Friday, March 27, 2009

Mentally Burned Out

I'd just finished the first week of hospital attachment. It was really draggy but from the quality time that we got to spend with the pharmacists, we learnt quite a lot of things. I said draggy as in the waiting time that we had to endure was sometimes quite ridiculous. I know I should have just spent it on compiling my case studies properly, carefully go through it and come up with relevant questions that would help me come up with pharmaceutical care plans. Somehow, my brain just won't work in the hospital environment. I ouldn't link one information to the other. I didn't know what was missing from the case. I was not sure at all what are the proper management steps for the patient. I'm always clueless as to how I should go about the case.

It doesn't help that I'm constantly pressurized by a source of kiasu-ness. Persistently pestered to choose my long case. Being hinted every day not to do the same case for my written pharmaceutical care plan. I mean, if we're doing the same long case, you think I'm stupid enough to copy from you word by word ah? What, you think you're the only one capable of coming up with care plans? This one kind of attitude is just going to rub people the wrong way.

I'm really tired of the attachment. I can't imagine another week of torture with this kiasu-ness. Please. Just spare me.

Friday, March 20, 2009

JSR #31 : Berjaya Times Square Japanese Food Fair Pt. 2

Here's Part Two of the review of what I bought last weekend at Times Square :

Crunky Chocolate Biscuit (Lotte)

Price : RM10+

Contains : 9 individually packaged biscuits

I just love this chocolatey biscuit. It is an assembly of chocolate cream with rice crispies sandwiched between two pieces of loosely crunchy biscuits. Gotta love the smell. *ssssnnniiiiiiffff~*

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Crunky Cafe Latte (Lotte)

Price : RM6.99

Weight : 48g

This is probably by far the worst Japanese chocolate I've ever had. -_-" First and foremost, the supposedly crunchy rice crispies were like little pieces of chewed rubber. They absolutely lacked chrunchy-ness, which is actually a trademark of Crunky and a major purpose of people buying them. Secondly, I did not quite get the flavour. Latte? Sure, it's got an unmistakeable hint of coffee, but I think I prefer my chocolates free of it, thank you. >.<

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I had Häagen-Dazs chocolate fondue with chin2 just now . Though I was mentally prepared for it, my heart still broke a little when I saw the actual bill. ^-^" What to do? Wanted to try mah. But this will be a once-in-a-lifetime treat for me. Unless someone is big-hearted enough to treat me lah. :P

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I'm tired of reading about heavy metal poisoning, mechanisms of action of insecticide and herbicide toxicities in the human body, and god-knows-what-else. T_T

Next week I'll be spending whole days at hospital wards, clerking cases. Clerking I tell you. As if la we so pro like that. *eye-roll* But then the whole purpose of the 2-weeks attachment is to expose us the hospital environment, get us to experience real-life responsibilities of a pharmacist, and most importantly to evaluate our ability to apply what we learned in theory to real-life situations and problems.

And I'm so unprepared for it. T-T And so not looking forward to it. >.<

Sunday, March 15, 2009

JSR #30 : Berjaya Times Square Japanese Food Fair Pt.1

Went out yesterday with yokie. We spent most of the day at Times Square, hunting for flats. Happened on a large Japanese food exhibition there. I bought some RM35 worth of stuff from there. ^-^"

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Cacao Cream Balanceup (Asahi)

Price : RM5.99

Weight : 72g (2 individual packs containing 2 biscuits each)

I was quite curious to see rows of this biscuit, having never seen them in Isetan or Jusco before. Perhaps they're a new product in Japan too? There were several other flavours, the ones I remember being strawberry and vanilla milk. I think this biscuit is being promoted as a 'healthy snack' because whole bran, bran flakes and brown rice flakes were among the ingredients. I must say although most would be put off just by a mentioning of 'bran', this biscuit was really delicious. It smelled really really yummy it's got a good solid crunch to every bite.

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Milk Horn Choco (Meiji)

Price : RM3.99

Weight : 52g (8 individually packed bars)

This one was displayed at the 'super save' section because its shelf-life is due in about a month's time. It tasted great though. Aero-style chocolate filled in a thin wafer fold, and both ends of the bar dipped in melted chocolate, this snack resembles some gourmet creation served at expensive restaurants. XD I love it for its prettiness and yummy milky chocolate.

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Petit Choco Langdsy? (Bourbon)

Price : RM4.39

Weight : 50g

Yokie recommended this. :) Each piece consists of 2 biscuits sandwiching a layer of chocolate cream. I love the crumbliness of the biscuits and creamy chocolate. Mmm.... It's a very satisfying treat for anyone craving for chocolate! :D

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I'm being unproductive again these few days. T-T I find no pleasure in anything other than surfing the net 24-hrs a day and lazing about. T-T

Halp!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Bright Blues + Rainbow Sprinkles

I think I've been officially infected by the abondon-blog-bug. T-T Oh, there are lots of things I'd love to share with you, but I need to wait for the right time before I can expose it all on my blog. :P

Since the start of hols last weekend, I've been busy with crafting. First things first. I completed a custom order requested by a customer on Etsy. She requested a bright blue cookie with strawberries, lollipops, swirled sticks, cookies, colourful little balls and lots of hearts.

{ Kawaii~neh! Sugar-Honey Cookieland in bright BLUE! }

I didn't know a bright blue cookie base would make me so happy. XD Really, the colour brought life to the cookie. When I was done making, I thought I didn't quite like the arrangement of the sweets on top. But the more I look at it, I find myself starting to really like it.

After the cookie, the customer requested a plush cupcake with a strawberry on top and different coloured sprinkles.

{ Halo Mr. Cupcake. You look very happy today. :P }

{ Fat strawberry in the center surrounded by rainbow sprinkles }

I'm not sure if I like it. Though the rainbow colours certainly worked for me, I think the sprinkles look a little odd, being the size that they are. Nevertheless, the customer loved it and that's all that matters. XD

Other than those two orders, I'm spending most of the time making more stuff for my shop.

Shall stop here for now. Have a nice weekend. :)

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Full House Lifestyle Store and Cafe

Yesterday marked the end of week 9 of semester 6, and the start of 2 weeks holidays before I'm due for a 2-week attachment at Hospital Klang. I joined a group of girl friends for a night out. :P

We went to this lifestyle store and cafe called Full House in Ara Damansara.

I heard from my friends that this cafe's set up is really nice, with an air of vintage and victorian, and the theme colour is white. True enough, when I saw the store front, I must say the place certainly was as described by many. ^-^"

{ Full House entrance space }

We reserved a table on the 1st floor. After placing orders for food and drinks, we walked around. I had fun taking photos :

{ 1. Center table loaded with goodies like white birdcages, miniature eiffel towers, delicate plates and bowls filled with jewelry 2. Life-like strawberry abd milk chocolate bars - which were actually notepads 3. Cute teddy couple 4. Large blingy eiffel tower necklace }

{ 1. Miniature cupboard with artificial potted plants 2. Crystal chandelier above the center table 3. Crystal chandelier above the entrace space 4. Pretty bed with romantic sheer curtains around the bedposts }

We were still taking photos when the food arrived at the table.

{ 1. Marinara Spaghetti 2. Grilled chicken chop 3. Soft shell crab 4. Chicken chop }

One of the girls recommended the grilled chicken chop as she'd been to the cafe before and her friend who had it then said it was delicious. It was not delicious. It was SUPER delicious. Unfortunately, I did not order the dish, but spaghetti marinara instead. Which was kind of NOT NICE. >.<

With our tummies filled, some of us went to the ground floor to take more photos.

{ 1. Antiques and decorative plants on a make-shift fireplace 2. Awesome looking white bird cage with a plant inside 3. A modern victorian-like living room set-up 4. Dining room set-up }

After Full House, we went to 1U to do some shopping and catch Street Fighter : The Legend of Chun-Li. It was my very first cinema movie in KL. ^-^" I'm such a 'house-potato', always unwilling to step out of the comforts of home. T-T Well, yesterday night was a good chance for the girls to take me to watch a movie. :P

All in all, I had a really great time. :)

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Matryoshka Bi-fold Wallet

I'm really happy today, because my long awaited handmade fabric wallet from Mikish is finally here!

Few weeks back, I was in a drive to get proper supplies for making more polymer clay jewelry. I exhausted the search engine on Etsy, looking for chains, swarovskis, paper ephemera, bits and pieces that I thought might be useful for making stuff.

After placing quite a few orders, a thought that was constantly floating in the background emerged. Why am I wasting my hard-earned cash on more supplies?

True, I need quality supplies to start of with to make quality items. But going back to the period when I just started making stuff, my principle was to use whatever I have at hand to make something pretty and fun, without buying too many starting materials.

That went somewhat ok with felt items, because I can get a large square of felt for less than $1 and probably make 5 plushies out of it, or even 10 embroidered felt patches. But then I started dabbling with glass pendants and polymer clay. I actually spent quite an amount to get the necessary materials.

Fast forward to the past few weeks, I wanted to try making more stuff - wood pendants, vintage looking cabochon jewelry and such. And there goes my Etsy earnings. T-T

Ah... Enough of boring history about my crafting endeavours. :P

Coming back to the highlight of today's entry, I'd decided to treat myself to a handmade item from Etsy after spending so much on stocking up my craft supplies.

{ Matryoshka bi-fold wallet made by Mikish }

I absolutely LOVE the Japanese cotton fabric! It feels really good to touch and the colours are just beautiful! The wallet itself is just the right size and the padding is the way I like it - not too thick and not too flimsy - just enough sturdiness to hold it in shape. Needless to say, I admire the careful and flawless craftsmanship.

{ Details of the wallet and the thank you note sent along. Love the polka dots! }

At $25, I think it's a steal. It's got a length-wise bill pocket, 3 card slots and a zippered compartment for coins. I was able to fit in 6 cards comfortably and get them out easily.

Ooh la la! I'm in LOVE! :D

Monday, March 2, 2009

Chocolate Dipped Krispie Treats

Been a while now, hasn't it? I couldn't break away from the ever-demanding coursework. In addition to alternating days of 3-hour-brain-draining clinical pharmacokinetics workshops last week, there was a paper to sit for every week. It was all I could do to not throw my notes and books into a barbeque and just eat them. -_-"

Maybe because of the mounting stress, or maybe because my hands were just itching to make something, I squeezed a few minutes during Sunday's lunch break *from studying* to make Rice Krispie Treats!

{ Buttery mass of crispy, sweet, chocolatey goodness! }

Some weeks ago, I saw this post by Joy. I knew I had to try it out. Well, it turned out to be the easiest and fastest sweet snack one can ever make! I used salted butter instead of unsalted, and I just love the resulting taste! Too much of sweet should be balanced with a little salt. :)

{ Ooh... Gooey marshmallow and butter mix with Rice Krispies!!! }

*Sigh* There'll be another paper this Friday. T-T Wish the week to be over. Fast.