Masquerade : A Night Unveiled

Friday night. Masquerade was held in the auditorium. Lots of performances. Interesting. Funny. Touching. Loud. Very very loud. So loud it produced a 10.0 reading on the Richter scale. THAT loud. Most of all, it was the most entertaining night ^^ (and hot too.. the air-con chose the best time to break down.. -.-")

Me the volunteer controlling the lights, along with Paul and Jack with the bazooka (kinda like spotlight). Dunno why, but lately i seem to be eager to do anything.. ANYTHING that doesn't involve staring at words in the Meriab Marieb that juz don't.. can't make any sense to me (guess that's what Anatomy's about). Brought along my bro's digital camera for some pic-taking, but it ran out of battery AND memory before Masquerade even began. Sigh.. remind me to check the camera next time.. can't trust my bro to keep the camera ever-ready -.-" Anyway here are some of the pictures Chia Huan managed to take for me (she sat at the last row so it's not very clear, but hey, don't complain)

The stars of the night =P. Deborah and Jeremy practising for their performance later. This was taken right before Debz ran back home to sleep. 4 hours before Masquerade begins.. -.-"

So while waiting for Masquerade to begin, me went to check on the Tai-chi gang..

..and there they were. But only those hardcore TC people are around. Wonder where everyone is.. (err.. no, i wasn't supposed to be down there with them =P)

After a lot (really lot) of pestering from Chow, the CMAC gang finally took a picture with the oh-so-nice-must-take-picture-with-it Christmas tree -.-". Altho Christmas is still far far away.. (Chow's posing again.. sigh -.-")

..and 4 hours are over in a flash (yeah right..). Masquerade finally started. And people start dancing around on the stage.

Chow's favourite came to live on stage. They were singing "Phantom of the Opera" (argh.. the horror..). Haha.. but they were really good.

Another highlight of the night. 3 violinists playing Canon in D Major. Perfectly synchronised. All rite.. close to perfect =P

And finally, the performance we've been waiting for our whole lives =P. Ivy playing the keyboard, Jeremy Munis playing the guitar, and Deborah singing like a devil. Err, i mean angel. Yeah, angel.. altho i can't make out what that devil was singing. I mean.. angel. Right.

And lots more superb performances, Chia Huan didn't take pictures for me.. damn sad wei =( (haha.. kidding la, thanx for taking those pictures). Plenty of singing. There was a song by Planet Shakers (i think) which literally shakes the whole auditorium. Acapella by an all-boys group and an all-girls group (getting a little sexist, are we?). And then the 'Ultraman Dance'.. yeah, ULTRAMAN dance. Funny can't even begin to describe it lol. Then there's an interesting musical play by Sem 2 (especially the scene where the slave slashes all the queen and princes.. haha the effects was just right-on - think anime ^^). Close to the end was the 'Shadow Dance', very nicely choreographed and nice 'shadow' effects. Oh yeah, and one of our lecturers sang a Beatles Beegees song too. Go JPJ! =)

That's all i should think. I definitely gonna come to watch again next year, if it's ever held again. Or i might join next time. After i learned how to play like him. But first i have to get my guitar back. And learn how to play guitar.

PS - i have to get my hands on the video of the whole Masquerade ^^

The crap they made us read ..

*yawn*. Finally finished my AIR (Assigned Independent Reading) topic. Took me almost 4 hours to read the article and filter related crap from pure bullcrap and stuff-so-crap-i-wasted-half-an-hour-of-my-life- reading-it (FYI, less than a third of the whole article is relevant). Just for my own reference (and anyone else who's still procrastinating), i'm posting it here.

"Illness" and "disease" do not mean the same thing. Illness is as perceived by the patient himself, based on his experience, and may mean pain, loss of or change in specific physiologic functions, or decrease in performance level. An illness can also be non-physical, and may mean an impact on his social life, varying degrees of vulnerability, feelings of isolation, regression or fear.

However, different individuals have different threshold for acknowledging the presence of illness. This variation is largely influenced by family background, economics, culture, education and previous illness experience. An individual is more likely to take on the 'sick role' if he stands to gain from it.

Besides that, symptom recognition is not standardized in every individual, and depends on personal factors, context and culture. A typical symptom may be considered being "ill" to an individual but not another.

On the other hand, disease is as seen from the doctor’s perspective. Usually, a person is said to suffer from a disease after objective measurements such as physical exams, laboratory data, x-rays, endoscopy, histology and methods of molecular biology have been made. By comparing the data obtained and the disease model carried from medical training, a doctor will then infer the presence of a disease.

Considering the difference between "illness" and "disease", a person can be ill without the presence of disease. He may perceive himself to be ill based on his experience, although medical examinations’ results did not establish the presence of disease. The said "illness" is based on the patient’s own perceptions and experience.

A person can also have a disease but not self-define as ill. He might show the typical symptoms of a disease but does not consider himself to be suffering from an illness. This might be due to different threshold or symptom recognition among individuals.

Unrelated news: Signed up for SPCA Club and Photography Club today. That makes it 11 clubs i'm in? O.o

To be sick ..

The last time i was sick i thought i nearly died. That was a week before the A2 exams when i was confirmed to have contracted dengue. Thank god i survived, but then i only got one of the milder strain. Don't even wanna think of how getting the other strains feels like..

Fast forward 7 months, and i fell sick again. Started with a really sore throat last Sunday. And coincidentally, it was the day we planned to have a surprise birthday celebrations for five people. Yup, have to surprise all FIVE of them. Paul, Chee Mei, Chia Huan, Lay Chin and Yew Wen, all December babies. Didn't really plan properly, nobody really know the plans until the last minute. But that doesn't matter anyway =P. That makes SEVEN birthdays in bout 2 weeks. The bill for all the presents and cakes and props broke the RM800 mark. Which means each of us had to fork out 55 bucks O.o . And my dad wonders how come my money runs out so fast.. blame those birthday boys and girls! =P

Missed the lectures on Monday coz i couldn't wake up. Didn't get much sleep the night before, had a bad headache. Went into the library at 10.15am, and the first thing i heard is "Hey, you not going for PBL ar?" from May Ee. Fuck. Dah lah i'm not feeling good at all, i missed lectures that morning, i didn't do the research for PBL yet, and i forgot i had PBL that bloody morning. So either i grab the nearest Meriab and cram everything i had to know about menstrual cycle in 15 minutes, or go pick a spot in the library to sleep. I really don't have to tell you my choice, do i? =P (hey sorry ya to my PBLmates.. i'll pass the notes to you all next session la)

It's Wednesday today. Had to pop pills the previous 3 nights to get some peaceful sleep (those mountains of paracetamols i got from dengue proves useful after all haha). Miracle pills, to quote my bro. And really, they work wonders when you have fever or headache. Looks like i need to stockpile more of them.. (considering i gonna get a hell lot of headaches in years to come).

And i wonder.. if you become a doctor, would you prescribe medicine to yourself when you fall sick? I guess so.. which means we can save some moolah by not having to see a doctor anymore! Another advantage of being a doctor.. haha =P

Which reminds me of my AIR topic, which i was supposed to be doing instead of typing this post. "A person can be "ill" without the presence of disease, or have a disease but not self-define as ill." WTF? Sigh..

PS - looks like this plague of sore throat/flu/fever is spreading like wild fire among IMU students across batches =/. Hope everyone recovers soon!

If only there's no exams to look forward to..

Sigh.. i guess the last major event of this year for me is over now. Only exams, revision and more revision to look forward to this year. What fun.

It's the World AIDS Day last Thursday, 1st December. Chow and the others went to Bukit Bintang for some singing session. Me 'fang fei kei' coz got choir practice that day. And the day before. And the day after. Heck, we've had choir practice every weekday for the past 2 weeks =D. Maybe that's why there's less and less ppl in the student lounge the past 2 weeks? haha =P

All that practice was for this 'big' event today. MSD and CrusAIDSers organized some talk on AIDS in IMU this morning. Us members of the Choir Club were to sing a song as part of the performances. A malay song, 'Satu Bangsa Kasihi Semua'. It was the song chosen for this year's National Day i think. So hard for me to remember the notes. I still got them wrong after the first week.

But this time we had more guys tho. Used to be only me, Jem, Paul, Timothy, and Hong Lim singing the 'I am Cow' song. Haha.. man, i miss that song. That's the only song ALL of us still remember how to sing. By all i meant not only the Choir Club. Haha ;)

Matthew, Gary and Shin Yin joined us this time. I was surprised, frankly.. there's more guys from our batch who want to join choir ^^. I didn't even know why i joined in the first place. Maybe i like to sing? Haha.. i've never even sang anything in front of anyone before before this. Still, i had a lot of fun in choir. Don't know whether we all will still keep singing till we're in Sem 5. Coz 90% of the choir members is from Sem 1. Does this mean we won't have time to do anything else when Sem 1's over? I hope not. I'll seriously die if all i can do is study. I bloody hate studying.

Summatives 2 in less than a month now. If only i can start studying. Getting results better than what you expect can really make you complacent. I'm not bragging or anything, bragging is just a selfish way to boost one's ego at the expense of others. And my ego doesn't need any boosting anyway *shrugs* haha =P. I'm crapping again. Now that i have nothing on for the rest of the year, maybe i'll get bored enough to study. Or sleep. More likely sleep. =P

PS - since my previous post, there's been so many birthdays i nearly forgot who's birthday is when. I'll just wish them all at once here. Yeah, i'm lazy. (btw please correct me if i'm wrong..)

Happy belated Birthday Winnie! (29th November)
Happy belated Birthday Sebastian! (1st December)
Happy belated Birthday Vincent! (2nd December)
Happy Birthday Pizzle Kizzy.. err.. i mean, Paul Kong! (TODAY)
Happy Birthday Chee Mei aka MC Cheemz! =P (TODAY)

And of course, a special tribute to an old friend of mine (didn't think i'd forget you, did ya?). This is the first ever e-mail i received from him (and sadly, the only one -.-") - uncut, unedited, and uncensored. Guess who?

T'was 2nd December, 2002..
[+/-] show/hide e-mail

Full name: *beep* (no....Lawrence IS NOT my real name) Single or taken: What else? Everyone hates me : ) Sex: The last time I bothered to notice, male. Birthday: 29th November 1986 Astrological sign: Saggitarius Siblings: Lyn, 13 Hair color: Black, with mysterious traces of microscopic white Eye color: VERY dark brown Shoe size: 7 1/2 >*;-* R e l a t i o n s h i p s~* > > Who do you consider to be your best and closest friend?: Myself? Does this person know this?:Of course..... Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? I thought it was answered in the previous section. Did you send this to your crush? : Crush? Crush who? >*;-* F a v o r I t e s *-;-* > > Color: Aquamarine Number: 9? Cartoon character?:Bugs Bunny....what's up doc? Movie: Any James Bond film Fast Food: Pizza! Boy's name: Squall (sounds damn cool) Girl's name: No idea...... CD or TAPE?: CD Animals: Actually, I'd like a tiger....muhahahaha Game(s): Taekwando (cause it's the only thing I'm good at) and swimming! Day of the year?: Any day is fine as long as I'm there to see it. Month?: I've answered this question above. >*;-* T h e E x t r a S t u f f *;-* > > The last thing you ate: Mee goreng. (yum) If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?: I don't wanna be a crayon....but if I got stuck as one I'd choose black because everyone uses black and it ends my misery faster. Where would you want to go on your honeymoon?: On a quiet island in the Mediterrenean or somewhere high in the mountains of Switzerland. Who would you want to spend the rest of your life with?: Of course someone who (must I use this word?) LOVE me and vice versa. Where do you want to get married?: I'm not that particular.....hahaha What's the weather like?: Nice and sunny. What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?: The speech...I guess. Do you do drugs?: What do you think..DUH What kind of shampoo do you use?: Fruity or chemical smell, I don't care as long as it gets my hair clean. What are you most scared of?: Hopelessness in any situation. How many TV's?: 2.... What are you listening to right now?: My thoughts. What car do you wish to have?: A Black Porsche 911 but seriously, I don't like cars. Give me a F-22 any day. Who is the last person that called you?: Leong. Do you like the person who sent this to you?: Okay, a little. How do you feel at the moment?: Tired and bored. How do you eat an Oreo?: Pop it and and chew, and chew..... What makes you happy?: Nearly anything that doesn't kill me. What's the best advice that you've been given?: "The talk you hear about adapting to change is not only stupid, but dangerous. The only way you can manage change is to create it." What's the stupidest thing you've ever done?: Way too many to even begin listing.... If you could be someone else for a day who would it be?: Well....an ExtraTerrestial, because I'd like to find out how they live. Who would you hate being locked in a room with?: I hate being locked in a room with anybody. The lock is the problem. Why am I locked in a room anyway? Well...if that happened, I guess it would be a snobbish and self-indulgent person. Of the following which would you prefer:- Happy or sad movies?: Happy!!! On the phone or in person?: Anything goes.... Summer or Winter?:Winter, because it's so nice and cold. Wait...is that my frostbitten ear on the ground? Hugs or kisses?: Both....but I'd personally prefer hugs, because you can do it without worrying about your breath or the person you're hugging's breath. ;-* H a v e Y o u E v e r *;-* Given someone a bath?: Yeah....myself. Smoked?: Smoking kills..if I wanted to kill myself I'd do it with a bullet to my head. Bungee jumped?: Always wanted too. Run from the cops?: Nope...I never run from battle. But I've shot them many times...in PS2 games. *;-* F i r s t T h i n g T h a t C o m e s T o M in d *;-* Red: Blood Pig: Food Zebra: Piece of Asphalt sOCkS: Hairdryer *;-* F i n a l Q u e s t i o n s *;-* Do you want your friends to write back?: Anything. Writing back would be nice....hahahaha.... Who's least likely to respond?:I think Siaw, the super-quiet person). I only sent it to 3 friends. Who's most likely to respond?:I don't think anyone will respond...hahaha...... Are you sick of filling this out?: Not really. The bored are easily amused....

Haha it's rather obvious who it is, right. Happy 19th Birthday dude =). You were right about me.. i didn't respond to your e-mail =P. I did fill up my version, it juz didn't get sent. Anyway hope you're having a great time over in UK. See ya during Christmas (i hope). Ciaoz now.

To be a friend ..

Heh.. i'm blogging less and less now. Back in college days i used to blog daily sometimes. Well, back then we had so much free time. Too much, in fact =P. And we spent all those free time going to 'mamak' and 'Home' (the cybercafe we used to patron so very much). Sigh.. the good old days..

3 months. And i'm surprised i still didn't know some of my batchmates existed until recently. Ok, it's more like ashamed of myself, i admit. But it does get me wondering.. am i being ignorant? I've been sitting with them in the same lecture hall for 3 months now and i don't even know their names and how they look like?

But then again, i'm not the only one guilty of being an arrogant, ignorant bastard =P. Everyone in my batch didn't know someone from my batch is from our batch. If that make any sense at all haha. Anyway, since i posted that i gonna be a friend to everyone in my batch before i die (read the previous post), i've been trying really hard to get to know those batchmates i never knew i had. So far so good anyway, but i can already see it's not gonna be easy..

First off, friends don't just pop out overnight. And they tend to disappear when you're not looking. That's why you can't be friends to everyone i guess. Each of them expect some attention from you, and you gotta start cloning yourself if you ever hope to give each of them enough attention. Much like when i wanted to play basketball, and there's too many players around. If i called everyone out, most of them won't be able to play much, and not be happy bout it. If i don't call certain people out, they won't be happy either.. Ok, sorry for the bad analogy, but at least you guys know the dilemma i had when i'm sending the call-out for basketball now =P. Anyway, you get my drift, doncha?

Sigh .. i know, the least i could do is try. Then i realise something else. I had this problem of thinking every person i haven't know yet doesn't have a good impression of me. I know how it came about (i studied psychology ok.. don't play play =P), but i won't blog about it right now, maybe some other time. Don't know why i'm still having this feeling now. I'm human after all, i guess.

And then the problem of me being pre-judgmental. I tend to judge people even before i know them, through their behaviour that i observed. I know, doctors shouldn't be judgmental. Nobody deserved to be judged before even being given the chance. And know what, i'm glad i was proven wrong in my pre-judgment a couple of times now. Yeah, i tend to be rather negative in my pre-judgment. Glad IMU's full of such great, friendly people =).

Think i blogged too much again hehe. Well, this would make up for the past week that i didn't blog, and for next week that i might not be blogging too =P. And just when i thought there'll be no more surprises any time soon after Chui Han's birthday, lo and behold, Jem aka Jembo aka Jemboree aka Jemmy aka Alejandro(?) started a blog! O.o haha.. all rite, i think i should welcome you to the family, huh? Keep yours alive ok.. it's now your responsibility to look after your blog =P. Hmm.. the list on the left is getting longer and longer now.. (in case you hadn't notice, i've added Li Shan's, Jia Lin's and Keat How's blogs without their permission - ok, yeah, i'm trying to stalk them online to get to know more about them haha =P)

PS - summatives 1 results out tomorrow.. good luck everyone! .. yet another reason for me to blog less and study more i guess.. sigh..

TAG! .. the sevens

Sigh.. got tagged by Yih Seong aka the bonze and Kok Lim. What to do.. can't disappoint my faithful readers =P

7 Things You Plan To Do Before You Die
1. learn cooking from my mom and grandma =)
2. learn to play extreme sports (rollerblading, skateboarding, etc)
3. learn to dance.. all kinds of dance =P
4. learn to really play the bloody guitar which has been lying around since i bought it and the piano (which i really really want to learn but didn't get the chance to) and heck, every single musical instrument la
5. be friends with everyone i meet (let's start with my batchmates first..)
6. made lives breathe easier because i lived
7. find love, fall in love, live happily ever after =)

7 Things I Could Do
1. study.. (well, like, duh..)
2. eat more (yeah, i know i need to gain some weight)
3. play more basketball/volleyball at nite
4. put more effort in everything i do (TC, choir, etc)
5. sleep at home
6. sleep in the lecture hall
7. sleep in the library

7 Celebrity Crushes
1. erm..
2. erm..
3. erm..
4. erm..
5. erm..
6. erm..
7. i don't wanna tell =P

7 Often Repeated Words
1. haha (i noticed i type this word a LOT ^^ .. and i laugh at every little thing too..)
2. wat the hell..
3. riggghhttt...
4. hungry wei..
5. do you want to eat? (complete with hand gesture)
6. zzzzzzzzzz..
7. zzzzzzzzzzzzz..

7 Traits I Look For In The Opposite Sex
1. a sense of humour
2. cheerful
3. able to take care of herself
4. enjoy being outdoors as well as indoors
5. un-diva-like (not complaining about every little thing)
6. sporting and open-minded
7. faithful and sincere

My 7 Tags Go To:
1. me bro (i know you're reading my blog =P)
2. Prasad (did anyone tagged you yet?)
3. Li Shun (harlow..)
4. Yong Chen (come on, i'm the 2nd to tag you already)
5. Yee Pei (i know..EoS5 coming..but then..)
6. Shin Yin (hey, i don't even know your blog address.. ^^")
7. Dr TS (yeah, sifu or not oso kena. Don't think can escape =P)

To be a doctor ..

This week is BS week. Behavioural Science i mean. So far we learned bout verbal and non-verbal communication, how people learn, what is motivation, and some psychology shit like that. And the more lectures i sit thru (or sleep thru =P), the more things i learned about being a doctor that i never knew. I learned that a doctor have to watch what/how he talk/act the whole time while dealing with patients. I learned that a doctor shouldn't see a patient as a disease entity; he's a PERSON with disease. And i learned that being a doctor ain't just curing diseases. It's curing people.

Ask me what my ambition was 10 years ago, and i'll say "Polis!" without a thought. Ask me again 5 years ago, it's "Engineer la.. dunno wat engineer but engineer la..". Now, i'm on the road to be a doctor. What an indecisive person i am..

Anyway, what i wanted to say is, i never dreamed of becoming a doctor until, like, after i came into IMU? haha =P. Some people wanted to be a doctor for a name, money, status or they just wanted to help others (tho i sincerely doubt even half of all the doctors will still be doctors if the pay was like, peanuts and nobody respects doctors..). Me? I entered IMU because i was BLUR. BLUR because i didn't know what i wanted. BLUR because i was a naive and ignorant boy. BLUR because i was blind and deaf, not seeing nor hearing everything that's happening around me.

I really don't know what happened to me since i entered IMU, but i do know i changed the moment i realised i was gonna be a doctor. Grew up, maybe. Maybe i realised i won't be the boy who only cares bout friends and games and outings anymore. I can't be that boy anymore. Once i leave IMU, i'll have to take care of other people for the rest of my life. I'm not looking forward to that with a sigh; it's with a smile.

"To know that one life has breathed easier because you lived; that is to have succeeded." I knew i heard that before somewhere along the 19 years of trail i left behind me. But now it means so much more to me.