Soooo... this is it!
To be honest, final year in Optometry can be a trying time. Ever since my Melbourne placement in mid-March, I've been constantly on the go:
Weeks 4-5: 28 patients in my 2 weeks in Melbourne
Weeks 6-9: UNSW Clinic for General, Contact Lens, Colour Vision and Low Vision subspecialties.
Weeks 10-11: 16 patients in 2 weeks of emergency "Red Eye" subspecialty, and
Weeks 12-13: observation of advanced ocular imaging at the Centre for Eye Health, UNSW.
All I can say... juggling oral exams (CfEH and Red Eye placements), Literature reviews and Ethics applications for our Honours Research Project, Therapeutics Major Case Report... the constant stress really has worn me down.
Enough about me: time for more about my Placement!!
So I'm flying out to Singapore for a 4-week stint at an Eye Hospital, and hopefully I'll get a lot out of this! In this time, Food, Fun and Fotography (sorry, needed the F there... I love my F words :P) is what will be posted here: and I'd LOVE for you all to leave comments and stay in touch!
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Today... never ended. What I mean is that I was still up until 2am, finishing off a few things that needed to be done before flying out of Sydney. This includes packing... and I am still laughing at a suggestion that "you don't need to pack any clothes" - you know who you are, whoever said that :)
Managed to get some sleep - so Mum and Dad drove me out to the Airport by 8.45am. Turns out Singapore Airline's counter is at the OPPOSITE end of T1 compared to Cathay/Qantas... so after a long walk, I was able to dump my bags fairly quickly! Immigration took forever - so a tip for anyone flying out next year: allow AT LEAST half-an-hour to clear Immigration alone for morning flights.
Lining up in the queue was... interesting. Bumped into Duncan and Michelle who were 36 people ahead of me (I counted, thrice), who were flying out on the same flight too! However, they were only in-transit at Changi Airport, flying out to their destination later that afternoon. My placement buddies, Andy and (the other) Michelle, entered Immigration hall later than I did, but at least everyone was here safely.
After crossing Customs, I trotted on over to Gate 61 trying to get a glimpse of this fabled A380. Didn't see it: the original flight was delayed. Awww well... at least I took this snapshot of it travelling down the gantry later on.
To be honest, final year in Optometry can be a trying time. Ever since my Melbourne placement in mid-March, I've been constantly on the go:
Weeks 4-5: 28 patients in my 2 weeks in Melbourne
Weeks 6-9: UNSW Clinic for General, Contact Lens, Colour Vision and Low Vision subspecialties.
Weeks 10-11: 16 patients in 2 weeks of emergency "Red Eye" subspecialty, and
Weeks 12-13: observation of advanced ocular imaging at the Centre for Eye Health, UNSW.
All I can say... juggling oral exams (CfEH and Red Eye placements), Literature reviews and Ethics applications for our Honours Research Project, Therapeutics Major Case Report... the constant stress really has worn me down.
Enough about me: time for more about my Placement!!
So I'm flying out to Singapore for a 4-week stint at an Eye Hospital, and hopefully I'll get a lot out of this! In this time, Food, Fun and Fotography (sorry, needed the F there... I love my F words :P) is what will be posted here: and I'd LOVE for you all to leave comments and stay in touch!
======
Today... never ended. What I mean is that I was still up until 2am, finishing off a few things that needed to be done before flying out of Sydney. This includes packing... and I am still laughing at a suggestion that "you don't need to pack any clothes" - you know who you are, whoever said that :)
Managed to get some sleep - so Mum and Dad drove me out to the Airport by 8.45am. Turns out Singapore Airline's counter is at the OPPOSITE end of T1 compared to Cathay/Qantas... so after a long walk, I was able to dump my bags fairly quickly! Immigration took forever - so a tip for anyone flying out next year: allow AT LEAST half-an-hour to clear Immigration alone for morning flights.
Lining up in the queue was... interesting. Bumped into Duncan and Michelle who were 36 people ahead of me (I counted, thrice), who were flying out on the same flight too! However, they were only in-transit at Changi Airport, flying out to their destination later that afternoon. My placement buddies, Andy and (the other) Michelle, entered Immigration hall later than I did, but at least everyone was here safely.
After crossing Customs, I trotted on over to Gate 61 trying to get a glimpse of this fabled A380. Didn't see it: the original flight was delayed. Awww well... at least I took this snapshot of it travelling down the gantry later on.
Apart from a boring wait (and not-so-boring goodbye and farewell texts), everything went smoothly for a slightly delayed 11.35am takeoff from the East-West runway. I do have to say... sitting near the front (row 38) and near the leading edge of the A380 wings... it seems quite disconcerting to see the huge wings wobble... sometimes violently. At high altitudes though, the wobbly wing effect disappears and the whole journey was smooth!
Food is something I'll kept you all in touch with, and Singapore Airline's Muslim meal was... interesting. I don't understand why I can love some curries and hate others... this falls in the middle of the spectrum. The pea mush was okay; the chicken curry was GREAT... and the herb balls in the chicken curry were 'ick'ery. Like... I know you HAVE to put the herbs in to make the curry fragrant... but it shatters into many bits of crap when you forget and bite down on them!!
Food is something I'll kept you all in touch with, and Singapore Airline's Muslim meal was... interesting. I don't understand why I can love some curries and hate others... this falls in the middle of the spectrum. The pea mush was okay; the chicken curry was GREAT... and the herb balls in the chicken curry were 'ick'ery. Like... I know you HAVE to put the herbs in to make the curry fragrant... but it shatters into many bits of crap when you forget and bite down on them!!
After lunch, I went for a stretch. Initially I left my iPhone back at the seat [there's recharging USB slots on the A380 even for Econ class] (=O !!) and had to turn back and get it. However, I went down to the back of the plane to say hi to everyone else. For those who haven't been on the A380... there's a staircase AT THE BACK OF THE PLANE. Mindblowing!! :P
No doubt you're thinking that I'm sooooo easily excited... but it was amazing! Upstairs was the same layout: frontal Business class with rear Econ class seating. So here's some snapshots of the cabin space and staircases of the SQ flight!
Tea time: whilst standard meals were offered a meat pie, my Muslim meal was fish skewered. Stabbed fish. Poked poach? Haha... something fishy about all those descriptions =P
Yes, I am PICKY about my food. No pork stuff due to religion, and no fishy stuff (lobster and other seafood included) from a personal bias. However, I AM changing these days and I don't comment or grumble or say anything at all about it =).
Overall - this fish was GOOD! Not over-done, just coming off the stick, and well complimented by the mystery sauce. Capsicums were a little soggy... but that's a side effect of the steaming process, so not to worry.
We disembarked in a reasonable order, despite the massive number of people onboard the A380. Given that it was a first time for most of them, we spent a bit of time exploring Changi Airport Terminal 2.
Anyhows - we were met by a driver and taken over to the Apartments. Settling in, we
chillaxed until 8.30pm before stomach grumbles started making their presence known. Off we went to find a meal... and eventually hit across a Japanese ramen house in Far East Plaza. I got myself a bowl of ramen, my friends contenting themselves with the Teriyaki sets. That place was having a special as well - 99c for any white-plated dishes on the sushi train - some of which are captured below as well!
Overall - this fish was GOOD! Not over-done, just coming off the stick, and well complimented by the mystery sauce. Capsicums were a little soggy... but that's a side effect of the steaming process, so not to worry.
We disembarked in a reasonable order, despite the massive number of people onboard the A380. Given that it was a first time for most of them, we spent a bit of time exploring Changi Airport Terminal 2.
Anyhows - we were met by a driver and taken over to the Apartments. Settling in, we
chillaxed until 8.30pm before stomach grumbles started making their presence known. Off we went to find a meal... and eventually hit across a Japanese ramen house in Far East Plaza. I got myself a bowl of ramen, my friends contenting themselves with the Teriyaki sets. That place was having a special as well - 99c for any white-plated dishes on the sushi train - some of which are captured below as well!
To finish off the night, we went for a walk along Orchard Road - more for me to reacquaint myself, and for the other two to have a first taste of Singapore!
More up soon!!
<3 br="br" sal="sal">
PS: I found some macarons! =D
(For those of you who know how to treat me nicely... *nods*)
<3 br="br" sal="sal">
PS: I found some macarons! =D
(For those of you who know how to treat me nicely... *nods*)
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