Self challenges

It is one of my good habits that I would try something new to challenge myself every year. This year challenges include hot yoga and couchsurfing. My mom has always been into yoga and she taught me and my sister to do it as well. At first, we both were rather skeptical. Glaring at her doing those yoga postures, I couldn't help wondering if it would be physically engaging at all. What a wimp and girly exercise. It turned out my sister and I were quite wrong, and we really enjoyed it. My shoulder pain from sitting down in front of a computer went away gradually after I started practising yoga. Then I stepped it up and tried hot yoga. It was both physically and mentally challenging that I almost fainted in my first class. Certainly, I have come a long way from that and it does really helps getting my body toned for the upcoming Australian summer!

Stretch and keep smiling (and sweating) :)

Let's surf

Recently, I had a road trip to Canberra en route to Sydney. The initial plan was that I would be staying with my old high school mate but it turned out that he couldn't host me. Couchsurfing suddenly came to my mind since I didn't want to stay in a hotel and would like a local to point me around. After searching on a couchsurfing web, there was a interesting profile of a female student and she had a number of good references from people who stayed at hers. We met in front of her place which was house shared between five other people, including her boyfriend and a cat. It was a great experience meeting new people in a total unfamiliar environment. I ended up staying with her again on my way back to Melbourne. We had great conversations over drinks about her sexuality, namely intersex, her open relationship with her current boyfriend, me being gay and how her friend's gaydar detected me etc. Sometimes, good friendships are built over some alcohol and pots. C'est la vie!

How one should live one's live?

I stumbled across this picture ages ago (and I can't recall where I found it). At that time, I was struggling through my veterinary course and I was quite lost. The message on the picture gave me courage and I would probably need that courage again when I start a job hunt. I have been travelling around and been really busy. Hopefully once I get a job and settle in, I will have more time to post regularly.

Yes, I have done the travel often part. I think I need to stop over analysing.

Doggie's support

Woof woof!

This photo just leaves me smiling.

Tough Mudder Melbourne

What a crazy weekend! I had Tough Mudder with my rugby mates on Saturday.

This video captures the fun pretty well.

It was a 20 km obstacle course, designed by British Special Forces troops. I signed up on an impulse, then thinking I would probably drop dead even before we finished the half way mark. But we all did it in 3 hours, woots! Now my body is aching. I rather feel like a princess who needs a good pampering, which isn't going to happen since I'm the emergency and critical care rotation. Hectic sleeping hours for this week. Tough Mudder is tough, but staying awake at uni is tougher :D

Oriental escape

What a change of plan I had for Christmas and New Year! I'm having a last minute family trip to Japan, after I sat a supplementary exam for Horses. My itinerary so far is to eat my way through, and taste all the weird and wonderful food. However, it looks like I won't be able to keep my promise of doing more posts this holiday. I won't be back in Melbourne til after the New Year. So I wish you all for a very Merry Christmas :)

Fushimi Inari-taisha - my brother went to pray for a success in business

Getting acquainted

I stumbled across this Welcome to the 2008 edition of Getting to Know Your Friends recently. Even though the edition is slightly old, but still worth giving it a go, I guess:

1. What time did you get up today? 4:27AM to be exact

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Hangover part II, the

4. What is your favorite tv show? Dexter (deja vu?), and How I met Your Mother

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Eggs and toast if time allows, otherwise Weet-Bix and soy milk

6. What is your middle name? I don't have one.

7. What food do you dislike? Not that I can think of at the moment.

8. What is your favorite cd? Don't remember the last time I bought one; how much I love uTorrent.

9. What kind of car do you drive? A grey Nissan Tiida hatchback

10. Favorite sandwich? Pork belly and green apples, oh wholegrain bread please!

11. What characteristic do you despise? Ignorance.

12. Favorite item of clothing? My brown trusty worn-out rainproof jacket.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Bhutan, Japan, England, and Switzerland

14. What color is your bathroom? I'm renting currently. It's almost black, which I really like.

15. Favorite brand of clothing? Currently Uniqlo 

16. Where would you retire to? Thinking England, California, and Thailand right now.

17. What was your most memorable birthday? 21st birthday - a relaxed and chatty long dinner with family

18. Favorite sport to watch? Rarely watch one.

19. Furthest place you are sending this? Hmmm?

20. Favorite saying? This fucking shite!

21. When is your birthday? June 8th.

22. Are you a morning or night person? Definitely a morning person, but turns nocturnal during exams.

23. What is your shoe size? 10 US

24. Pets? Does a collection of histopathology and blood sample slides from animals count?

25. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with us? Nothing exciting at the moment

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A physician

29. How are you today? Great!

30. What is your favorite candy? Very dark chocolate, thanks.

31. Your favorite flower? White roses.

32. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? New Year Day.

33. What is your full name? Gay Vet Pathologist

34. What are you listening to right now? I will just copy and past from my iTunes then - Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto #2 in C minor, Op.18 - 1st Movement

35. What was the last thing you ate? Seafood risotto

36. Do you wish on stars? I think of people important to me, but don't really make any wish.

37. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue.

38. How is the weather right now? 23.5 Celcius and clear sky.

39. Favorite soft drink? Does iced coffee with vanilla ice cream count?

40. Favorite restaurant? The Basil (in Thailand) and Marios Cafe (yes, for waiters/waitresses in classic black vest)

41. Siblings? One older brother and one younger sister.

42. Favorite day of the year? I love any day in December, since it's usually uni holiday.

43. What was your favorite toy as a child? Fire, candles, and fireworks.

44. Summer or winter? Definitely summer!

45. Hugs or kisses? Both - hugs followed by kisses, thanks.

46. Coffee or tea? Long macchiato!

47. Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla

48. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? I'm not sending out to my friends.

49. When was the last time you cried? April this year.

50. What is under your bed? Lab coat, stethoscope, lub, and socks.

51. Who are the friends you have had the longest? A bunch of high school friends.

52. What did you do last night? Crammed for my exam

53. Favorite smell? Freshly ground coffee beans.

54. What are you afraid of? Cockroaches.

55. Salty or sweet? Salty

56. How many keys on your ring? 4

57. How many years at your current job? 4 years as a college student

58. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

59. How many towns have you lived in? 5

60. Do you make friends easily? Usually, yeah


I hope you all know me better now :)

Too much fun with Squash?

I decided to play squash and get some sweat the other day, after a long day of studies. It seemed that I was too intense, and somehow I accidentally smacked my knee. Exercise is always good, but playing for 2 hours alone and smashing the knee weren't ideal. I woke up this morning to feel the thigh muscle twitching. Physiology kicked in my head - cytokines, immunomediator etc. leading to nerve stimulation (?). Funningly enough, I just finished studying equine lameness, but what I learnt was not helpful for treating myself. 

Any medico out there know what's happening here?

Welcome!

Over the years, I have read through several interesting blogs and thought that one day I will create my own blog. Now that I'm procrastinating my studies towards exams, it seems like a good time (not ideal) to start my blog.

The main policies for this blog are honesty and anonymity so everything I write will be genuine and true to the best of my memory, and pseudonyms will be used.

Cheers,
GVP