Bruxelles

So with the hype of officially passing finals and Med School being over and done with, 'The Cartoons' and I reunited back again in London to make the most of our remaining holidays before the formalities of Graduation, Farewells and Doctoring began. 

And what better way to commemorate the last of our time spent together in this part of the world than a Euro Trip! 

Destination: Bruxelles, or Brussels - the capital of Belgium

Mode of Transport: Eurostar (Read: Convenient 2 hour journey from a train station in the city and NO fluids restriction! Awesome stuff)

Participants: Us girls and Daisy's Plus One. 

Mood: Jubilant! 

Didn't take very long to figure out what our main agenda for the majority of the trip was. Doing this:

In front of the miniscule-sized Mannekin Pis, which we took ages to find. Talk about anti-climatic.

Brussels was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of London. Small, reasonably-priced transport and easy to get around, with the help of our awesome tour guide, Mr. Rengier. We had fun gorging on Belgian Waffles, Chocolate and Frites dipped in a variety of sauces, amidst me flagging from a HUGE pot of Mussels. There wasn't that much to do or see per se, but it was a nice enough and relaxing holiday for us, and something to remember before we went our separate ways. 

And we even squeezed in a load of sight-seeing, thanks to Tour Guide #1! Four churches, the European Quarters, The Grand Place, parks, cam-whoring outside the Atomium and a whole load of laughter and movie sessions at night.

We even found a car park whose top floor overlooked the entire city and spent a fair amount of time taking self-indulged photos which could rival any Backstreet Boys or Spice Girls promo poster. Coming soon. As soon as Daisy gets around to uploading them.

It feels a little surreal that we have now reached this point in our lives, when only two months or so ago, we were worried sick about whether or not we would get through finals. It feels even more unimaginable that in a while, we will be going our separate ways, and not know when we would next see each other again.

Ah the friends that bless your lives with their wonderful presence. It's just a pity that people come and go in our lives and there is no way we can prevent that.

Thanks for the past three years, Cartoons xxx

Singapore Spree

And I say that because it was every bit one heck of a shopping spree as it could possibly get!

Since I would be in Singapore being a Cardio enthusiast for two weeks in the middle of May for my electives, I had a brilliant idea to organise a sequel to the Tenerife holiday: a relaxing (SUPPOSEDLY!) weekend in Singapore, catching up with these girls, because the last time we all saw each other was as far back as April 2010!

Tenerife - Easter 2010

Unfortunately, we were missing a member of the 'Tenerife Gang' as Noemi was busy being a hotshot architect in London this time, so the three of us made do. 

We hit the ground running! As soon as Hanna arrived, we kicked-started by hopping off to the much talked-about Universal Studios in Sentosa. 

The place was small, but didn't disappoint. The last time I had been to a theme park was 6 years ago, and the Alton Towers trip in CC with me and Jenn screaming our heads off on the 'Nemesis' rollercoaster lives in my mind. So this outing to check out Universal Studios was much welcomed indeed. Amongst the Marilyn Monroe lookalikes, Kung-Fu Panda 'Po' and Woody the Woodpecker, we even managed to pull a 'Gossip Girl' moment on the steps of this library. Not the Metropolitan, but in this case, the New York Public Library.

Priceless Moment of Note: Sitting on the Battlestar Galactica, 90-second rollercoaster, and me being really pleased to be seated in the last row, only to find out later that the scariest point of a rollercoaster IS being in the last row, because it picks up speed as it zooms down with gravity. Congrats, Shing.

After a tiring day gallivanting around Universal Studios, being soaked wet on a ride amongst other things, we even managed to trek it back in time for dinner and catching up with the CC buds and then drinking wine till almost 2 am, where the boys proceeded to order bottle after bottle of wine even when we had dropped a zillion hints that it was time to head back. Perceptive much?

But nothing would stand in the way of our shopping plans. The girls had big plans to shop down the entire GSS (Great Singapore Sale), so up we were before 9 am the next day and off to brunch at Wild Honey

The rest of our remaining two days were pretty standard despite our big plans to shop down the entire Orchard Road each day.

It seemed our brunches were never enough to provide enough fuel for shopping because we ran out of energy so quickly each day that it became a bit of a joke eventually how absolutely shattered we were after just a couple of hours of shopping.

Towards the end, I concluded that the one blessing in disguise that does well for curbing my borderline shopaholic tendencies is the fact that I lack the stamina to squeeze all the shopping malls dry despite the amount of caffeine or food I consume for the day. In fact, Post Prandial Stupor struck so often that by the time Sunday afternoon swung around, all I really wanted to do was to get on the first plane and head home.

I kid. But we did leave Singapore feeling like we needed another day to recuperate before heading back to work (for them) and off to my new ObGyn placement in Kch.

Nevertheless, even Rex's friend from Med School was wildly impressed that we had managed to remain such close friends after almost a decade of friendship, and the amount of effort we have put into meeting up as often as possible. In this case, almost once-yearly holidays.

The girls say that they can't possibly be up for more shopping sprees for the next trip. I concur wholly.

Till we meet again next year (hopefully in Penang!) 

Five Girls, One Heart

As cliched as it seems, I cannot help but wonder aloud, over and over again.

Where has all the time gone???

It seemed like just yesterday that we were attending play dates, which progressed to Princess-themed birthday parties, slumber parties and then suddenly, we find ourselves at the next phase of life: Hen Do's.

This was the star of the day: Blushing Bride To Be and definitely the first close friend of mine to be walking down the aisle.

And this was the Bridal Party:

All decked out in the same theme of horizontal stripes (which was planned for) and the same COLOUR theme of black and white (which was completely coincidental, and brought about much laughter).

Possibly one of the most intimate and tame Hen Do's in the history of London, but as we always say, it is the company that matters most. And the day wasn't short of laughs, even if they started off as exasperated ones.

Our 'Do' kicked off in the late morning with an activity of designing and making our own 1920s Flapper-style Headbands, which did not fare too well considering none of us could sew competently, but triumph was to be ours in the end :)

After much stressing out and our stomachs threatening to digest themselves, we then headed off to Sloane Street for bubbly and afternoon tea.

What's a celebration without champagne? :)

Looking forward to the wedding reception (which we can hopefully all attend) where we can look back and reminisce these moments where we were all single, young and painting Londontown red (well, not really, but again it's the company that matters right?).

And as they say, the most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.

(Credits to Lynn for the pictures)

Sensory Lab

So much has happened since the last post.

For one, the dreaded farewells and customary bidding of Goodbye to Kch came and left, with less drama than anticipated. At that moment, it did seem apt when my own words rang true, that things were only as drama as you made them out to be.

Then the inevitable embracing of a new academic year came and went as well, amidst suffering from bouts of drowsiness and jetlag between Prescribing, Handovers and Case Histories.

And on the first weekend of all of us being reunited back in Londontown, what else was there to do but continue with the coffee-hunting adventures.

This time, our destination was Sensory Lab:

The latest Australian cafe to take London by storm. Or, as 'Time-Out' would put it, 'Great Coffee finally hitting Oxford Circus by way of Melbourne'.

Much thanks to Jane again (my Coffee-Hunting partner in crime - in spirit of course) for introducing us to this second Melbourne-based brand name. The first being St. ALi which we had visited and absolutely adored.

The ambience was slightly less appealing than it's sister branch in Clerkenwell, but later, Daisy and I came to love the countertops and window seats overlooking Wigmore Street, which allowed us much entertainment in way of people-watching on a rainy, windy afternoon in Londontown.

And of course, not forgetting the main point: The Coffee.

My Latte was awesome enough. And as Lynn pointed out, so was her Flat White, and YL's Cappuccino. Slightly stronger, I might add, than St. ALi's brews, from what my uncultured taste buds could recall, but definitely a gem of a place to add to our Coffee-Hunting adventures.

And with the string of Melbourne-based cafes that are jetting over the miles to land on this part of the world, it seems that life can only get better from here. Here's hoping that this final year will be filled with more laughs, wonderful memories and perfectly crafted espressos amidst coffee beans from over the world.....besides the best company in the world, of course.

Sensory Lab

75 Wigmore Street

London W1U 1QD

Coffee Hunt....Continued

This time...in the comforts of none other than our beloved hometown of Kch.

I know there have been occasions time and time again where I have gotten a raised eyebrow in response to my ignorance of certain Kch 'hotspots', to the point that I am possibly....?Pseudo-Kuchingite, but hey, I swear I'm getting better.

So while Lynn was coffee-hunting in London, I decided to pull my weight and set off to do some evaluating in Kch.

Back to the awesome Carpenter Street where limited parking + lousy driving skills = exasperation escalated by subtly sarcastic reactions from my BFF in my passenger seat.

No matter though, Vamos Shing! Eventually success loomed. Managed to build some immunity towards the snarky remarks and head over to this:

Iced Lattes

It was definitely refreshing to be able to drink Iced Coffee again, after all those moments in London where any form of an iced drink would lead to uncontrollable convulsions and chattering of teeth the moment you walked out of the store.....and into the arms of the brutal cold. Ironically, the context in this case was the lack of any form of cooling device and a series of new mosquito bites to add to my current collection.

Overall, it was definitely a refreshing layout to the typical London (or rather Aussie) style Coffee place.

Simple, old-school and functional. This was Kch-style through and through. And the coffee wasn't bad either.

My substitute Coffee-Hunting partner in crime: Best Friend Forever and one of the causes of my deteriorating laughter threshold.

*Note: Shades are Tom Ford aviators belonging to the author, not the model...just in case you were wondering*

Black Bean Coffee & Tea Company 黑豆食品咖啡茶叶贸易公司

No. 87 Ewe Hai Street

93000 Kuching,

Sarawak, Malaysia.

Apologies for the mediocre photo qualities. All snapped with my sturdy HTC Desire S on a new awesome app that Daisy recommended.

So all in all, who would have thought that Kch would be so much fun this time around. And honestly, no sarcasm intended. As much as I thought there would be no one to see and nothing to do prior to coming back, the reality when I was back was that there still weren't that many of my High School friends back, and Kch was pretty much still a hole.

But then you realise that all it boils down to is 'The One where Laughter Never Ceases'. Or in this case, a list of random, significant, bizarre, 'What-The-Hell', yet memorable Kch moments with the Liangster.

The Adventures of Dora and Boots

Back from a week-long adventure in KL! Which I must credit for the title of this post.

And a huge adventure it was! Definitely best KL trip to date EVER! Lol. Bit of an inside joke for me and Daisy Hoo, but this was definitely one summer holiday I would never forget.

What was supposedly a week of 'being keen' for two medical students, ended up being a barrel of laughs. From being continuously sloughed off onto the service of other members of the team to continuously being asked to 'study in the library' and my personal favourite.....'No patients have turned up for Clinic'. Just to say, the end point was that we both transitioned through periods of wanting to kill certain people, to being exasperated to the point of laughter, to making the most of our time together and turning it into an 'adventure'. What's not to like about escaping from clinic to go shopping in Pavilion countlessly?

Well, to be fair, I guess we did learn maybe 6 important points about Cardiology at the very end. Two new Diabetic drugs I hadn't heard of, VSD's, Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome and two more interesting patients we saw on the single round with pretty distinct conditions.

Other than that, this was definitely THE gastronomical KL experience!!! And sadly, I have to agree that the West has a far larger variety of food than the East, where my standard answer for good Kch food is 'Kolo Mee' and 'Sarawak Laksa'. Lol. Or maybe that's just me. Please don't kill me, I am still very much a Kuchingite at heart ;)

And the holiday is coming to an end.....soon it will be Kch-Withdrawal Symptoms again for me. And I have a feeling that they will be FAR worse this time around.

Oh well, still have got the week left.

In the meantime, a huge shout-out to my BFF Daisy Hoo, aka my fellow explorer Dora for an amazing time in Kay-Elle :) And pRease okay....I am being truly sincere ;)

Coffee-Hunting....

....Aussie Style.

It seems that these days, the BIG thing in London is Coffee Houses, Brunch Places, Breakfast Bars....popping up all over the place, and everything so far has been synonymous with the words 'Australian Style'.

Due to my large contact base in Melbourne, I have been reminded time and time again how trendy the 'Coffee Culture' is over there, so much so that it is much less of a past-time than a distinct feature of the city itself.

London, on the other hand, perhaps owing to its vastness and our lack of insight, falters behind in the quaint coffee places that a city like Melbourne has to offer. Sad, really....seeing how vibrant and colourful a place this city is in terms of gastronomy, trendy eateries and the likes.

And then we discovered that St. ALi had spread its wings to this part of the world....much thanks to Jane.

Of course, with an opening like St. ALi, it was pretty hard for us to ignore. The fact that I had received nothing but the highest of praises from every single Melbournian I had asked after, and that the owners had chosen to open their second branch 10,000 miles away from the first, definitely warranted a mention....and naturally a visit.

So off we went on our coffee hunt:

Being greeted by a myriad of Australian accents when we entered was truly heart-warming. It was as though we had just crossed over from East London to Melbourne in an instant.

I especially liked the open-plan counter where the baristas worked their magic

Flat White

Filter Coffee

Lynn obviously found the miniature milk bottle very entertaining

Overall, it was an experience worth two thumbs up! I was fondly reminded of my many dapples with excellent coffee experiences in Perth over last summer, and although many a Melbournian has vehemently reminded me that it is not a shadow of the REAL stuff they serve down in Melbourne, I still maintain that the coffee culture in the land Down Under is one thing that trumps England hands down. So much so that I almost forgive them for all being such Coffee Snobs. Gasp! (I kid, I kid!)

Also, Psssstttt.....you didn't hear it from me, but as a little birdie told me, St. ALi will soon be acquiring an Alcohol license and extending its opening hours to dinner times, so you'll be seeing me chilling there more often after I am rid of something called dreary finals.

And as for the Australian invasion to the slowly growing coffee map on this side of the waters, I am welcoming it all indeed....with open arms:

St. ALi

27 Clerkenwell Road

EC1M 5RN

London

Picnic Royale

Picnicking - London style.

Or perhaps, even Royal style, because we had ours one very sunny Saturday morning at Regent's Park, which happens to be one of the Royal Parks in London.

The last time we had been on a picnic was back in Sept '09, which was a pretty impromptu thing in Hyde Park, also planned by Daisy Hoo, but with much less 'grandeur' and preparation, i.e. alot less food, no picnic mats to sit on and no frisbee.

This Easter weekend, however, we upped our picnic standards a couple of notches with MORE food than the 6 of us could finish:

The HUGE spread - credits to Lynn who painstakingly prepared most of it

The Girls, who happen to be 2 sets of BFF's :)

T'was a lovely day!!

With lovely flowers in bloom as well

And because Jody had been eyeing the frisbee Bao donated to me last year from the start of the picnic, Lynn and I got roped into a pathetic game of frisbee with the guys, partly because much of my movement was restricted by my VERY LONG skirt, and partly because we girls were just lousy athletes.

(Pictures from Lynn's amazing Canon G11. Much thanks.)

The weather was picture perfect that day, perhaps a tad too sunny for April, as though it was already summer, but as usual, my efforts at trying to be a hero and going out bare-shouldered with no cover-up left me with red imprints on my back the following day, and two pale streaks where my spaghetti straps were.

What happened to the lesson learnt at Wimbledon, ey Shing?

Have been embracing the Easter break to the fullest this year, a very different, relaxing, other end of the spectrum from my super hectic 2-holidays-crammed-in-one-break last year.

And on Wednesday, we head to the hometown of William Shakespeare.

More pictures to come. Watch this space :)

The First Days of Spring

These days when the sun is out and the current stat count is T-4 days till Easter Break, we have pretty much abandoned all medical knowledge and discipline to read. Seriously, goodness knows how long it has been since I have picked up a medical book.

So with all thoughts of Obs & Gynae completely abandoned (anything learnt in placement this week will be doomed, I tell you), more traipsing around London continued with Lynn and YL.

Notes, Music and Coffee - awesome place tucked away in Covent Garden, and definitely one of my better efforts at photo-taking

Mirror Images

Flat White

And from coffee to Flavoured Belgian Beer / Apple Cider post-exams last Wednesay:

YL's Cider and My Fruli (new-found Favourite)

And on a fine Sunday, while people were busy pounding London's roads for the long-awaited London Marathon, we leisurely sidled down East (Central) London, across the Thames to London Bridge

Stopping in front of some tulips along the way

And rediscovering our Polka Dot craze

The first days of Spring are truly here to stay. And as much as our week's worth of placements are completely doomed due to our lack of focus and End- of- Term moods, I say 'Sod It' for now.

Sun, Spring, Flowers, Awesome friends and one of the prettiest cities in the world.

And to top it all off, a virtual showdown between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon this Thursday to finish off the term:

What better way to prepare for this year's Wimbledon than Top Spin Move?