Dr Swee Leen Tan, MBChB (University of Manchester)

11.07.12.
best day of my life thus far.

25

i'm feeling slightly overwhelmed that i have now hit the quarter-of-a-century mark. i've come a long way, done what i've needed to do so far and am about to embark on an entirely new journey, yet i somehow feel immature. like a child stuck in an adult's body. maybe it has got to do with being home for 2 months now, being pampered and care-free as i was back in the day.

i've thoroughly enjoyed my time under my parents' roof and cannot be thankful enough for being able to come home for such a long period of time, post-medical school, pre-work.

i am also feeling extremely blessed to have celebrated my birthday back home. i don't know when i'll be able to do this again, but at least i was in the presence of my family and closest friends.

so grateful for my dear parents who've been my pillars of strength ever since i was born. i fully appreciate all that they've done and sacrificed for me; even a simple gesture like putting together this small birthday-cum-graduation dinner made me feel so loved. 

i've enjoyed all my birthday celebrations in the past (like this and this), but this one had an extra special meaning to it as i had different people from different phases of my life present. i had my family with me (minus my brother who is in melbourne and couldn't get leave this time of the year), teong rhen my love and his parents, jiang mun who represented the people i grew up with and ho wai who represented my imu friends. my manchester friends are unfortunately back in the UK as they did their elective at a different time, so let's just say they were represented by teong rhen!

i also want to say just how touched i am by these lovely cards sent from my friends from different parts of the world. the giant card was sent all over the UK, from edwina (nottingham) to kwan/joon heng (coventry) to huiling (aberdeen) to ben/mich (dundee) and brought back to malaysia by mich when she came back for her short break. i also received cards from down under - red (adelaide) and tracy (auckland), and from yilin - not quite down under but down south in jb! thanks for the lovely gesture you guys.

of course, many thanks to those who sent personal birthday wishes. you know who you are and that i love you. :)

frankie says relax

home is simply amazing.

i'm currently doing my elective in paediatrics at ipoh GH, and i can tell you that it has exceeded all of my expectations. i know that many have told me that it is by far the best department in the whole hospital, but i am still very impressed. the head of department is without a doubt the BEST doctor i've ever seen in my life. i kid you not. and with all the inspiring doctors i'd crossed paths with in the UK - that says a lot. day after day i am blown away by his sheer passion and thirst to help his patients (and their families), and his neverending quest to improve the local healthcare system.

of course, all work and no play makes swee leen very dull. haha to tell the truth, it's more like lots of play and very little work! i've passed my finals after all, and i very much deserve to have a nice break.

so... i had my annual pilgrimage to penang - this time with tr and away from the city for some sun, sand and sea (mostly sun, though. sand and sea at batu ferringhi are less than ideal). it was a sweet little getaway nonetheless.

we stayed at the Lone Pine Hotel which i highly, highly recommend! it had a nice mixture of colonial and modern feel to it. service was top-notch from check-in till check-out. daily breakfasts were very good, with a lavish spread of asian and western dishes. definitely malaysian hotel breakfast at its best! 

the Super Deluxe Room houses a giant bed, private 'mini lounging pool' (ie bathtub) on the balcony, a separate day lounge room, and don't get me started on the bathroom - very huge and very chic! we were also constantly impressed by the hotel's fine touches and details, such as cocktails on arrival, cupcakes in the room, complimentary flip-flops and good quality teas and coffees! you definitely get what you pay. 

what we did the entire time we were there: lounged and lazed while taking in the sea breeze and listening to the soothing sound of the waves!

:) someone so handsome

sunset

we spent one morning at the Tropical Spice Garden. i'd been here once before with peishern, howai and adrian, all the way back in 2008! geez. so long ago. 

so i suggested that tr and i went there for a leisurely walk and some photography. 

tranquility.