OH NO!

my holiday is over!!!

i can't believe it!!!!!!!!!!

argghhee!!!! (scrambling to grab the "time + day" to stay on, DON'T MOVE!!!)

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the dog with bottomless stomach.

The prayer (and also mine)

I pray you'll be our eyes,
and watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
in times when we don't know

Let this be our prayer,
when we lose our way
Lead us to the place,
guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe.

I pray we'll find your light,
and hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night,
remind us where you are

Let this be our prayer,
when shadows fill our day
Help us find a place,
guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe

A world where pain and sorrow will be ended.
And every heart that's broken will be mended

And we'll remember we are all God's children
Reaching out to touch you
Reaching to the sky

We ask that life be kind,
and watch us from above
We hope each soul will find
another soul to love.

Let this be our prayer,
just like every child
Who needs to find a place,
guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe

Needs to find a place,
guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe.

Is this weird?

Today I got a weird client. Weird, indeed. Let me explain.

When I wanted to deworm his puppy, immediately he refused, saying, "I decide not to deworm my dog." When I asked why, assuming maybe he dewormed his dog else where, or perhaps he wanted to save the cost. But he gave me no reason, simply refusing it. So I assumed he already knew the consequences of not deworming the puppy. Well, just to be sure, I threw a question to him, "Have you heard of all these worms? Hookworms, roundworms.." Surprisingly, he knew nothing about them!

After that, I told him about heartworm prevention. The same "No-no-I-decide-not-to-give-him-any," came from him. Again, he knew nothing about heartworm. ~sigh~

Finally, before leaving, he requested me to write a report for him. Since I'm charging him for the tests, which cost him less than RM10. What he meant was, all kinds of tests/check-ups, when not written in reports (though you verbally told him the results), they should be done Free-Of-Charge. Great. Imagine.

Say you got fever, flu and cough. Rationally, you went to visit a human doctor. Naturally, the doc starts checking you up, and towards the end, you have to pay for the check ups and medications. I kinda imagined - what if you request the doctor to write up a written report to you (since he's charging you for the check up). The report should include the results for the auscultation he did, blood pressure check, opening up your eyes, mouth and shining a torch down your throat, feeling your neck - all these should be presented in a written report - as spoken words alone should not cost any money.

I kinda wondered, will the human doctors entertain these "educated" requests? I really don't know.

Or maybe the doctor will request him to come back in a week's time to get the report? If so, I'll go for it. =)

Come back in a week's time sounds attractive to me.

What is your purpose in life?

Dear friends, today I have a question to pose to you. You don't have to give me any answer, just as long as you have the answer for yourself. =)

Recently quite a lot of struggling took place in my life, and i was wondering, what is my purpose in life, actually? Am I working towards the purpose?

Friends, if your purpose is to climb the ladder of career, what if one day your management decides to lay you off? Or one day the international market just crashed just like in 1997? The whole economy goes down. But you're still alive. What would your purpose be then?

Some people their purpose is to educate and nurture their babies - may they grow up to be useful beings, etc. But as we flip the newspapers each day, deaths take place everyday, snatching away children of some parents. Now, what is the purpose in the parents' life?

For some filial children, their purpose in life would be to treat their parents the best way they could to repay their kindness or etc. But there will be a day where their parents will leave them. Then what will the purpose in life be?

To some people, their purpose in life is a wonderful/beautiful love life. As mentioned, there will be a day where their loved ones will leave them - perhaps leave them for a better man/woman, or nature's call. What then, will be the purpose in their life?

I'm reading a book entitled, "The Purpose-Driven Life" by Rick Warren. There are 40 chapters within, where I'll read a chapter each day. So far I've covered 6 chapters, and it has already given me solutions to 2 of my big problem. And I'm yet to discover my purpose in life. =)

Blunt, extremely blunt.

Dear friends, have you ever heard of this simple abbreviation: P&C? I don’t mean Palmolive and colgate ok.. I’m sure among the first few things tat come to your mind must be, "Private and Confidential". If so, you’re rite. If not so, you’ll have to learn more business language pal. ;)

P&C simply means, private and confidential.

I remember when I started my first few jobs after Form 5, a senior once told me tat our salary/pay is private and confidential. What she meant was; you don’t have to tell the world your pay/salary. It’s good enough for only your employer, family and close friends (and government, if you qualify for income tax) to know it. She also added, "People don’t go around asking ppl about their salary unless they’re very close to each other."

"What if they still want to ask?" An innocent question from me.
"I would say that those ppl are extremely blunt," she said.

Funny, of 100 ppl I met here, 30% of them are extremely blunt.

First, I’m not close to them. I’ve merely met them for maybe 1month +.

Second, their question was very direct indeed, "What’s your salary?" When I pretended stupid to elude their question, they persistently repeated, "What is your pay?"

Third (and I can’t stand this), when I retaliated by asking them the same question, they went generalizing the whole idea, like, "Oh, enough to eat la.. enough to survive la.. enough enough enough," and all sorts of redundant phrases. So I’ve tried using their method, "Enough to eat la." Then came the irritating reply, "So how much? Got RM1000? 1500? 1800? 2000? 2200? 2500? 3000?"

HEY, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS CAN’T YOU?!

Today I finally told myself, enough is enough. Then came a familiar question from an innocent looking guy/uncle, "How much is your salary?"

"Hah? What did you say?" Act stupid, my first defense line.
"What is your pay, I asked."
"What? You want to know about my salary?"
"Ya, I want to know how much your salary is."
Enough is enough. Smiling, I replied, "I can’t tell you."
"Got 1000?"
I ignored.
"1500? 2000?"
ENOUGH! "I said I can’t tell you, it’s private and confidential."
"Got 2000? I’m sure got one…"

I ignored him totally, didn’t even want to respond to him anymore. Politeness has reached its limit.

Blunt. Extremely blunt.

for once i'm blank

i've tot of so many things to fill up my blog each time in my life.. but now i'm finally sitting in front of the pc, i don't know wat to write. the things i wanted so much to write? hmm..

lost passion.
lost mood.
lost the memory.. i mean exact memory.

so let's talk abt the cockroach. yep, "siu keong". tat day i saw a siu keong in the bathroom, boy, i quickly ran out of the room and called for my landlady. so we sprayed mortein.. he won't die! spray.. spray.. spray.. after about 3 minutes.. my landlady finally blurted a phrase, "you're not scared of dog bites, but you're scared of siu keong?"

"Hey.. dogs don't fly.. siu keong flies you know.." was my simple reply.

Nights before i've tried killing a little siu keong by spraying water jet at it, tot it could drown him in no time.. but then.. 1 minute passed... 2minutes .. 3 minutes... 5 minutes... and he's still running happily rite in front of me! wow.. i surrendered and closed the door behind.

conclusion: Roaches are tough creatures. no wonder they're used as symbols/icons in starcraft..

u-chen!!

u-chen!! i'm suffering from the same syndrom as you had before! mistakes mistakes mistakes in my work place!!!

i din know how they happen, they JUST happen! without my knowing.

ARGGSH!!

oh wow, it was frustrating indeed, at first i couldn't stop blaming myself, felt like slapping my head off, banging it on the walls.. but then.. wat's the point? it won't change the things.

so now i'm extra careful in everything. i know tat i'm not a superspeedy gal, so i'd rather go slow and steady.

no more mistakes.. God bless.

feeding raw food

Yesterday I met a very unreasonable client. Well, I've actually met him before this, in an unrelated occasion outside my clinic, and found him rather annoying. The moment he stepped into my clinic yesterday, I was thinking, "Oh no... not him is it???"

Soon I confirmed that it was exactly him, the very same person, with the same line of thinking and wordings. He brought 2 pups with him, and I was seeing them for the 1st them. This is a glimpse of the conversation we had yesterday...

Me : What food are your pups on?
Him : (In his proud mode) Oh, I go to the market, get the raw chicken necks, raw fishes?and they like it you know!
Me: Do you cook them beforehand?
Him : (still in proud mode) No no no, I don't have to cook them! They eat it raw! I won't bother to cook at all.
Me : As you know, many kinds of diseases can be transmitted by eating raw meats. They contain viruses, bacteria, parasites..
Him : (super proud mode) That's why I bring them here to deworm! (smiles with the yousee-I-am-so-smart look)
Me : Deworming doesn't kill the viruses bacteria parasites..
Him : Don't worry doc, I feed them garlic too! That helps kill the rest of them. Hahaha...
Me : How much garlic do you feed them?
Him : One piece per pup (4kg) daily. You know what? They don't like to eat it. So I held their jaw tight, opened it, forced it in. And wow, they were chewing and spitting and making life so difficult for me.
Me : I bet you don't like eating a big chunk of garlic raw too, do you? (and they're so tiny comparing to your 65kg!)

My heart: (shaking head with a sad note) And who's the one making life difficult here? GOODNESS!!!!

working...

i remembered clearly still how i had wanted so much to start working and venture into my career. gave a lot of thoughts on wat i will look like. wat i will be. when i was still a student back in upm.

now that the days i tot of so much have come.. it was good in a way.. but really a heavy responsibility on your shoulder. never had i felt so much responsibility.. in my life.

i remembered clearly when i was still in my teenage years.. and post-spm stpm holidays where i worked part times.. life was still so easy. it was still basically - a responsible-free life!

wow.. and now.... this time it got serious, coz im building a career. perhaps not that far yet. perhaps it's better to term it as, "i'm starting my career."

and i remember how my stomach shrinks before each exams during the DVM years in upm.. and now? my stomach shrinks almost every morning. "What will I face today?" "What will I do today?" "Will everything goes well?"

Whatever comes, I must still face it. And I will face it, courageously. I'd fallen, even tho' it's just a month plus of work. But I've risen up again. With God as my pillar of stregth, I'll walk on. This journey. Courageously.

a lousy day

i din know why, most of the dogs n cats today are so wondrously full with lice! oh.. they're not just full with lice, they're hair was overflowing with lice n fleas...

omg.. u can actuali see those little insects squirming on the little doggies n kitties.. n my.. you'll eventually feel it yourself when you feel something squirming on your hands.. and ...

eventually your hair! goodness.. .zoonotic? ahem.. no la... they'll get off me sooner or later.. anyway tonight i gota wash all my clothes, hair.. etc.. dun wana get a lice/fleas-infested-bed.

:)

besides that.. today was lousy in a way too. hmmm.....

our biggest enemy

often ppl say i hate this person.. i hate this n tat.. wat the.. well.. have you ever did something wrong.. you wished so much to reverse it? and when everyone around you forgives you for wat you have done, but you just couldn't get over it?

you've inflicted so much pain unto someone.. unintentionally.. and there's no way of forgiving... yourself...

so who's our biggest enemy here?

well...

as the saying goes... get over it fast.. but then, is it reali that easy?

friexxster again

i wonder if someone's been sabotaging friexxster, or some illegal spyware is going on in it? I'm not a techy person.. so they're all guesses...

First i was not able to post a comment. Now I can't even send a message. A normal frien-to-frien message. Everytime i click to send message, a new window pops up, asking me to Re-Sign in (i was already registered with my name) and then Re-enter my password. Wat for??! Then the funny thing happens, "The page you have requested is not found or available"

Great.

convocation!

i've finaly truly graduated! wow! i can't beliv it.. i just cant cant cAnNot believe it!

how could it be?

today was a very happy day indeed.. this is the day when I received the most flowers, ever, in my life. wow... thanks to my belovd family.. n frens - kY, kkan, tee, er, patrk, liz, and the cute juniors. a lot of thanks to these special buddies, nvr forgetting kYin n su, for coming all the way here. haha, poor su -blur case. :p n also to frens who have taken the time to call up - uchen, yHar, aHoon, Richrd, ma, heng, and many more.. wow.. thanks! i'm really grateful! =)

afta taking pix ceremony from 12.15pm - 2pm, i was runnin al the way from Dewan Besar to our fac - we had oath taking ceremony there. Saya bersumpah.. oops.. we dun use such a convulsive word.. it was actuali, "saya berikrar..." hehehe... meeting my long-not-met coursemates was fun indeed.. some of them whom i missed so much.. aaahhh............ =)

life at work

perhaps i'll change my blog title to "Life at work" coz i'm finally working. i remembered when i went interview earlier, most ppl told me,"haiya.. small animal practice ar? no life man... " and i remember how i strongly swept that idea away with just 5 words, "it's a matter of priority."

question now is... how's my life. im living well.. in a land of strangers... but no fear.. coz i know that the Lord is with me. ;)

so far everything is going well... except that my medicine knowledge had really went down hill burying themselves. now im struggling to excavate them.. but so far doing ok. =)

convo coming next sunday... hmm... then i'll get my license.. and i can then call myself a TRUE VET.

oh yeah! imagine! 5 years for this day.... oh my oh my...

MV Doulos

Went to West Port to visit the famous MV Doulos this afternoon! Wow, it was a hot saturday, but many ppl crowded the floating book fair which is conducted, managed, maintained and organized by international volunteers- and i got a good harvest today. Praise Lord.

There are lots of books there - a wide range - includes animals (i wanted so much to buy an animal encyclopedia book there, but was budget tight, so have to hold back my dream), DIY books, mechanical and transports, world, languages, sports, motivation n leadership, religions, novels, children.. and all sorts! Though it was superb humid and claustrophobic inside, but i like it, coz i found what i wanted there. (tips! thr's a spot where you got cool air blowing down straight at you near the atlas area)

The best thing was, i believe the prices are standard - they're not hiked up by the taxes n etc. Bought 4 books, for only RM25.60! And one of it was "Window of the World" which is a thick hard-cover book telling n teaching abt the big wide world at only RM16!! I really really luved it! Goodness!

My recommendation? No matter how far, how humid, how hot the weather, GO GO GO!!! You can't miss this chance! The last time they stopped by Malaysia was 6 years ago! And the next time maybe 10 years.. or more.. we'll never know... So hurry up frens, grab this chance! MV Doulos, go go go! for more info, visit their website: www.mvdoulos.org.

Here are some pix... (there are more pix, unfortunately they're not in my camera, which means i dun have it with me rite now. so solee...)

sg trip

24-26june I went singapore. Heck, i've been to singapore more than a dozen times since small, so wat's the big deal with this? Well, the big deal is.. i was going with my frens! yep yep yep!

so on the first day we went to the thai market area (i forgot the name! can sumone help me wi this?), then went to check-in at a hostel in Geylang (hoo-hoo), National Library (which is so huge and grand, wow.. i'd luv to enter it jus for fun) and later went to Marina Bay had a super big bbq-steamboat thr. wow.. most of us ate til we tot our stomach will explode. N guess? I ate more than 30 prawns i think! n chen was there superbly de-exoskele (i know de-boning, skinning, but removing the exoskeleton, wat do we call?) for me. kakakaka..

then the next day was another fantastic one - sentosa. before this i've visited some "visiting singapore tips" - well they gave comments that there's nothing to see in sentosa, that it just exhausts your money.. but i realli liked sentosa! first we went to underwater worl, whic includes the dolphin show (which i tot they're slightly better than toffee's arts), thenwalked around snapping pix, go sea-swimming, then go watch musical fountain. Hmm.. it's basically a laser-projection show. Nothing much of fountain dancing to the music. I'd still recommend our very own Mines Wonderland if you'd reali want to see water-dancing. ;) N finally we went Clarke Quay and had a real walk thr...

On the last day we went Chinatown, Bugis walk and sumwhere.. which i cant remember the names. Hehe.. proved that i'm growing older - the lousy way. :P

Here are some pix to share. ;) wanted to post more, but blogspot's stuckup rite now. can't post. soleee..

Parents' wish

A reminder for myself and everyone... (for better view/effect, go to: http://parentswish.com/site02/index.html )

Pamela...

On the day when you see us old, weak and weary… have patience and try to understand us…

If we get dirty when eating… if we cannot dress up on our own…Please bear with us and remember the times we spent feeding and dressing you up.

If, when we speak to you, we repeat the same things over and over again…do not interrupt us… listen to us. When you were small, we had to read to you thousand and one times the same story until you went to sleep…

When we do not want to have a shower, neither shame nor scold us… remember when we had to chase you with your thousand excuses to get you to the shower…

When you see our ignorance on new technologies… Help us navigate our way through those worldwide webs.

We taught you how to do so many things…to eat the right foods, to dress appropriately, to fight for your rights…

When at some moments we lose the memory or the thread of our conversation, let us have the necessary time to remember… and if we cannot, do not become nervous…as the most important thing is not our conversation but surely to be with you and to have you listening to us…

If ever we do not want to eat, do not force us. We know well when to and when not to.

When our tired legs give way and do not allow us to walk without a cane… lend us your hand… the same way we did when you first tried your faltering steps.

And when someday we say to you that we do not want to live anymore… that we want to die… do not get angry… someday you will understand… try to understand that our age is not lived but survived.

Some day you will realize that, despite our mistakes, we always wanted the best thing for you and we tried to prepare the way for you…

You must not feel sad, angry nor ashamed for seeing us near you. Instead, try to understand us and help us like we did when you were young.

Help us to walk... Help us to end our way with love and dignity. We will pay you by a smile and by the immense love we have always had for you in our heart.

Dog-kick

It's just normal to hear the taekwando gurus talking abt side-kick, front-kick and turning-kick. OK, vets - they talk about horse-kick, cow-kick... deer-kick perhaps, but have anyone heard about dog-kick?

I usually bring my Toffee out for long walks, where he'll go wherever he want, whenever I permitted. After the long walks, once he reaches home, he'll routinely go "wash-wash" where I'll squat and check his feet and wash them. Yesterday I spotted some reddish spot on his right hind - seemed ulcerated. So I held it closer to my eyes to take a clearer look.

Suddenly I felt something hit hard on my face. For a moment, my sight was blurred. Confused. Suddenly I realized, "Toffee back-kicked me!" What's different from other animals' kicks were, he did not seem the least annoyed or cared about what I was doing with him earlier (other animals would have given warning signs before). OK, I understand, perhaps his right foot was in pain. The kick must have been a pain-reflex.

Just to prove myself correct, I took up his left foot, which was perfectly well. Surprisingly, he back-kicked again. Once, twice. All the same time he looked very relaxed.

I fell back, sitted, surprised, laughing out loud. I couldn't believe it! Toffee back-kicked me!

How dare him... grrr... ye watch out boy...

13dogs shot right in the owner's very house.

I read with dismay the news article from thestar, 30th june 2006, "Owner of 25 dogs tries to save pets from death".

Reportedly, the owner (Seremban) who kept 25 dogs in his own house, "defied a six-month grace period given to him to move the animals to another area". Seremban Municipal Council received a court order on Dec 20 last year to cull all 25 canines in the house. With the court order, together with four dog shooters from the state Veterinary Services Department and two police officers, they entered the owner's house and shot 13 dogs dead. The owner had tried to save his dogs, and managed to pack 10 of them into his car, but was not able to save the other 13. -thestar

Now my questions are,
- Is this the best way to cope with this matter?
- Why shoot to death? Why not a humane way? Shooting is in no way humane. NO WAY. no excuses. Do you kill a man (or cat) just because the man (or cat) scratches/ bites you?
- Why not catch and cage them, allow the owner to claim them later (as DBKL does)? or other ways? There could be other means of negotiations, such as asking for the professional negotiators' help, or animal shelters. Turning to violence and shooting should never have been an option.

- WHY CULL?
- Since the Municipal Council claimed that there were mounting complaints abt the dogs - where are the complaint letters? Black and white.

It crushes my heart to realize that in this time where we call ourselves "civilized" people, in a developing nation which thrives to be the global hub for education and technology, such cruel, merciless, inhumane shootings still take place, in the victim's home, right in front of their father (the owner) and other family members (other dogs). To make things worse, they are actually substantiated by the court. And a global hub for education? Think again.

What happened to our "Masyarakat Penyayang" campaign? Shouldn't the leaders (the court, Seremban Municipal Council, police and NS Veterinary Services Department) walk the talk? Show some example in the first place? I believe when Malaysians launched this campaign, the word "penyayang" did not only refer to the Homo sapiens species. It covers all living creatures, and what more, the man's best friend - dogs/canines?

It is disheartening and a public disgrace to learn that despite all the spites and cruelty that we, human beings, inflict unto the canines - who are not able to speak for themselves - they remained faithful and loyal always, entertaining and giving comfort to their owners whenever needed.

They had assisted much in the police forces, customs, saving people in rescue forces, helping physically and mentally-disabled people, and many more levels of people in our multi-racial society. In short - mankind needs canines.

I believe that it is now time that these canines deserve some care and love back from the society, especially the authorities. Stop discriminations. It blinds us. It hinders all kinds of progress.

The canines had successfully maintained their status as "Man's Best Friends", generations after generations. And I believe - forever more.

Last but not least, an applause goes to Independent Pet Rescuers and Malaysian Animal Welfare Foundation for the relief they provided to the grieving, distressed, heart-broken, tearful 66-year-old owner.

My sympathy goes to him and his children.

The heart of a man speaks thru his treatment unto animals. So is the heart of a nation.

Eng said: "My house became a killing field. There was blood everywhere. I not only lost my dogs but I also had to spend hours cleaning the blood. This is so inhumane. Those dogs were like my children." ~nst, 1st july 2006.