Woo!! L33T!!!

hahaha im so happy i learnt how to add a new music file

man it took soo long for me to fiddle with the html (which i know nothing of) to get the playlist thingy exactly where i want it w/o screwing up my blog layout

hahahaha so happy

happy josh

them nips

i had a conversation with a friend who works in a japanese company. the conversation turned to food. this is what i found out

in japan when ordering food, if u are a gaijin(foreigner) who doesnt understand jappy language

rule no 1: order by pointing to the many colourful pictures that dot the menu, or point to the many fake plastic displays of food that them nips love to display prominently. it doesnt matter what it is anyway cos its probably gonna be seafood. otherwise its wagyu beef. or yoshinoya. or tamagochi. whatever.

rule no 2: if there are no pictures, then start to sweat abit. who knows whether that Sake on the menu is salmon or alcohol. u definitely dont want to toast rounds of fish with your bosses. it might not sit well with their anal retentive bottoms (or so i hear) So....flip to the middle of the menu if u want a decent meal and check the prices! this is very important, because the japs love putting zeros before their decimal points, and too much yen in your bill is not zen eh...

rule no 3: if their prices are not clearly stated, then u better hope that you are not the one footing the bill... in fact, rule no 3 should always be your first priority, in any circumstance.

if all else fails you could always order chinese takeaway.

josh

the works

a typical long case precis....

"Good Morning Dr.

Mr X is a 62 yr old malay gentleman who presents with a hard, non-painful mass in the right side of the face just above the angle of the mandible that grew from a small lump to a much larger one in 2 mths. He also complains of pain in his right lower limb following a fall 2 mths ago, as well as loss of weight of 10kg in 7 mths. Mr X denies having any fever, breathlessness, LOA or sleeping problems.

Significantly, Mr X has a past history of masses diagnosed as lymphomas dating back as follows: in 2000, he complained of swollen testes and was given chemo and radiotherapy at TTSH. In 2003, another lymphoma which was hard and swollen but non tender appeared in his jaw, for which he was given only radiotherapy, as he refused treatment with chemotherapy. in Jan 2007, another lymphoma was found in his left inner thigh, for which radiotherapy treatment was given. all 3 lymphomas were resolved following treatment.

In addition, Mr X sustained a right lower limb injury following a fall 2 mths ago, for which he received painkillers. An X-ray was taken but found no fractures. He also has a 20 yr history of DM and a 20 yr history of HTN, but denies having any heart or cerebrovascular problems.

Mr X is married with 2 daughters and 1 son aged between 24 and 37 yrs old. He has 5 sisters, 3 grandaughters and 1 grandson, and lives with his wife and youngest daughter. Significantly, 2 of his sisters suffered from stroke previously, and his mother and grandmother both had a history of DM and HTN. the family visits every night. Mr X smoked an average of 3 packs a day for 7 years, but denies any drinking habit.

Mr X has been working as a prison supervisor at Changi Prison for the past 15 yrs, and his employer is paying for the bulk of his medical bills, the rest of which is covered by his personal medisave account.

Mr X is on the following medications: Acarbose, Glibenclamide and metformin for his DM, Captopril for his HTN and Simvastatin for his high chol.

My preliminary diagnosis for Mr X is a recurrence of a lymphoma, possibly secondary to a primary malignancy site. my differentials include a lipoma, infection, parotitis, squamous cell malignancies, and a submandibular gland swelling. With your permission, I would now like to perform a physical examination of the mass, as well as the rest of Mr X's cervical lymph nodes, together with their drainage areas in the head and neck region to further confirm my diagnosis, as well as exclude the rest of my differentials. thank you."


~finis~
josh

blah

so he sang the only song he knew how and it went like this

" give me oil in my lamp keep it burning burning burning
give me oil in my lamp i pray,
give me oil in my lamp keep it burning burning burning
keep it burning to the break of day"

for he was an opium addict.

from the abyss

it really has been a long time since i last blogged

mainly and frankly ive kinda lost interest in blogging.....no time is another factor, and no readership is a third

but mainly its cos ive lost interest. and also cos i was scared. of all the tests of all the exams and the fear of failure.

i tink ive passed m2. yay?

am i making sense?

dunno. but in church last week my pastor did a scripture reading which i found really edifying, and comforting. the bible really does have some really nice verses to hold on to when it seems u can hold on to nothing else.


i write this entry to reproduce it here, to provide my current and future self some perspective over the life which i live now. the verse is about worry. from matt 6:25-34


" therefore i tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. are you not much more valuable than they? who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

and why do you worry about clothes? see how the lilies of the field grow. they do not labour or spin. yet i tell you that not even solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. if that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, o you of little faith? so do not worry, saying 'what shall we eat, or what shall we drink or what shall we wear', for the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow wil worry about itself. each day has enough trouble of its own."

this is my inspiration verse of the month.

josh

update

im too damn tired and uptight and grumpy and scared of monday to update.


word of the day: "calvinism". what bullshit.

its that emo thing again

having just finished 6 gruelling papers, and having earned a well deserved rest, i now find myself looking forward to just one thing.

more tests in 5 weeks time!!! hurray!! die.

actually i am actively trying to prevent myself from doing any work. in a conversation with a friend a few daes ago, i mentioned that my life has devolved into nothing but my studies, and i have nothing....nothing!! to look forward to. even my beloved computer fails to exite me that much now. woe! woe! >_<

feeling desolate, i chanced upon my old school album circa 2001, and decided to flip through it. to my surprise, i found an article i wrote as a j1 inside it, and on a whim, i decided to publish it in todays entry, to be captured for posterity. thank you.

*rewind back 5 years. an eternity...*


"being a second intake student has been both a trying and unique experience. having had the opportunity to spend 3 mths in what some would consider to be a 'greener' jc, i am still getting snide remarks of how 'lagi bodoh' ive been to throw away such an opportunity. yet there is little cause for regret. i regard ACS as the institution that has nurtured and educated me, and the holistic approach it takes to teach its students is an experience to be found no where else, speaking volumes about its lifelong committment to 'touch and change lives'. at ACJC, having been given the privilege both to be a counsellor as well as a member of the 'scone' club i have indeed enriched my school life, and i sincerely believe that the next 2 yrs here will be a rewarding one.

exactly what is an ACSian? i had the opportunity to pose this qn to one of my seniors some time back, and the answer i got was as simple and direct as it was true.

"No Regrets"

we do what we want, we go where we want to, answerable only to ourselves and God. we live life to the fullest, living, laughing, making friends, not giving 2 hoots about people who may not like us. we have a natural charisma and a 'never say die' attitude that overcomes all obstacles, and a perennial childishness that fuels in us a curiosity to try all things new, and excel in all things done. ACSians be proud of your heritage, and strive to blaze our own legacy for those who follow our footsteps. remember....carpe diem....NO REGRETS!"


* fast forward to today*

wah lao. as i read that, i realized that out of 800 j1's in that year, only me and 3 others got a chance to pen an article in the 'junior pages' section.

but tts not the point. the point is that somewhere between graduation and eternal sufferance (ie then and now) i was changed. not fundamentally, for i still live my life with very few regrets, but changed in the sense that slightly more youthful idealism has been replaced by jaded jauntiness (if u can understand the term)

there is a saying that when a man is young he dreams of changing the world. when he grows older and realizes the world cannot be changed, he wished to change his family. when his family refuses to change, and as he lay on his deathbed, he realized that if only he had changed himself first, then he could have changed his family, and perhaps even done more than that.

it is times like these that i remniscence about the heritage of my past. of what i have gone through, to become what i am now. i think about my school. my friends. my family. my life. my ups and downs. my success and failures. my singlehood.(!!!!!) my future. my God.

if i could have one wish, it wouldnt be for money, or world peace or all that jazz.
it would be to live a life of meaning. that must be one of the hardest things to do, ever.

i apologize for this rambling post. it doesnt make much sense. it was never intended to.
this being my blog, i find it carthartic to pen my thoughts out now and then. i leave you with a quote which inspired my school motto.


"the past we inherit, the present we create, but for those who continue to hope and pray,the best is yet to be!"

josh (: