scouseland

liverpool was way above my expectations. it was never a city i would bother visiting, mainly because of all the bad press surrounding it. dodgy, chavvy, dirty, polluted - these were the preconceptions i had of the city all this while. (wayne rooney is from liverpool - need i say more?)

to be honest i only went to liverpool over the weekend as an obligation to my dear childhood friend Sharmaine, who's currently in her final year of med school there. the only reason i looked forward to visiting was because i'd not seen her in a long time and wanted to catch up. i did not realise what liverpool actually had to offer.

upon getting off the train at liverpool lime street, i was surprised to see how big and nice the station was - reminded me a bit of manchester piccadilly. right outside the station itself i found that the place was refreshingly modern, streets were amazingly clean, and there were even some nice buildings around. as for the people, well, tracksuits and hoodies - guess you can't run away from them. hahaha. actually you hardly see them in the posh areas of the city, but once you go further away, you'll see more of them chavs and you'll find yourself in the dodgy, chavvy, dirty and polluted industrial liverpool that everyone talks about.

then again, it's not like i spent my time in the lousy areas of town. why would i?

here are some of my favourite pictures from the trip :)

albert dock.

sharmaine and i. known her since we were kids! we were neighbours before she moved to another neighbourhood (which isn't very far). spent most of our childhood together at the swimming club which was our 2nd home. lol.

the wheel of liverpool, which i honestly did not see moving. but this area looks nice no?

liverpool's mega shopping area - one liverpool. impressive! very impressive.

view of albert dock from one liverpool.

the cavern club where the beatles first performed all the way back in 1961. for those who have been living in a cave, yes the beatles were from liverpool.

sharms & i with a sculpture of john lennon.

the beatles museum at albert dock which i did not go in.

a quiet little alley off one of the streets.

specialty teas and a scone at brew on bold street. bold street has very nice cafes and novelty shops! i love that area.

latin food for dinner at las iguanas.

hehe us again.

jian min was there too! my imu batchmate.

(i hate how my hair kembang after a long day)

and avier from my a levels days, whom i've not seen since... well... a levels.

liverpool (plus a lone manchester) medics

dim sum at mei mei's in chinatown, with sharms and li shan.

liverpool! i will go back over and over again now that i've established the fact that i like it! hehe. they've only developed the city a few years ago after it was voted european city of culture one of the years. it was apparently really quite crappy before that. haha.

well i'm really glad i went. had loads of fun and met the nicest of people. as for now, it's time to start preparing for the osce. what a mood killer.

disheartened

i've never really used the phrase "can't catch a break" before, because everything has always seemed to fall into place for me. sure i've experienced some minor blips here and there, but life has been kind and generally smooth-going.

this week, however, i really could NOT catch a break. nothing i did or said seemed to be on the right track. perhaps i've prematurely hit the burnt-out point for this academic year. really? already?! it's only october for heaven's sake.

sometimes i really hate medicine. sometimes it is the patients which make me hate medicine; sometimes it is the doctors - what they say, what they do. but it doesn't take me long before i am back on my feet, bad memories erased in a snap. because i tell myself how much i love what i'm doing (which is true most of the time) and how i can't imagine myself doing anything else. in fact it has been a VERY long time since i've actually sat down and wondered what the fuck i'm doing in this field. a long long time. i made a promise to myself never to ponder on such negativity anymore.

but today i came back home from hospital, worn out and extremely resentful that i have gotten myself into this. apparently all i needed were 2 people - a patient and a doctor, both on 2 separate occasions - to take me down and make me doubt myself. seriously, how incredibly stupid is this? why am i being overly sensitive? i am hardly this way, at least i never used to be. what is going on? and in the midst of obs and gynae, which i have been thoroughly enjoying?

i don't know. maybe i've been on a high for awhile that the most trivial of incidents and slightly harsh words brought me down to ground zero. or maybe it's almost that time of the month when my emotions are running wildly all over the place. yeah, i will blame it on the hormones. heh.

i must snap out of this. i must. i know what i'm doing. i constantly strive to be competent. i yearn and thirst for knowledge day after day. nobody can take me down; the only person who is able to do so... is myself. why am i sabotaging myself. why.

sigh. perhaps this is one of those stupid off days. i just hope that next week, things will be back to the way they were.

liverpool for the weekend. please let it be fun.

comfy

moved out of my old place into a new flat - no longer able to walk 5 mins across to the hospital but the place is conveniently 5 mins away by bus, and exactly halfway between the hospital and town. and it's quiet and isn't falling apart (unlike my old house!). also because it's just tr and i, i now have the liberty to cook/bake/use the oven as much as i want to, without getting into people's ways or feeling bad for using up too much electricity.

i like this place. it's peaceful. and my room is cosy. :)


pictures of my room taken with tr's android's vignette photo feature:






















you're all welcome to stay (with prior notice of course). especially you, michelle lim.