Coming Home

I remember the day I packed my bag and left for Australia. It was Valentine's Day 2008.

Sporting short hair and dressed in the most unglamourous clothes - pink long sleeve tee and track pants, I headed towards the airport, filled with so much excitement and trepidation.

As the plane took off from Changi Airport, I tried to imagine what life in Australia would be like. What new adventures await me, who I will meet and 5 years seemed such a long time back then. I remember as the plane descended before landing in Hobart, all I saw out the window was brown dried grass for miles on end. I wondered what have I landed myself into, coming to this ulu island called Tasmania.

Fast forward 5 years.

I am sitting once more in my old room in Singapore. It does not feel quite the same as it did 5 years ago. The furniture is the same yet something does not feel right. My life over the last 5 years has been packed into 5 boxes and they are currently sailing across the vast ocean, slowly making its way to Singapore. I am looking forward to finally receiving them - when my life will finally feel more complete. The things that have accompanied me over the last 5 years - they have been there through thick and thin with me. That sense of familiarity is what I'm missing right now I guess. Everything feels strange - not knowing where everything is and not having a sense of ownership over my life.

People think that moving overseas is the difficult bit. But honestly, I feel that coming home is harder. While you have been away over the last 5 years, time and life did not wait for you. People's lives moved on. We're no longer the nubile 20 year olds we once were. Leaving when I was 20 and coming back when I'm 24, things have changed.

It is not easy to come back and just fit right in. Your school friends are all working and have their own lives. No longer can we randomly meet up just because we can. All the updates I have about my friends are all gathered from Facebook. It was difficult to maintain communication while overseas. And now, coming back here again, I feel like there's a void in my life. The people I once knew in Singapore aren't who they were. We are no longer from A level graduates. We are doctors, accountants, engineers, lawyers etc.

As I'm typing this, I see Facebook updates from my Tasmanian friends and I suddenly miss them so much. The people whom I've studied and lived with over the last 5 years - thank you all for everything you've done for me. I've made some unexpectedly good friends with some of you and hopefully we will keep in contact despite the distance. It is sad when you realise you may not see some of these people ever again after graduation. Especially the Launceston ones. We've been through so much as a class and although we have had our ups and downs, you guys are like family to me. The infinite cases that we've had to write, the times we wished we weren't at LCS, the free food ever so frequently, Sally and Linda's greetings, that free bowl of lollies, tutes at the Parkes' etc. Thank you for everything and the memories.

Despite everything, family is still very important to me and having been away for 5 years, it made me realise that my parents are getting old and I need to be there for them as they have been for me. I may not be the best daughter there is out there, but thank you for everything you've done for me. I may have messed up many many times and you've always been there to help me pick up the pieces. This degree is dedicated to you both for all the headaches, tears and white hairs I have caused over the last 5 years.

So I'm counting down the days till I fly back for graduation and I'm so excited to see my second home again. The memories and times I've in this place. Basically it's 1/5 of my life so that's quite ALOT. It's hard to just walk away and pretend nothing happened because things have.

The people I've met etc have changed me. For the better (I hope). I would not exchange my experience for anything else in the world. Except maybe for a different state on the mainland. But theses 5 years have been the best. Living independently and having to survive and do everything by myself has taught me that I can live by myself and not die. I'm not as fragile as I think I am. I can do it. I miss being able to do anything and everything I want whenever I want. I feel like I'm becoming less independent now that I'm home. I don't do ANYTHING at all. Just laze around. I think I'm losing the spontaneous me. Gone are the days when I just put on my shoes and walk down to the Farmer's Market because I can. I need to stop being a sloth back home and regain my independence. Just go out and do whatever I need to do whenever I want/need to. Otherwise I will never get anything done in Singapore, waiting for things to be perfectly organised.

Final Year OSCE stations

1. Back examination - One of the hospital staff hurt his back while transfering a patient. You are the after hours intern and have been asked to examine him and explain what you think is wrong with him.

2. Neck examination - Physiotherapist presents to the GP with a ?neck lump. You are the senior medical student and have been asked to examine the patient and answer her questions.

3. O&G history - 28yo female presents with itch and vaginal discharge. You are the GP and you need to take a history, request for relevant examination findings from the examiners and explain your management plan to the patient.

4. Headache - 13yo girl presents with frontal headache that is worse at the end of the day. No photophobia, no phonophobia. Eyes ok. Discuss with examiners your differentials, red flags, important management points, barriers to management, what other history do you want to know etc.

5. Pre-op patient with new onset AF. You are the surgical intern and the ECG shows AF. Talk to patient and assess what is happening and explain your management.

6. You are the surgical intern and you need to call the rural community health worker to explain the management plan for Mr Smith, T2DM who had cellulitis, abscess which was drained and dressed.

7. Death certificate. Mr Brown, 82yo male, 5 days post-laparotomy for advanced bowel Ca. You are the after hours intern. Talk to his wife and certify the death and fill out the appropriate paperwork - we were given death cert, progress notes and 'life extinction' form.

8. Asthma management - explain asthma management plan and use of inhalers, spacers etc

9. Drug chart - opioid conversion + other necessary medications. Document in progress notes about plan for the weekend.

10. Pre-op warfarin management. Write a sheet for the patient to take home outlining your management of the warfarin pre-op. Was given a journal article to refer to if needed.

Red rocks, blue sky and crystal clear water.

So we had a long weekend last week because of the 8h day (aka labour day). Don't ask me why is it not on 1 May. Maybe Australia is just a bit weird. Plus I'm in Tasmania so instead of calling it Labour Day, it is the 8h Day. Hmm. Oh well. 

We decided the week before while we had a half day public holiday (due to horse racing) that we were going to Bay of Fires! It's one of the places I've always wanted to go to because it always looks so pretty in pictures! I had this weird impression that it would look like Wineglass Bay but with red rocks all over the beaches so if you looked down it will be red around it! 

So we were meant to head off at 8am (ie DEPART) but sab only got to our place at 8.15am. By the time we picked up Intan it was 8.20+. Could be worse I guess. :D Headed off towards St Mary's which was along the way for pancakes! Mount Elephant Pancakes! They used to have a branch in Launceston but it closed down. Sigh. So we had to make this 1.5h drive to St Mary's for it instead. Plus I missed a turn because of the dodgy signboard which misled me. Should have just followed my GPS instead!

Anyway, we had interesting conversations along the way about Islam and their traditions and taboos! It was enlightening! :) That kept me awake on the winding road there but hey the worst was yet to come. 

Finally got to the pancake place despite my wrong turn. That mistake led me down the road to St Helens (which is where Bay of Fires is) but it was super winding! So to go down that road around a mountain and have to U-turn back halfway to go back up was not fun. HAHA. Thank god no one puked! 

Mt Elephant Pancakes! :) Hungry and 尿急！

 Quaint little cafe. Decorated with many many elephant themed items! 

 Our 4 pancakes! From foreground, clockwise. Cheese, asparagus and chicken - Maple Banana Walnut - Black Forest - Cheese, chicken and blueberries! :) They were more crepe-like than hotcake pancakes! But still yummy! Need to go down to Hobart and to Margate for similar pancakes but hotcake pancake style!

Hot chocolate. Yummy! 

 HMM. the surcharge was $2.70. please feed the elephants. 

So as 4 travelers had their fill of pancakes, we headed down that winding road once more towards St Helens. I was driving at like 20-25km/h because it was just bending left and right at every turn! But luckily it was a beautiful day! Perfect for the beach! Worth my drive there! :D We were worried initially because the weather that week leading up to Sat was terrible. Rainy and cold!

Stopped by this lookout. Shelly Point! Sabrina took so many photos here and was reluctant to leave and by then it was already 12pm. It was about another 30-40min drive to Bay of Fires! So we quickly abandoned her and walked to the car but she quickly caught up. 

Bay of Fires is a long stretch of coastline and is separated into Nothern, Middle and Southern areas. We headed down to the Southern area because that's the most accessible. The Northern area requires me to drive through even more winding roads apparently. Wanted to drive back that way but Intan advised against it because she took that route on her previous trip to BoF.

So BoF is famous for their red rocks but it's not because of them that it's named BoF. The guy who discovered this area back then noticed loads of bonfires along the shore lit by the Aboriginals and thus named it BoF. And I thought it was because of the rocks! :(

 At 'The Gardens'. No idea why that name because we did not see many plants at all. :\ BUT WE SAW THE RED ROCKS!! MUAHAHAHA!!

Walked along the red rocks and found this! Isn't it gorgeous!? Those are the 3 monkeys with me! :D Jkjk not monkeys. The sand was soo fine and water so clear, I would jump in right now if I could but erm I was in track shoes then.

We decided to head to Binalong Bay after that for a swim! Sab and Alicia didn't bring their swimming gear because they thought it was going to be too cold to swim. Intan and I brought them along so we quickly changed into them and swam in the sea! There were a few big waves no thanks to the speedboats racing by. We were jumping when the giant waves came! Some crashed on us! Hahah! Loads of good fun!  

We found this secret place where you had to walk down between the bushes to get to the beach! But it meant that we had the beach ourselves! The beach in the background after the rocks was easily accessible so there were heaps of people there! The only people who came by our beach were those who had conquered those treacherous rocks to get here! 

We bobbed around and swam for about 1h. Intan and I walked across to the other beach via the sea which was fun! We felt like aliens visiting the neighbouring planet or something!

That's my feet! Super clear right! :) 

Had a picnic while on the beach. Crackers, dips, sweets etc. And then we headed to the nearby cafe for a snack before driving home again.

That's my car - 3rd from right! My baby! :)) 

Went home and had tomyum steamboat! We actually had it the day before too so this was more to finish up the ingredients! But everything was prepared already so we just needed to set things up and away we ate!

All in all, it was a good day trip! Driving almost 400km wasn't that tiring when you've got friends to keep you awake! :D The trip back definitely felt faster than the trip there. Guess because we backtracked and I knew the landmarks etc already! Now to plan the next trip.. ;) 

Going down to Hobart end March for GD's visit to Hobart. Just for the weekend. And then it's Easter!! Maybe Cradle Mountain! HEHE!!