NUS Faculty of Medicine Undergraduate Interview Tips

That’s right. J., in his limited capacity as a newly graduated, haven’t-started-work, no-longer-as-idealistic-or-fresh-faced-as-first-entered-med-school house officer, is going to offer tips on what to say in the interviews to enter the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. He’s not going to talk on ‘duh’ tips like “wear a tie! look neat! don’t wear a miniskirt! speak [...]

Nepal Trek Day 6: Deurali – MBC – ABC

MBC = Macchapucchre Base Camp
ABC = Annapurna Base Camp
It was a lovely way to start the morning. Waking up at 0500hrs, I stepped out into the brisk, chilly morning air to watch the sky above the mountains slowly light up, illuminating the surrounding snow-covered peaks.
Packing up, we had a good breakfast of milk tea and [...]

Nepal Trek Day 5: Bamboo – Dovan – Himalaya – Deurali

Tip: Multiple places in Nepal can have the same name, one example on the Annapurna trails being Deurali. There’s a Deurali between Ghorepani and Tadapani, and a Deurali between Dovan and Machaputre Base Camp. Don’t get confused.
Moving from Bamboo, it began with an upslope, followed shortly after my a downslope before moving down to cross [...]

Movie: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

We interrupt our Nepal Trip series for a more mundane blog post (not that the Nepal series is very nice or anything) on J.’s first movie outing in months and months and months.
There are two completely bullshit movies currently showing at the cinemas: Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and Superhero Movie. You can [...]

Nepal Trek Day 4: Chomrong – Sinuwa – Bamboo

Woke up at 0600hrs and it was raining, windy, misty and cold. After a late breakfast at 0800hrs, we packed our things and retired to the rooms to await the passing of the rain, finally leaving around 1015hrs in a drizzle, clad in waterproof jackets and a poncho (me, and usually we all just wear [...]

Nepal Trek Day 3: Ghandruk – Kinrong – Chomrong

We woke up early in the morning to go and see the best view around in Ghandruk at the helipad at around 0700hrs. Look at that… Pictures hardly do it justice.

After breakfast, we set off towards Kinrong. It was a stretch of flat land, followed by lots of dowhill, clambering down slightly slippery slopes, using [...]

Nepal Trek Day 2: Pothana – Landruk – Ghandruk

The initial plan was to take it slow and go from Pothana to Landruk. However, the morning before we< set off, on hearing that it would take us only about 2.5-3 hours to reach Landruk, we offered to continue moving on to Ghandruk (Ghandrung on some maps) in the afternoon.
That morning, we found out [...]

Nepal Trek Day 1: Pokhara -> Phedi -> Dhampus -> Pothana

It’s our 3rd day in Nepal, but for the next 12 days we’ll be on the trek so the time is easier thought of in this fashion.

We woke at 0630 and had a leisurely breakfast on the roof of Sacred Valley Inn, looking far away at the mountains we’d be approaching. After paying for breakfast [...]

Nepal Trip Day 2: Bus Ride to Pokhara

I woke up at 5.15am, just prior to the alarm clock I’d brought along. It’s a bit of a safety measure and to me, a comfort measure. We walked to Kanti Path. Along the way, however, I was occasionally struggling with my duffel bag. Bread bought at half-price from the previous night was our breakfast.
Tip: [...]

Nepal Trip Day 1: Flying to Kathmandu

I didn’t get much sleep the night before thanks to some last minute packing, perhaps all of 20min before heading to the airport for a 7.40am flight on Thai Airlines to Bangkok (1 hour behind Singapore). Hung around the airport on arrival (after a 2 hour flight) and boarded a 10.35am flight to Kathmandu (2 [...]