26th Dec 03: my card list has been expanded

Had quite a few Christmas parties. Nike cap to my trainee, Kow Song, whom I look after on Sundays; notebook-cd trigger case to Yong Ren at Weiyi's present exchange and chaos black paint for Daniel.

2004 being the last full year I'll spend as a student, I've decided to make birthday cards for all of my close friends. So if you happen to get one exceptionally chio card, it's my gratitude for the friendship. Yes, so for all those friends who've NOT been getting cards from me, but have been signing numerous cards for mutual friends, you'll get one next year.

Will put up pictures of the cards I make next year.

My resolutions for 2004:

1. Take a deep breath each time I'm about to say something nasty.

2. Complete a marathon.

3. Have the time to make all the birthday cards I want.

4. Less internet & TV time.


10th Dec 03: quiet night w my guitar

Today I ended late again. 9 plus. Not tired however. The night air was cool and refreshing. I have just finished my quota of deliveries. Delivering a baby is no joke for the mother. The pain of contractions prior to labour, the agony as the baby's head comes through; all fathers-to-be should accompany their wives. Medicine is perhaps not the wrong choice for me afterall. Nothing else offers such a great challenge, and nothing else enables one to see so much of life and its trials and tribulations.

Learning in the hospitals is never easy. Most doctors see teaching you as a sideline, nurses always suspect you whenever a patient's file is missing, patients view you as the pesky busybody that they need to parrot their histories to. Despite this, a couple of doctors have made my one-and-half year existence in the hospitals more bearable: the very nice A&E physician, Dr. Jean Lee; the ever-willing-to-let-me-intubate and very funny anaesthetist, Dr. Kong Chee Seng and the always-sacrifice-time-to-teach O&G physician, Dr. John Yam. They've inspired me to be nicer to medical students when I start practising.

Quiet night, just me and my guitar.


23rd Nov 03: there's no such thing as bad weather, just weak minds

My running mate Gham Seng is gonna do the full marathon 2 weeks from now.  However, I regret to inform you that I am in no shape to pound 42k of tarmac. Thus, I will assume the role of "Runspirator" (as coined by the organisers) to pace my dear friend from the 20k mark onwards.

O&G posting starts tomorrow, I will be updating less fervently.


19th Nov 03: you bleed we ride

I'm mid way through my one week break. It's been a while since the NEL went up, but the connecting bus services are still damn packed during peak hours. Take Monday for instance, after an enjoyable lunch with chunrong's cg and movie with half his cg, the NEL brought me smoothly from Clarke Quay to Serangoon, only to be let down by an infrequent SBS service 70 which took more than 15 mins to come at a peak time of 1830 hrs. It was single deck AND too full to board. The next 70 took another 15 mins to come. Should have just walked.

To side track a little, here's something I culled from the web regarding the latest EZ-Link debacle. (Only for humor. Does not necessary represent my opinion.) Enjoy:

Welcome to EZ Link Card 2005. For the the very cheap price of $2,000, citizens of Singapore can now obtain the exclusive EZ-link card which comes with the latest technologies. First off, the EZ-link card now comes with the most advanced polymer technology which renders it totally indestructible. Shoot a GPMG bullet into it and it blocks the bullet. You can use it as a bulletproof card to protect ur heart. We help you survive to ride.

If you experience drowning while undergoing survival training in NS, EZ Link Card 2000 has a gamma impulse capability to resuscitate the heart beat. Don't leave home without it!
We keep you alive to ride.

We have also put in a P8 Intel chip that allows ur EZ link card to compute how much money you need to add for the stored value and deduct the money straight with a tie-up with GIRO. So do not need to worry about fare increases anymore, everything is invisible :
we increase, you ride.

EZ Link 2005 also boasts 200 gigabytes of harddrive space so that you can store thousands of dollars in the card for the future public transport needs of Singapore.
We deduct, you ride.

This amazing piece of shit also has the latest GPRS technologies so that even if your lost in Africa, you can still find out in how many minutes the MRT train is going to arrive in Buangkok station.
Wherever you are, we let you ride.

For suspicious wives, EZ Link 2005 (couples' card) has a plug-in program which detects female moaning sounds up to 20 metres radius .. so that you WILL know your husband is f...cking around.
Your husband riding the wrong bus, we tell you.


10th Nov 03: twenty-seven dollars

Today, I bought 2 books. From the EMF store at KK hospital  (KK seems to have everything: Prima Deli bakery, Macs, toy shop, 7-11, insurance & good old EMF bookstore).

Bought at the recommendations of Yap Hsiang (YH). The conversation prior:

YH: (Turning to Daniel Phang) So what do you do in your free time?

DP: Painting loh...

YH: Oh. (With a straight face) I also write poetry & compose songs in my spare time. (No laughter or sarcastic nuances ensued).

We (laughed) had to clarify that he meant painting warhammers & not the art-farty painting.

Anyway, Yap the avid reader recommended me Nick Hornby's High Fidelity & JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

So it's the 2nd week of my anaesthesia posting. Yap has been entertaining. In fact, my sister cg's guys are funny: Seh Meng with his psychotic look, Allan with his narcissistic remarks, EZ and his contrived expression of shock/blurness & Yap's wry humour.

Well, back to my guitar. Before I leave, here's a quote I got today:

" 20 minutes three times a week can do great things."               --- Aaron Pang NT


2nd Nov 03:

Hello --- Evanescence

playground school bell rings again
rain clouds come to play again
has no one told you she's not breathing?
hello I知 your mind giving you someone to talk to
hello

if I smile and don't believe
soon I know I値l wake from this dream
don't try to fix me I知 not broken
hello I知 the lie living for you so you can hide
don't cry

suddenly I know I知 not sleeping
hello I知 still here
all that's left of yesterday