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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

2014 round up

we started 2014 with no expectations, anticipating a quiet year free from major life changes. little did we know that in april, the mister would serendipitously find himself in business school. but let us back up a little! saw the new year in from the maldives, a place we finally got the chance to visit together. from the maldives it was back to singapore for a few days before hitting the ground running with work (him) and uni (me) in the +44.

having finished foundations of clinical practice before christmas, it was straight to junior rotations on the wards with eight weeks of chronic ill health and disability, followed by four weeks of women's health, child's health, mental health and infectious diseases each. this actually brought me nicely to july, with no study break before exams. after two years 'pre-clinical' with lectures and seminars, it was such a relief to be having hands on experience on the wards and i enjoyed finally feeling like a baby doctor. things started making sense (oh phew!) and i didn't mind the long hours because being in school was a breeze compared to work. lucked out with a four week "junior assistantship'' (part of longer 8 week chronic ill health rotation) on a clinical oncology ward (thank god i wasn't assigned neuro-rehab or something similar...) and was all the more psyched to be with cancer patients dawn to dusk.

travel-wise, we were lucky to sneak some time out to be master and mistress of ceremony at our dear friends' wedding in singapore in feb, and sort of spend my birthday back home the same weekend. visited the amalfi coast over easter, and it was there that we learnt the mister had been accepted to do the executive*MBA*global (americas*and*europe) with columbia&london*business*schools. 

it's a 20*month dual*degree program so fingers crossed he'll graduate with 2xMBAs (one from columbia*, one from*LBS). the beauty of the e*MBA is that everyone on the program is also working full-time. we're grateful his employers have sponsored his time (without docking his salary - so important!) because he takes a week off work every month to attend class in either london or NYC. which also means he's in NYC for a week every other month. the classes are intense with 8am to 10pm days being common, after all they're squeezing the contact hours for 2xfull-time MBAs into 20 weeks. this trans-atlantic commute hasn't been without its perks, like my tagging along in july to soak in the sights and sounds of the big apple while he was hard at work. it's a great group of people (69 students, 37 different nationalities) with illustrious classmates who're nothing short of inspiring. the average age of the class is 35 with an average of 10 years post-graduate work experience. the mister's fortunate to have snuck in at 29*years old having worked for 4 years. all this from a cold call (and cold email) to the admissions team. within two weeks of first contact, he studied for and aced the G*MAT, interviewed and was accepted. our conspiracy theory is they were desperately looking for diversity and he fit the bill ;) 

as if to celebrate his acceptance to bschool and do some "defensive traveling" in anticipation of crazy months with no down time, we made use of the early summer bank holiday for a whistle stop tour of moscow. incidentally when crimean tensions were on the rise and he gave me a heart attack when we were on a free city walking tour he said the fighter jet fly by (!!!) was an invasion and not the national day rehearsal i thought it was. 

twas a good summer! we celebrated our second wedding anniversary in june at whitstable, kent. inlaws came to london to celebrate his 30th birthday in july, i stayed with J and her family in aix-en-provence, and then in august it was a cruise with my family before the mister and i continued to lisbon. had about a week back in london after, before going to singapore for more holiday / family time (me) and reservist (him). [8th cycle, missed the last 2, doesn't want to be posted out of unit and eventually be the 40 year old loner doing reservist with a random unit, plus it's a short reservist that counted as a high-key so it made sense to TAKE LEAVE TO DO RESERVIST]. national pride rant aside, in the second half of 2014 we've also had the chance to travel with his classmates. the mister co-captained a sailboat around sardinia, we spent some time port making and tasting in porto, combined a work trip to dubai with the F1 in abu dhabi, as well as visiting classmates in washington DC and then sao paolo en route to chile. miraculously amidst all that hedonism, he also scored a perfect GPA and quite literally topped the dean's list o.O having no personal academic achievement to brag about, looks like i'll continue to live vicariously through him haha.
 
i started fourth year in september and it was a brief throw-back to pre-clinicals with some intense pharmacology modules. was done with end of fourth year exams a week ago and then it's "get out of jail" / student selected components and electives all the way till summer break 2015. thrilled the stars have aligned and have lined everything up for central london (zone 1, no less!). the prospect of staying put for nine solid months and not having to commute is nothing short of bliss. 

it's gonna be a low-key christmas and shaping up for a busy new year with dear friends in town as our tiny flat once again becomes a revolving door B&B :)

wishing you and yours happy holidays and the very best in the year to come. as always, thanks for stopping by.

lots of love,
j

(and if you'd like to see, round ups from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013...)

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

delaying tactics


it's been cold so i've been cooking up a storm, and probably being insufferable by sticking the photos on facebook. there's a monastic quality to revision and much as i'd love to moan about having to get. work. done. it's not your burden to bear. it's no secret that i thoroughly enjoy having the luxury of time to go to the store, choose fresh seasonal produce and then pull them together into a wholesome, home-cooked meal. of course, this is just me on a good day. not pictured is the whole apple pie struggling under the weight of vanilla bean ice cream that was dinner one night, or 500ml of waitrose's best custard that was supper on another. hey, gotta let go a little too! meal planning and food preparation is a creative outlet especially welcomed when i really don't want to read about the mechanics of nephrotoxic pharmaceuticals. the mister jokes that the meals take 30min to prepare and just as long to plate. he's right about the former but i feel plating is as important to make it look presentable, all the better to photograph it with, my dear.

prawn masala above, herb crusted chicken on tomatoes with capers below

fish goujons on garlic smashed mashed potato with courgette ribbons and home made tartar sauce

pork neck steaks on roasted fennel with candied oranges


done with exams tomorrow and it's going to be a manic few days! can't wait :)

Thursday, December 4, 2014

hump day


it's no secret that i'm a girlie girl who loves female company. men? meh. who needs them! far from being man-hating, i just find it easier to relate to girls. i get them, and vice versa. then again, it's not all girls but strong, independent types who maintain their feminine wiles and charm despite being in a male dominated environment. i mean we all know alpha females who are, bluntly put, abrasive and unlikeable. have wondered about the sheryl*sandberg lean in model - can women truly have it all (haha) and meeting lovely ladies reassures me that yes, one can be go getting and ambitious but it's about time and place. as a relatively young person, i think having role models and mentors is so important and i'm thrilled to have met A and now P through her. they're wonderfully encouraging types. A's a surgical registrar and P is the only female on a hyper-competitive cardio-thoracic specialisation program. drop them in an OT and they're in their element, slicing and dicing. but outside, they're absolute darlings (actually i'm quite sure they're sweethearts in theatre too!) and i like how there's no absolutism, surgeons aren't all mean body-hacking machines and physicians aren't all warm and fuzzy cuddlebugs.

to be absolutely honest, part of me is also envies them - all the what ifs bubble to the surface of my subconscious. what if i'd done medicine right after A levels, what if i'd chosen differently from the get go. listening to A and P talk about work, i couldn't help but admire their drive and determination. the grace they go about their day with is nothing short of awe-inspiring, from managing patients to consultants and with such ease. the shared understanding also helps, and i'm heartened by how we come from the same place with similar values. it's almost narcissistic to think i see facets of me in them, and them in me. often wary and apprehensive when it comes to meeting new people so it's a rare and most welcome occasion when meeting people i feel i click well with, and as if we've known each other for ever. part of me has to reign the excitement in, for fear of scaring them off, and the complete and utter embarrassment if they ever found out what massive girl crushes i've been harbouring! but it's a happy place - to find a kindred spirit. one of life's quiet but biggest joy is a chance meeting of this sort and i'm thankful i've gotten to know them when i did.

doesn't hurt that they enjoy good food as much as i do and we're already dreaming our next foodie adventure. we looked at the menu, did the tactical thing and shared all the bar food (10 dishes!), then had individual starters for mains. alcohol in moderation because we're grown up that way - small white for A, small red for me and P had two beers because she's cool like that. think it was going to be just the one but the name of the second beer had 'angry dog' and said dog's female counterpart in it so obviously she'd to try it too!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

electives


it's a great feeling being this close to christmas holidays. have under two weeks to go to end of fourth year exams and as with most exam periods, life gets nice and simple. my inner aspergers'y kid doesn't like change, and enjoys routine. so waking up, having a leisurely breakfast, getting some revision done, heading to the shops, taking my time to cook dinner and calling it a night early is some kind of bliss. fortunate not to have anything / anyone else to care for, and to be able to retreat into this selfish self-indulgent world is a luxury i'm not counting on for much longer. 

as part of my arsenal of delaying tactics (oh yes, there are plenty!) i finally got round to elective proposals and risk assessment forms. such fun! and having been there, done that with a crazy exchange in stockholm, the wanderlust isn't as strong. stockholm was life-changing, and the best 6+ months of my life. it's still a period i reference a little too often in conversation, have friends (hopefully for life!) from, and languish in amazing memories of hazy corridor parties and the feeling of absoulute freedom. i've such a soft spot for stockholm and am almost scared to visit because i know things will be different, the people i'd grown to know and love aren't there any more, and the magic is likely to have faded some in the five years since. gosh! five years! feels like yesterday. so that's my roundabout way of saying that my last 'elective' / exchange, call it what you will, set the bar so high that nothing could ever top it. 

in a perfect world, i'd go on elective in the caribbean, sip rum and lie in the shade for a lazy eight weeks. but alas my inner workaholic (good friends with the inner aspie) wouldn't allow that to happen. there's also a husband in london to be with, and family in singers i've sorely neglected the past couple of years. reality, huh. thank you parents, for instilling this work ethic that i'm constantly at odds with. every time i want to take the easy way out and do absolutely nothing, i imagine their disapproval and get spurred on to make an effort. so much for self-motivation!

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

winter warmers


of the non-alcoholic sort. i know i moan on and on about the weather and how it's cold. actually, i like the cold and have relatively decent cold tolerance (read: blubber), braving the single digit weather with no coat on nights on (haha) and generally not having to layer up too dramatically when i head out. but as with most things, exams being at the top of the list, i suddenly morph into the most enthusiastic of cooks when it's time to exhaust my delaying tactics. procrastination is a favourite past-time and when it results in a full belly, all the better. this photo also makes me realise i need to work on portion sizes because half of that (above) should more than suffice for dinner. 

ironically, this procrastination meal took all of fifteen minutes to prepare (sigh, can't even waste time if i tried...) and was accidentally efficient. was trying to be exotic with bulgar wheat and pork steaks take all of 3min on each side (then allowed to rest and tenderise on a plate covered with aluminium foil). braised apple and celery, stirred spring onions and dill through the fluffed up bulgar wheat and drizzled a tart dijon dressing on top of everything. 

tell a lie, while this was meant to be a winter warmer of the non-alcoholic sort, may have paired it with a sweet little gerwutz that went down waaay too easily. and orange lindt and peppermint tea at the end. having been brought up in a home that took dinner quite seriously, my inner child rebels by watching telly during dinner. know i shouldn't but ahhhh guilty pleasure. just like maccas.

Monday, December 1, 2014

thanksgiving


have a true blue uhmurikaan friend who works in "defence". we've been acquainted for a bit now but i'm no closer to knowing what exactly it is he does, apart from that it's top secret and classified, so maybe it's better that i don't know. but in true uhmurikan stylez, he was so kind as to host a thanksgiving 'do for the motley crew of london transplants and those passing through the city. in fact, this dinner was in honour of another uhmurikan friend who was visiting and the true catalyst for a feast of epic proportions. was expecting something small and homely but ohmymama our host with the most had roped in uhmurikan #3 to decorate, and there were whispers of one of the english guests having cooked i.e. outsourced the hardest bits to an amazing caterer who somehow conjured up thanksgiving fare so authentic even the uhmurikan crowd was impressed. the bird was ceremoniously carved by a friend who hold dual uhmurikan/brit citizenship because that seemed the most fitting, giving the confluence of guests and occasion. then again, he was also the only one who seemed to know how to carve without someone ending up in A&E (or "the ER" as was the vernacular - a little too flippantly - bandied around in the course of the night).

eyed the numerous cans of bud light suspiciously propped up around the table only to realise that the scene was set for post-dinner beer pong for those who could stand after the turkey binge. turns out there was no ball to be had, so beer pong quickly evolved into flip cup (love reductionist games!) and the beer turned even faster into vodka. the boys challenged the girls, with the stakes being rather revealing, but all we needed was an unpracticed russian to join the line up for the tie-breaker and the girls cruised to victory. if one ever needed a lesson in concentration, try flipping a cup with everyone yelling - not for the sort who cracks under pressure!

before the party games, there was some serious girly h2h with all the girls in a huddle. part of me feels admittedly smug and self-satisfied to be spared the feeding frenzy at the savannah, and other part sort of recoils in horror at the sort of questions they ask with no qualms at all. having been out of the dating game (pool?) for longer than i'm comfortable to disclose, i wonder if it's always been this way, or whether the game's evolved as we get older.

more photos on fb in various states of sobriety as the night wore on, all untagged, of course. because privacy is such an underrated commodity ;)