Remember remember the fifth of November

It was magical.

Consultation with Dr. G

So I paid the doctor a visit.

Dr. G : Hello! I'm Dr. G.
*beams brightly and sticks hand out for a handshake*
Wen Chin : *somewhat taken aback but beams back equally bright and grasps Dr G's hand*
Hello! I'm Foo.
Dr. G :*didn't really catch the 'Foo' there; refers to patient information form*
Oh, Wen Chin! So, what can I do for you?
Wen Chin : I've got a cold.
Dr. G : *shrugs* I can't help you.
Wen Chin : It's over a week, I've got purulent sputum, I would think it's a secondary bacterial infection.
Dr. G : *lifts up patient's sweater to listen for breath sounds*
Cough for me.
Wen Chin : *Cough cough*
Dr. G : Your cough is very fruity.
Wen Chin : There's a cold bug going around my class. Everyone is getting it.
Dr. G : It could be swine flu. Swine flu is very prevalent in Glasgow right now.
Wen Chin : !!!
Dr. G : You'll know if it's swine flu if you don't get it in the future.
Wen Chin : !!!!!
Dr. G : I'll give you amoxicillin.
Wen Chin : Thank you! It's a lifesaver. Can you give me a mucolytic as well?
Dr. G : (sadly) None of them work.
Wen Chin : None?!
Dr. G : If your cough bothers you at night, what I do is rub some Vicks on my chest. The old Scots women recommend 'toddy'; highly effective. It's whisky, hot water and sugar. Drink before bed. Plus, it's niceeeeee
Wen Chin : Yup!
Dr. G :You have bronchitis. Your chest is like a battlefield. First, the virus, then all bacteria start to superinfect your chest walls.
Wen Chin : !!!! Bronchitis sounds scary.
Dr. G : You should be fine in 10 to 14 days time. If not, come back to see me.
Wen Chin : Bye bye.
Dr. G : Keep smiling!

PS: These are just excerpts which make up the gist of our conversation- the parts i thought were funny. Dr. G was in fact very nice; he made time to have a proper conversation with me; quite different from the usual and impersonal consultation process of symptoms --> diagnosis --> prescription --> send the patient off.
And swine flu is indeed very much alive and kicking in Glasgow.
I hope the amoxicillin works, i sure wouldn't want to go down the slippery slope of URTI --> bronchitis --> pneumonia.
PPS, koko: not for mom's eyes.

patchwork blanket of thoughts

I haven't been writing lately. There's so much to say, and yet most are but little snippets of everyday life, much like scraps of leftover cloth, unable to form an independent design of their own. So I'm going to make a patchwork blanket of my thoughts and experiences. However little and insignificant each may seem, they are verily part of me. :)

Summer is all but gone, if you're lucky on some days, you can still feel her lingering presence in the odd patches of sunshine we get. Ripened autumn berries and leaves in varying shades of gold and auburn have replaced the lovely blooms of summer. I wonder if the fat pigeons go into hibernation in winter, please don't let them die. Speaking of pigeons, it just occured to me that the gulls have not been seen or heard in a while, they must have migrated somewhere else. hehehehe.

It's really cold now- normal temperatures fluctuate between six to nine degrees Celsius. The autumn cold (or 'fresher's flu' as the homies call it) has struck. the lecture hall is like an epidemic zone, with people coughing left and right, front and back, and the occasional sneeze and nose-trumpeting episode. I've finally succumbed to the bug after stoically holding my own for a week plus.

Right now I feel like my life is like a film reel spinning and unravelling faster than i can keep up with. I don't know why the seniors say Semester 7 is a honeymoon semester with nothing to do. Research started on Tuesday this week. I'm going to discover and analyse new polymorphs of levofloxacin and ofloxacin (hopefully).

I'm not very happy. My happiness index peaked (it went through the roof, to be more exact) when we went out into the cold, carrying lanterns and calling out 'happy mooncake festival!' to everyone at midnight after our celebration. It was just so much fun! I blame it on the hormones (again). I never get a cold when happy. There's something lethal about happiness that keeps the bugs away.

I feel so inadept, so inadequate. I need to stop being wishful and stop my nonsense stuff. I am a nerd I am a nerd I am a nerd. I. am. a. nerd.

Scottish people aren't all nice. Some throw water balloons at you. But then, some call you bonny lass and wish you have a good day ahead. :)


What Love means to children age 4 to 8 years old

I was browsing through a food blog when I found this. :)
ICook4Fun received this in an email and shared it on her blog. I laughed so hard reading it.

Touching words from the mouths of babes. What does 'Love' mean? A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does 'love' mean?' The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' Rebecca- age 8
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When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.
Billy - age 4
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Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.
Karl - age 5
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Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.
Chrissy - age 6
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Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.
Terri - age 4
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Love is when my Mummy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.
Danny - age 7
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Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mummy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss
Emily - age 8
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Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
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If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet) ________________________________________

Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it everyday.
Noelle - age 7
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Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.
Tommy - age 6
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During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore. Cindy - age 8
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My Mummy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night. Clare - age 6
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Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.
Elaine-age 5
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Love is when Mummy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford. Chris - age 7
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Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.
Mary Ann - age 4
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I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.
Lauren - age 4
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When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you. (what an image)
Karen - age 7
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Love is when Mummy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.
Mark - age 6
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You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.
Jessica - age 8
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And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'
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Because I am Malaysian

15 Malaysia is a short film project of 15 films made by Malaysian filmmakers. The films are scheduled to be released over August up till 16th September. I'm thinking that it's to commemorate the birth of our nation.

This is Allahyarham Yasmin Ahmad's production- Chocolate. Poignant in its truth.




Nik Aziz teaches us how to conduct ethical commerce in 'The Tree'. Islam is a beautiful religion.

And 'Potong Saga' featuring controversial Namawee about a Chinese boy trying to open an Islamic bank account. It made me realise how little I know. Can a non-Muslim have an Islamic bank account?



A strong sense of familiarity washed over me when i saw the ubiquitous chinese coffee shop with all its dirt and noise. I miss daily Malaysian scenes like markets, motorcycles and the neighbourhood sundry shop. I miss the surrounding area of Puduraya with its background roar of noise, the cars and motorcycles, pollution, the sweltering heat. It feels alive.

But I also enjoyed walking to the library today in an ugly shirt with arms laden full with books. It was cool and cloudy. I was living the dream- my dream. If you want to feel something magical, go stand between the endless rows of bound journals in the reference section of the library, and inhale. :)

You are allowed to lose yourself in pockets of perfect little moments in time like this, but only for a while. Reality catches up soon enough. PP3. It was not meant to be like this. It was not.

The glimmer called hope is always there even when you’ve resigned yourself to expecting less. It may be smothered under all those layers of denial, but is still present nonetheless; smoldering. And when reality hits, and all those layers are peeled away, you wonder at its very presence. It has been well established over the ages- the existence of this stubborn little ember refusing to die out, more often known as ‘hoping against hope’ or ‘wishful thinking’.

Time to sleep.

Wanted to feed the pigeons with leftover rice since before exams but they are nowhere to be seen. I miss the fat pigeons.