DaRRen - Life of Medicine Vs Magic

Dear friends, i’ve moved to a NEW blog, which will also be the main blog in future. Kindly click here to find out! See u there=)

Did a show for Digi on 25th Aug, approximately one week after my convo. Was exciting about it as the show was big, and it was a masquerade party in the Digi’s new Hq in Subang Industrial Park. This is the second time i worked with Digi, which the first time was during the X Games Asia 2006 in Sunway Lagoon. I wasn’t really a big fans for X games but after watchin it for 3 days, i hav totally changed my view on it. These sports are damn cool! I enjoyed the stunt bike and speed climbing the most..it’s jaw-droppingly awesome!

So coming back to this Digi party, i called David for helping as they needed a pair of magicians (cardician & mentalist can work quite well) for that night. We didn’t use the provided costumes due to some reasons (okay, it looks funny) and i suggested we get our hair done by the peekaboo saloon crew instead. Then the outcome..hmm not to say i dun like it but..well it’s a good try. But i prefer my original one hehe=)

This party was definitely more fun than those i performed in previously. Ppl dresses up in all sorts of costumes e.g. little mermaid (by a guy!), trans-sexual, Mr.Sumo, Elvis, slayer in Scream, just to name a few of my favs. Performers are many too, beside us there are clowns, gorgeous dancers, fire-eaters & fortuneteller. Quite a number of them i’ve already met in X games. I remember talking to the fortuneteller last time and he looked at his Tarot cards and said, "You’re not gonna be a m’sian citizen for long. You’re going either US, UK or Aus soon after graduated and work there for couple of years and prob will stay there permanently." Exactly my plan. Freaky. But it seems did not work for my fren David though.

So we performed to the ppl, mainly indoor as it was raining super heavily and all the outdoor activities were on hold. We even entertained the dancers and saloon crew in the staff room. Time flied and we left at 10 over when the event almost ends. I was following David’s car back to get out of Shah Alam area. Things went well until we reached the tunnel. I saw David’s car suddenly just skidded and seemed out of control. Ya you guessed it, my car followed and hit his! The road was just unusually slippery and my brake was totally nonfunctioning. And ya, there came the most magical moment of the night, the tow truck ppl just appeared almost instantly from nowhere to offer us service..which made us suspect that this might not be an uncomplicated accident. But anyway..my car was sent to workshop for repair. Sad plus angry. What a bad ending of the night..gotta drive really carefully at night next time and watch out for traps! But minus the accident, the party night was a nice performing experience afterall. Look forward to the next show!

Graduated. Finally. An ambition since kindergarten, 5 years of crazy life, this is the moment that i had been waiting for. The final semester has ended quite fast i must say, but it gave a lot of memories though. Life in Batu Pahat (minus portfolio) was better than in seremban after all, mainly because of the food and people there are generally nicer (BP ppl, hosp staffs, patients etc). The exit viva, is undoubtedly the most scarying exam among all, giving me the greatest stress in my whole study life (due to the very late-onset preparation - 2 days b4 exam!) but it went well..and there ended my student life. Then the oath-taking ceremony, and after that, yup, a full-pledged doctor. Having undergone the hardship, anxieties and uncertainties, I’m glad that i made it.

So the next big thing is? Working life..in 2 months time. Won’t wanna think about it now as it can be quite depressing. Not much plans in this 2 mths though, it’s gotta be magic, sleep, eat & fun..not to forget my USMLE Step2 in Oct, a magic show for DIGI next week with David, and some other magic classes to be finished. Hope it’s gonna be packed and great!

Just to recollect some of the memories in clinical school:

Mich and our patient CS whom we have been taking care of for 2 years for our community project. Miss him!

Group members for at least 3 sems. Taken in the last few days of semester.

Graduation dinner in Saffron Bangsar. The above pic are the 3 IMU magicians=)

MBBS convocation day. With my dearest mom & dad.

And of corz, my dearest Yin who has been givin me supports always!

Came across these two little stories kinda long time ago..think they’re meaningful and worth sharing. And also a funny pic..which gave me a good laugh.

#1:      A man asked his father-in-law, "Many people praised you for a successful marriage. Could you please share with me your secret?" The father-in-law answered with a smile, "Never criticise your wife for her shortcomings or  when she does something wrong.  Always bear in mind that because of her shortcomings and weaknesses, she could not find a better husband than you."

#2:     A woman and her millionaire husband visited their construction site. A worker who wore a helmet saw her and shouted, "Hi, Emily! Remember me? We used to date in the secondary school."  On the way home, her millionaire husband teased her, "Luckily you married me.  Otherwise you will be the wife of a construction worker."  She answered,  "You should appreciate that you married me. Otherwise, he will be the millionaire and not you."

The weather forecasting stone. Funny.

    She’s a medical student. She’s a Miss Teen USA. She’s a professional magicienne. She’s only 18. A beautiful resume at such a young age. Impressive? Incredible. Interested in seeing her performance? Click here.

I think the last memorable thing before I came to Batu Pahat was the TzuChi Magic class graduation ceremony. Talking about TzuChi, I joined this organization few years back after participating in one activity "Caring day for the lonely elder" in Singapore. That was the first time I heard of it, and was deeply inspired by it. It is a volunteer-based, non-profit organization founded by Dharma Master Cheng Yen in Taiwan and has been contributing to social and community services, medical care, education and humanism (the Four Missions). To date, it has become an international organization with over 5 million supporters and over 30,000 commissioners around the globe.

Three young volunteers. Jing, Teng Yee & I.

Jing & I, participated in TzuChi public medical screening.

Tzu Chi Foundation in KL is located in Bukit Bintang, just opposite of YTL headquarters building. Here Jing Si library and education center is next to each other. Various classes are provided to public here..Yoga, cooking, flower arrangement, tea etc, and magic was newly added. This was the first magic course provided by the center, and it’s planned and conducted by me. A total of 10 classes, with teaching of basic skills and knowledge of card, coin, rubberband and some impromptu magic. The fees collected will be fully donated to the foundation. The response was quite good, with about 15 students range from 7 year-old kid to working adults..hence it’s rather challenging, and surprisingly female students make up half of the class! Nevertheless things worked well and they all fulfilled, and some even performed better than my expectation! Seeing their ‘graduation’ was indeed gratifying. Never thought that i’d be given such an opportunity to teach to a class of students. On the graduation day i gave a short speech on my feelings and expectations, hope they can do good with what they have learnt, esp in helping TzuChi on charity visits to nursery homes, orphanages and bring them joy and entertainment! Wish them good luck and all the best!

With students: Felix, Sheng Wei & Gary

Two of the female students: I-Fun & Maggie. If you could recognize, I Fun actually starred in the movie Third Generation (DongLiang’s sister)!=)

Think it’s been quite some time I didn’t update my blog..hmm let’s just make a summary of what happened in these few months..before my memories fade! Where should I start..hmm first of all I did a walk-around magic for KENT’s launching party with Brendan on 19th Nov..that was an awesome night. Brendan, a fellow cardician from Melaka, founder of MMF, also helped me to shoot a short video of my performance..luv that vid to the max! Thanks to his vid-making skill. Then was helping out in the ‘Pure Magic’ night by TV3 and 8TV..with David, Robin and Eric on 2nd Dec..had lotss of fun! Had the chance of meeting some celebrities as well..but too bad I had to leave early that night to cover the job in the Magical Theatre Restaurant..long story=( Then two weeks after that i was called to do a table magic show for Dunhill’s Christmas party..the ppl i met there were really, really nice, esp. Stanley, Jeffrey, Joanne etc..we became good frens after the show!=)

Anyway after all the magical experiences then came the sheer madness - Sem 9 final! Those days..sigh were too painful to recall. Was living in non-stop intensive stress for almost a month. Anyway it’s over..and we all PASSED!! NO MORE EXAM!! (at least for 5 months ;p)

Taken with..what should i call him..the electrical man? He’s one of the dancers of that night..it’s very cool when he’s ‘lit up’.

Brendan and I, doing a combined S-fan.

With Eric, Robin, Vision & David in ‘Pure Magic’ night.

My precious study group for finals. JK, Steve, Brenda & Chay Soon. No it’s not really a joke..but just a post-stress/madness defence mechanism..hehe=)

Got my USMLE result finally. After suffering from weeks of intermittent intense nervousness, glad that i’m able to share this good news that i’ve PASSED! This is a real good moment to me..and just wanna take this chance to say a big thanks to all the ppl who hav given me supports and encouragements..REALLY appreciate them. So, two more steps to go now!=)

Woo..look at his appearance..do you believe he can READ your mind? I was lucky to attend a meeting session with Deddy Corbuzier, one of the top mentalists in magic world. Well of course this is another event brought by MMF, and it was held in one of the Thai restaurant in Sunway Pyramid..and the atmosphere there just matchingly exudes feelings of mystery..very, very scary. Mentalism is not something new in magic history but it’s definitely unique in local magic community here. Deddy came actually to meet us to discuss some of his upcoming plans in the magic industry in M’sia, including setting up a magic restaurant and training some apprentices to feature in his TV shows. During the meeting, he performed some world-class mentalism effects such as mind reading (on the spot!), spoon bending and card/number prediction and all were just awesome. Oh ya not to mention this event has attracted huge attention of ppl in pyramid..imagine you see a person walking in this appearance and attire..ha how would you react?=) All of us really had great fun there. And if anyone interested in knowing more about Deddy, pls click here.

Group pic..kinda dark.

A pic with Deddy.

With David Lai, a good magic buddy of mine.

25th Jun 2005, a big day of everyone in my family: My bro’s wedding day! We had been planning for quite some time on how to make it unique and meaningful..and i think in the end we did!=) Various of performance was prepared..singing by Jackson and my niece (they sang SO professional!), magic show by me (a sure thing hehe) and a fashion show (my sis-in-law is a fashion designer). Hmm that night I did some card and rope magic..to such a big crowd (700 guests)! Thank god everything went smooth hehe..then also my first-time-ever cat walk haha..nervous like sh*t..missed some steps also..but the experience was nice i must say=) In the end we received lots of nice compliments and i’m really glad we made it a successful one. Here i wish my bro n sis-in-law live happily ever after..should now start planning bout mine..hehe=0)

Started with some card magic..my fav Aces revelation followed by Kings’ Assembly etc..

Ended with Tabary’s professor’s nightmare rope act.

First-time-ever catwalk. Gosh it’s more difficult than doing magic ;p