January242012
My beautiful salad

My beautiful salad
January212012
My communication task for my elective. I feel quite proud because my supervisor hung it right up in the lobby! It’s basically an information board for keepers to inform and educate them about bird handling, as well as to serve as an announcement board of sorts. Turning 24 in four days.  I can’t help wishing I was but a 4 year old instead. At disneyland on a birthday. 

My communication task for my elective. I feel quite proud because my supervisor hung it right up in the lobby! It’s basically an information board for keepers to inform and educate them about bird handling, as well as to serve as an announcement board of sorts.

Turning 24 in four days. 

I can’t help wishing I was but a 4 year old instead. At disneyland on a birthday. 
January192012
My buk choy has finally been harvested! (and eaten with noodle soup)

My buk choy has finally been harvested! (and eaten with noodle soup)
12AM

This is an oriental dwarf kingfisher, also the smallest in the kingfisher family. Sadly, this bird had concerns finding its food within the new aviary it was released in, and also flew into the wire mesh fence. It was admitted back into the hospital barely about 5 days after it left quarantine with a ‘broken wing’. 

It died today because it hadn’t been eating well. I got to perform the post mortem and it was a dislocated shoulder joint, actually. A bit sad, because it was a very beautifully coloured bird.

Anyway, today after work I had to eat out as dinner plans got cancelled. As I sat at Subway alone, eating my dinner while reading chick lit on my phone, the subway server comes up to me and says, ‘Whao, you’re so good, huh? You can eat a whole foot long by yourself!’

After which I feel a little bit guilty inside because at Subway I almost always can polish off a foot long by myself in a single sitting. In fact, a foot long is usually my default. And then I look around at the petite Singaporean girls sitting around me and everyone is holding off after just a half footer. Without cookies.

January152012

Sometimes, when I am down, like tonight, I ask myself if God knows how it feels like.

I’m sure other people do the same, like when a hurricane hits their homes, a fire burns down all their belongings, or sickness takes away a loved one.

Then the question, ‘God, do you know how this feels like? Do you really love us?’ comes out of our mouths. After all, what does he know? For all we know we are but pawns played to his sport.

And yes, I think God does know. I think God became man and went through the worst persecution (not just physically painful, but a piercing sorrow in his heart as well) just so we could say, ‘Of course he knows. He went through everything that you felt first.’

So no one can say he doesn’t know. He took the form of a man, and was human in everything. The way he breathed, felt, lived, and most of all, suffered.

January112012
animals-animals-animals: Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) (by Lip Kee) I’ve been seeing these guys everyday! I’ve been so bone tired coming home everyday, but am learning so much about avian health. Today I tried my first endoscopic sexing and failed, and I ended up killing my patient on the table.  This is sad, but the vet told me we all kill animals…sooner or later. Well, this is my number one. I straight up lanced its liver with the trochar. Luckily for me this patient was due to be euthanised, and because it was under anaesthesia, it died fairly peacefully and unconscious. One of the biggest challenges for me has been learning all the bird names. The keepers are amazing at what they do. Biggest excitement for me today was giving fluids subcutaneously to a king penguin. I couldn’t help thinking ‘Eeeeeee…’ the whole time. It waddled its way towards us and away from us. The keeper had to hug it too, to restrain it. I also had an acute onset of pain on the lateral aspect of my knee today. Had to limp my way to work and ungracefully rush for a seat on the train so I could sit. I ended up looking it up and I think I have ilio-tibial band syndrome, also known as ITBS. So I grabbed some bandages and vetwrap from the hospital and tried to wrap my own knee below the patella…and it worked! Didn’t take all the pain away but certainly helped a great deal. I paid for it though, when I had to strip the bandages off… Going to ice it now and lie down and watched the season 7 finale of House MD.

animals-animals-animals:

Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) (by Lip Kee)

I’ve been seeing these guys everyday! I’ve been so bone tired coming home everyday, but am learning so much about avian health. Today I tried my first endoscopic sexing and failed, and I ended up killing my patient on the table. 

This is sad, but the vet told me we all kill animals…sooner or later. Well, this is my number one. I straight up lanced its liver with the trochar. Luckily for me this patient was due to be euthanised, and because it was under anaesthesia, it died fairly peacefully and unconscious.

One of the biggest challenges for me has been learning all the bird names. The keepers are amazing at what they do.

Biggest excitement for me today was giving fluids subcutaneously to a king penguin. I couldn’t help thinking ‘Eeeeeee…’ the whole time. It waddled its way towards us and away from us. The keeper had to hug it too, to restrain it.

I also had an acute onset of pain on the lateral aspect of my knee today. Had to limp my way to work and ungracefully rush for a seat on the train so I could sit. I ended up looking it up and I think I have ilio-tibial band syndrome, also known as ITBS. So I grabbed some bandages and vetwrap from the hospital and tried to wrap my own knee below the patella…and it worked! Didn’t take all the pain away but certainly helped a great deal.

I paid for it though, when I had to strip the bandages off…

Going to ice it now and lie down and watched the season 7 finale of House MD.
January82012
The enormous spread at Samy’s curry, which also did wonders to lighten our pockets. Took a cab the other day, while on orders to deliver some samples and papers to the zoo, and bemusedly watched as the cab driver drove on only gears 4 and 5. Even when he turned on corners he dragged the car on 4. It’s either a really good car, a lazy hand, or a stuck gear stick!

The enormous spread at Samy’s curry, which also did wonders to lighten our pockets.

Took a cab the other day, while on orders to deliver some samples and papers to the zoo, and bemusedly watched as the cab driver drove on only gears 4 and 5. Even when he turned on corners he dragged the car on 4. It’s either a really good car, a lazy hand, or a stuck gear stick!
January62012
January32012
Avian erythrocytes - note that they are nucleated unlike many other animals and man! Instead of neutrophils they also have heterophils instead. In this picture I took through the view finder you can also see some thrombocytes (also nucleated), lymphocytes, a heterophil and an eosinophil.

Avian erythrocytes - note that they are nucleated unlike many other animals and man! Instead of neutrophils they also have heterophils instead.

In this picture I took through the view finder you can also see some thrombocytes (also nucleated), lymphocytes, a heterophil and an eosinophil.
10PM
Today: lots of pathology! Did total WBC counts, differential WBCs, faecal floats, PCVs, TPs and biochem. And best of all, caught my first two lesser flamingos! They were brought in for endoscopic sexing, blood draws and cloacal swabs under anaesthesia.

Today: lots of pathology! Did total WBC counts, differential WBCs, faecal floats, PCVs, TPs and biochem. And best of all, caught my first two lesser flamingos! They were brought in for endoscopic sexing, blood draws and cloacal swabs under anaesthesia.
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