Me
So I know I don't really take care of my health all that much.
I eat KFC at least once a week (it's the Wicked Wing snackbox, I can't help it!), I eat
way too much sugar (baking desserts is my hobby and I'm a chocaholic, what can one expect?) and on a good week perhaps I will dutifully eat one carrot as my vege source of the week. Oh, did I also mention that Indo Mee is another weekly staple for me?
I know - shocking!
I think it's showing up on my complexion now that I'm not as young as I used to be. I'm starting to get dark circles under my eyes which certainly were not there before I got into 5th year. Perhaps it's dentistry?
I think I'm going to make it a point to attempt to eat healthier, in fear of ending up looking 50 when I'm in actual fact, not yet 25.
Labels: Health
Frankston
Went to Frankston with my friend on Friday in our pursuit of sandcastles that were based on fairytales. Had a lot of fun - spent a lot of time trying to remember old rhymes, e.g. Old King Cole was a merry old soul - and a merry old soul was he. Um...bla bla bla bla'
The sandcastles were truly spectacular - it was so well done and well laid out! Well and truly worth the money and effort to go all the way out there.
Me with Hansel and GretelSpent some time at the beach as well. I love the beach - the smell and the colours and....everything. Even if it was freezing cold that day.
We then went for a little shopping. In one of the shops, we found this:
What a pleasant way to portray a name!
All in all, a very nice day out. Who knows when we will be able to do that again.
Labels: Life
How Much Is That Apartment In The Window?
My apartment is for sale.
That means that random strangers come in at various times to inspect the apartment to decide if this is the apartment of their dreams.
It's very annoying. For one, everytime there's an inspection I can't do exactly what I want to do - instead I have to sit around and wait for them to come and leave. For example, I had every intention of baking this morning but decided that if there's going to be an inspection, that probably won't be a good idea.
For two, I just don't like the idea of random strangers coming into the house and seeing everything that we have. I mean, the risk of robbery and etc is obviously there, isn't it? The agent insisted that such a thing has not occured - 'Our clients are all very respectable people'. Right.
Did they come at the time they promised? No. Presumably the potential buyer lost interest. Whatever - CALL IF YOU'RE NOT COMING.
Seething.
Labels: Rants
My Tastebuds
I've recently acquired cravings for:
1.
Cheese. Cheese anything - fondue, cheese in sandwiches, cheese in baked pasta, cheese in cakes...bring it on!
2.
Chicken breast meat slices - My actual preferred cut is the drumstick, although the preference is slowly fading away.
3.
Nachos - My love for chips is rearing is ugly head once again.
4.
Tea - As mentioned in many other previous posts.
5.
Chinese sausages - Also known as lap cheong. They're just so... oily and calorie-y and yummy! Particularly like them in fried rice.
Labels: Food
Suddenly I See...
Was on the tram today when a little girl, maybe about 6 years old, skipped up onto the tram.
She bounced into the seat opposite me and smiled. She was dressed charmingly - a beret over her eyes, a pink jacket and matching shoes and skirt.
Looking at her made me feel happy. I guess it was her aura of optimism and happiness.
I too, smiled.
Labels: Ramblings
Craft Art
I have a whole heap of raw materials for crafts but unfortunately, no ideas.
I bought quite a bit of felt as well as some undecorated mini oval boxes. Have absolutely no idea what to do with it.
Let's not talk about the mountain of yarn sitting under my desk as well.
And the spools of ribbon.
And any number of buttons and beads.
I need inspiration!
Labels: Craft, Lists
Xocolatl
Went to Canterbury to try out Xocolatl for myself.
There was a point in time when going out of the city on a train to another suburb was unheard of, basically because I wasn't actually sure how to take a train and I considered it a long journey. However, ever since my posting to Knox and having to commute 1.5 hours out just to get to Ferntree Gully, my fear of trains has somewhat dissipated.
Anyway, we got to Canterbury and headed to Xocolatl.
The hot chocolate was yummy! My friend tried the orange flavoured one while I went for cinnamon and vanilla - both excellent and extremely filling (probably fattening too). I bought back a few chocolates as well to try in the comfort of my home. Have just tried their rose flavoured caramel chocolate (or something along those lines) and it's really good! The rose flavour is quite distinctive but not in any way overpowering.
For those in Melbourne, it is a must try!
Anyway, That's hot chocolate. Canterbury itself !!!!!!
I love that suburb - if there is some form of job vacancy for a dentist next year, I want to practice there!!
It's so quaint, the people are so nice, the shops are fabulous....there really isn't anything to not like. indeed, one can almost insist one is somewhere in Europe.
Me in a small park in Canterbury - It was raining, the air was crisp and the scenery absolutely gorgeous.
Altogether a very fulfilling day.
Labels: Food
Dairy
Went shopping and came back with these items:
Never have I bought so much dairy at one go! One would think that that's going to reduce the cariogenicity risk of my life. Well, it won't - because they're all going to be mixed with huge amounts of sugar to be baked into sweet goodies!
Imagine a world with no cows...
Labels: Food
Radiographs
In Shepparton we had nothing better to do and so a couple of us who were having dental pain decided to get some radiographs taken and to get the demonstrator to give us a check up.
Taking PAs is extremely painful!! I knew it was uncomfortable but this was pure torture. I developed a traumatic ulcer the next day. Will try to be more sympathetic with patients who complain in the future.
Anyway, turns out I have no caries although I have pain everywhere. Go figure.
Various theories have been suggested by different dentists:
1. "It's not your teeth that's hurting, it's your titanium plate that's acting up. Take it out." - OMFS. Vetoed by every other dentist I have been to to be a ridiculous suggestion.
2. "It's probably an occlusion problem. It could be that you've been clenching your teeth a lot, putting pressure on your teeth and therefore causing pain. After all, your occlusion after your surgery is a bit weird." - Future Periodontist.
3. "I don't know about your
other teeth, but one of your teeth has a strange anatomy. I would think that the enamel there is thinner and therefore that particular tooth is more sensitive to others when exposed to extreme temperatures." - GP.
4. "Your wisdom tooth is erupting and exerting pressure onto the tooth in front, causing pain." - Another GP. Vetoed by OMFS.
5. "The tooth you're complaining about has not responded to any form of vitality testing. The canal is calcified. I really don't see how anything could be wrong. Would you want me to refer you to an endodontist for a second opinion?" - Yet another GP.
6. "The canal is calcified. We can leave that tooth alone for now" - Endodontist.
The truth? Who knows.
Labels: Dental School
Calculator, Please?
All my mathematical skill has gone to the dogs the moment I got into dentistry.
Essentially a dentist only needs to know how to count up to 8.
Therefore when it comes to splitting bills and random daily calculations, I confess that my mathematical brain is extremely rusty.
Thus I now express my profound gratefulness to the inventor of the calculator. Indeed, you are a king/queen amongst men.
Labels: Dental School, Life
Kiss The Rain
In Australia it rains so infrequently that when there's a downpour, it's an event to be remembered.
There's something about the smell of rain that I love. It smells like...well...home, where it rains almost every 2nd day.
I also like the sound of rain pattering on all the roofs everywhere, and the steady drip drip of drops from balcony to balcony. When it rains, all I want to do is stay at home, curl up in my bed with a good book and a cup of tea.
Currently feeling amazingly contented.
Labels: Ramblings
My Bread and Butter
Baking is one of my passions. Every weekend I'll whip up a batch of muffins or cookies or a cake for me and my housemate to eat throughout the week.
So imagine my annoyance when I went grocery shopping today and found out that flour and butter have simultaneously gone up in price.
Not just by 10 cents. We're talking about a 50% increase.
Why??
Labels: Ramblings
My Stupid Idea
I have a whole bag of brown sugar that has slowly hardened into small blocks.
I was slowly mashing them back into powder using a spoon when I suddenly thought that maybe using a food processor would be faster, easier and less time consuming.
Well, about 10 seconds into processing I broke it.
Have superglued the part back. I can only pray it will work.
Conclusion? I'm an idiot sometimes.
Labels: Life
Foodless
So here's what I ate for today:
4 hot cross buns
1 packet of indo mee
1 carrot
Yes. Towards the end of the day I was so desperate to eat anything. ANYTHING - that I actually ate a whole carrot raw.
Can't wait to go grocery shopping tomorrow to stock up.
Labels: Life
Pump Bottles
I'm going to dedicate an entire post to the wonderful invention of pump bottles.
So here's what I think. If you buy a bottle of say...dishwashing liquid that is the pour out style, you are inevitably going to use more than you need to than if you get a pump bottle one. That's because it's so easy to accidentally pour out more than you need to. Whereas you can dispense a very accurate amount with a pump. Also, it's so much easier to press the lever thingie down than to lift up the whole bottle to pour.
Same goes for all other liquids e.g. shampoo, shower gel and moisturizers.
Therefore, I think that everyone should change to pump bottles and save!
The end.
Labels: My Organized Life
Mystery of the Missing Contact Lenses
My contact lenses are missing.
I distinctly remember unpacking it when I came back to Melbourne but it has just mysteriously disappeared.
Did I hallucinate?
Labels: Life
Tea For One
I bought this a couple of weeks ago:
I love it because it serves exactly 3 cups of tea, which takes me exactly 40 minutes to consume.
Been buying heaps of tea to feed into my new interest. I know that loose tea leaves are meant to be better etc, but I can't resist buying teabags! They're just so much more convenient and the packaging is just so much more appealing.
Current favourite flavours include Twinings Lady Grey and Prince of Wales.
Labels: Shopping
My Bed
For the past year, I've been fighting with my bed.
Every week or so the planks at the bottom of the bed will
somehow dislodge itself when I sit on the bed and as a result, I'll be stuck with a slanted bed to lie on.
Repositioning the planks is a big pain. I have to remove my mattress, remove my valance
then slowly reposition the planks one by one. Then I have to put everything back on again and remake my bed.
So today when it happened
again, I decided to make sure that this episode never repeat itself - even if it meant that I had to nail those planks down.
For now, I slipped pieces of paper at the plank ends to wedge it in to prevent them from moving
for. ever.Hope this tactic works.
Labels: Life
Back In Melbourne
Back in Melbourne from Shepparton for 2 weeks - a week of Easter holidays and a week of uni.
I truly had a good time in Shepparton and am immensely grateful that my housemates were all considerate and everything has been all good so far.
After all, my bathroom partner has refrained from squeezing my toothpaste - "Dental Girl, are you kidding? I don't even dare go
near your side of the countertop! Your toothpaste is safe from me." Very wise - and considerate.
Anyway, a week and a bit stretches ahead of me. I'm planning to:
1.
Bake a carrot souffle. I've never tasted carrot souffle before but I saw a recipe of it and I have a whole bag of carrots. Am intending to experiment.
2.
Write up my friend's 21st birthday speech. It's the first time I've been honored to do such a thing and I have to think of what I'm going to say.
3.
Paint my nails. Ever since February I've given up. However, I am re-inspired to do so once more.
4.
Redecorate my room. Not so much redecorate, but definitely will have to move a few things around.
5.
Study? Note the question mark.
6.
Plan a birthday cake. Associated with No. 2. 2 of my best friends are turning 21 and I'm the assigned cake baker.
Hopefuly I achieve it all and not squander my holiday by happily lying around in bed and bumming around aimlessly.
I'm going to be
productive.
Labels: Life
All You Need Is Trust
I was one of the raffle winners in a tiny draw in the Shepparton clinic.
The prize? An expired bottle of Savacol.
Anyway, the truth is that it didn't surprise me that I won. I kind of just...made it happen.
I stood there, visualized her reading out my number, and in the next second it happened.
Some people would say it's coincidence and I'm hallucinating.
I'm not.
All you need is trust - and a little fairy dust.
Labels: Ramblings
There's Jelly In My Mold
We went to Pizza Hut and each got the works - also known as a buffet.
I was happily enjoying my meal until I decided that I wouldn't mind getting a piece of jelly. That's when I noticed that there was mold on it.
Me: Excuse me, I think there's mold on this jelly.
Waitress: Oh...um...okay...I'll talk to the manager about it. So..um....do you want
more jelly?
Me: No??
What disgusts me that the only step they took to make sure that the rest of the jelly in the tub wasn't equally moldy was to get someone to look at it, prod it around (presumably turning over the jelly to hide the moldy bits) and that was it. They left it there.
Sheesh.
I'm not impressed with Shepparton food so far to be honest. The KFC there is undoubtably the slowest moving and poorly cooked chicken I've ever encountered.
Going out again tonight. I can only hope there's no other surprises.
Labels: Life
My Resolution
In typical passive aggressive fashion, I often find myself fuming inwardly about something that I had not expressed outwardly.
For example - everytime a patient pisses me off, instead of telling the patient off firmly, I continue to be nice outside and stew a fiery broth inside.
Anyway, I have come to conclude that this is a bad way to live. So I have decided very resolutely that from now on, if I'm in a situation where I
can do something that would make me feel better instead of not doing anything and fuming, I will.
And if I don't - I have absolutely no right to be angry and must just
get over it.
Yes. That's the plan.
Labels: Life
Strawberry Picking
Went to a strawberry farm to pick strawberries.
It was quite fun, except it got pretty hot towards the end. This place is like a desert in terms of temperature and dustiness, presumably because of the drought.
Here's me mid-picking.
They were the shiniest, prettiest, freshest and sweetest strawberries I've had in a very long time.
Labels: Life
Dairy Farming
So here I am in Shepparton, 1 week into my rotation.
It's quite pleasant here. I guess because I have nothing better to do with myself at night I go to sleep early and as a result, have the opportunity to have a nice long relaxing breakfast before going into clinic to do some not-so-relaxing dentistry.
The patients are nice so far. One of my favourites was a dairy farmer.
Me: Really? How many cows do you have?
Farmer: Oh, about 220.
Me: And how much milk does one cow produce a day?
Farmer: Oh, currently we're averaging about 18L a day.
.......
I just fail to imagine how a cow can produce so much milk daily!!
Anyway...a patient told me Shepparton is a fabulous place and I should stay here. Then the very next patient comes along and tells me that Shepparton is a terrible place and I shouldn't stay here.
Who knows what's the truth.
Labels: Dental School
Shepparton
I'll be going up to Shepparton for a 4 week rotation, treating patients in the clinic there.
I'm looking forward to it - as long as the rooms they provide are decent.
I never sleep well away from home and I hope this time it's going to be an exception.
Other than that, looking forward to bonding with my group as well as new housemates (apparently we'll be staying with BOH students as well as physios). As long as there are no
other housemates i.e. lizards, spiders etc.
Now I just have to go and pack.
Labels: Life
We Share Knowledge.
So I was in another community centre just a few days ago with a new demonstrator.
Friend: I'll be doing a buccal cervical prep today.
Demonstrator: Okay... so, what are you going to restore it with?
Friend: GIC.
Demonstrator: Just GIC? You're not going to line it?
Friend: ....No?
Demonstrator: What about Vitrebond?
Friend: ...Isn't Vitrebond GIC as well?!?!
Demonstrator: *Launches into a incredibly boring talk about how lining the tooth apparently gives it thermal protection and there's
lots of literature backing up the use of a GIC lining under a GIC restoration*
Has anyone heard of such a theory before?
Ohh, there's more.
Friend: I'll be doing a scale and clean on this patient today.
Demonstrator: Okay. So, what type of LA are u going to give for quadrant 4?
Friend: A IAN block.
Demonstrator: ...Do you think you're doing justice to your patient by numbing up half his jaw just to clean a little bit of his gums?
Friend: ...there's furcation involvement....
Demonstrator: No no no... several infiltrations on the buccal and the lingual is sufficient.
Because of course, several infiltrations is way less excruciating than one block and having half your jaw numb for 2-3 hours!!
Did I also mention that this demonstrator is
incredibly boring?? All the while it was just about how one should
learn from each other... one should
share one another's experiences and be open to all forms of knowledge... and one shouldn't consider one more superior than the other just because one is a demonstrator...
Blar blar blar.
Most. Boring. And. Meaningless. Session. Ever.
Labels: Dental School
Blood
Went to donate blood today.
Apart from the 3 sharp pains (once when they test your Hb levels, once when they put the needle in and the last when they take the needle out) it was a pretty okay experience.
Successfully managed to get 1 pint of blood out of me - the last time I tried it didn't happen.
Happy.
Labels: Life
Hold The Door
I woke up bright and early in the morning and headed out of the apartment. Downstairs, the guy who was ahead of me actually held the door open to let me through. Not in the him going through the door and holding it open so it won't slam in my face way - which is the usual - but actually holding the door open to let me go first.
I know it's not an entirely foreign concept, but somehow I was very touched by his gesture. Maybe because the last time someone opened the door for me was... I can't even remember when. And the way he did it.
Of course, feminists are out there screaming 'What? Is he implying I can't open the door myself?' but I'm all for old world ideas of holding open doors, carrying grocery bags and etc.
Thank you, stranger.
Labels: Life
Earl Grey Tea Cookies
I just tried out this new recipe and it is absolutely delicious!!! A must try for all Earl Grey tea lovers. The cookie comes out crisp and buttery, the distinctive Earl Grey flavour subtle - yet unmistakable.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp of Earl Grey tea (3 teabags)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
Milk
Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
2. Blend Earl Grey tea to powder. Add to creamed butter and sugar, along with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Add in milk a little at a time until mixture is moist enough to come together.
4. Wrap in cling wrap in the shape of a log and leave in the fridge for half an hour to harden.
5. Cut into slices about 3/4cm thick. Bake in oven at 180 Celcius for around 10-15 minutes, or until cookie is golden and crisp.
No photo available because as usual, I can't be bothered.
Happy baking!
Labels: Food
