Buffetting : My Song

I thought T and I had a song meant for us.

But I think this song sums up all my emotions when I was with T.

Now that its over, this song still reside quite vividly in me; putting itself as my favorite Thai song.

This too, reminds me, lets not do LDR anymore. It's too much of this song to bear.

I still do interact with T, those lovey dovey feelings are fading well as my logic takes over.

But, you can't stop a boy's head from missing the past feelings right? Makes perfect reference for future relationships.

To the upcoming finals!

Buffetting : Animal Handling 101- Rabbits

Rabbits are generally very gentle animals, like most domesticated mammals. Although widely being bred and kept as pets; rabbits are still considered as an exotic due to the limited research available, as well as treatment made up till today.

How to approach a rabbit?

1- Rabbits are herbivores; meaning they have monocular visions. To approach rabbits without agitating them; corner them into a dead end. An easy way is to directly approach the rabbit, covering its vision field with your body. In this case it will not be jumping around to seek for escape route.

How to pick a rabbit up?

Animals are very sensitive towards beings dealing with them. Not just rabbits, even mice can sense whether if a handler is capable or trained enough to handle them. To convince the animals you are well trained, all handling should be done with a FIRM composure. Reduce the anxiety and prepare yourself before dealing with the animals, or you both are going to get hurt in the end of the procedure. Shivering is a bad sign of unprepared personnel.

Rabbits are usually caged; if it open air, the principal is about the same.

1- Go towards the rabbit, lower your body to ground level with an easy for you to retract upwards.
2- Make sure the rabbit's head is facing towards you.
3- Extend your non-dominant arm; usually the left one straight towards the body of the rabbit.
4- Lay your forearm, the radius and ulnar resting underneath the abdomen of the rabbit.
5- Using your hands to firmly hold the hindlimb of the rabbit. This is to prevent the rabbit's leg to feel the emptiness of support when you life it up in the air. When the rabbit's limb is dangling in the air, it will start kicking and struggling, resulting in scratches around your arms.

6- Once you have gotten a good grip, hold the rabbit up single-armed and tuck the rabbit's head underneath your armpit.
7- Hide its head and eyes under your elbow close to the armpit, and clamp the rabbit's head as firm, NOT hard as possible to reassure it is in a firm handler's state.
8- Hold is as closely as you can towards your body to have a firm support of the rabbit. It is best to do this to prevent slipping of the rabbit and causing injuries.

Bagging the rabbit with a towel is also a great way to restrain rabbits, and provides a good mobility. But procedures might be a limited.

From a veterinarian point of view, this state is extremely useful for retrieving blood from the marginal veins as well as the aurical veins from the medial side of the ear.

Can we scruff a rabbit?
Yes we absolutely can. But for a short period of time because its not the normal state to do so. This is usually done to examine the abdominal area, as well as the pelvic area to determine the sex of the rabbit. The scrotal sack is the best way to differentiate, which can be seen as early as 5 to 6 months old.

Note: Do not stretch the rabbit before it has been mesmerized and relaxed. Rabbits have a smaller bone to muscle ration; of about 8%; which means more muscles are attached to a single bone. Excessive movements or stretching of body at a sudden rate will cause bone fractures in rabbits; and lumbar fracture is extremely normal in rabbits. Once fractured; treatment is costly and heals very slowly; while the later quality of life is severed.

How to mesmerize a rabbit?
From holding the rabbit with its head tucked underneath the armpit, start to firmly brush the back of the rabbit at a fast rate to relax it. Once it is in a trance state, in which you can feel its limbs relaxing, put it on its back on a surface and light brushes its abdomen. The brushing at the back and abdomen must be done in one direction if possible. A successful mesmerizing attempt will allow the rabbit to go into its trance state, in which its limbs will relax and be completely static.

This situation is extremely helpful for veterinarians to examine the rabbit for physical examination, blood withdrawal and injections.

How to transfer the rabbit?
A- Between handlers:

1- Open up your arm with the rabbit by moving your arm away from your body, exposing the medial side of the rabbit; with its head still tucked under your armpit while your support the hind limb and abdomen with your opened arm
2- Allow some space for the next handle to put the arm over yours, and let the hand hold firmly on the rabbit's hind limb and abdomen.
3- Once confirmed, let the rabbit go.

B- From cage to working desk:
1- Walk towards the desk with the rabbit closely held to your body.
2- Lay the rabbit on the table, with it held closely to your body; meaning your body needs to lean towards the table. This prevents sudden jump of the rabbit when it is placed on the desk.

How to put the rabbit back at the cage?
1- Hold the rabbit up as per usual.
2- Walk towards the cage, insert the rabbit into the cage from the rear, with its head facing you.
This will prevent sudden jumps which will cause injuries to the back of the rabbit.

This ends the first post on animal handling from a veterinary student point of view. Hoped you enjoy the article as a laymen, as I tried to make it as simple with less jargon as possible. Here's to Calvin who inspired me to post this for laymen and veterinarian to share the knowledge

Disclaimer: This is an article from a veterinary student, with minimal contact experience. All the posts revolving animal handling is part of the course outline as per instructed by the lecturer in classes; with possible errors and mistakes. Do try it with the animals around, but any harm done is not being held responsible.

Buffetting : Gen-now

Thai class today was fun, and a little stressful because we talked about relationships and marriages.

When it came to my turn, I was frank enough to blurt out; 1 ex.

The reaction was, "good boy" kind of thing; while I tried my best not to reveal the identity and the nationality of T. The teacher got it right on, but I brushed it off with a no, just to retain the main goal of my interest studying Thai.

Then we moved on to the married ones.

Apparently the 2 other classmates of mine both got married due to pre-marital pregnancy; something really familiar here.

The guy, M had a 6 years relationship before he knocked his wife up, and then get married.

The lady. N had a 3 years relationship before she got knocked up, but somehow divorced later due to issues.

It came to me now that, pre-marital sex is just getting more common; and people are obligated to marriage by the pregnancy.

I have nothing against pre-marital sex; but they should have done a better job in preventive.

Then it came to the young naive me, when both of the classmates bashed me with "future play-boy look" and "it will be your turn soon" comments.

I was asked if I would think of marriage. I said, after 30, then its plausible.

I do look forward to some consensus and acknowledgement of a life-long relationship with my future other-half, really. A simple, non-lavish with our loved ones will do the job.

I do look forward for kids, surrogacy and dictatorship raising up of kids.

I do look forward spending the rest of my life, waking up everyday and sleeping into the night with someone who mutually care for me by my side of the bed.

I'm not living the exquisite lavish life now, but I'm pretty sure I will do fairly average for my living in the future; with another half.

Pre-marital pregnancy obviously doesn't affect me; no matter how other relatives speak about how "careful" I need to be after my sister's fiasco; which will be talked in the later posts.

What I yearn now is, get my own career and be on my own feet; but a steady, matured and good earning other half in the 30s, would certainly fish me up now too.

Buffetting : Panic?

T texted me in the social media out of the blues.

Should I be hostile, or just plain friendly?

Hmm, shouldn't be thinking too much.

That is why friendship after romantic relationships are complicated.

Yet, I'm a proud Leo. Roar.

PS: Should I just end this or let it progress?

Buffetting : Comfort Food

With response to the dai lou, Calvin's post on the Top 10 comfort food, here's mine:

In non particular order:

1- Curry or Rendang (chicken, beef,mutton, pork, any meat out there)

Nothing beats a piping hot curry or rendang served with fragrant rice or bread! Best goes with a good sambal, or a flooded in banana leaf rice. The best nasi lemak I have always loved is the one from opposite Shell in SS15, Subang Jaya sold by a makcik in a maroon van, daily except Mondays and Thursdays

2- Mac and Cheese

The homemade ones are even more satisfying because of the amount of milk, cream, cheese and other dairy goodness you get to calibrate by your own! One sinful bite into your mouth, let the calories be histories!

3- Chocolate Layer Cake

not the spongy types, but the fudgy-thick, dense and rich type with generous layers of chocolate ganache in the middle. So far, the one which made me remember till today was the Holiday Villa's Dark Chocolate Cake; which is the exact one I love.

4- Siew Mai

Somehow I've developed this affinity for this line of dim sum for a long long time. A good siew mai is hard to come by because of the disproportion of flour and pork the manufacture make these days. The ones which caught my attention were from Kam Xuan outlets and the hawker from Kuchai Lama on the way to NSK beside the road; and the hawker near the Puchong Tesco hawker center. 

5- Sashimi

Rakuzen will be the stop I go all the time. The Salmon Sashimi Zen set is only RM30 but with generous slices of salmon(about 5?) topped with a hearty bowl of rice; plus chawan mushi, side dish and miso soup. I love tuna too, but salmon is more economical. Services are fine and if you were to go to the SS15 and Pyramid outlet with me, you might even get complimentary dessert too!

6- Shabu-shabu

Nothing beats a buffet of meat coming in non-stop! There are few outlets like Shabu2 King in Seri Kembangan, Sukiya in Paradigm and Mid Valley, Sukishi in IOI is okay; but the previous 2 are the really good ones! Chicken, lamb, beef and pork all sliced in good thickness melting in your mouth in a good broth~ Man that's good! On the side note, hometown steamboat has definitely dropped into my favorite list because of the pumpkin porridge and affordable price they provide!

7- Rice dumpling aka Tang Yuan or Dango

Somehow, this oriental confectionery have a special place in my heart. Be it the ones with filling, the ones without in red bean soup, the one covered in different flavors; it doesn't matter. As long as it is edible, it comforts my heart and keep it in peace. 

8- Steamed Peanuts, lots of them

I remember Carrefour in SS16, Subang Jaya used to sell them for RM2.00/100g and they were so good. Sweet and soft, the little explosion in the mouth from the juices of the natural peanuts was so awesome. Now, its no longer that available; while the hawkers by the commercial banks and rest houses do not deem the stall its justice. 

9- Custard Apple

Finally a fruit to join the family! Natural and green, the sweetness of the fruit bursting in your palates while you dig into the cortex is just heavenly! Be sure it let it get ripened with the softness of the fruit as its gauge. Once the skin tears off with a little grasp, its good to go into your tummy. Chilling it will make the whole tasting process much satisfying! PS: Do not confuse yourself with soursop, although they have similar texture but different taste

10- Ice Cream

Any kind, any place, any flavor; though I have locked my favorite list down to Matcha Ice from Shojikiya; vanilla from Sunny Hills in Kuching; Red Bean potong from King's; and Rum Raisin from Baskin Robbins which has sadly been banned; and good ice cream is so hard to come by these days

I would add Big Apple donuts and Red wine of any sort in the list; but these are much more conventional and economic to come by. I have yet to get my first red wine spent; while donuts are just crazily high calorific to indulge into.

Buffetting : Braving

No tears, No regrets, No strings attached.

The transition began even before T uttered those words.

Of course, flashbacks recur on and off, but it wasn't as strong as it used to be.

It's funny, when you were in the relationship, you would just back everything up for the other half, no matter what.

When you sit back and analyze logically, T was definitely not the best lover out there. Maybe the best friend material, but most definitely not the best lover.

These develop after I said yes, and time took toll without me realizing it.

Lady Boss even used the word - bully.

I never really saw myself as the one being bullied in my relationship, but someway or another; I got bullied.

I became this, reserved other half who said to almost every single excuses T made; and even protecting T at all times. I wasn't the proud Leo who demanded for the attention I would, need, and definitely expected in a successful relationship. I allowed T, to be this typical Aquarius while I took in all those nifty advises the net has provided.

Which deemed me, extremely taxing on this side of the relationship.

Braving out of the relationship wasn't hard; because the problem was obviously not with me.

Braving into a new relationship, however is different. The hardship, the late nights, the "tolerance"; it was really taxing.

Perhaps it was the LDR. Or it might just be me being illogical when blinded by love.

I remember vividly; a person who I will fall for will be the person who made me irrational; was the trait I look into my lover. T managed to. But was not in the good way.

Anyhow, these doesn't really matter anymore. With T out of the picture; somehow the burden on my academic and career do not seemed to be that heavy anymore.

I can explore more, without confining myself to have the need to see T in Thailand anymore; and go further to reach higher peaks.

Thai will still be in my interest list, when I go multinational it is definitely the country I'm hitting after Japan.

I never realized how I subconsciously made T the world I revolve around before we broke up. It is pretty scary to know when I snapped out of the bubble.

Braving up, for a new relationship probably require sometime.

never seen myself that huge before

Biolexus suggested dating; which somehow I'm not inclined simply because I still believe meeting people in my daily life instead of intentional meet ups.

But who knows, things might be different? Not like I'm desperate or anything right now.

Before that, a new club and good grades for a better future.

Buffetting : Abrupt End

I should have seen this coming.

Z-tnt will still be here, as a reminder of a person I became of till I did not recognize.

Someone said I deserve another who pays more attention.

It has been a long and good 9 months.

We are still friends, I hope. But we should keep it that way.

No answer, no explanations.

Time to devote to something else.

Buffetting : Obsolete

Today is just a day which happened to be great, but I still do not feel a tinge of happiness in me:

1- My class ended earlier, and I hung out with the usual people. But it was just a simple lunch without much chance to talk about stuffs.

2- My free afternoon had to be replaced by a meeting; one which made me YET another club president. This time, with horses. I'm now the President of the Equestrian Club UPM. It's like, I don't know. I am totally unsure on how should I even respond to this.

3- The night was spent with Second Chances and Little Boss. The dinner down Petaling street was fun, managed to snap some pictures with the Blackbird Fly until a few pedestrians were staring on my gesture. Dinner was great, managed to find places to get souvenirs if T would need any in the future.

Until I came back to the room and found out my lecturer actually posted about the test syllabus, without even bother to go through me. I felt, obsolete.

Really, what is the point of being a course representative if you have to hailer the test scopes over the social media? It really made me feel like totally obsolete as a course representative.

It's a good thing I'm ending the semester soon, and stepping down. Diplomacy is something really taxing on me mentally to be honest, though I don't mind working with those to keep up to their dignity.

Another note would be, I realized T is much of a attention whore more than I do,probably. The mission to seek for "likes" and "comments" over the social media seemed, to be what T is hoping for; over talking about things with me.

I guess its just the way things are? I'm probably over analyzing.

With a position of a club president over another 2 more semesters, I should totally get myself more busy than think about T all the time now.

Buffetting : Who?

Just a random thought when I saw this post on the social media:

21 signs of you having a great boyfriend

Not hoping much from T, but I guess I should be the one working hard to become THE great boyfriend.

No point comparing all the time ait?

Bacteriology here we go~

Buffetting : It's a Marathon

Talked to Queen last night about all we have missed in each other's life.

She's finally made it clear with her useless baby-sitting-required ex of her, diplomatically.

Which is good, because she deserve so much more.

While talking about T it is so obvious that the whole sacrifice thing is lopsided.

I at some point give up in trying to seek attention.

This is a different type of relationship than the one I imagined for my first love, but well, who am I to complain right?

I am all for the marathon, but as of now I give up in trying to get T's attention.

I have dignity.

Buffetting : ODEC 2014

The newly formed Equestrian Club in UPM managed to pull the strings within 4 weeks to host the very 1st Open Day Equestrian Club 2014 today.

Although being just the invitation exco, I'd pretty much did so much more for the club and the whole event.

1- Painting the stable
2- Publicizing
3- Preparing Biodata
4- Being a laborer one way or another

I swear I've been into the Equine unit more frequently than I enter a lab this whole week.

A little drama on my jobscope, but everything went well.

The expectation of the crowd was pretty minimal, yet it turned out to be quite bustling throughout the day from 9am up till 12pm. It was, really unexpected because of the time span we had to prepare and publicize.

Nevertheless, it has been a great day. It was really fun educating the public, and even our own faculty's students on how to handle a trained horse.

The horse-back riding was really popular among the visitors, while the feed we prepared was also sold out.

I guess the whole event was fun for me because I get to do the education part to the public. People tend be extremely wary around animals, but the truth is domesticated, trained animals are much easier to deal with, as long as we know how to pull the ropes.

I somehow feel that equestrian is another undermined calling which resurfaced after my Chiang Mai trip.

"Elephants and horses are the same. It's all about the footwork. No foot, no horse, no elephant"; said Dr Erica Ward.

True enough, this is obviously a sign for me to stay more in the equestrian part of the play.

I want to learn skills to know how to deal with horses; as well as application for elephants.

Who knows, I might be the next Dr Erica Wards.

I guess I never really did consider equestrian before, but I should just put in a little more effort now since its something which I will need in the future.

and a great friend is made; or 2. meet Pandora, the horse; and my partner in crime for the event.

All in all, ODEC 2014 was pretty successful and fun. Did fix my interest on the equine field for now.

Readers who wish to have a visit to the equine unit, you can always drop me an email~

On the side note, watching the recent Spiderman movie totally jolted the relationship with me and T.

"Wherever you go, I will follow you. It is my choice"- Peter Parker to Gwen Stacy.

I was thinking about T all the time in the movie.

The kissing scene, the ground-rules scene, the Oxford scene.

It was just about the same thing I will be facing in the near future with T.

When we separate our paths, will we be still doing LDR?

Or will we opt to end it?

Will T be the Gwen or will I be? It was a headwrecker during the whole movie, really.

I miss the kisses, I miss it when T touches my cheek while driving, I miss T staring in my eyes.

I miss T.

But I'm sure I'm doing a bang up job distracting myself for the whole week.

Now that all the work and drama has ended, the next post will be on the stage drama I was involved.