the disease to please is hereditary

On Friday I was asked to work an extra shift but I really didn't want to and didn't have the guts to say no because I felt bad so got my friend to say no for me. Still, I went home feeling really guilty about it even though I had no reason to! Anyway, after about 10 hours of deliberating, I decided at 11pm that I was not going to do the shift. I was going to enjoy my Saturday off because I'd be working again on Sunday.

That was until I got a text from a friend saying that they'd really appreciate me coming in. After reading that message, that was me roped in and I jumped out of my bed into my car. I thought that by hiding on another floor, none of my colleagues would find out, that was until I ran into my consultant who'd come to see a patient. Bottom line is, I've lost the respect of everyone I work with for not being able to say 'NO!' My sister calls me the world's biggest pushover. The title used to belong to my mum so it's definitely in my genes.

I actually went to google 'people pleaser' and it's nicknamed 'the disease to please'. I still get a good feeling knowing that I've helped someone out and shared their load, plus I get paid for it! But not sure if I'm bordering on pathological! Guess I'll leave that to my sister, the budding psychologist, to diagnose. Though I have this morbid fear of confrontation as well which is probably why. Don't think I'm completely nuts yet because this side of me didn't surface til this incident and people seem to think I'm quite firm. We'll keep that illusion going for as long as we can, though probably not for much longer.

Enough ranting for now. I'm off to watch an audience with Buble.. I love Michael Buble!

oklahoma!

I first visited the UK when I was 8 years old and we stayed in my aunt's house in Leicester for a couple of weeks. There wasn't much to do in Leicester and every day we'd go to Debenhams to shop, my little sis would sit in the Postman Pat van and my dad would sit at the cafe outside Debenhams drinking tea. As for me and my older sis, we'd order jam doughnuts and squeeze out all the jam. Once Debenhams kicked us out for the day, we'd head home and just watch tons of movies. That's when my little sis made us watch Postman Pat, Grease and the Sound of Music a thousand times... But my aunt also had Calamity Jane and Oklahoma which I loved and now have the DVDs of!

I actually just bought the Oklahoma soundtrack too and watched Calamity Jane on the telly today! Oh I just love Howard Keel! Found out not long ago that Jeremy Brett, one of my favourite actors who plays Sherlock Holmes, was also Freddy Eynsford Hill in My Fair Lady!

Oh I love old movies and musicals.. Edinburgh playhouse will be showing Oklahoma but I guarantee I won't find any company to go with me.. Today they showed the movie 'The Prince and the Showgirl' starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. It was a wonderful movie but the ending seemed a bit.. well sad in a way. I watched 'The Children's Hour' starring Audrey Hepburn last time and it was a bit depressing as well, but just watching these stars who shaped the film industry was just brill!

Signing off for now to sign to my Oklahoma soundtrack!

you smell

Not sure how or why I came up with this blog post but it just occurred to me as I was going to sleep last night when I was pouring some hot water into a cup. It actually has kind of a nice soothing smell.

And I was just thinking what some of my favourite smells were...

1. Roses - doesn't everyone love the smell of roses. But only fresh roses not the scented perfumes you get
2. Earl grey tea - I'm just mad about tea tea tea..
3. Rain - the air always smells so crisp after a nice rain shower
4. Green apples - everything from my toiletries to my perfume and cleaning products are all green apple!
5. My absolute favourite smell in the world.. babies! Oh my gosh, don't babies smell amazing! I remember last time I sat in the baby unit cuddling this baby and just kept smelling her! My mum loves the smell of babies too.. haha :) I wish someone had a baby I could cuddle and smell!

That's all for my weird post.. :)

little dreams

I'm still waiting for the application for my postgraduate degree to be approved so in the meantime I've been fantasising what I can do with the money if I don't get it.. It should and probably will go to another degree instead but this is more fun.

So I was really upset because I told my family that I wanted a Tiguan and they all said it was yucky but then went to buy one! I hate it when people copy my ideas. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. I don't like it cos I just like being unique.

In any case, I've decided to move on to bigger and better things. The maserati quattroporte is still way out of my reach and unfortunately, I can't bring the BMW X1 or Lexus 220d into Singapore because they're both diesel engines. Major bummer cos I love them both. So my new aim is to get the Porsche Cayenne! Whee hee.. that means saving for another year or two but how great would that be! I'm still not ready to give up little Vincent though. I love him so much and so want to bring him travelling round to different parts of the UK. He's only done about 4000 miles..

On a more serious note and complete tangent to this topic, I had a conversation with my family about kidney transplants and who we'd be willing to give our kidneys to. Now that I work on the renal unit, it's become commonplace and today I met a patient who just got their kidney from their mum and had to go through so much extra treatment just because they weren't a proper match. I suppose that would be the most common scenario - a parent giving an organ to save their child - but I can't speak from experience. Still, I think it's amazing what parents would do for their children and that is from personal experience.

Smiles :)

where fashion meets food

So it seems the talk is all about London and will be for the next 4 weeks until we go to London and then the 4 weeks after that. Afternoon tea has always been my thing and I'm still dreaming of the day when I can take a tour of the best tea rooms around the UK.

I was really excited about booking the Dorchester afternoon tea because it's supposed to be really good, having won awards and all. But my sis has never been keen on afternoon tea, especially since she hates scones and cucumber sandwiches. In any case, she was not impressed by the tea menu, much like any other. Until my friend recommended the afternoon tea at the Berkeley Hotel, or rather the fashionista tea. It's got biscuits modelled after some of the trendiest bags, accessories and clothes and guess who finally changed her tune about afternoon tea? I won't be getting my lavish scones with clotted cream but at least we'll have a fun afternoon taking pictures of all these cool pastries!

I can't wait!

London!

Anyway, I think the most exciting bit about going to London is always the musicals and the food, glorious food.

I absolutely love musicals though there are still I've not been able to catch, partly because I keep watching the same musicals over and over again. My top favourite is a hard fight between Les Miserables and the Phantom of the Opera. I always tell people that if you watch the Phantom, to try and get the first few stalls because it's an amazing feeling when you see the chandelier coming down on top of you! Hope I haven't given away too much. I've seen Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat three times as well which is brilliant. People often rave about the Lion King though after the beautiful production of the Circle of Life at the beginning, things kinda take a slow turn. Though not a musical, I absolutely love the Lord of the Dance as well. My sis fell asleep at My Fair Lady so I'm not pushing majorly for that.

In any case, we're going to watch Wicked, which a patient once raved about to me, and Love Never Dies, which is one Andrew Lloyd Webber's new work. Quite excited.

The other thing I'm really excited about is going to have a meal at Alain Ducasse who was just awarded three Michelin stars this year. Three michelin stars means that it's definitely worth a journey so let's see. The best meal I've ever eaten was the one at the Boxwood Cafe where I had the venison and I'm not kidding, it melts in your mouth! How meat does that I don't know but it does! And afternoon tea, oh I absolutely adore the clotted cream at Harrod's tea room but apparently the Dorchester tea is award winning so here we come!!

I'm also excited to go back to Harrods and have more of Morelli's ice cream. Other than the gelato in Italy, which you just can't beat, Morelli's is definitely the best! I was there nearly everyday when I spent a month in London! And when it comes to ice cream, I'm definitely an expert on the subject.

London here we come!

what's a sister to do..

My family always comments on how serious my blog is, so I decided that to add a side dish to my blog - a little helping of laughter and the nuttiness that goes on in my life.. as well as some interesting musings and things that make my world go round.

So today, my little sis and I decided that we would head back to our favourite spot - London. Despite her disdain of travelling alone, she seems to find her way back to Dundee every year. And although we sometimes travel to different places like Germany or Paris, London is definitely our favourite. The only difference is that now we (or I) can afford to pay for stuff and we don't need to stay in creepy hotels.

I always tell her she should take up a career as a comedian though she still hasn't taken my advice...

Jo: I hope there's no terrorists on the plane
Me: Of course. Don't be nuts.
Jo: I'm going to book the emergency exit
Me: *silence* So you can jump off the plane if there's one?!
Jo: No! There's more leg room!
Me: -__-

So as the planning goes on for our London trip, the cost seems to go up and up...

Jo: Have you been on the London Duck? It's quite good. We can go.
Me: Oh yeah ok I don't mind.
Jo: How much is it?
Me: £20 for me and £16 for you.
Jo: Actually it's quite expensive... do you want to just go yourself? I'll wait for you.
Me: WHY THE HECK WOULD I WANT TO GO ON THE DUCK ON MY OWN?! AND WAVE TO YOU FROM THE DUCK?!

Sigh. What's a sister to do.