re-minisce, nice to see you back in fine form here! Don't mind if I post a transcript of your comments. :D

"Doctors are ordinary people. Tell that to your fellowmen who make up Singapore. Go read the youngpap discussion boards, or the spug.net forums, or the channelnewsasia forums.
everyone there seems intent on slamming doctors as being overpaid, and everyone's talking about some "overcharging fiasco" which proves that doctors are really money-grubbing twin-horned devils in disguise, who, hour for hour shouldn't complain because, according to them, there are plenty of mcdonald's staff who work harder than us for a tenth our pay.

again, that wonderful Singaporean ability of seeing the world through prejudiced, and uninformed eyes - and being able to ignore all evidence to the contrary of your own biased viewpoint."

We need more people like you as our ministers. But don't think that'll ever happen. :)

Anyway, I made a short trip to the Singapore General Hospital around lunchtime today, after being chosen to accompany a sick lady who needed urgent dialysis. I've been in ambulances many times before, and thought I'd seen it all, but was appalled all over again today. En route to SGH, we travelled along the Central Expressway, near the Balestier turnoff. Most cars saw us coming and switched lanes pretty quickly, except for a black Mitsubishi (?Lancer), driven by a man ( ?age -- couldn't see his face clearly 'cos I was sitting in the back ). He was travelling at around 80-90 km/hr, but we were rushing our patient over, so we obviously had to go faster than that. Our ambulance driver tried everything, from flashing his headlights, to horning, and finally, sounding the siren ( my favourite part :)). You'd expect the fellow to give way by now, right? Wrong. He stubbornly stayed in the right lane, cruising along at the same speed, before eventually moving to the left just before we entered the tunnel. I think doing something like this is considered an offence, so here's his licence plate number: SFA 5670 G. Explain yourself, sir.

On the way back to my hospital, I had a nice chat with the ambulance driver. He told me that drivers in Singapore are "one kind", and once, when he was delivering urgent blood from the National Blood Bank for a patient here, he was delayed on the highway by a similar incident, and this guy actually had the gall to file a complaint with the hospital, saying that our driver drove dangerously by tailgating him! The powers that be on the 3rd floor decided to side the driver of the car, and issued a warning against our ambulance driver. Well then, if this is how you treat such cases, the next time someone you know needs urgent blood and its delivery is delayed, I'd like to hear your feelings about that. All I can say is, the wrong action was taken in this instance.

My 2 year-mates cleared the MRCS (A&E) Part 2 exams, so many congratulations to them both! My turn will come next year. Hope I'll get through on the first go. :)

Am currently playing John Mayer's Heavier Things in the car. I went through Sting's Sacred Love more than a week ago, but I can't post on that now, 'cos I can't recall most of it. :P However, Mayer's album, like his first one, Room For Squares, is the sort that grows on you after a few rounds. He doesn't sing that well, and his vocal range probably spans only one octave, but he succeeds in keeping his appealing rock/pop/bluesy/folksy style, and the more uptempo songs on this CD are really good. I like "Home Life" the most, followed by "Only Heart" and "Bigger Than My Body". I don't pay much attention to the lyrics, which mostly make little sense to me. In "Home Life", for example, Mayer sings "I want to live in the center of a circle / I want to live on the side of a square." Huh???

Some of the slower pieces are also well done, and you might notice that a lot of them don't start out that nicely, but build up gradually and become really enjoyable after the chorus. The main draw for me is Mayer's skill on the guitar, and the background accompaniment on this album is excellent. One song even has a violin! My main complaint would be the measly number of songs -- ten, compared to maybe 15 on Room For Squares. Makes it less of a bargain, but if you are a big fan of his, it's a worthwhile addition to your collection.

30 minutes to freedom, and I suspect I'm getting a crying kid next. Wish me luck!