TKC's Leaders Recognition Dinner

Last Monday, I had the opportunity to experience one of the best dinners ever (it even beats hotel food!) - The Kensington Colleges (TKC)'s Leaders Recognition Dinner. It was a dinner to acknowledge the current leaders (O-Week leaders and House Committee members) of the 3 Kensocolls, namely Basser (the one I'm in), Goldstein and Philip Baxter. Being the current female committee member of the House Administration Committee (HAC), I was delighted to receive the invitation letter in my mailbox the previous week. And to make things grander, the ceremony was graced with the presence of the Vice-Chancellor (VC) and President of UNSW itself, Prof Fred Hilmer, who presented us with certificates of appreciation signed by him! Some uni graduates don't even have the privilege of getting their degrees with his signature on them but here I have in my possession now something of "value", hehe... An inside source also informed me that the dishes they served that night was the best menu ever in TKC history (must be because the VC was there, lol)... We started off in Bronham Room (the VIP room above the dining hall) where a bar has been set up - I had a glass of champagne plus a shot of bloody mary + oyster, not to mention I was served with various tantalising finger food. And TKC has even hired a professional photographer and another videoman to film the whole event (did I mention it was an inaugural one?). Anyway, here's some photos from the night in the dining hall:

The amazing dinner we had... 2 entrees: blue cheese + pear pie and quail meat (it's my first time tasting quail meat!!!)... 2 main dishes: mango chicken and pesto salmon (took another shot of this when it's cut open - perfect texture!)... 3-in-1 dessert platter: mixed fruit pie served with cappucino cream and chocholate mousse (in an edible chocolate cup!), garnished with strawberry, chocolate sauce drizzle and chocolate leaf... All these went well with the 2 glasses of white wine and 1 glass of red wine that I had - a friend told me the wine they served was one of the more expensive ones around!

The VC + Prez of UNSW (Prof Fred Hilmer) addressing us in the dining hall - notice the beautiful spotlighted ice sculpture next to the lectern - it's a star-shaped one (coz, to quote TKC's Principal Ian Walker, "you're all stars") with "TKC" sculptured at the base...

Me receiving my cert from the VC - sorry for the blurry image; may post up another one when TKC's hired photographer has compiled the photo CD... and yup, that's me in a dress, for those of you who commented that I never wear dresses... :p

Dr Geoff Treloar (Head of Basser + Vice Principal - Academic of TKC) and I at the dinner

One for the camera: Dan and I

Ended the night with my final drink with Will - a shot of Bailey's (I just love the smooth Irish cream taste in this drink)...

TKC's Leaders Recognition Dinner - the best dinner ever! ^_^

Prayer Warriors

Some of you may know that I'm currently serving in the prayer team at church. Just last Saturday, the prayer team had a meeting in Chris's house in Vaucluse which overlooks the Sydney Harbour (cue: wow!). Chris has graciously opened up his house to us and served us a splendid breakfast:

Chris's special breakfast: Croissant + bacon + potato balls + peppered/creamed scrambled egg

After breakfast: Banana + macadamia nut pancake drizzled with melted chocolate and topped with Sara Lee's French Vanilla ice-cream

Chris and Jerome then proceeded with our "Prayer Warriors" seminar after breakfast - thanks bros for reminding us what a privilege it is for us to come before our Father in Heaven in prayer. A few key points I've picked up:

1. We pray to our Father (God) through the Son (Jesus) by the Spirit. [That's why many end their prayers with "In your Son Jesus's precious name we pray. Amen"]
2. It is because of Jesus's death on the cross that we're now able to talk (or pray) to God - He is the only mediator we need; you don't need a priest or human mediator to be able to talk to God.
3. Some attitudes that we should have when praying include thanksgiving, humility, repentance and having a contrite heart.

During the short break in between the seminar and discussions, Chris "fed" us with more food like cookies, chips, mango+macadamia ice-cream, canapes, etc. Our good host certainly made sure we weren't starving! :p Some of us also took shots from the balcony that overlooked the harbour - I can certainly wake up to that view and feel the wonderful breeze every morning!

The smoked salmon and mango chilli tuna canapes...

The view from the balcony - you can see the famous Harbour Bridge, Opera House (from another angle), city buildings, yachts and boats plus much much more just from the balcony!

Chris took this shot for me - just to prove that I really did take the photo before this one and that it wasn't just "cut and paste" from somewhere else! :p

All in all, I had an amazing time bonding with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ while learning more about prayers - thank you dearest Daddy God for this wonderful opportunity as I reform myself to be a "prayer warrior" for you... ^_^

2 Hands, 1 Autowasher and a lab place...

Ok, so the pun intended here was supposed to be similar to "2 guys, 1 girl and a pizza place"... Anyway, to cut the crap, we had a "goofy" experiment just 2 days ago in the newly renovated lab - it looks so much better than last year's! Here's some photos:

Part of the new lab - about 20 workbenches: 4 new flatscreen comps and 1 huge plasma TV per bench...

A video demonstrating 1 of the 4 autowashers in the lab - notice the procedures involved (4 lights in total): ready --> wet hands --> soap hands --> wash hands - all these when you just place your hands right underneath! Isn't it convenient especially when your hands are way too dirty to turn on the tap and get the soap yourself without contaminating the place? (",)

Ok, you've got the "a lab place" and "1 autowasher" mentioned already - so where does the "2 hands" part fit in? Well, our practical was on the somatosensory system and one of the experiments, which the lecturer claimed to be "probably the goofiest experiment you'll ever do as a med student", involves the "victim" having his real hand hid underneath a rack with a fake hand on top of the rack at the same exact position of the real hand underneath. The partner will need to "build trust" with the "victim" to "convince" him to believe the fake hand is actually his real hand. This is done by applying the same pressure and stimulus (i.e. stroking, pricking, poking, tapping, etc.) on both hands at the same spot (e.g. both real and fake index finger) at the same time to trick the mind into believing that it can actually feel the sensation on the fake hand which the "victim" focuses his sight on, hence, thinking that it has got to be the real hand when it's not. When the "victim" least expects it, the partner will "threaten" the fake hand by jabbing or slapping it and if the mind has been tricked so well into believing the fake hand as the real stuff, the "victim" would react by jerking out his real hand, when in actual fact, the real hand wasn't "harmed" at all! Of course, not everyone fell for the trick but you should have seen one girl who jerked her hand out so rapidly and jumped right off her seat when the fake hand was jabbed! Talk about illusion, man! :p

Here's some of my coursemates with the "Whose hand is it?" experiment - notice the gal on the right stroking both the fake and real hands on the same spots at the same time...

A closer shot at the experiment in progress...

We did a number of other weird experiments as well but judging from the one I described above, you should have a rough idea of all the weird things we did that day, haha! :D

Peace out for now! ^_^

Clinical at Liverpool

I've been assigned to Liverpool Hospital this term (Ageing & Endings 1). Liverpool Hospital is the biggest and main teaching hospital in the South Western Sydney area as well as the biggest hospital of all the teaching hospitals for UNSW Medicine Phase 1. Gone there for my first clinical session of year 2007 last Monday. Since this course is jam-packed with neuro stuff, imagine my thrill at visiting the neuro wards and practising my history-taking plus neurological examination on patients. Here are some shots in the hospital...

The huge sign (about one-third my height) that greets visitors near the main entrance

First thing I did was to go get my new ID!

An upclose shot of my new ID... :)

Next stop: Ken Marten Library!

The inside of the library (it was well-equipped and huge for a hospital library) plus a senior med student or intern researching some journal (I don't know the guy - just some random person)

No photos allowed in wards but here's one when we're heading back - that's my coursemate, Janani, down the escalator - this is the first time I see an escalator in a hospital!

Liverpool Hospital - you rock! ^_^

My New Room!

Okay, I know I've promised to upload the pics of my new room (which has an area of 14 square metres) so here they are! ^_^

Welcome to room 156!

A closer shot at the room number...

My bed (it's covered with the doona), new curtains (they match the bed and carpet so well!) and a second-hand fan I bought from a friend for only AUD 10!

My 2 (yes, 2!) built-in wardrobes + heater (the board-like thing between the 2 wardrobes near the bottom) plus my very own personal wash basin... Hehe...

A closer shot at the wash basin and some deco I stuck on the wall (mainly cards, notes and photos) to make it "prettier"...

My study desk (it looks a little cluttered coz I've just only moved in for less than 3 hours at the time this photo was taken) and bookshelves plus the yearly wall planner...

A closer shot at the desk and shelves - note my personal room phone (where I get to make free calls within the uni and Basser+Goldstein+Baxter!) and the med books + folders (one folder every 8 weeks - how crazy is that?)... Oh, and yes, that's my new laptop (well, not exactly, since I got it last November) for those who haven't seen it... And look, don't the "purples" on my bag (thanks Wen and Fun for this wonderful birthday gift!), filebox, water tumbler, watch and tag lanyard match each other?

Ok, enough of my room shots - comments please! :p

Ps. It's 3.33PM on 3/3 (3rd of March)...