Global Appreciation Week

Recently, I discovered that I was blessed with an inordinate amount of time on my own, bringing back flashbacks of my teenage days (it was not THAT long ago). The extrovert somehow became slightly introverted. So, what do I do in lieu of a social life in Singapore? I read, read and read. I think I might have gobbled up at least 5-6 books this month alone due to my insatiable hunger for good non-fiction and fiction books alike.

Although this post is mostly about my life last week, it is also interspersed with tales of my 3D adventure in Wonderland, a new good friend and intermittent indulgement in my comfort food (Japanese cuisine).

First stop: Germany. Now, many of us may not realize it but NUH seems to house a big number of German and Spanish students lately. Besides being tall, beautiful, polite and intelligent, the German girls are extremely nice and talented. So, being free and bored, I’ve decided to act as mini-tourist guide to my new friends occasionally. One of the highlight last week was watching Alice in Wonderland with AG, GL and a few nice Filipino nurses from NUH.

I love the show! The ensemble cast is awesome and the whole cinematography so well-designed. AG and I were late (ran all the way from City Hall to Marina Square squeezing past the throng of crowd heading towards the IT fair at Suntec) for about 10 mins on a day that I almost became agoraphobic. By gosh, the amount of people in this area is beyond description! The quiet, dark cinema is indeed a huge relief as we got lost in Wonderland. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp rock!

Next stop : Japan. Once show’s over, I was pretty ravenous. I am glad that AG is so super-keen on Jap food. We tried the Ministry of Food at Marina Square and I absolutely loved their many, many choices of set dinners. My set has salmon, unagi and tofu while AG ordered shabu shabu. D, R and G also enjoyed their set meals immensely.

In between waiting for food, we were again sucked into the whole of iPhone. Once fallen into the wonderful world of Singapore’s National Phone, most people seemed to be pretty hooked, including yours truly. I loved it when I could check my mail on the go, read free books and search for medical info anytime, anywhere. I love my little gadget J

Final stop: United States of America. The best part of the week was spending time 'dissecting' the mind of my favourite author. In case you wonder who was my role model while I was growing up, the person I quote the most would be : Dr Benjamin Carson, paediatric neurosurgeon at John Hopkins. When I was 15, I read his book : Think Big, followed by Gifted Hands a year after that. These two books changed my life completely and inspired me to become a surgeon. I went into medical student with two strong convictions in my heart: surgeon and missionary doctor.

A few weeks ago, I purchased Outlier by Malcolm Gladwell followed by Take the Risk by Benjamin Carson. From the first book, I realized that the greatest people are not only born at the right place, right time and in the right circumstances, but to add to that, greatness also comes with extremely hard work, talent and dedication. From the second book, I understood how determination, prayer and intelligent risk-taking come into play. Dr BC used the B/WA approach to life, even in the field of neurosurgery and this simple yet powerful technique fascinated me a lot.

Upon reaching the last chapter of this lovingly-crafted, honest, succinct and absorbing masterpiece, I was imbued with a sense of hope, empowerment and encouragement. I know God loves me so much and that I am here for a chronos time : to be a trailblazer, to open up a path for others in my situation/origin to follow.

We must be willing to take calculated risks after analyzing the best/worst outcomes of each decision. Currently, I no longer consider each challenge as a setback but instead with God with me, I’d turn it into victorious, learning opportunities. Therefore, I’ve decided to harness the adventurous, enthusiastic spirit in me and would not hesitate in embarking on the unbeaten trail. Oh, I can’t wait for the next step in this exciting journey towards fulfilling my vision!