Within 4 walls

Just came home from a comfy night out with the med gang celebrating PS' birthday. she held the party at her little maisonette in arrow heights and we were ensconced in her dining room on the upper level pigging out on all the wonderful food she'd painstakingly prepared. After we'd finished pigging out on the main course, we began our assault on the mouth-watering assortment of desserts-- all homemade, of course. stuffed as i was i just couldn't resist testing the limits of my digestive tract once again. and boy, was i glad i did. Andrew's chocolate and green tea mousse was delicious. i think i just discovered gary-rhodes in the making. (Andrew, if you ever read this, plse know that i wasn't paid to say this, but a little gratitude in the form of chocolate mousse might be appropiate) =)

Food aside, the scenery from PS' 9th floor apartment was beautiful. From where i was sitting, i had a glorious view of the Royal Exhibition Building, also fondly known as the REB. with its stately dome cast in incandescent glow outlined against the dark melbourne sky-- it was quite magnificent. i walk past the building every day on my way to the hospital, but i've never thought of it as magnificent before. Stately perhaps, but never beautiful or magnificent. though that could be because i've never quite had the chance to take a good look at it-- i've only either rushed past it to go to school or rushed into it to take an exam (it's where our semesterly exams were held in our pre-clinical years). Seeing the REB in all its splendour tonight reminds me of the number of things- buildings, scenery, people- i pass every single day without ever pausing to look. And because i never paused to look, i've missed out on seeing the beauty in these ordinary things. so from now on i must remember to pause once every so often just to take in my surroundings-- to look, hear, smell and soak in the moment.

The other thing that struck me tonight was how pretty T is. She's got a beauty that grows under scrutiny because it's so simple, so unembellished. Her complexion is fair and flawless and her features well-chiselled, yet with a distinct softness to it. We've embarked on this bid to make her even prettier by getting her to exchange her glasses for a pair of contacts, but she gives the same response every time, "dun want lah, so mah fan". And much as it frustrates us that she never listens, it also adds to her beauty-- this non-chalance about appearances, this staunch refusal to get sucked into the race to be beautiful.

I hope she stays that way.