Today, a brand new day, a brand new week, yet there i was, still pondering about stuffs in my life. As for today, i was thinking, what sets me different from my other friends? I have friends that are really ultra socializing, and those that really just won't try to socialize, those that have talents in humoring you, and those that really bores you out.

Take for eg, i have a friend who likes to socialize, but in quite a negative way. He craves for attention and couldn't stand being alone even for a day or two.

Then i have another friend back in uni that won't even talk to you unless you really tug his shoulder to say a hi. Kind of weird that there are friends of all sorts of personalities.

But i am lucky to meet quite a lot of really good friends that are really helpful and won't be selfish in many aspects. In uni alone, i am quite lucky cause my batch for coursemates are really together. We won't just form a solo group or so like others, though there are groups that they preferred to be in. Yet, we often get together and have fun.

Overall, throughout my entire life, i've met many friends, seperated, lost contacts, but still made new friends as i move on in my life. Frankly speaking, it's quite fun to have friends of different personalities.

Yet, i still despised people who only act to be my friend at times when they need me.

What sets me apart this month with those other months that i'd experienced? To sum up this month, it's a totally brand new experience for me. Usually, i would be enjoying myself on December, indulging in PC/PS games, going out day in and out, watching movies, hanging out with friends and etc. But for this very month, it's the first full month i'd ever worked.

My industrial training took me to the laboratory department in SMC. All the details? Posted up in past posts, lazy want to re-phrase it. Nonetheless, working almost an entire day in the lab, it left me pondering why M'sia is so "behind" in this field.

It's not that i am trying to criticize my country, but the facts are all out there. M'sia started it's IT era at around the same time as S'Korea did. Up to this point, S'Korea is leading the IT part faraway while M'sia is still left in the dark.

As for other departments, it won't take long as to figure out why M'sia failed to expand it wings into other commodities. I am studying BioMed/BioTech and many of us in this field knows best is still considered backwater in M'sia. As far as i am concerned, BioMed graduates are thrown into a vast diversity of oppertunities in other countries, even in S'pore. In M'sia, most have no choice but to take a job as lab technicians when they graduate, up to an extent that they have to compete with lab technicians who only obtain a diploma. While the government are hyping about expanding into these kind of fields, one would have to ask, is it going to end up like the IT programme? Just hoped that by the time i graduate, there would be at least something into this.

As for my work itself, this week is my last week at cirrology and immunology. However, i don't think i had enough first hand practice on these stuffs cause throughout the entire 2 weeks that i am assigned to this department, many MLT are taking leaves, which left the lab often seriously shorthanded. I am often ordered back to Biochem and Haematology department since there are more samples to analyse there. Just yesterday, i am "proud" to annouce that i single handedly handled all the uralysis testing myself cause for some reason, those urine samples kept on coming in hordes.

Today i followed another MLT for "jalan", which literally means following them up to the wards to collect the samples. I could only observe them collecting blood from patients and doing minor tests, but soon, it would come a chance where i would be "forced" to do it. Part of the training.......................or so they said.

Out of the job, and to X'mas part...................................pretty boring for me. There are no gatherings or whatsoever on X'mas eve, and even my parents decided to just have dinner at home =_=" On X'mas day itself, went to my aunt's family annual X'mas luncheon. Missed it last year since i was celebrating it in Beijing...........................and did i mentioned before that i'd "proudly" received a present during the tour?

Nonetheless, there wasn't anything fun at all, except for the part i played chor tai tee with my sis and she lost till she frustratingly quitted the game =P

And a month has since almost passed..........................boring-ness is starting to creep into me while my friends are having better times in the day. Yet, the fact remains that i myself had chosen this path and i am determine to walk it to the very end...................but slacking still remains in my veins /gg

Boy i was so sick. Yesterday, what i thought to be just a common headache and just gulp in two panadols turn out to be a nightmare for me at midnight. I started shivering, my body temperature rises, then suddenly drops again and i was having flu and coughing badly. To make matters worse, i had minor diarrhea.

But waking up in the morning, i felt a bit better. I can just take a sick leave and skip work, but you know, i don't dare =P Reached the lab 30 minutes late since i had been slow-moving in the morning due to my sickness. To my surprise, the lab was empty except for the demography staffs. Went to the pantry and only saw another trainee getting ready. Not long later, a MLT came in and prepare herself.

Walking into the lab, i was thinking, "is there any holiday today?". At around 9, there were only 4 people in the lab including me. "Strange", i said to myself. Not long later, i discovered that one MLT was taking a leave, another was sick while another 2 had to operate the OPD. Then not long later, another MLT came in and asked the boss for emergency leave....................

That sums up for today, low work force. But nevertheless, there weren't much job anyway. Just like last week, its pretty relaxing again. I was supposed to step into the cirrology and immunology department today, but since the lab was short staffed, i took the initiative to man back the haematology section while the other wo-manned the biochemistry section.

Nonetheless, i was feeling sleepy, tired and low in morale throughout the entire day. Ended up sleeping in the pantry from 3 - 4.30pm. Struck 5 pm and i am off instantly.

Another surprise today. My boss belanja us chocolates today.......................rare in the sights of my colleagues.

And finally, the button on my lab coat, that had been holding by a thin thread, and i really mean a thin thread, finally came off

You know what i hate the most in the department i am working on now? Urine. Lots of urine for me to analyse........................in a sense that it was the scanner that have to take the "beating". In this part, i learn to hate 2 types of urine,
1) Urine that are freshly obtain, sitting warmly on your hand
2) Urine that are kept overnight. You know what happen to your urine if you did not flush it down the toilet in a few hours time, try 24 hours.

Then when i was doing H1AC, i was pipetting it happily until i noticed a description about a sample, labelled "HIV POSITIVE". OMG............................i did remember taking off my gloves instantly, washed my hands with lots of anti-microbial soap over and over again. And did i mention, the urine do some time spill onto my gloves? Ewwww.

Nonetheless, tomorrow is my final day in biochemistry and urology department. Heading over to serology and immunology next week.

Other than handling totally dangerous stuffs, the entire week went on smoothly. Somehow, this entire week was quite relaxing. There aren't much samples for analysis though it was IJN week and there's definitely less stuffs for us trainee to do as we only handle some practical stuffs. Reports and paper works are left to the senior lab staffs.

Surprisingly, my boss, Mr Spencer, who often looked moody all the time and have this "mood swing" syndrome, suddenly bought a cake to celebrate the birthdays for 3 staff members. Only a quick ceremony and everything is over. While eating the cake in the pantry, i noticed that everyone was quite quiet, right till my boss left, then the noise began to rise up. I quite pity him to be treated like this, but well, all the staffs there often talk bad about him, guess he wasn't so popular.

Forwarded to today, a trainee finishes her attachment. Actually i haven't got the chance to say goodbye to her since when she did, i was out for lunch. When i came back, i stop by the washroom first and when i am about to get out, i saw her crying walking away. Not sure what had happened, but it seems that she couldn't control herself during that time, according to the staffs. Anyway, hoped that i could meet her again to properly say goodbye.

Been dusting around here. Haven't been here since my last 'lazy' days. Why?

Cause i'd started my industrial training a week ago. I was supposed to go to SMC (Sunway) for my training, but once when i knew that, i was pushing for a place back in SMC2 (Sabah). My lecturer had been trying to push for us Sabahans to train in SMC2, but they won't let us, so i had to ask my father for some 'help'.

Reason? Well, you see, you only work for less than a month in SMC (roughly 20 days), and there are more students there since anyone who can't get a place back in their place had to do it in SMC. Back here in SMC2, i could have an entire 2 months to do my training.

First day of work, FASCINATING. The lab is at the basement, a few more steps and there's the morgue. I went in and to my surprise...............well, not that surprised, all the workers are FEMALES. The only male was a guy name Jasper working as a com technician cum demography.

I was instantly introduced to the boss, Spencer. Yup, he's a guy, but you don't consider him to be part of the crew since he would be keeping himself in the office or walking around sometimes. Other than that, all my other collegues are females. There are 2 other trainees there, one from UTAR and another from a uni that i'd never heard before of, but the 2 of them had been training there for some time.

I was put into the Biochem department for my first week. Really, there is nothing much to do. The first day, as i am really new and there are many new stuffs (i only learned the basics, don't know why the lecturer wants to throw us in when we are still in the basics). So most of the time i would be standing up or walking around.

Thats until when the MLTs started to pull me and teach how to handle stuffs and their maintainance. I was supposed to be in the biochem department, but by the first week, i had been pulled to handle haematology and blood bank stuffs...............great. The people there are great once i get to know them more. However, as they are females, i still have the usual problems as what we talk are always different and you sometimes get into hot soup when you try to join into their conversation until you discovered they are talking stuffs ranging from cosmetics to skin care products and those woman stuffs.

One thing i discovered though why they won't take in my uni's students. My lecturer asked me to investigate why and this is why.
1. There are already 2 trainees there, plus a new MLT.
2. The lab is not that big.
3. There are not many specialized departments
4. There arent much work to do.

Regarding matter 4, yeah. Throughout my first week, i discovered that you would only be slightly busy in the morning, but in the afternoon, you are really free, so free that you could just sit down and read some papers. But this is for the trainee case as the senior MLT had to key in reports and compile the data. So much so, this is my working life.

***Today i got my first lecturing from a senior MLT. She asked me to search for a particular urine for UPT (Urine pregnancy test) while i was still doing the HA1C test. A FEW SECS later, she came back and asked about it and when she saw i was still doing the HA1C test, she told me i am slow @_@. How am i slow when i was in the middle of doing something first. But oh well, she is the most senior MLT there, so i can't argue with her, or else my entire training life would be a living hell.