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Sunday, March 15, 2009


I survived a weekend out in the Australian Bush!!!

Yep, I spent the weekend in a very productive way indeed. I narrowly avoided being stepped on by a horse, I slept in a horse stall in a horse truck, I got through 2 full days without a bath, I'm sporting a leech bite and quite a number of other insect bites too, I have a sunburnt left shoulder, and I've got a horrible cough. And most of all...I HAD A TRULY AMAZING WEEKEND, and learnt LOADS too!!


Ok, back from the beginning. I'm actually really exhausted now, so I'm gonna try to finish this and then crawl into bed. Class tomorrow.......*sigh*

About a week ago, I received an email from the Vet School regarding an opportunity to TPR in the Tenterfield Endurance Race. TPR: Temperature, Pulse, Respiration...its to ensure that the horses in the endurance ride are not overstrained or injured in any way.

Well, being a young, enthusiastic, animal-contact-deprived vet-to-be who is jumping at any oppprtunity to be with animals and gain experience, I decided to call Michael, the chief steward, and volunteer for it. He was really good about the whole thing, and didn't mind that I had utterly NO experience with horses. He told me that I'll be doing pencilling for the TPRs and the Vets, but I'll definitely learn loads.

Well, that's settled then. Only problem? TRANSPORT.

The Tenterfield Endurance Ride would be held in the Girard State Forest that's in NEW SOUTH WALES. That's practically another state away!!! Now how on EARTH was I gonna get down there?

Michael gave me the contact number of Leigh, a good friend of his. I contacted her, and she graciously agreed to pick me up in Goodna station. In fact, throughout the entire weekend, we would be truly grateful to Bruce and Leigh for quite a number of reasons.

I convinced Jillian and Nellyn to come along, as I got a little nervous of boarding a strangers vehicle and staying in a forest in another state!!

Another problem aroused just a day before we left. My sore throat had progressed into a full-blown flu and cough by Friday. However, I didn't want to back outm as Leigh and Michael had painstakingly ensured that we had a ride down.

So on Saturday morning, I leapt out of beed at 5am, and rushed to the University, where I was supposed to meet Nellyn and catch the CityCat to Regatta (Toowong). However, we missed the 1st ferry by mere moments. left with no other choice, and the promise of meeting Leigh by 7am, we decided to WALK to Toowong.

Wow, now that was EXERCISE.

We reached Goodna station 10 minutes late, and met up with Bruce and Leigh. They were really friendly, and ushered us into their horse truck which bruce had built himself!! It was amazing in there! There's a table, some seats, a foldable bed on top, kitchen cabinets, a stove, a fridge, a sink, a little television, a mobile toilet, and a stall for the horses too!




And so, we were off on our 1st ever road trip in Australia. It was a little celebration of the 1st month anniversary of our arrival in Aussie (We arrived on the 14th of February). We had no clue where we were headed to (we only knew it was a forest), and like Leigh said later on.." We just boarded them in the truck, and told them 'sit there':...lol....

After a while, Bruce turned off the road and stopped at the spraying area. Apparently, the horses had to be sprayed before they entered the Tick-free area (there're ticks in Queensland...we learnt that in class..).

It was there that we 1st met their 2 horses; Magnum and Thaleah (which I fell in love with after she blew at me when we 1st met. Bruce allowed me to hold and lead her, and that was the 1st time I've ever held a horse on free rein!!




After the horses had been sprayed, we resumed our journey. It was quite a bumpy ride, especially when we entered the Forest, and I started to get dizzy as usual...

There were many riders, horse trucks, and handsome horses already set up when we got there.



Once we disembarked, there was immediately a flurry of activity. Jillian and Nellyn helped Bruce and Ray set up the horse fences, while I helped Leigh to hose down the horses. It was then I learnt how dangerous a horse's hoof can be.

No, don't worry, I didn't get kicked. I just NEARLY got stepped on. Thaleah took a step, and her hoof came down on my shoe. I only managed to scrunch my toes and foot away in time. And man, with the weight of one leg on my shoe, I was ANCHORED to the ground, unable to move until she decided to move! After that, I was very careful about avoiding the hoofs of any horse...

We met Michael, who gave us our meal tickets and told us to report to the TPR and vetting ring after we were done eating and relieving ourselves. Our meals throughout the weekend would all be sandwiches. And the toilet...it was a seat, and a hole in the ground...lol....



For the 1st day, I helped to pencil for the vets, while Jillian and Nellyn pencilled for the TPRs. Frankly, the vets didn't really need help with the pencilling, as they usually just do it themselves, but I used the opportunity to learn a lot.

I was paired with the Vet named Amanda, and she showed me how to judge the body score of the horse (1 for emaciated, up to 5 for an obese fellow with a heart shaped butt...oh man, we really wanted to see one of those...), how to test the jugular flow of the horse, how to check the mucous membranes, how to see whether a horse is lame by the movement of its hips....and she also gave me a lesson on the different names for the different colours of horses (grey, buckskin, palomino, paint, apaloosa, mahogany and honey bay, etc etc...)

Oh, and Michael taught me how to shovel horse poo off the grass too! Lol...

I visited the TPR ring several times too, and got a chance to listen to the horse's heartbeat using a stethoscope.

Nellyn saw some blood stains on my shirt later on, and it was then I realised that I had been bitten by an enormos leech (the 2 bite marks were very far from one anothe), and my VLE shirt and jeans were flecked with my blood. Jeez, now that's gonna itch for weeks...




The 20km and 40km intro rides were successfully completed. The next day would be the big ride: the 40km trainee ride, and the main 80km one.

After dinner, we stood st the back of the pre-ride speech. We were pretty embarassed when Michael publicly addressed us, told us to come forward, and introduced us as "possible future vets of the sport". I'm sure all of us were blushing brick red...

We were allocated places to sleep at the back of the horse truck, in the horse stall where Magnum and Thaleah were standing throughout the journey. Bruce and Leigh had allocated us with swags(something like a sleeping bag, except that its much tougher and thicker), as well as extra sleeping bags to act as mattresses. We chatted for a while, sang a few songs, and finally lay down to sleep in the amazingly comfy horse stall.






It was pretty warm at first, but by about 2am, I was freezing cold and burrowing deeper into my swag and blankets.

The next morning, we were all shivering as we cleaned ourselves up. The 40 and 80km riders had already left early that morning, we were just about time to receive the 1st few riders who would be coming in for the 1st leg of the 80km.

This time, I worked in the TPR ring with Jillian and Nellyn, and learnt another set of skills. I learnt the procedures of TPR-ing: if the heart rate is too high, you'll have to call the chief steward and the vet for a second opinion. Horses that have an overly high heart rate, or are lame when asked to trot out by the vets will be vetted out from the ride.



After a few tries and tips from the friendly TPRs on duty, I more or less picked up the right way to count the horse's respiratory rate as well.

During the periods where there were no horses coming into the ring, we went around to socialise with the dogs in the area. There was collie that was obsessed with horses, a 3 legged terrier, a number of chihuahuas, a hyperactive kelpie (I think??) puppy, and an AMAZINGLY adorable husky that we couldn't stop cuddling!!!!!!





Well, back to work. It was a tough ride, and many horses were vetted out due to a high heart rate. There were a few that went lame too. One horse had "thumps", a kind of hiccup that's a reflex action associated dehydration and calcium deficiency.

And sadly, one horse came down with colic and collapsed. I felt so bad for the poor horse, he looked simply exhausted but he had to be shoved up, as colic can be fatal if the horse lies down. His legs kept trembling and threatened to buckle, but the brave animal managed to stay upright.

We watched in sympathy as the vet gave him some painkillers, and inserted an IV drip after he was hosed and cooled off (His temperature was very high...38.9...normal horse temp is 37.7...)





Leigh and Bruce called us, as it was time to pack up and leave. We managed to take a picture with 2 of the friendly TPRs, as well as with Leigh, Bruce, and Ray's dog Woody at their truck.





We started the bumpy journey back, and us 3 tired-out vet students dozed off in the truck. We woke up when Bruce stopped at McD for us to get a bite (Coffee,in my case...they have McCafe here is Australia!!)

As the sun set, the view outside the truck was amazing.....



However, it soon got very very dark outside, and we felt a little nervous in the truck. It took quite a while to get to Goodna station, and by then, the horses were feeling pretty restless (we could here them kicking the door and walls)

We shook hands with Bruce, hugged Leigh, and thanked them profusely for their hospitality and graciousness. They told us that they would wait until we had boarded the train before they left.

It wasn't goodbye, though. The 3 of us were stunned when we realised that there was no evening train back home from Goodna. We had no choice but to return to the truck.

Leigh and Bruce offered to send us all the way back to Toowong, which was way out of their way. We felt really embarassed by the offer, and very very grateful indeed. Here, I must really express a very big THANK YOU to the both of them; its rare to find people who are that gracious and caring towards total strangers like us.

As they did not know where Toowong was, I had to resort to using my phone's GPS system. My trusted N79 was already very low on battery, and I was pleading for it to survive; at least until we could get to Toowong village. And THANK GOODNESS for GPS...it managed to direct us until we reached that familiar area where we could board the bus back home, where I enjoyed a nice warm shower...(completely disregarding the 4 minute shower rule too)

Well, it really was an amazing experience; and though I had doubts before I went, I really don't regret a single moment of it. I've met so many friendly people who never hesitated to offer us transport and places to stay for the next endurance rides...people who kept mistaking us for Japanese, but never once treated us at outsiders. I've stroked, scratched, and got headbutted and swatted by countless beautiful horses. I've learnt that blue ribbons signify stallions, and red ones warn people of potential kickers. I've seen how to treat colic, slept in a horse stall, and used a stethoscope for the 1st time. And most of all, I've gained truly valuable experience from every single experience, that will undoubtedly help me in this course.

Once again, my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who was involved in getting us safely there and back, and to everyone who took care and taught us while we were there.



8:59 AM

FRIENDS F0REVER=)

Saturday, March 14, 2009


**This is the first post about what I called as waste before. I am sorry, dear readers, I have to do it, as I was tagged in Facebook by my friend (female, you know).**

1) Were you named after anyone?
Mandarin name? Definitely no, nobody in the history can have the same name as me (last character of my name is invented by my Dad). Virtual name? Yeah! Alexander the Great!


2) When was the last time you cried?
Long ago, maybe seven years ago, after I told myself that my tears should be able to change something, or not never.


3) Do you like your handwriting?
Sure! My handwriting looks awesome in Old Manuscript Curves (my teachers used to say).


4) What is your favourite lunch meat?
What?! I prefer vege.


5) Do you have kids?
Definitely no! God knows.


6) If you were another person, would you like to be friends with you?
I may not know myself, God knows.


7) Do you use sarcasm?
Depends, especially in arguing.


8) Do you still have your tonsils?
Yeah, any problem?


9) Would you bungee jump?
Definitely no! I can’t have my adrenaline spraying out my ears!


10) What is your favourite cereal?
Ha3! Is rice counted?

 

11) Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Depends, if I can’t slip it off, sure.


12) What is your favourite ice–cream?
Mint! Cool man!


13) What is the first thing you notice about people?
Their eyes. I can read through eyes and decide whether I should continue my encounter with them.


14) Red or pink?
Red! I’m a Devil!


15) What is the least favourite thing about yourself?
I can’t smile, I may lack of few facial muscles.


16) Who do you miss the most?
Malaysia.


17) Do you want everyone to complete this list?
She is the one that tagged me, man!

 

18) What colour of trousers and shoes are your wearing?
All black.


19) What are you listening to right now?
International songs and tunes. My heart.


20) If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Red, my favourite colour.

 

21) Favourite smells?
Light perfume (I hate heavy perfume! It chokes me)


22) The last person you talked to on the phone?
Is that matter? My Mum.

 

23) Do you like the person who sent you this?
Never, it messes up my Blog!

 

24) Favourite sports to watch?
Soccer.

 

25) Hair colour?
Gosh! Anything troubles your head? Black.


26) Eye colour?
Same as my hair colour, do you learn Bio?

 

27) Do you wear contacts?
Never, don’t spoil my image.

 

28) Favourite food?
Malaysian food, damn it! I can’t find much here in NZ!

 

28) Scary or happy endings?
Don’t care, I want impressive endings.

 

29) Last movie you watched?
Red Cliff II (actually there is another, but I consider that as a crap, not movie).


30) What colour of shirt are you wearing?
White, with “Proud to be Malaysian” on my arm.


31) Summer or winter?
Summer! I hate winter now!

 

32) Favourite dessert?
Ice cream, I guess.


33) Most likely to respond to a sarcasm?
You’ll get back more, I’m trained as an arguing machine.


34) Least likely to respond?
Sexual harassment.


35) What books are you reading?
Novels, but now textbooks!

 

36) What is on your mousepad?
1997’s picture, why? Or you want sanitary pad?


37) What did you watch last night?
Nothing!


38) Rolling Stones? Beatles?
Beatles! (Damn, same with the tagger).


39) Where is the furthest you have been from home?
New Zealand.


40) Do you have a special talent?
What do you want? Most prominent? To be a leader.


41) Where were you born?
Malaysia, I can’t remember the ward number, but I’m proud to be Malaysian.


42) Whose answers are you looking forward to getting back?
I already got it, from the tagger.




2:15 PM

FRIENDS F0REVER=)

Friday, March 13, 2009


The result of Malaysian Education Certificate (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia/ SPM) has just announced yesterday. Even though I am now in New Zealand, but the news that I received will never be late, as internet plays its part well. Browsing around, I was surprised by a mad bull (cow is for female, ok?).

He just bulldozed around a secondary school with his blunt horns, with a piece of paper at the tip of horn (not yet tear into pieces, no worry). He ran to and fro, jumped up and down, finally he stopped when the headmistress threatened to call the Wildlife Department. Come on people, lets take a close look to this mad bull.

Seriously, he looked mad!

Owh, gosh! Is this a smile? I can see saliva dripping, man! Now I am pretty sure I encountered with a mad bull! (The lady next to the bull is my teacher.)

Ho! I am already tired pretending he is a mad bull (in fact, he called himself a mad cow!). Do not make me suspicious to your sex orientation, Bro! For your information, dear readers, this bull named a@ron, who is my junior in the same high school, proudly said SEMEKAR! I know this bull is more handsome than me, but please do not praise him in front of me, I feel inferior, ha3!

a@ron is two years younger than me, but I can assure you that he is much smarter than me. All those old days in SEMEKAR, I am the one that make records, but he is the one that broke my records! He makes me feel a bit annoyed, as he cut short my time on my throne (no offense). You want evidence right? All right. a@ron became the Treasurer in Prefectorial Board when I was still a little Exco. I was kind of shock when I knew he was only Form 2 at that time. Yet, when I think twice, this guy must be more powerful than me, and so he will be a good assistance sometimes later. Ha3! I was already in the plan of seizing the position of Head Prefect at that time (and I was just being assigned a post). Later, I realised that such a “smartass” (not shithead) should be trained as my weapon when I retired (ha3, evil). He finally became a the Head Prefect after a year of unsatisfied political conspiracy (seriously, Prefectorial Board feel like political arena under my power). He broke my record of becoming High Committee Member at the age of 14! Whatsoever, I did keep my record of 12A1 for my SPM. a@ron achieved 11A1, which is excellent, and far more superior than my own sister, I guess.

I should pull my eyes from monitor and back to my books now. Final words: I am proud of you, a@ron! Continue to be a Smartass! Ha3!




7:31 PM

FRIENDS F0REVER=)

Thursday, March 12, 2009


I give you two, yeah, only two candidates. One named Mother Earth, another Father Hot. Who is your choice?

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.

VOTE EARTH



7:44 PM

FRIENDS F0REVER=)

Wednesday, March 4, 2009


This is something that most 1st sem vet students don't get to do, especially NOT on their 1st week. In fact, its really rare that an opportunity like that came up for us, though it's at the expense of another being; namely a cow with terminal cancer.

And so today...

I Did A Rectal On A Dead Cow!!!!!!!!

What's a rectal, I hear?

Well, behold..the glamorous act that all vets have to do......




This poor cow was brought in this morning for euthanasia. Apparently, she had cancer...there was a tumour in her bladder. I really felt a pang, seeing her hung up, lifeless...
That's the bladder (the pink rubbery thing), and the gross blackish stuff is the tumour.

After the euthanasia, the cow was sent to the anatomy dissection lab for the 4th year Vet students. According to the lecturer, it was very rare for such a huge cow to be brought in, and therefore it really was a golden opportunity to observe.

We 1st years were notified of it as well, and invited to have a look at the cow. Only a few of us went, however, as our classes ended early and everyone was really exhausted. I was pretty drowsy too, but I really don't regret going to the Anatomy Dissection lab for this; it really was an amazing opportunity!! Ok, it was not a lesson at all; we've barely touched anything on anatomy yet. But then again, how many people can actually have a hands-on lesson on cattle anatomy, and do a basic rectal on their FIRST WEEK of Vet School?

So there I was...sticking my arm into the cow's rectum all the way up to my shoulder. Its really cramped in there, and the 4th years were telling us how much worse it'd be if the cow were alive...they'll clamp down on your arm entirely!! The 4th year gave me some directions; we tried to locate the cervix, uterine horn, etc etc and during my second try, I found the kidneys! Didn't quite find the ovaries, though...lol...and btw, here you can see the huge rumen of the cow. Its actually filled with gas due to the decompostion, and when the lecturer punctured a hole in it, the smell that wafted out was awful!!! Oh man, my shirt still smelt of it after I got home...


And here you can see the liver, the gallbladder, the abomasum, the pig's ear, and a bit of the duodenum. Man, I learnt a lot about cow anatomy today...


I actually feel really really bad for the cow. To think that this morning she was still alive...and now she's strung up in such an undignified position. Rest in peace...your contribution to education will never be forgotten...



2:13 AM

FRIENDS F0REVER=)



I know Malaysians are still arguing about the suitability of sex education in school syllabus, but I already have enough of it in New Zealand. (Shh, definitely not practically, just on papers, so I am still a virgin and innocent).

The third day in Dunedin, I got an orientation pack (so do all students). Besides all the advertisement leaflets and rubbish magazines, I found one booklet pretty useful, published by the students’ association. Ignored all the advertisements (why again?), I came across lots and lots of sex knowledge. Lets see this (I edited the pictures, to cover the weaknesses of my poor handset).

图像001 (2)

Safe sex ha? No problem, Mr Banana! I am going to be a health professional, there is no reason that I do not familiar with spermicide (not herbicide or homicide), condom, pills and the list goes on. The point is, I am not going to involve in any kind of relationship, except pure friendship (so far I do not have any clash with females, due to my old face). There is another quote.

图像003 (2)

This is in the same booklet. Scarfies (nickname of the students in University of Otago, I am one of them), please take care of females, they are not toy, man! If you know you cannot afford your own underpants, clean your mind. I love children, but they are innocent, so definitely I am not going to have a groups of living skeletons walking behind me (I cannot afford milk, and I protest abortion).

图像000 (2)

Ha3, wondering? No, you are right! This is a condom (I sprayed the brand black, to avoid free promotion). I have another two, one has strawberry flavour. Damn, do not think something else! I have not break promise! This three condoms came with the goodie bag I received when I registered as member of student club in a pharmacy. I know the intention of the pharmacy is good, and I appreciate it, just I feel so weird. In Malaysia, of course you can see condoms sold at the cashiers counters, yet usually are wrapped in dark-coloured bags after goods sold. Now I find condoms, carried along the streets in translucent bag, man! Owh yeah! I just heard from my friend, there are free condoms distributed during preliminary lecture in campus! Thanks God I did not notice it, or not my heart will stop throbbing.

All right, enough crapping. I need to go back to my Physics book. I have four lectures tomorrow. Get updated, all right?




1:43 AM

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Sunday, March 1, 2009


“Welcome to Dunedin!” This is what I always heard in this new-for-me town (I do not consider Dunedin as a city). After eleven hours of flight from Malaysia to Auckland followed by transit to Dunedin, finally I arrived in this extremely “peaceful” and quiet town.

Here is a picture I took about 10.30 pm (New Zealand time), lets see how much it differs from Kuala Lumpur. As this night view was taken using my handset, so please do not expect every details.

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Picture shows St David Street just outside my window, which leads to the lecture theatre that I am going to spend most of time in. Excluding the cars that parked at the roadside, you can basically see nothing but flashing traffic lights and street lights! However, this does not mean there is no nightlife in this serene town. There are a few bars, which one of my flatmates love to linger the whole night, that open after working hours. For your information, 98 % of shops in Dunedin close at 5pm during weekdays, and another 60% will keep their door shuts during weekends. From this, arise another problem for me. My lecture ends at 5pm, and so do working hours. If I need to do some shopping, definitely I cannot do it after my lecture, even though the stores are opened until 10pm. How can I walk with my groceries along the cold and quiet street?

I arrived here at 17th February, then my life officially started at 18th. So far, everything should be fine, except the temperature is far lower than I expected. It is summer, man! I really need to wear sweater indoor, and I need to wear more to walk outside, so ironic. I really cannot imagine how am I going to bear the winter. The funniest thing is, I can walked a few kilometres with my friends, bringing a lot of groceries, without any sweat. If I do the same thing in Malaysia, most probably you can see me in the hospital dehydrated. Suddenly I feel kind of miss hot sun, ha3!

Since the second day I settled in Toroa International House, we did a lot shopping for “life” and ran number of errands for academic purposes. We need to buy a lot, for we cannot fit everything in the 25 kilograms luggage all the way from Malaysia. Basically, tired is still bearable, however the most frustrating event happened when I enrol for my courses. I went to university twice, but ended up “Your name is not in our database/ system”. Damn! I flew so far, and JPA sponsoring me, you tell me I am a “ghost”! Thanks God, there are another two friends with the same problem, so we registered again. The weird thing is, there is record in the system about the arrival of registration forms from Malaysia, but how come three forms went missing? Oh yeah, forgot to describe my Toroa house. I am staying in a house (called flat here), which is a double story “bungalow”.

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Optic illusion! Which way is up? Ha3, I was standing at the top of the stairs, where this picture was taken downward. This is the hallway to the kitchen and living room. My bedroom is at the side of this stairs.

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Notice board in my bedroom. Do you notice Malaysian flag? Hope JPA’s official may see this.

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My bed. First time in my life that I need a (maybe more) blanket. There is another blanket under my pillow (the pillow is too low for my smart head, ha3). I still cannot buy a bolster, because it is not sold anywhere (why ha)! I never close the curtains completely, as I hope the sun may wake me.

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Few clothes ha… Another Malaysian flag, ha3!

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Some of my textbooks. Damn heavy, how am I going to bring them to lecture theatre! I have no need to go to gym, as I can do weight-lifting in my own room.

All right, twelve o’clock now. I have to wake up early tomorrow morning (my lecture starts at eight). Please visit here frequently, as there are many details I have not write about. Wish me luck!




2:57 AM

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