Date completed: 13 April 2007

An interesting and easy read. Provides fascinating insights into the work and life of a neurosurgeon.

The main downside for me is that the author dwells too much into her own experiences and progress through her career in the earlier chapters. The attractive thing about medically-related books written for laymen is the potrayal of the human side of both the practitioners and patients (e.g. The man who mistook his wife for a hat). Readers are generally enthused by examples of real cases, the doctor-patient interaction, as well as the ethics and emotions that go along with the whole thing. The author does this reasonably well for most of the book, plucking various instances of actual scenarios she went through (or learnt from).

Overall, a worthwhile read.

Spring is here, sun is out, exams are over.

Off to Ireland on Sunday for a week. For the first time I'll be able to enjoy an Easter break without having to fret about the looming Tripos. 

Holiday plans - clean, read, write, draw. And play, whatever comes to hand, badminton, squash, football, Go, Mahjong, Risk. Anything but medicine.

Added a few links to the side section. Most notably friends' blogs, as well as a new subsection on my reading (*Hint* look at my wishlist!!!). The blog is currently functioning more as a link/navigation than a site for my updates.

Been back in Cambridge for nearly 2 weeks. Will be living in Cherry Hinton this year, with 2 guys from Sidney. One of them bought the house and is getting it renovated so that it can house 4 people. The renovation work is still going on though all three rooms for us are ready. The fourth will hopefully be done in a month and we might have a new housemate then.

Besides moving, unpacking and tidying up my new room, I've been to the city centre almost everyday. Still not used to the idea of staying so far away from the city. Learnt to play Go to kill the free time I had, and though I'm in no way better than any other beginner, I'm starting to enjoy the game.

Clinical course officailly commences tomorrow. For me, it's another step towards becoming a doctor, but uncertainty still lingers. In any case, I'm pretty sure everything will work out well eventually.

EPL officially begins today.

I admit I have to go with the flow in agreeing that Chelsea will be the team to beat, again, in this season. Never mind their loss in the Community Shield. Already a formidable squad from last season, the acquisition of Shevchenko and Ballack (which I think are the two best recruits to the EPL) certainly makes them near to being invincible, at least in the league.

Liverpool should offer the strongest resistance to Chelsea's ambitions, judging from their preformance in the last two seasons. Arsenal, meanwhile, suffered losses in the form of several quality players, not to mention the morale-diminishing internal squabble with Cole. I find it hard to see them make an impact this time. Perhaps the biggest news they can make is some outstanding performances by the 'wonderboy' Walcott, if he ever gets a chance to play.

Although a Man Utd fan, I think the club will find this season a tough one. They are sort of still in a 'readjustment' phase, with the two key players Rooney and Ronaldo still developing and maturing (if not quarreling). The number of goals netted this year will drop following the sale of van Nistelrooy. With possible signings still to come, and a yet-to-be-finalised squad, I foresee the Red Devil going through an initial rough patch, before coming good in the latter stage.

(On a more personal note, since I'm moving into a house this year in Cambridge, I can now ensure that I won't have to miss Match of the Day anymore)

Went to Singapore for a couple of days. Met up with friends from Cambridge as well as from high school. Was brought to several touristy places like the Esplanade, Chinatown, Little India, Orchard Road, and upon Daniel's enthusiastic insistence, the Singapore Zoo.

As my trip coincided with the National Day celebrations, we decided to join the thousands of people at Esplanade to watch the final day of fireworks display. The entire area was so jam-packed that it was such a pain to try to squeeze into a good spot to get a decent view of the display. It was magnificent, but lasting just about 10 minutes, was a bit too short.

I have to say I'm impressed with the Biopolis (though I had friends who asked me why on earth did I even think of visiting such a place). It's an area designated for scientific research, funded by government-linked agencies. It houses around 7 interconnected buildings, furnished with sophisticated labs and facilities, administrative offices, and there is even a gym (for workouts while waiting for blots (!), according to my friend) for the staff. To get the best result out of this grandiose project to turn SIngapore into a leading scientific nation, the government even threw in various incentives and perks to entice world-class scientists to lead these labs. And it looks like it is paying them handsome dividends so far.

This naturally brings to mind the still-incomplete (or has it been abandoned?) project--Biovalley--that the Malaysian government launched some time ago. How do we compare ourselves, a nation with 5 times more residents than our tiny neighbour, when it comes to setting out a plan and turning it into a reality? Lack of organised planning may have contributed to the stalling of the construction and the physical development of the project, in our case. But what makes the Singaporean model stand out is more than just the physical appearance of the project, but their emphasis on building a capable and sustainable pool of human resource. Their willingness and ability to go all-out to attract the greatest minds of various fields from across the world, coupled with their solid and well-planned development programmes for nurturing home-grown scientists, are what I believe to be the real factor behind its success. And this is what our government needs to take note of, if we are to make any significant progress in the scientific world.

Five weeks into my summer holiday, with another three weeks remaining. I didn't have much planned for this break, and had just wanted to get some good rest before going back to England. After all, I didn't come back last summer, having spent it working and traveling. Besides, once my clinical gets underway, I'll probably not have the luxury of spending months-long summer breaks just sitting around, doing near-to-nothing.

 

Just a recap of things I've done since returning¡K

 

The first week saw me sleeping at odd hours not due to jetlag, but to stay awake in the wee hours of the morning to catch the World Cup matches. Then there was the wedding reception of Lan Helmy to attend. Well, two in fact. One was at his house and the other one¡Xa grand one¡Xwas held in a hotel in Ipoh.

 

A few friends from Christ's, who were doing a Southeast Asia traveling, came over for a visit after that. Brought them around the island, showed them some of the attractions, but most importantly, introduced them to the local delicacies. Must have been quite an experience for them.

 

That was followed by a trip down to KMYS for the Alumni Weekend. The college did undergo several physical changes, notably the just-completed block of classrooms, the refurbished apartments and a new wonderful football pitch. It was a great time meeting, and catching up with the teachers again (who were probably the most constant feature of the college). And of course I didn't miss the opportunity of 'taking advantage' of the sports facilities, taking on some of the teachers, staff and current students in badminton, squash, table tennis and football.

 

After the Alumni events ended, I went down to Putrajaya to pay Gan a visit. Although I¡¦ve been to Putrajaya twice (once for the 'lunch' and the other for the JPA briefing), this was the first time I toured the place properly. The impression I got from this mega-project undertaken during the Mahathir era was that it was indeed a majestic and impressive man-made city, but was glaringly underutilized. In fact, at night, the three- or four-lane massive roads were virtually empty.

 

Will be heading to Singapore tomorrow. Hopefully, will be meeting with some friends I haven't seen for two or three years. And maybe even those from Cambridge. It's Singapore's Independece day today by the way.

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