I woke up early and left home before 8.00am. Only when I reached the hospital, I was told that our class would start at 10.00am and we were an hour and a half early.

So I decided to spend some time taking some photos.As usual, they like to post a lot. Look at Seth's face!! Hahhaha...

And Hilman always like to be cool.

Just realized that Bon looks like PCK... He got to wear yellow boots soon.

Immunology class was fun! The teacher was simply awesome. She can put emotions and expressions to the neutrophils, T cells, B cells and according to her, natural killer cells are the smartest cells of all. They are the silent killers!

After the class, I went to pick up some stuff from the supermarket and I bought this....


For what?? You will know later on......

When macrophages meet foreign proteins, macrophages swallow them, hold them in and show them to other cells; it's like when you catch a thief red-handed, you tie him up, before sending him to the police station, you show him to your neighbors.

~~Medical Student

At the end of the race...

Since young, we heard a lot of the story of rabbit vs tortoise, where the tortoise, the slowest moving animal, won over the rabbit due to the tortoise's persistence. On the other hand, we see how the laziness and pride of the rabbit ruin himself. It is a very good story for kids and even adults.

After 5 years and 8 months in Russia, we, the graduating class 2011, are at the very last lap of the race, how will we run it?

I look back at the failures and successes I have been through in the past 5 years, I can only praise God for bringing me through. Indeed, it's not that tough to pass all the exams, going through from year to year, but it's tough when you have to do these millions km away from your family, it's tough to do these during -20C, it's tough to do these because you don't want to see a patient die in your hands because of your incompetent.

How many of us came here with passion and compassion for the sick and dying? And how many of us, now, passing day by day by just watching series, matches, movies or doing events?

I always ask myself, did I run my race well? How am I going to run it from this point?

We always heard negative news about new HOs in Malaysia, how badly they perform and how unenthusiastic they are. There are complains about the MOs treating HOs badly. Who's right? And who's at fault? But... Have you ever ask yourself, "Have I done my part well?", "Did I do it with excellency?"

Tortoise vs rabbit might just be another story for kids, but the moral values in it is essential.

How am I going to run the rest of the race? How am I going to end my medical student's life in Russia?... These are the questions we need to ask ourselves.


~ Medical Student