A week in hometown

I’ll be walking into the realms of clinical medicine today. It’s the first day of my 8-week medicine posting. As far as I know, medicine is a vast field which encompasses everything under the sun that’s usually non-surgical. But still there’s a lot, seriously. It’s going to be really challenging and taxing, I guess.

I spent an entire week in Penang and my hometown. I had planned to do a lot of things, but ended up flirting online and downloading porn movies most of the time. Apart from that, equipped with a little bit of very superficial knowledge regarding obstetrics and gynaecology, I could relate more to my mom who’s on the verge of menopause as well as my expectant sister who’s at the 32nd week of gestation. I managed to impress them with my ability to locate the fetal head, buttocks and back after a simple obstetrical examination.

I met an old friend, BA. She lost about 10 kg since I last saw her. A lot prettier now. We’d been classmates for 10 consecutive years. We used to be outrageously overweight, if not obese. Living in a society that fetishizes slimness and external beauty, it distorted our self-images and punctured our self-esteem. And that’s probably why I never dated a guy. Then, we came to a point we got so fed up of being teased and the object of ridicule that we decided to lose weight. We fortified each other's determination by providing the emotional and moral support one would need in the arduous process of shedding weight. And I’m not talking about 1 or 2 pounds here. I managed to lose 17 kg last year. A metamorphosis. I’m really pleased BA is making it too.

I always wanted to be slim and petite, with a lean body and an abdominal circumference not exceeding 28 inches. Despite the fact that I've yet to reach my ideal weight and I still don’t look as dazzling as I thought I would after all, I no longer have the inferiority complex about my appearance. It’s indeed a splendid feeling when friends or relatives stare at you in enormous disbelief and astonishment, scanning you from head to toes with their jaws dropped and mouths agape.