Easter Holidays 2008 - Lucern, Switzerland and Milan, Italy.

The trip was a fabulous one, simply made this year's easter holiday a good memorable one. It all started with the arrival of Juliana (Cathy's cousin) here in Eastbourne. On the day of her arrival, took her to the most famous Yummy noodle bar, whose noodle is to die for! I also gave her Tim Horton's donut to munch on the way to the flat. Then we just chilled out at the beach before we call it a day.

Got our groceries for the trip done, and just chilling out before we (me, Juliana and Shahin) made our way to the pick up point. We were being a little insecure by the fact that the coach was slightly late. "Scam" was all in our thoughts, but otherwise, nothing was negative. Even if it was a scam, we would just head straight to Gatwick airport and plan a new holidays ala "lastminute.com" holiday package.




After a long ride, we arrived safely at the borders of Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy. So we were warned to make sure we stand on the right ground. Even the shop assistants speak different languages depending where you stand. It was either French, Italian, or German. Merci at one point, Grazie at another point then later it was Danke.

The following journey then got even more exciting. Snow could be seen everywhere. I'm talking about thick heavy snow here. Later, we were told to get off the coach. There we were like little kids overjoyed by the falling snow.

Few hours later, we arrived at Lucern, Switzerland. Without wasting any time, we explored the city and bought tickets to the mountains up to Mount Rigi. It's 1790m high. Up at its peak, the wind was notorious and visibility was very poor. The cable train ride was indeed breathtaking, with magnificent views and scenery. There's always something exciting to see with every inch of altitude we climb. Up at Rigi, we had fun with the snow fights and just mesmerized by the fact that snow was everywhere, as thick as 2metres. We also then rented few sleighs for us to play. The song of the day was somehow christmas songs!! aahaha The sleigh was so much fun than anything else. On the way back down to Vitznau, we took the cable car, before taking the ship back to Lucern.









The next day, we went off for a day visit to Milan. Milan was superb!!! Fashion shopping and foods were excellent! The weather was just brilliant and very welcoming!! I wish I could stay there longer and indulge myself in shopping and good foods.




On the third and last day, went off skiing 3000m at Mount Titlis. My first experience skiing, and I really enjoyed it. I didn't even fall, not even once. We had quick lessons from the management that was worth around £25. We were lucky however, we got it for free as the tour guide somehow favour us more than the rest! ehhehe. We were so baik bah!! Plus.. we're the "BRUNEI" group.








On overall, the trip was excellent. It worth every penny I paid for. Although Switzerland was uber expensive, the place is simply beautiful. I probably pay another visit some other time to other cities like Zurich. And Milan, I will definitely come again next time.

Thai Green Curry - Easter Break

It's easter break once again. The weather is nice sunny and bright, but still freaking cold at -1 deg!!

I'm feeling far much better now. Can't wait to say goodbye to this flu.

Made myself good lunch treat as it's the first day of the easter holidays. Made myself Thai green curry and served with brussels sprouts with oyster sauce. Had it for the first time. I thought it would taste like kailan, and true enough it does. I'm delighted with the curry indeed. Quite easy and cheap to prepare I must say.




I'm off to Lucerne, Switzerland in just few days time. It's a ski holiday, and I'm off skiing for the very first time. I'm not looking forward with the heights of cable car. Yites!!!

Okay people, enjoy the holidays as much as I will!

Bubur Nasi

Feeling much better, but still sniffing before it drips out of my nose! Hahhaa.... gooey indeed!

Had a good time in clinic today, although it was a boring start.

We also had medical emergency on my way to the clinic from the common room. I saw Howard hanging on to the stairs rail and as if he was gasping for air. Tina was comforting him. He looked blue, sweaty and pale. I ran to get him a chair to sit from reception and offered him a glass of water.

I wasn't panic at all, but I realised my nursing skills were just crap! Called out for first aider and I just forgot totally that I was in hospital environment where I could easily do some vitals checking. Bumped into Rosie (surgical nurse) and she offered to see what happened. So the both of us attended him and soon Silin (Cardiac nurse) came with the Emergency defib kit. That was 3 nurses attending Howard. As we were waiting for the oxygen to come, the paramedics arrived.

Being a Cardiac nurse, Silin was worried if it was cardiac problems. But I wasn't worried at all as the symptoms weren't really showing angina. But I had more about gastro problems in mind. True enough, it's duodenal ulcer. He is now admitted waiting for surgery. That's when I realised, my nursing knowledge is not gone and vain afterall, it's just a little rusty. hehe

Clinic ward round session was a little lagged due to short staff. But everything went well, and the lecturer was so impressed with what we had done!!!

Here's our discussion scribblings:



And here's my Lunch, bubur nasi with eggs, carrots, long beans and udang.

Banoffee pie

Made myself happy with a huge serving of banoffee pie as dessert. It's basically a base of crumbs made of digestive biscuits and butter, topped with toffee made of reduced condensed milk, bananas as the filler and topped with fresh cream. Dash of cocoa to top it off.

My nervy Footy

Made a casted foot out of plaster of paris. This is basically a template needed before we make casted orthotics. Since this is for practise, it will just go to waste. I thought why not make use of it? So I decided to colour it and point the main distribution of cutaneous nerve innervations. This is useful for local anaesthetics revision and anatomy as general.

Here's the result.

Fried beehoon and under the weather.

Not feeling well at the moment. Been having runny nose and bad sore throat for a week now. My tonsils are sore and swollen. I'm stuffing myself with juice and paracetamol now.

Today, got myself vicks vapourub and made myself mee hoon.

Later will make bubur kacang and banoffee pie!! woohoo. Will post the pictures if succeed later.

I lost my steel pen!! 20022008

I had the pen for 7 years!!! Through good and through bad times, from my A levels to my nursing, scholarship applications and all the things that I had gone through that involved writings. I thought the pen would last till I finished this degree, and apparently, it's not. To THE PEN, thank you ever so much, you will remain in my memory. I probably lost it at the hospital during the busy hours, or it could be just anywhere where it could have fallen out of my rucksack. I used to have my name on it, but unfortunately, I had removed it as it was falling apart. Everyone at uni knows how much I treasure that pen A LOT! I wish that it would come back to me.

Not sure if I would call it lucky, I got another one similar given by Cathy few years back. It's black in colour however. (pix below)

Results!!!

The long awaited results are now literally in my hands!!! Although I must say they're not my best, but I have put my effort throttle to the maximum. On overall, I got B C C and D for the most difficult module on Local Anaesthetics and Prescription Medicines. I anticipated to resit that module, but alhamdulillah I won't have to as I passed it. But I may have to do a remedial class just to prove that I am competent with the medicines. Would you believe if I saif, out of almost 40 of us in the class, only 3 fulfilled the requirement of the module, which is to pass 100%!!!

On the breakdown of each Modules, here's what I got:

Clinical Reflective account - B
Orthotic Description and Explanation - A
Vascular Assessment Proforma - B
Physical Therapy - C
Musculoskeletal Assessment Skills - A
Cutaneous and Subcutaneous Pathology - PASS
Clinical Pharmacology and LA - D
Psychology and Human Behaviour - C
Research - C

X'mas and New Year Holidays - Barcelona and the UK trip.

Cathy made her second visit here for christmas, boxing day and new year. She was here for 2 weeks and time flew very quickly.

The day before Cathy arrived, I was in Barcelona. I spent a full week in Barcelona and few days in Liverpool where I got the flight to Barcelona from. Barcelona was definitely an enjoyable experience. I would certainly come back and spend more time there. Staying at the area of La Ramblas certainly beneficial when it comes to proximity to town and all the attractions.




Feeling exhausted from Barcelona, I simply couldn't pick Cathy up from the airport. I took the later train to London from Eastbourne and meet up in Bayswater. We then had lunch and the fun began!

The line up was, celebrate christmas in London up until boxing day to catch the hustle bustle of busy shopping at Oxford street, then off to Birmingham, then carry on the journey off to Eastbourne, Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton.




We then celebrated the new year in Eastbourne at FunktionRooms. It was full and and could hardly move, let alone dancing on the dance floor.

Too bad I couldn't take as much pictures as my camera went kaput!!!! If only I knew it was the battery!

Experiencing sleep deprivation and all sorts after the party, we had a long journey to look forward to, the road trip to down southwest. I rented a car,a Peugeot 207. It was upgraded from an economy Vauxhall Corsa. It was a fun car to drive, and very smooth. The clutch and gear were so smooth and easy to handle. The journey was smooth, but nevertheless a challenging one as it was my first time driving in the UK. The whole journey took us about 12 hours in total. We missed a few exits and roundabout exits. That's fine, it happens. As long everything was safe, that's the main priority.

Me behind the wheels of Peugeot 207.




Traffic in Southampton.




My terrified look after 3 hours of tiring drive.




On the way back, we stopped at Beachy Head to see the night skyline of Eastbourne. It was very beautiful but we didn't dare to get any near to the cliffs as the wind was so cold and strong. The wind might just push us away down!! So here's the frozen look of our faces!




now back in the car with the heating switched to full.




Oh, the car was almost died as I hadn't got a clue with the warning system that says the engine gone FROZEN!!! Hahhaha until it said " RISK OF ICE" All I needed to do was just a click of a switch! Da'oh!

Overall, it was a great holiday indeed, and I hope Cathy had enjoyed her stay. We ended the holiday by witnessing the New year's day parade in London which many didn't know about and of course dinner at Harrods!

The parade was about 2 hours long and very vibrant and colourful. Mostly participated by cheerleading team of US of A and Canada.

MadPaintball 2K8 Cosford, Wolverhampton.

Gosh, where's the time gone?? That quick?!

Well, last week I was in the battlefield of paintball up in the north. I left Eastbourne on the Friday after clinic. Fortunately I finished my Friday clinic the earliest than ever. That really helped as I have a 5 hour drive ahead. Shahin was driving as he is in the team as well. The only non-Bruneian in the team. The 5 hours drive was definitely a good one. Me being the map-reader definitely challenged my nerves! hahaha. Thanks to AA planner for the great help online which laid out the journey. Few minutes before arrival, we decided to switch on the tomtom, that's when everything went chaotic! We lost our way. So we decided to get back on track with the paper route. Indeed, we got on track. TomTom a big time sucker! Same thing happened on the journey back when we depend on tomtom to locate the nearest fuel station. It either gave us the wrong exit or the no-longer existing fuel station.

So how's paintball? It was a hell good adrenaline pumping session. We were a little behind with time but still we were the first to arrive as a team on site. There were 7 matches in total and I played 5 with 2 rests. Overall, I was quite happy that I got the experience to catch the flag, and shot quite a lot of people up to elimination. Nevertheless, the pain of pellets that shot off the "wonder how many caliber" markers was a great feeling. I got bruises here and there on my body. The pain was in total absence during the battle. Only few hours later.... then the "ouch" started to kick in!

Anyways, thanks to Mona for being a great host, and allowing us lot to stay over at her place in Stoke.

Inspired by Takeaway

There's this programme on TV called Takeaway. It is a reality TV show that aimed at people who indulge themselves on takeaway foods. What they do is simply get the targeted people to see the origin of their favourite food including how they are being done. eg. Fried chicken = u need to catch the chicken, killed them, and so on...

From that programme, I simply get ideas on what I eat! ahah

So these are the results - Fish and Chips and Burger!!

Intersemester Week - London - Kachu's visit.

Today is the last day of the inter-semester break. I've had 2 weeks off uni (one week from exam forthnight and a week from the reading week).

Exams were horrible. It was the scariest experience ever! I thought encountering the butcher was going to be the most horrific nightmare. Instead, the exams ahead proved me wrong. I had clinical pharmacology and local anaesthetics certification examinations as the hardest amongst all. The question paper was the thickest exam paper I had ever experienced. The final day seemed to be a little bit light, but not enough to be said easy, the Viva on pathology. There were 5 questions namely on human papilloma virus, cancers and moles, hydrotic and keratolysis, and the other one left unknown. I had the human papilloma virus. For 10mins, I felt as if I was being interrogated for answers to a planned explosion or terrorist attack of some sort. Here is how it went:

Choose question options 1 2 3 4 5.
Lecturer: It is 11.20 am 25th January 2008 and my name is Mr John Byrne. I am interviewing Mr A Kamis on module code PP225 Cutaneous and Subcutaneous Pathology Viva. The 10 minute starts now.
Me: read scenario and questions... and answer accordingly. *heart pounding like the new BMW M5*
...after 10mins
Lecturer: We are now done. Thank you and well done. Take care mate.
Me: *phew*... wait a minute. Mate??? I ain't your mate... I'm your student! ahahhaha

The break:

Last year, everytime there's long or medium break, I know where I will be heading to, Aberdeen to visit my sister. Now, since my sister have moved back to Brunei, I end up no where to go in the UK. Shahin was kind enough to offer me to come along to London, staying at his place for a week meeting his family and friends. I must say, it was a good week indeed. His family were so welcoming and the parents are simply very kind. Met his grandmother, it reminded me of one of my late aunts. She became a little emotional and she was hoping if there's a chance to perform the umrah with me, albeit being the first time meeting her. Apart of that, I met Shahin's cousins and uncles. Every place we went, there's always food to expect. Not just tidbits, but a full meal!!!!!

I also got the chance to explore more of London, from the central London where Shahin stays, we explored other places like East Ham meeting my friend, South London where we passed by on the way, North London where a friend lives and we visited to see the newborn Fathema. Would have been a complete one if we had the chance to go to Ealing to meet Milan for Kebab. Too bad, the weather was horrible.

In short summary we visited:

• The British Museum
• The O2 centre and watched Sweeney Todd, although only watched the first 20mins!! ahah
• Ice skating at Queensway - I wanna do it again!!!!
• Bowling
• London Eye - amazingly, I wasnt scared at all!!!!!!

At the end of the week, we went back to Eastbourne and picked up my sister on the way. Driving out of London was simply a pain during the peak hours. To Gatwick from central London took almost forever. But we made it on time. Hehhe

Kachu's visit here was simply what I looked forward to. Too bad the weather was extremely cold and windy, although it was nice and sunny. But it was not good and safe enough to explore Eastbourne especially Beachy Head. Her stay was a very short one. I am sure she will come back again.

It's back to uni again tomorrow. I have my clinical rota already. It is so confusing. I have to have it with me at all time, otherwise I might end up not attending or being at a wrong place at the wrong time. My supervisor is a Pharmacology and Paediatric specialist in Podiatry. Simply not easy to impress indeed.

The battle begins in few hours!

It's almost the end of Semester 1 year 2.

The exam starts tomorrow. I'm writing just few hours before the exams now. Sleep deprivation, excessive caffeine intake and information overload in my brains. Now, it's almost time to face the battle of exam war. First, it's the butcher!!!!

I have musculoskeletal assessment practical exam tomorrow morning. I am being assigned to be assessed by a Podiatric surgeon who known by many as the "Butcher". She's very knowledgeable and very intimidating. There will be 5 of us under her. And all of us are very restless and anxious at this very moment of time! *sigh*




Then followed by research exam in the afternoon.

Next few days:

Clinical pharmacology, microbiology and pathology exams - which lead to my Prescription only Medicine licensing from the Health Professions council.

Then Local Anaesthetics Exam - a 100% passing mark that leads to Local Anaesthetics certification and licensing. Which I need before I can legally administer and start my surgery rotation.

Then lastly, the pathology Viva. I have not prepared much on this. I just hope cancer won't be as much being asked!!!

Oh well, I am not prepared!!! Run!!!

My line for this week... "If I am not confident, I just hope I can at least act being confident"

The X'mas Ball and the Pod Do's.

Started the night at Slug and Lettuce meeting up my Pod group for x'mas dinner and 1st year's initiation. Shahin was at my place so we got ready and walked there together.

On arrival, I just couldn't believe how much attention I got from my group with compliments and all on how I looked different and smashing. Well, I don't wanna brag but it's fact. Hahha. Had tons of photos taken and just enjoyed the night basically.

The 1st year's initiation was good and funny. All the first years were told to remove their shoes and socks whilst they read out the oath. The oath reads as follows:

I (name) swear the allegiance of the foot,
I promise to hold sacred of the corn,
Venerate the Verrucae,
Bow to the bunion,
And pray to the Plantar Fascia.

I will endeavour to uphold the tradition of endemic alcoholism,
even in the face of adversity and clinic.

I will not succumb to Ivanation, and will innoculate myself against all known strains of Birchitus, Bullshitus and Crapetus.

I will not flee from the smell of Piss or Mothballs
And will show great interest in Meteorology and the Great war
I will attempt to understand the works of George Fornby and Vera Lynn
And agree that it isn't like it was in the good old days.

MAY POD HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOLES

ARSEHOLES!

After the oath they had this tradition of drinking game who will last or drink the most. Obviously my group of 2nd year won!!

Then we headed to the Winter Garden's for the Ball.

Music was not as great neither as expected. Didn't spend much time there. So Emily and I decided to make the move quite early just after midnight to the Loft where the rest of my group were still spending the time.

On the way to the loft, as we were walking through the empty and quiet alley of the streets, we bumped into a group of chavs in hoodies. They were in the middle of a junction kicking beer cans amongst themselves. Suddenly Emily was sighing "Oh God... not now...". So we walked passed them and we knew they were following us. So I thought of speeding up a little bit before we shifted ourselves to the better lit area where the restaurants were located. There were all closed and just a few elderly lingering around. These people then said to us "you stay here with us, I know what those guys been up to following you". Called the taxi but the taxi refused to pick us up. Cut story short, we arrived at the Loft safely. That was a scary experience indeed.

Overall, it was great to have spent the time with my pod groups. They're always fun to be with. Nevertheless, it was a good night.

Pharmacology and Burgers?

Well, woke up late today as I had a late night last night. I woke up around 7am yesterday and had a whole day in the hospital doing casting and pathology till 5pm. Had a quick lunch break at Dr Liz's place. She always welcome us to her place for great coffee. Everyone knows me by either weak and milky coffee or milky tea.

I slept at 3.20am yesterday as I was very determined to finish my orthotics prescription form for my portfolio assignment. I'm glad I got it away. What's left is to justify why I laid it out such and contents wise. But I'm quite happy with the results. But not sure if it will get the marks it deserves. I based my work on Langer's orthotics manufacturer and PPS I think. I also showed it to some friends, and they as well commented how good it is.




Today, I was at the library for 3 hours. On the way I stopped by for 2 shots of Tim Horton's best original glaze donuts!! The weather was horrible. Had to go against the wind and rain. As I was walking, it suddenly reminded me my life in halls last year. How I had to go through all those hard long walking and in terrible weather just to go into town to get bank stuff sorted, or just for a quick pints of milk and all. But now, I am so blessed with the proximity to town.

For 3 hours in library, I was struggling and only managed to answer 5 questions in part 1 of the Inflammation Study paper. All those 5 questions were on Analgesics specifically Paracetamol. I didn't expect it's that much to know about paracetamol and how it acts in the body to stop pain and all. For 3 hours my mouth was singing jargons like Cyclo-Oxygenase (COX - 1, 2), Hydroperoxidases, Hepatocellular, Prostanoids, Prostaglandins, Thromboxane, Prostacycline and the mother of all words today was N-Acetylbenzoquinoneimine!!!!!!!! On top of that, had to memorise all the safe administration dosages.

To some point, I am getting more scared on drug administration and prescription. It's so much different being a nurse where you would only need to know how to calculate it for administration. But now, the accountability and liability is even greater. Finding the right choice of medication for the right patient and right problem is definitely a great challenge. Just for instace, Warfarin will be a NO NO to mix with antibiotics. As a consequence one could just die! What if ignorance was to happen? Nauzubillah!!!!!

Anyways, on my way home, stopped by Sainsbury's thinking what should I cook for dinner. I wanted something fulfilling. So I thought of making burger as I already have minced beef I bought from Taqwa the other day in my freezer. Bought Jumbo wholemeal baps and the rest. Got home, prepared it and voila!!! I loved it to the bits!!!

Jumbo Mambo Wholemeal Burger:




Ingredients:

• Minced Beef - washed and drained excess fluids
• Kikkoman Soya Sauce
• Salt and pepper
• Parsley

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients altogether.
2. Make into patties and squeeze excess fluids at the same time
3. Grill in a lightly greased pan on a low heat, and on high heat to brown when it's cooked
4. Serve with ur favourite baps and other side dishes and sauces.

ISS Night - Sabor Latino at Flava

My body is aching right now as I type this entry.

Had a wonderful salsa night at Flava. It was the Official Opening for International Students Society with all the new official members. Megan is the Health and Safety officer which resulted me to come, and of course being an international student myself.

Flava is the official UoB international student's bar. So from now on, events related to international students of UoB will be held at Flava, unless where it's inappropriate of course. The theme last night was Sabor Latino, hence all the Spanish songs and Latin kinda music. I like the music for chilling but not to dance to it. Makes my body aches and I couldn't synchronise to it.

Before we left, I invited Ale and Shahin to come over my "cool" place (as commented by Ale) for dinner. I made simple dinner, sweet and sour chicken and stir fried broccoli with carrots and mushrooms. After dinner, we entertained ourselves with the wonders of youtube.com with all those funny pranks and comedies to laugh at!

We arrived at Flava, and lucky enough I brought the leaflet with me. The security was tight and he was fierce. But I got through easily. Shahin and Ale however were stopped for ID check and clearance whatever and they had to fill in a form or sumthing as they were not on the guestlist. Got my International Student card which entitles me to more discounts... yay!! Soon, Megan came down to approach me and she was obviously drunk. Megan is a quiet girl, but you know when she's on the alcs! ahahaha. Met Therese', Phil, Tristan, Sarah, Susan, Rosey, Cat from the course, and others who were my flatmates last year like Spiros, Maria, and some others (Terry, Manas, Oda, Julia, Pashe). Bumped into my current flatmates as well. It was all fun. I had to on and off dance cos I simply couldn't synchronise, I had to wait when it was more upbeat.

I decided to leave just before 1am. Cos I wanted to escape the crowd when the bar closes where one would have to find their coats and everything as if they were in a crazy sale centre. Police were already almost everywhere. Drunk people were starting to get more violent outside the bar. The town suddenly transformed into a zombied town from a nice calm town with old people.

Shahin had to come home with me as he had forgotten his mp3 player in my room. He came round to check. But again, looking at the situation outside, I was like, just stay over my place and leave early next morning. Not unless he had someone to go with or taking the taxi. This town of mine is getting more and more crazy and violent.

Recently, Eastbourne, specifically the streets of my neighbourhood was ranked the most rough town in Sussex with 56 cases of injury-intended crime reported. Oh well, tawakal saja and take precautions.

I leave u with the pictures from last night. I didn't get to snap loads of pictures. But the others might have the rest which I am still waiting.

Eastbourne, Shopping and Hips Don't Lie!

Well, as the title says, Eastbourne is currently in a busy festive mood. Shops closing at 8pm and more and more decorations have been put up. Sale are not as crazy yet but certainly have started. It's pack everywhere you go.

There's going to be bercemar duli session with His Majesty the Sultan this Sunday at the Intercontinental Hotel, London at 2pm. Insya-Allah I will be attending that event. It's not an easy chance that the royals come down to London and meet students. To top it off, they will be mingling freely with the guests. Unlike the usual Istana open house where one gets to only handshake each of them. Plus, hopefully there will be anugeraha as well.... woo hoo!!

Tomorrow night, it will be the launching of International Students Society of Eastbourne where Flava is the official bar. It will be salsa and latino theme tomorrow. Megan has been ever so annoying to make me come to this event. Apparently, many are coming including the housemates. So, I hope and I bet it's going to be a good night.

Like I was saying, the HM visit. So I needed a suit as I did not want to wear the cara melayu. The only thing is, my suit is in Brunei. It was useless last year and didn't think it's gonna be any use for this year. Besides, it's a lil too loose for me now. it needs alterations. Hence, I was searching around in hope to get one for my size in this limited time. I am a little disadvantaged here when it comes to formal wear sizing. It may take up to 2 weeks for a suit my size to arrive. I've tried M&S, Debenhams, Burton, NEXT, and all the shops you could possibly name in Eastbourne. I was contemplating to go down to London or Brighton as to whether it was worth it. However, Burton has already got my suit for the Ball instead, which perfectly fits me. The guy told me to just wear those, and disagreed him as I don't want to look over the top wearing a evening suit for a lounge get together.

Talked to Therese and Wendy, perhaps with their mother figure could help me with it. True enough as we had 4 hours break today, they took me to town, at Debenham's children section *cough*. In just minutes, I could fit in to a Thomas Nash's design for a 15-16year old. I was happy. Even better, I could get £70 for a 3 piece suit. Too bad, the trousers didn't fit me, thus, had to forget about it. So then, I bought a different jacket sold separately but still Thomas Nash of Debenhams. Plan now, forget the suit, wear a cara melayu and a jacket over. Like I said, I may have the body size of a 15-16 year old, but the HIPS DONT LIE!!! haha

The reason why I needed a jacket, so I could cover my cara melayu, even better if I could wear a suit. Why? Because, my cara melayu now looks like baju pinjam. It looks ever so baggy, with the sleeves covering my hands, and the collar's just too loose. I shed the fats and skin... ahhaha LOL

I took some pictures around Eastbourne town today. It's a 2 mins walk from my current flat. I was just buying things and "threw" them off back home. So far, I got a new beddings which hadn't been changed for almost 2 years. Well, I washed them however (in case you loads were curious) and a new shower curtain. I had been dreading for a new one after months of showering behind that ever filthy plastic curtain. It had slimes and moulds that hardly be taken off. The previous occupant was just so dirty! I even had to soak it in bleach overnight when I first arrived. And of course, I got a new cushion!! hahah

Picture below of my room at night, the cushion, Eastbourne town centre (that's the main entrance to Arndale where a policeman was stabbed with a kitchen knife 2 weeks ago) and notice the pile of books I have on my table. Those are the books I need to stuffed in my head for my exams and essays!! Those are what keeping me occupied.








Below, just a artistic shot of Arndale Centre with Therese somewhere in there on the way to the ATM.

East Sussex countryside.

Therese offered Megan and I a run around in the car at the countryside of Eastbourne. We went to places like Lewes, Glynde, Berwick and some other places. Glynde is a place where I wanna visit next time cos there is a place for paragliding!!!! We also stopped by at Knockhill where there's a place for snowboarding and skiing... well on this artificial slippery hill tho. That place was filthy, so we thought it was not worth the money. It was bery cold as well. But, thanks to Therese for spending some time with us, much appreciated! It took us about 4 hours altogether. The weather was not great either, it was cold and grey. Most places only open starting this spring. So we're thinking of going back to those places once they're back and active. One place is the Opera place, it's a huge place over there.

On the way back, stopped by ASDA and got myself a bag of rice and watermelon!! I was craving for watermelon since forever. It was crunchy, juicy and sweet. I had some in the hospital for lunch as well and shared it with some. Everyone agreed that is was so good.

I got my new toy, casting and Wendy's bday.

I got my new gadget that I have always wanted, well not really, it was just the temptations. Hahaha I got the new Sony Walkman mp3 and video player. It's the new drag and drop version. It's slightly more expensive than the iPods Nano 3rd Gen which is its main rival. But for a quality, it is definitely an excellent one, cos... it's a SONY! ehehe



Yesterday had a good clinic hours. In the morning, we were short of patients. We only had 14 patients, for 30 students. So, we practised on our Musculoskeletal assessment which went quite well and more making sense. On the second session, I finally had a patient for just a quick check n vascular and neurological assessment and his diabetes as he had infection on his surgery site before. In the afternoon, I had casting class. Ready... Camera... Action! Well, not that casting! ahahahha

We had a Session with Mr Byrne on negative casting. It's basically taking a template cast (negative cast) of the feet so proper insoles can be manufactured according to the shape of the feet for an excellent fitting. One can be Commoditive, and the other can be funtional. The difference between those two are, one changes the position and shape of the feet, the other, just help the feet to regain an optimum function without changing the shape or position.

It was a fun class. I must admit it was messy, but fun!! It was more of an art class than a biomechanics class. It's easy to manufacture it, but it's the things behind like the biomechanics side of it. All the physics involved! grr... rusty brains me! I had good comments from the lecturer by the way. They're all excellent. I'm quite happy from the casts that I've made. The finish insoles normally would cost a patient around £70-200 excluding the shoes to be fitted in.





Oh, I was a lil nosy yesterday as I finished my patient early, so I thot i pop into my mates cubicles see if they needed help. And none, so I just chatted away to some patients before they doze off to sleep. One of them commented to a fren who's treating... "That is a very nice young guy.... he seems to be very nice". Elizabeth my fren, she was so envious! ahahahahah LOL

Attended Wendy's birthday party last night. She lives 30mins away from Eastbourne. Therese took me with her in the car. The party was alright. There was a huge Labrador dog in the house. The moment I stepped in, the dog was already chasing me and Wendy knew that I hated dogs. So she convinced me that the dog was under control. Went to the living room, the dog was set loose. Trina, Wendy's daughter, told me just to ignore him and he will ignore me in a bit as well. But this dog was just so friendly. He couldn't stop following me and sniffing me up to the kitchen. Whilst in the kitchen, it simply never stopped sniffing me, and my crotch as well! At first, yites, don't mind you sniffing that but dont eat my sausage! ahahah LOL But this dog sniffed my bum as well, then later he's just gone. So the dog was just part of the guests soon after. I just ignored it, although I was a little uncomfortable. I however, excused myself to everyone to why I dislike dogs although I don't hate them and do not condon the inhumane and insane killings of dogs and animals as general. I justified myself by saying, it was just the way I was brought up where back home, dogs are not trained and they're normally fierce guard dogs. Even the owner could hardly control their own dogs, and some are even afraid of their own dogs. But the night went well. That was me, my first very very close encounter with a Labrador for 7 hours!!

Tickets to the Holly Ball

I just found a date to go with for the Holly Ball at Winter Gardens in Eastbourne on the 7th Decmeber 2007. It will be the same day as the x'mas dinner organised by Martin and Angie on behalf of the Year 2 PodStudents. Some other friends are going as well, hopefully it's a great night and it has been a great yearly event. Shahin is going as well, ahha he's got a date too, and that was great. Otherwise, we might end up having to go to the ball together as 2 bloke partners... err? ahahha LOL. He even said, we could walked together holding hands. But I told him, if we ever gonna do that, I will have to put on dark shades so people might think I'm blind and needed someone to lead me the way! ahha




But I am so looking forward to this as I didn't get to make to the previous graduation ball for the previous cohort due to my silly mistake!

So, I had to upload a passport photo so the entry process would be a swipe. Managed to capture a shot of photo, and with my limited photoshop skills, managed to clear all the stuff behind me. So the result is this.




heheh cute? ahahah LOL

Salmon steak - sayur taugeh udang karing : a fusion?

Had nail pathology class this morning. Class started at 11am. I set my wake up call at 7am, thinking that my class starts at 9am. This is always happening to me!! But today, glad I realised that class starts at 11am which I finally woke up at 9am.

Made myself jacket potato with prawn filling for my lunch pack today. It was great indeed and fulfilling. I also had coleslaw and my great peach yogurt companion. However, I forgot about the coleslaw until the very last minute. I was already filled up by then.




To make it, you will need:

• A good size of baking potato
• Salt and pepper
• Cooked and peeled prawns
• Mayonnaise
• Ketchup
• Squeeze of lemon

Method:

• Poke around the potato with fork
• Bake in the oven until it's soft and cooked for approximately an hour
• Mine however, I dumped it into the microwave for about 10mins and it does the trick, then moved it to the oven to brown it.
• Make filling, by adding salt, pepper, ketchup, mayonnaise, lemon juice into the cooked prawns
• Then cut potato belly, scoop some prawn and serve

In the afternoon, I had clinic. Had a review of my previous patient on the progress of the treatment I offered. I also prescribed her some new ointment to try which she had to bring it to me to apply it for her. She had a Verrucae of what is known as plantar warts. It's a virus caused problem. She had this condition for almost 5 years and is getting worse. This is attributed to her lifestyle as a swimmer and many other things as well. The last time she came, I treated her with silver nitrate application followed by pressure distributing padding. This time round however, instead of the silver nitrate, I gave her the new medication. Hopefully it works this time round. She had gone through other therapies including cryotherapy, laser therapy, and the silver nitrate. But overall she's very keen and happy. She also hoped that it's me to treat her again after christmas.

Got back from the hospital, I thought of stopping by at Sainsbury's to get some salmon fillet. I was craving for ikan goreng. I also bought myself bean sprouts (taugeh) which I thought ofstir frying it with dried shrimps (udang karing), then I went on and got naughty buying myself a GU chocolate vanilla cheese cakes in glass ramekins. They're lovely but too sweet.




The fish and taugeh:

Monday 19112007 - Local Anaesthetics

Today's morning lecture was something I looked forward to. It was indeed a very interesting and the most relevant into practice so far. It was on local Anaesthetics. I need to pass this module to enable me licensed in administering independently prescribed only medicines and local anaesthetics at different sites. This also include the use of adrenaline and adrenaline mixed local anaesthetics. They come in various forms of names and types depending on what the clinician is aiming for. Some may last for 1-2hours, whilst others may last up to 8 hours. Selection will be based on the type of patient, the contra-indications that a patient might or might not have, patient group and their tolerance. Normally local anaesthetics are hypoallergenic but there are cases where patient might developed a major allergic reaction of anaphylactic reactions that requires immediate attention like CPR, or resuscitation.

Anyways, I had to cram tons of information that involved figures and massive whip arse formulae and calculation. For instance 1% Lignocaine has a strength of 3mg/kg with a maximum dosage of 200mg. So before administering, I will need to calculate in terms of patient's weight, the tolerance and the circulation of the patient as well as the nature of the surgery before administering safely. That was fine and all. Went off to the library and did some practise. Fiona was there as well, she had this amazing way to do a "9x" multiplication technique. Amazing!!

Later in the afternoon, we had a 2 hour lecture on reliability and validity in clinical research. God that was the most dreadful research lecture ever!!!! The lecture was divided into three, in quantitative where it was divided into reliability and validity whereas qualitative was done all in one. I managed to stay awake although being a hypocritically paying attention. Frankly, I was just dreaming and dreading all the way through!!!! I was imagining what I'm gonna cook for dinner and all. So, squash and corrainder soup it was!!!!

I just had it minutes ago and I shared some to AD. I had it with baguette roll. It was fine, although not very presentable, but it tasted so good!!!




Squash and Corriander soup:

Ingredients:

• Butternut squash cut into cubes
• Diced onions
• Fresh corriander leaves and stalk
• Butter
• Chicken cube / vegetable stock
• Salt
• Pepper
• Some sugar
• Oyster sauce
• Cream

Method:

• Heat pot and add butter and onions. Sweat the onion until it's transparent
• Add in the vegetables and corrainder and let it mix and caramelised
  
• Add enough water up to your preferred consistency
• Mash or blend once ingredients turned soft
• Add more water if necessary
• Seasoned to taste
• Add a dollop of fresh cream (optional)

Note: Other recommended vegetables also include broccoli, celery, potatoes, leek, celery and cauliflower.

Weekend - Procrastinating end? Not! (cucur udang buyuk)

Well, meant to do loads of things today from laundry to coursework. But, I'm a lazy bugger as usual. Woke up just before midday. Craving for mama's cucur udang, so I thought of having it today for my "open sesame" aka breakfast, lunch, brunch all in one!

Im gonna call it "Cucur Udang Buyuk" Thanks to all those frozen and Adabi instant flour mix!




Ingredients:

• 1 packet of Tepung cucur adabi - ikan bilis

• Peeled baby prawns
• water

Method:

• Mix everything until it makes a nice batter consistence.
• Scoop and deep fry until golden brown
• Serve with your favourite chilli sauce
  

My sexy Ayam Tandoori.

Today, I was a little laid back with work. So I thought of treating myself with a tandoori. This is my first time making tandoori chicken. It took me a snap to get it ready. Impressive? I am impressed with myself indeed! It took about 15mins to get it ready. Let's call it the cheeky chicken tandoori.




Cheeky chicken tandoori.

Ingredients:

• Clean, defrosted skinned chicken legs
• Tandoori mix spices
• Yoghurt (I didn't have plain yoghurt, so I just chucked my peach yoghurt from Danone)

Methods:

• Mix yoghurt with spice mix.
• Add chicken and mix well.
• Pop in microwave for about 6mins or until it's almost cooked.
• Then transfer to a baking tray, add some butter on top.
• Pop in a pre-heated oven, until it's golden brown which will take about 5mins or so as chicken is already cooked.
  

Done, I just finished eating it. I served it with steamed rice and butternutsquash soup.

Foot Ulcer - Happy me.

Today has been one of my happiest time in clinic. I was more in control of what I was doing. Today, I had a patient who came in with ulcer. The moment I flipped through the case note, I was already feeling anxious. U.L.C.E.R..... oh my!

Called the patient, gathered some information on my initial interview, carried out the necessary assessments and cracked on with the work. All those initial bits were not as difficult, it was just looking for any differences since she last came. She last came last week for ulcer treatment dressing. She had a healing ulcer on the dorsal L/2nd Proximal Interphalangeal Joint (tibia side) secondary to shearing from footwear.

The identified problems:

• Age - 77
• Medical and Surgical histories - Breast cancer (mastectomy done), Bone cancer.
• Incompliance to footwear advice - tight, small toebox, only toes covering shoes.

I also took pictures of this patient's feet that I wanted to put up here, but to think about confidentiality, I rather not.

It is actually a simple thing to handle but it actually comes with a big responsibility. I had to prospectively look at the prognosis and making sure I did not cause any further injury or bleeding this will cause further infection.

Afternoon session, had a simple rather quite a challenging patient. It was his second time at the clinic who was deciding to have nail surgery. I think he is still in the booking list. But then he realised, surgery is not the only solution. His ingrown toe-nail is not as bad as anything that I have seen before.

Overall, I am happy with my performance. Got all positive clinical fedback from my clinical tutors. So what could be more satisfying in clinic. =P

Oh btw, today it was freezing cold at -2deg, everyone was scrapping and deicing their cars, the park was beautifully covered with grey frost. I enjoyed my walk to the hospital this morning. although not the cold!

Homeless people placement : Hastings.

I almost forgotten that I had a homeless people clinical placement. But, thanks to my trusted companion phone/organiser to remind me. I was fiddling with it the night before and I saw "Hastings homeless placement at 9.30am". Got myself ready with all the necessary documents and guide plus train timetable.

Woke up early around 7am, got ready and had my breakfast. Packed myself some sandwiches for lunch, a tiny tub of yoghurt and a carton of Tropicana juice. Made my way to the station around 8.15am and arrived at the station a little early for my 8.40am train. Although I had enough time to catch the 8.20am train, but I thought I'm giving myself enough time to arrive at the shelter around 9.30am.

The journey to St. Leonard Warriors Square (SLQ) took approximately 25minutes. It was indeed a terribly cold morning although the sun was shining bright. The environment in SLQ was very far different from many other places I have been in the UK. It was very much more quiet but not in a nice way. Rather, it made me feel much insecure as it was no doubt a rough town. It's filled with addicts, homeless, gangs and ghettos. Any non-English faces were hardly to be found.

Thanks to Google-maps for making my life such easy. I printed my journey out the night before and spotted it on immediately according to the map. It was like having SatNav in hand.

Knocked on the door, I was greeted by Roger, the senior nurse practitioner at the shelter. The shelter is called The Seaview Project of Hastings and is join-runned by St.John's Ambulance. This place provide shelter (altho no lodging provided) for homeless where they can get help on anything that is possibly related to their needs such as counselling, renting advice, medical help including podiatry and sexual health clinic, cheap food, shower and hot meals facilities. Besides, the people there who are mostly volunteers help to accommodate the needs of whoever may need it like attorney, probation and welfare arrangements and such. This place caters for homeless, ex-prisoners, mentally challenged persons and many more. Although the place yet to be specifically defined, it is clearly does more than just a shelter.

On arrival, I was taken for an orientation tour including for health and safety purposes by Jodie (the volunteer podiatrist who supervised me). I was introduced to the caretaker, CEO, the cook and the people there. In the common room, it looked more like a prison and the image was similar to those prison images we get on movies. Like rough women in a group over pool table and such. They look scary I must admit. Professionally, I had to look confident, and besides I was trained for any anticipated emergencies.

Patients normally come either walk-in or by appointment. Cases range from basic care, to far more complicated cases. Normally patients would have histories like drug abuse and addiction, alcoholics, HIV and AIDS positive, Hepatitis, psychiatric problems and history of being sexually or physically abused.

The moment I stepped into that shelter, my thoughts were already running wild. I started to reflect upon things like how it is different from Brunei, let alone having to meet a current addict on Heroin. I was at the common room as I had to leave the treatment room whilst Jodie attended girl who wanted to talk about her current personal problem. Whilst I was out there, I met a couple of people, introduced myself and immediately built up a friendly conversation. Walking around further was when I met this lady. She asked me if I was from the university as I stood out of the crowd with clean white polo shirt and my name tag and a student ID. She stopped me and asked what was I doing there. So I explained that I was a Podiatry student doing an observation study. So she thought she needed attention on her feet.

A brief history:

A lady in her late 30's who is complaining of pain in her feet which she thought to be corns. Generally not feeling well but fully orientated and fully conscious. She has a family history of diabetes and osteoporosis from parents.

Socially: have been homeless for the last 2 years living under one of the bridges in town. Occasionally gets to stay at a friend's house during the weekends where she gains access to hot shower. Hot meals once a day either from the project house or the salvation army centre. Living on heroin for the last 20 years (on and off). Sexually active with one partner who is also a homeless. Has one 5 year old daughter.

On examination: Body looks emaciated with signs of bullimia (as verbalised by client). Both feet look pale and cold but no signs of diminished circulatory function. Medically, no diabetes, early signs of arthritis on 1st ray, osteoporosis and malnourished. B/F nails are long and no signs of anhidrosis or dermatological conditions present, although interdigital may potentially mascerated. Currently have stopped on heroin for 3 months with help of *sumthing I can't remember*. HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis results were negative.

Treatment rendered: basic chiropodial routine, gave her advice on foot care. Supplied her with new pair of socks and shoes.

Whilst I was listening to her interview, it really made me mouth shut and to be so grateful to what and where I am now. It was like a story line from a movie. We are so far very much fortunate to live on such luxury of having proper footwear, clothing and even foods that we normally waste. Searching for used shoes that were suitable for her struck me even further down like how we wasted so much on luxury branded shoes where as there are people out there who haven't got a proper pair to wear in this crazily cold country. I just couldn't imagine how they could tolerate life in such a hardship.

Some might argue about them being addicts, but I have never ever put that in my mind as I don't like being a prejudice for being a Professionally Trained Podiatrist. However, we need to think rationally based on the patient's interview. It is obvious from interviews to determine whether patients are really willing to change and help themselves. There are many amazing stories where addicts who never attended school, lived in hardship of abuse and poverty and end up as a successful millionaire. Truly inspirational.

I finished the session just before 1pm. I headed the train station immediately to catch the next train moving towards London where it stops at Eastbourne. Had my lunch munch in the train and arrived at uni, enough time for my next session. It was indeed a good one!

With that, it also gave me a first hand experience on the demand of my current essay which entitles "The social and psychological influences on an individual's physical health".

Bonfire night at Lewes.

Last night was a great night. I always wanted to see the Bonfire parade at Lewes. It's a famous place for a massive parade and huge burning area in the middle of the town. I didn't get to go last year as I was busy with work. This year however, I was determined to see it live. I asked Megan if she wanted to come along as she went to the last year's parade, and which she commented as a great one. Then, I also asked Shahin if he wanted to go along, and apparently, he had already decided before hand to go by car with two of his other friends. Apparently, the town will be shut after 3pm for cars to enter, and I told him to just get on the train. So I was caught in the middle then. Who should I go with??

So as positive as I was, I trusted Megan, plus it's being in my own group, we took the train and left at 6.47pm. There were me, Megan, Angie, Martin, Therese', Phil, Matt, Tristan, Jane and Cat. Arrived at Lewes after 20mins being in a packed full of people in a train. Tristan even had to sit on the train's table. The slow diesel train was no help at all.



The moment we stepped foot at Lewes, there were already flocks of people moving towards the same direction. We had to walk closely amongst each other as we didn't want to lose anybody. *BOOM* came the first explosion. We were already proximal to the parade site. Too bad, being short, I couldn't go any further and see what's ahead of me. Plus, there were thousands of drunk people around fighting, and what's not. Imagine, if someone were to fall, that's it mate, you're done!

But I must say, logistics that night was incredible. Police officers, ambulances, paramedics were almost everywhere. Martin was kind enough to offer me a lift on his shoulder, but I said no. 15mins later, after tons of booming sounds of explosives, the parade ended. We then had to slowly moved forward against another crowd from ahead. Suddenly, an explosion exploded near Angie and we were very close to her. Gosh, that gave me a bang in the ears. Scary indeed. But that was just the beginning. Apparently, in a bonfire parade, sounds of explosion and fire are what it was all about. Need to be careful, certainly not for the weak hearted. Wonder what it's gonna be like for "gigiran" people back home??

We then headed towards the Bonfire fireworks and finale area. But then, we thought we might do a quick pub crawl within the 30mins. Pubs were all full everywhere, so we ended up to one of the famous pub outside the town. It was also pack, but we got our orders immediately. As I was sipping through my drink outside, someone lit a "bang" just right behind me. Gosh, that killed my ear badly!!! On general observation, the town was like being in a war situation with riots (from parade where people dressed up in a scary manner eg pirates, undertaker), with all the breakages, dumps, bombings, just horrible state!

Later then we arrived at the Bonfire area and to find out, it was going to be delayed another 30mins. So we split into groups and do whatever then come back to that spot in half hour. I was accompanying Therese' to find a toilet at one of the pubs. On our way out, there was another parade that went on. So thought of stopping for a bit and see as we were first in line, besides, we couldn't go any further. Suddenly, Angie and Martin knock on the pub's window. We went in and enjoyed together in the comfort of the pub. What a small town!!!!

Then came the time for bonfire, where all the fire carried by people in the parade will be thrown into a huge pyramid of wood stacks, followed by blastings of explosives that potentially could make you deaf! It was great to see how a tiny fire initially could grow into a huge massive flame in just matter of minutes. The pattern of flame was just amazing, the smoke resembles the pattern of a hurricane. The heat was just incredible. In the cold early winter, I could just strip off!!!! And as a result, my lips are now still dry and my face hurts from the burn. Mind you, we were very very far away, just enough for our eyes to see the fire.

The fireworks nevertheless, were just so magnificent and amazing!!!!

We headed the train station in a crowd just before 11 and to find out the next train leaves at 20past. We waited, and chatted amongst ourselves on how much we have enjoyed it.

In the train, once again, it was pack. But now, worst!!!! People were drunk, loud and hooligans were basically around. Too bad, my coach was indeed filled by lunatics! 10mins of the journey, a fight was initiated basically behind me. Commotion went on for about 5mins. People suddenly came out with words like.. "oh shit, this is not good", "fights in the train... I don't like this". There were also people who then curious and decided to watch it closely. Imagine that pack now! These people were fighting just behind me and my shoulders were basically moved by their bum actions and all. One of the guy seated next to me said.. "shall I raise the alarm now?". His mate then said... "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll stop at Polegate". (Polegate was just 5mins away and is a rough town). True enough, half of the group got off the train.

From Polegate, another fight occurred. This time, the alarm was raised. As a result we had a delay at Berwick for about 10mins until problem was rectified. Too bad, the fight didn't end. We had to continue the journey up until Eastbourne with people fighting in the coach.

At Eastbourne, Matt was kind enough to give me a lift nearer to my home.

On overall, it was a great night indeed. I was so phobia looking at sparks of lights, smoke and fire that night!! That was just funny indeed. I will not hesitate to go again next year, but I am sure, I will be elsewhere doing external placements.

The X'mas Ball and the Pod Do's.

Started the night at Slug and Lettuce meeting up my Pod group for x'mas dinner and 1st year's initiation. Shahin was at my place so we got ready and walked there together.

On arrival, I just couldn't believe how much attention I got from my group with compliments and all on how I looked different and smashing. Well, I don't wanna brag but it's fact. Hahha. Had tons of photos taken and just enjoyed the night basically.

The 1st year's initiation was good and funny. All the first years were told to remove their shoes and socks whilst they read out the oath. The oath reads as follows:

I (name) swear the allegiance of the foot,
I promise to hold sacred of the corn,
Venerate the Verrucae,
Bow to the bunion,
And pray to the Plantar Fascia.

I will endeavour to uphold the tradition of endemic alcoholism,
even in the face of adversity and clinic.

I will not succumb to Ivanation, and will innoculate myself against all known strains of Birchitus, Bullshitus and Crapetus.

I will not flee from the smell of Piss or Mothballs
And will show great interest in Meteorology and the Great war
I will attempt to understand the works of George Fornby and Vera Lynn
And agree that it isn't like it was in the good old days.

MAY POD HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOLES

ARSEHOLES!

After the oath they had this tradition of drinking game who will last or drink the most. Obviously my group of 2nd year won!!

Then we headed to the Winter Garden's for the Ball.

Music was not as great neither as expected. Didn't spend much time there. So Emily and I decided to make the move quite early just after midnight to the Loft where the rest of my group were still spending the time.

On the way to the loft, as we were walking through the empty and quiet alley of the streets, we bumped into a group of chavs in hoodies. They were in the middle of a junction kicking beer cans amongst themselves. Suddenly Emily was sighing "Oh God... not now...". So we walked passed them and we knew they were following us. So I thought of speeding up a little bit before we shifted ourselves to the better lit area where the restaurants were located. There were all closed and just a few elderly lingering around. These people then said to us "you stay here with us, I know what those guys been up to following you". Called the taxi but the taxi refused to pick us up. Cut story short, we arrived at the Loft safely. That was a scary experience indeed.

Overall, it was great to have spent the time with my pod groups. They're always fun to be with. Nevertheless, it was a good night.