A weekend in Hobart

It's been a while since photos were part of the blog, so I thought it was time for a comeback. This week has been pretty busy at work, with several interesting patients taking up my attention (and my lunch breaks!) so on Friday when my resident suggested checking out the ongoing winter festival at the Docks...

Dark MOFO is by all accounts, a winter art festival, coordinated by the guys behind MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Hobart. Reading up on it now, some of the events sounded like they were pretty full-on; think jumping naked into Sandy Bay in this temperature!

What we were after was the food, specifically the Winter Feast! Crowds of people packed into the Princes Wharf at the docks; this was just opposite Salamanca. Above you can see the entrance. It was pretty chilly, and random jets of fire would spurt up above the lights every so often. Barrels of fire were set up all around, with people clustering up around each one, looking like extras from the set of Gotham city.

This was an example of what was on offer - pretty good food to be had! We scoffed down beef cheek(so tender!), mussels, goat and elderberry pie, Huon Atlantic salmon and pork/beef sliders, finishing off with a crumble, some cannoli with Lindt choc filling and the sticky fig, date and ginger pudding.

Artwork was also on offer...I'm sure these took some effort to put up!

The next day, I thought I would be too full for brunch, but had been wanting to try Environs for some time.

 

Their savoury brekkie with a corn cake and scrambled eggs sitting on top, with a side of bacon and tomatoes topped with hollandaise sauce was the main draw when I arrived at lunch.

Very filling, though the scramble was more an omelette (overdone) and halfway through, a small hair popped up in the meal!

They were nice about it and offered me a meal to replace it but I declined - they were nice enough to waive the cost, and hoped I'd be back soon! They were so pleasant about it I'd definitely give them another go.





All in all, a nice weekend full of food - I'm starting a pasta bake now with chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes and a 4-cheese melt; perfect for the weather!

I do not own this video,

But boy does it bring back a smile at almost every vignette!

Jinnyboytv, you're one more to watch!

Status quo-ing

I've gotten comfortable. Time to get my feet wet again.

In the meantime, some shots of what's been going on.

Some loose ends to tie up before I head out to the wilderness of Wodonga for my rural medical rotation.

Things to look forward to include getting back in the portfolio game; Aussie style, restarting prep for June/July PACES, maintaining a study group ethic, continually sampling the delights of Melbourne's foodie delights, awaiting my outpatient clinic appointment, catching up with long-lost friends; Mass-Effect-ing, yus the list goes on and it Has been a while since a last update.

So bye comfortable-ness and hello the vastness of unsure-ty!

'Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.'
Ps 34:5

And we are!

Ray and Caroline,

See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! 1 Jn3:1

For some reason the movie Despicable Me came to mind while reading this, lol!

Best popcorn ever!

When I saw this on the ward one day, I knew I had to get some. Unfortunately on google, the only place seemed to be a delivery from an online shop from Sydney. Hence my trip to Costco Docklands to stock up for Australia Day goodness while watching Federer and Nadal duke it out for a place in the finals.

As to the popcorn itself, I believe its American, its got an addictive glaze and when the glaze includes a nut or two, it's got a nice crunch as well.

My Costco haul

Pretty embarrassing, considering people all around me were filling up their trolleys to the brim - everyone seemed to be running small businesses.

However I couldn't resist the Root Beer after not having it for a long while.

My Marianas Trench

I think I've probably reached my lowest point today. And really, it can only get better from here. And step 1 to making it better: sleep early.

More PACES stuff

CVS:
1. Before doing anything, check for scars - a midline sternotomy scar without a corresponding vein graft scar on the legs suggests a valve replacement (AVR has a flow murmur with a loud 2HS)
2. In Blalock-Taussig shunts - there is usually a midline scar + L/R posterior thoracotomy scar
3. Whereas in complete repair of VSD the only sign may be pulm regurg/stenosis

CNS:
1. In 3rd CN palsy, check with cover test to exclude lazy eye.

Respi:
4 causes with scars (pneumonectomy, thoracoplasty, lobectomy, lung transplant)
4 causes without scars (effusion, fibrosis, bronchiectasis, COPD)

So it's the 1st of Nov is it?

Happy birthday Pa!

The second photo is from Linda Tan who took both of you recently - a pretty good one I thought!

Liverpool One has a Lego shop!

So its only fair I celebrate this with some cool Lego videos.

Sigh

If they don't get their act together, how will I get home next Thursday?

Cool songs on Scrubs

Or other ways to spend the time when I should be studying

What I've come to realise

"It always protects, 

always trusts, 

always hopes, 

always perseveres."

To Elaine and Gus

Have a brilliant start to your lives together!

What's better than Glee?

The clips I enjoyed the most from the Youtube selections off Season 2 of Sing Off!

Am so looking forward to this

Video Games | Deus Ex: Human Revolution | Three Ways Trailer HD

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

Remember this?

Back in the day of MYF musicals, this played out on a stage in a church in Sitiawan. A story of Peter's journey as a staunch follower of Jesus to his denial of Jesus at his capture and Jesus's redeeming love that forgave him; this paralleled with a modern day married young professional faced with the daily choice of acknowledging Christ at work and at home.

THough they did use backing tracks, the singers/choir really did it justice as you'll hear below.





And my favourite, echoing the call that embraced, loved, empowered and sent out, all at once.

Every small step/-

Funny how we sometimes expect things to change overnight and the next day - the sun rises as usual, we are our usual grumpy selves as we shuffle towards our morning coffee. Small steps.

What I've done this week so far:

Supervise a knee aspiration on a patient with septic arthritis.
Realise that I need to make more effort to chase patients up after they've been discharged under my care - just to see if I'm doing the right things.
Done a load of discharge summaries - felt good at the time but the cupboard will soon be full again.
Took my first look at the hospitals on offer in Melbourne.
Reminded that before resisting, I need to submit (James 4:7).
Bored out of my head prepping for Part 2 - though I do feel it IS making me more confident clinically.
Intermittently spending time on Battlefield Heroes - lvl 26 never seemed so far off before.
Spent an hour reading through the Junior Doctor's blog - and laughing about people mouthing off in the comments section (seriously Jon, get a life!)
First long distance landline call to Squeaks, wish Skype would work better.
KFC for lunch! Seriously tempted to eat the other 2 pieces (got a repeat order for free off a coupon) but decided not to have too much of a good thing.

Btw, if anyone is up for 15 mins to spare, have a gander at The Lost Thing. The trailer looks pretty good, and it won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the Oscars just gone.




Also, Bethany Dillon rocks.

Malaysia 2010 - good times

On the ferry to Penang

Oyster omelette Penang style

The family photo that nearly never happened

Kampung Baru

Kompiang!

Vincent and Maureen and Brayden!

With Wima in Ayer Tawar

Claypot rice in Penang

With Wen Jen, Suet San and Hang Sheng @ Old Town Kopitiam

On Penang Ferry

Am I a gamer? Part 1

While SOME PEOPLE may find it hard to believe I didn't go in for all night DOTA and wake up at 3pm the next day, I definitely dabbled in my fair share of games growing up. Here's some that I'm looking forward to this year (if I get time to play them that is):

Video Games | Deus Ex: Human Revolution | CG Director's Cut Trailer HD

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

Video Games | Mass Effect 3 | VGA 10: Exclusive Debut Trailer HD

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

Video Games | Diablo III | Debut Gameplay Trailer HD

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games