Complete failure

Today's paper is so totally gone. No hope left I believe. We're all gone!!! The first 25 questions out of 60 MCQs were total killers, and the rest aren't that kind either. Basically, any result from this paper is totally up to luck and chance. We're finished.

Goodbye, cruel world.

今日の試験は終わった。難しすぎるの。何でそんな試験を作ったの？あの教授は本当に悪い人よね！許さない！

それに今日の試験は七時十五分ごろに終わった。それから三十分も帰りのバスを待ってた。おかげうちへ帰ったときはもう九時ごろ。本当に遅かったよね。

About patients

There was this little discussion about mental illnesses that I happened to chance upon when loitering around doing nothing much on the net, and it randomly triggered some thoughts of mine that I felt that I should post, and so here it is.

I believe that it first takes the patient him/herself to realise that they have a problem, and that the problem requires treatment, or help to resolve, before any form of help/treatment can be given to them. Basically, I believe that it takes the person to want to help themselves first before we can help them. Which means that I do not believe in enforcing compliance and other sorts of stuff like that. If you do not want to help yourself, then do not expect others to do so. Simple as that.

明日はまた試験。近殿はちょっとドキドキする。原因は今回のは前のよりちょっとわかりやすいだけど、同じくわかりつらい。変だよね。でも、その通りだ。だから、困った。

できるだけ復習してたんだけど、どれほどできるのかはまだわからない。まぁ、がんばってね。

Pain and fatigue

Seems like my fatigue problem is coming back again. Guess I've been staring at the computer screen for too long again. And no prizes for guessing the reason why either.

And pain, yes pain. Why pain? Because my nose bridge hurts. Not sure of the reason why, but it's likely something inside the nasal canal. Oh, it could be due to the recent runny nose episode. Which is likely due to too much fan blowing on me when I'm sleeping. Too hot recently.

最近は本当に暑い。朝も昼も夜も暑くてどうにもならない。そのおかげで、今の体の調子はとても悪い。

早く涼しくなるのはいいよね。。。

First day of exams

First things first, I really feel that I should mention this. My parents went for a movie marathon yesterday as they have like 10 free tickets left that were going to expire at the end of this month. From around 1pm yesterday, they watched a total of 5 movies (?!) till around 11pm. Each movie was about 2 hours long, and they had breaks between movies of around 10 minutes. They just pretty much went there and watched each movie that came along when their previous one ended. I'm totally amazed by this. Can't even begin to imagine how they found the energy and stamina to sit through 5 movies!

And now, back to the subject. Today was my first paper for this last semester, and it was horrible. The type of questions that came out were totally unexpected, and I had to make many guesses along the way. Which was actually expected, given that this module was taught with a lot of random examples that came as the lecturers please. Don't really know what's going on, and you don't really get what they want you to know in the end. Well, you do get a general idea of what's going on and you did learn something along the way, but it's all too abstract and foreign. Some revision to the way the module is taught is necessary I think. In case you were wondering, this module is called Natural Products, and naturally, it's about medicinal and herbal products made from natural sources.

試験の第一日が終わった。そして私も終わった。今日の試験は難しすぎるのよ！信じられない。これは一般人が答えられる問題ではないぞ！そうに決まってんじゃん！

まぁ、もう終わったから、今はどう考えても仕方がない。次のは三日後。今度こそ！

It's tomorrow!

Tomorrow's the big day. The day when the final exams period begin for my last semester. Finally time to get everything done with and settled.

Preparations wise, I think I'm prepared, but if the paper ended up requiring a lot of regurgitation, then I'm screwed. I never was, and never will be, a master of blind memorising and regurgitating. Hopefully, the paper will focus more on understanding and application.

いよいよだね。明日は今学期の試験の始まり。つまり、一番大事な日。この日が無事なら、すべてのがオッケーでも言える。まぁ、その程度ではないけど、そのぐらいのこと。

Rushing

So I've been slacking and not doing much studying for the past week, even though this is the study week and is meant for us to revise and prepare for the upcoming exams. The end result is that I now have but a couple of days till the start of my first paper, and my revision is not complete yet. And I'm not rushing to read up and remember and understand as much as possible.

Not a smart choice indeed. But, at least I'm still putting in the effort!

今日は一日中勉強してる。実はいやだけど、もう勉強しないといけないから仕方がない。本当に飽きたよね、四年も勉強してるし。それに、もうすぐで就職するから、遊びの時間もあんまり残ってない。だから、今は一生懸命遊びたい。

試験の後でね。遊びのは。

Claymore

Here's a paragraph that I written up for a description of a certain character:

Dressed in a long robe with a hood, you can hardly make out the features of the person you are looking at. A sudden gust of wind disturbs the stranger's hood, allowing you to catch a glimpse at the person's face. Long, white flowing hair coupled with a beautiful face, you realise that the stranger is actually a woman. However, her face is cold and emotioness, and her silver-coloured eyes give off an intimidating look. You suddenly recall the legend about the "Silver Eyed Witches", women who accept the flesh and blood of yoma and are transformed into half-man, half-monsters in order to gain the strength to fight against the yoma. This woman that you are looking at is one such 'witch', also known as the CLAYMOREs.

Ya. I like Claymore. Still waiting for the next volume in the series. Hopes it comes out soon, so that I still can use my vouchers to get it.

勉強勉強勉強。そしてまた勉強勉強勉強。「もう飽きた！！！」と叫びたいけど、試験はもうすぐだから仕方がない。幸いのことは今回の試験は最後だ。

もう少しの辛抱だ。がんばれ！私！

Surprise visitor

My brother came home this afternoon, much to my surprise. He's supposed to be on training now, so he only gets to come home over the weekend. And this weekend, he's supposed to go for an outfield training, which means that he wouldn't be coming back this weekend.

Turns out that his camp had given them a half day off today, due to their incoming outfield training over the weekend. Well, something is always better than nothing, even if that something is but a mere half day break.

そろそろ始めないと。最初の試験は次の月曜日。つまり、後三日。

幸いのことはこの最初の試験はほかのよりちょっと簡単。そう思いたい。ううん、そうなのだ！

うん。そうに決めたんだ。

Coming Back

My parents will be returning from their overseas trip today. In fact, I'll be setting off to the airport to pick them up later. Been almost a week since they left, and I must say that the days without them around are indeed different, though not necessarily in a bad way. There are some things that are more inconvenient with them away, but that are also benefits. So it's sort of a balance.

今日で帰る。私の両親が。実はもう少しで空港へ迎えに行く。

この一週間ぐらいはいつものとは違った。当然、不便なこともあるんけど、いいこともあった。

まぁ、あんまり考えせんといて。

Yet to begin

Today is the 2nd day of my study break week, and I've yet to begin studying for my exams. I guess that's how I'm like. Procrastinate, procrastinate, and procrastinate some more. Oh well.

Somehow, I get the feeling that I'll be able to finish everything and still pass my papers in time even if I don't start yet. So it's all fine and okay.

今日はイチゴの日！えへへ。現実の世界ではなくて、メロパーの世界に！

そう！今日は新しいイチゴの着せ替えアイテムが発売されるひだよ。でも今の子にはあんまり似合わない。本当に残念よね。イチゴがあんなに好きなのに。。。

Ouch!

Had a silly little accident today. As you know, I have a dog in my house and we have to close her up in the kitchen whenever we leave the house. And she's also trained to do her business in the toilet, so we have to clean up the toilet floor after she's done.

Anyways, today when we were getting ready to leave for dinner, I went to close her up in the kitchen, and realised that she had done her business in the toilet. After cleaning up the toilet, when I exited the kitchen, due to my feet being slippery, I actually slipped and tripped over the metal fence! What a fool I am -.-

今週末は今日で終わりよね。何もなかったのまま終わったんだね。まぁ、それは別にいいけど。のんびりしてて、ぶらぶらしてて終わりのもいいじゃない。

Change

For the first time since Tue evening when my parents left for their overseas trip, we had dinner by ourselves. For the past 4 days, we had been having our dinner at our aunt's house. Not that my aunt's food wasn't good or what, but it's not nice to keep disturbing others. And it's not easy to turn them down too.

Some change at least, eh?

今日はメロパーであたらしいメロダチを知った。そういうのはちょっと変だけど、きっかけはあるメロダチのおかげで。あのメロダチのホームでちょうど私のクマ・メロンちゃんをみたらし。それからうちへ遊びに来たんだ。

どんな原因でも新しい友達ができてるのはいい。うれしい＾＾

Run, run, run!

The Pharmacy Commencement Class Giving Charity Run 2009!

So what was it about? Traditionally, the graduation class of pharmacy students will put together a lump of money into a fund for less well-to-do pharmacy students so that they will be able to enjoy the same programs as the rest of the students.

This shows how connected we are as a pharmily, and how we can all contribute to help those less well-to-do people so that everyone has an equal chance. Granted, it's only restricted to pharmacy students, and that this event is only going on because of the tradition issue, but any effort is still an effort.

今日は今学期の最後の日、そして今日の授業も大学生としての最後の授業。この四年は本当に早かったね。最初は新米気分で大学に入って、毎日ぶらぶらしてて、いつの間に四年生になって、そして最後の日も過ぎた。残りのは期末試験と卒業式のみ。それからは就職。

もう少しで社会に入って、本当の大人として社会人になるよね。このままは大丈夫のかな？自分にはあんまり自信がないけど・・・

Assessment, speed dating style

So we had a retail pharmacy assessment today where we had to answer some short questions about items sold in a retail pharmacy. The interesting part about this test was that there were a total of 35 stations, including 2 rest stations, and we only had 90 seconds per station to look at the products, the questions, and come out with the answers. This basically means that we didn't have much time to think, and that if you do not know the answer at the spot, then you'll most likely not get it.

Speed dating, anyone? Haha. I guess that's what I felt when I first heard of this concept. But it was rather fun I guess, though a bit stressful.

明日は今学期の最後の日。そのあとは一週間の勉強休みとその後の試験。ちなみにその勉強休みは学生たちが試験前に休むと勉強する時間があるためにあるの。

もうすぐだね。今回の試験はただの三つ。今まで一番気楽だね。最後だから、もうちょっとがんばろうね。

Relatives

Dinner was had at my aunt's house for these past 2 days. As a side note, my parents are away on their 2nd of 9 days of holidays, and 2 of my aunts stay together in the same block as us but on a different floor.

So basically, what I want to say, is that it is good to have relatives staying near you. We can help each other out, and keep each other company when we're bored, troubled, etc. I previously mentioned (a long time ago) that my aunt sometimes buy things up to share with us. Those are all examples of the importance of relatives!

So cherish your relatives. Don't regret when things go bad and you don't have anything to turn to.

えっと、今はムービーを見てる。ビデオでも言うかな？まぁ、わかればいい。

とりあえず、今は何をするのがいいのはまだわからない。期末試験はもうすぐだけど、今はまだ勉強をしたくない。だからこういうものを見てる。別にいいじゃないのね。

勉強なんかいつももできるし、今はリラックスだね！

Holidays

My parents went for their holiday today. A 9 day trip to Shanghai, China. I guess they really like to go to China for their holidays. I've already lost count of the number of times they went there, but it's definitely significantly more than any other country, other than Malaysia, which is just a drive and a stone's throw away.

That aside, I had my last CA today. To be honest, I think I should do quite well for this, as there are only MCQs, and the questions were rather easy, for the most part. There were a few tricky ones, but most of them were manageable. That said, with the level of standard that we usually see in my class, we can't say anything for sure with the results, until the results are in, which likely won't be disclosed this time round as we're just a week before the exams.

Oh well, as long as I feel good about it, it'll do.

えっと、前（昨日？）にも言ったけど、今日はテストがあった。今回のテストは前のより簡単だった。実ははるかに簡単だったかもしれない。前の成績は見たくないほどだけど、今回のは結構期待してるかな？それほどの自信があるかもん。

でも、やっぱり油断は禁物だね。何しろこのテストはおとといから勉強したから。しかも夜の数時間だけ。感心できないね、私の勉強への態度は。

Terrible day

A dreadful smell bothered me for the most of today. Searched high and low for the source of it, but couldn't find it, not until my brother took another look at something that I've checked but could not confirm. Thanks to that, today has been a terrible day.

Not only so, a newly opened carton of milk turned out to be spoiled. Sour. Yikes! And I just said that we should take more milk too! Why?

えっと、明日はテストだ。でもまだ勉強が終わらない。そもそも勉強する気もあんまりない。どうしてのかな？ぜんぜんわかんない。

まぁ、大体のことはもうわかったから、後残り少し。今夜で気合を入れて終われちゃうぞ。

Lactose Intolerance

It has been confirmed. I do have lactose intolerance, or something along those lines. Everytime I drink milk, I'll get this weird feeling in my stomach, lots of flatulence, and also irregular bowel movements. This applies even when I drink supposedly low lactose milk, such as Marigold's HL milk. I've rechallenged myself multiple times, and the result has always been the same.

But that doesn't stop me from drinking milk though. Though it does come with some inconveniences, milk is still good for the body, both as a source of proteins and as a source of calcium. So drink your milk! Even if you're lactose intolerant! There are over-the-counter products out there to help you out too! Go down to your neighbourhood pharmacy and ask for advice^^

最近、友達が増えた気がする。メロパーでの書き込めと毎日の訪問数もまずまず上がってく。それは当然、うれしいこと。まぁ、本当の友達とは言えないけど、いちよう知り合いかな？

うちの子もたくさんのメロだちと遊べるから、いいよね。

More trouble

Just like a week or two ago, my father was sick and we were all worried and stuff. And a couple of weeks before that, we were worried about him being retrenched or restructured. And now, it's back to the good old worry about being retrenched thing. And this time round, the rumours appear to be rather substantial. Bad times =X

At least he'll get some well deserved rest and a break even if the worst happens.

ふむふむ。昨日はあんなことを書いたんだけど、今日はちょっと落ち着いたみたい。

まだまだ憑かれてるみたいだけど、なんかよくなった。来週も重要なことがあるから、今週末に心を整えなければならない。

しっかり！しっかり！

What's going on?

Falling down, and down, and down. Obsession with things that one cannot get. Wasting time and sleep over useless stuff.

Somehow, I appear to be hooked onto something that I can't really explain. It might be due to me being too obsessed with chasing after something that one cannot possible achieve. Everything I close my eyes, those images appear and cloud my vision.

The quest for cute things is burning me out, I think. Perhaps I should be taking a break from this.

気が狂ってしまう。ものを追いかけて落ちていく。

可愛いから許す。気に入りから許す。そのおかげで今は大変なことになってる。

もう休んでもいいのかな。このままじゃ持ったない。やっぱり・・・

Random Madness

Something that I just wrote for some nonsense. Thought I'll share it here.

"I hate humans.

Why? Because many of them are selfish and care more about themselves than the world as a whole. People have been exploiting this world and wasting all those resources that have taken millions of years to accumulate without thinking of the consequences and the effect that they have to the world as a whole. Most humans are just too short-sighted.

In the same way, I also kind of hate myself, as even though I'm put down by all the actions that humans have done to the world, I myself am unable to not rely on the very same things that are hurting the world.

Bah."

Kind of pathetic, eh? Can't help it though. That's how the world works, and as long one is a tangled in the vines that form the human society, one can't really break free from the cage.

うちのメロちゃんがレアメロになったみたい。色が黒と紫になって、宇宙人みたい。最初ただ、「変な色になったんだ！」と思うが、どうやらレアメロだった。

それはラッキーよね！前のマシューもレアになったんだ。でも、まだ最後の期じゃない。だから、また変化があるという意味。クマのままならいいけど・・・

Depressed?

Feeling a bit bored... Someone said that it's not like me to not be playing and having fun, and I guess that's true. I appear to have lost interest in some of those activities that I found to be fun previously. That's one of the symptoms for depression =.=

Am I depressed? I don't really know. But I guess not.

もうわけがわからない。自分はいったい何を望みたい。何がしたい。

時々この悩みもあるよね、みんな。もう子供じゃないし、どうしてはっきりできないの？

Nearing the end

Time seems to fly pass really fast. Just 2 more weeks before the reading week, then the exams, and the end of my last semester. Thinking back, it almost seems like the start of my university life just a while ago. Knowing new friends, joining my CCA, sitting through lectures and tutorials, studying for tests and exams, worrying about results, and having fun playing and fooling around.

I guess that's how life's like. When one looks back at what they have done, they can't help but feel nostalgic. Memories always bring out such feelings, don't they. I'm not really good with words and essays, which you should all know by now, but those are my feelings.

It's going to be the start of a new chapter in the book with this semester over. As they say, time waits for no man, and we'll have to keep moving forward, so that we won't be left behind in the tides of time.

もうすぐこの最後の学期も終わったよね。考え見れば、この四年の時間はいかにも速かった。新しい学校に入って、友達を作って、部活に入って、授業や講義を受けて、テストや試験を勉強して、成績のことについて悩んで、一緒に遊んで、いろいろなことがあったよね。

でも、それもすぐ終わった。人間は前へ進めなければならない。時間は誰も待ったない。だから、進めないと。これからは人生の新しいページを開くでしょう。

The Japanese Tradition (日本の形)

Just thought that I should say something about this. This is a rather funny series of short clips about Japanese culture. Most, if not all, of the information presented within is fake of course. You can find the videos on youtube, where they are hosted.

The series was produced by a pair of Japanese comedians known as ラーメンズ, who are the two lead characters that keep appearing throughout the series. In total, there are 12 clips that I have seen from this series. They are, tea (お茶),　summer holiday (夏休み), dating　(交際), dogeza (a form of apology,　土下座), apology　(謝罪), festival of the dead　(お盆), origami　(折り紙), drinking party　(宴), sushi　(鮨), chopsticks　(箸), onigiri　(おにぎり),　and tejime (some form of clapping pattern that I don't know how to explain, 手締め).

Do try and find them and view them if you have the time! You won't regret it ^^

日本の形って面白いよね！実は最近またニコニコで全シリーズを見た。何度見ても面白くて笑うよ。

実際、今はまだわら過ぎるからお腹がちょっと痛い。はじめに見たのは鮨。そして、一番面白いと思うのは交際。

みなさんも興味と時間があれば見に行こうよ。必ず後悔しないから。

MouseHunt?

Tried something new out at Facebook. Yeah. I'm still fooling around with those applications even though I should be spending my time on something more constructive. Whatever.

Back to the topic. MouseHunt is this game where you play a mousehunter (duh) that is tasked with catching mice that infest this kingdom. Basically, you get money and points for each mice you catch, so that you can get more bait (cheese) and new traps to catch more mice, so that you can buy more and so on and so forth. Quite a no brainer.

The catch is that you can't act, as in to go out and attempt to catch mice, more than once in 15 minutes. The actions don't accumulate, so you can't get the most out of it unless you sit at your computer and check out the application once every 15 minutes, but for the most part, it's meant as a little diversion when you're busying with other things on the computer.

Overall, I think it's a rather interesting game. At the very least, the traps and the mice are kind of cute. Let's try it out for a while longer and see how it goes.

お父さんの病気は治ったみたいよ！熱はもう下がって体もだいぶよくなった。これは安心したよね。もしまだ治らないならもう病院へ行かないといけない。

今回の原因は最後まだわからないまま。おそらくウイルスと思う。まぁ、もう大丈夫のは一番大事なこと。

Shinjuku Incident

Went to watch another movie today. Just a mere week from the last movie I watched. This time round, the movie is Shinjuku Incident starring Jackie Chan, and some other people. But seriously, the main name that one will recognise and go for in this movie should be Jackie Chan.

The most amazing thing is that we were actually 30+ minutes late for the movie, and the movie was screened at Cathay, which does not have ridiculously long pre-commercials that last 20 minutes like GV. Needless to say, we missed like 1/6 of the beginning of the movie, and was totally clueless about some of the happenings (okay, maybe not totally clueless, since you can infer, but still, nothing beats knowing what was actually shown). Oh, and I watched the movie with my parents this time round.

As for the movie itself, it was a bit violent at parts, which was expected, since it's a movie about triads, but overall, it's quite a fresh new turn for Jackie Chan, and a rather enjoyable movie in all.

お父さんの病気はまだ治らないけど、今日の気分はちょっとよくなったみたい。今日もお医者さんのところへ行ったけど、原因はわからないまま。でも多分大丈夫だと言われた。熱も少し下がった。

このままいけばすぐも治れるでしょう。うん、治れる！

Woo WAH

Almost forgot to post today. But then again, it's not like I have anything important to write about or anything. Today has been a rather uneventful and normal day, other than my father being unwell after a dental surgery and hasn't had any signs of recovery to date.

Oh ya. That's quite an important thing isn't it? He'll be going to consult a doctor again tomorrow, and hopefully, there can be a more conclusive explanation for the current condition.

お父さんは月曜から病気だよ。熱があってなかなか下げない。お医者さんのところも行って、薬を飲んだけど、まだ治らない。しかもぜんぜん治るようには見えない。大丈夫でしょうか？

明日はまたお医者さんのところへ行く。原因がわかればいいけど・・・

Counseling again

Today's the 3rd session of patient counseling that we had. I guess I've gotten a lot more used to these counseling sessions, and don't really feel as nervous or uneasy as I did when we started 3 weeks ago. That's a good thing, as we won't want ourselves to be feeling nervous and uneasy when we go out into the real setting and counsel a real patient, do we? That would really hurt our image.

But I guess I still need more practice, especially when they pose questions that I am not sure of. That feeling of unease just doesn't seem to go away when I'm faced with those sort of situations, and that's a big no-no in the real setting.

昨日は言い忘れたけど、実はうちの子はまた世代交代したのよ！

前回のふわふわな雲の子に続けて、今回はクマさんだ！でも、このクマさんは時々ブタどもになるみたい。それだけは激しくいやだよ！だから、今回のこの名はクマ・メロンに決めた。クマさんになるように～♪

おっと、忘れてはいかない！これは以前の子からのお別れメッセージ：


それでは、今回の子もよろしくね！

Of symposiums and industry visits

We had a symposium today, the 5th AAPS-NUS Student Chapter Scientific Symposium. Basically, we have new faculty staff to give short presentations about their research interests and field of study, and also had the prize winners for our FYP posters to give a short presentation on their projects. And the prize was quite good too. $150 for the first place, and $100 for the second place. IMO, the second place is better since you get the reward, and yet do not need to present. But who knows, maybe someone who like the attention will like to present?

We had an industry visit to the Schering-Plough plant over at Tuas in the afternoon. And the lecturer in-charge was really true to his word that we will be setting off on time. Two of my friends couldn't make it as they were late. But anyways, the visit itself was quite an informative one, with us being brought around the factory grounds to see the theory that we learn in class used in large scale practical operations. Learning by practice and seeing is indeed better than learning by theory and on paper alone.

今日は本当に疲れた。朝から夕方まで休むことができなくてから。朝は私たちのと学園のほかの先生と生徒たちのプロジェクトについての発表が行った。全員のではなく、ただ優等賞のみの。でも、その発表はいかにもつまらなくて思わずに眠くなってきた。

午後は工場の見学を行った。それのほうは朝のはるかに面白くて役に立った。でも、さすがに朝からの疲れは溜まって、同じく眠いままだった。