VISIT TO PRESTIJ PERDANA DENTAL CENTRE

Assalamualaikum, hello reader!

Yesterday at 8pm, I and a few of my classmates had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Nurul Huda Hasan and Dr. Firdaus Hariri of Prestij Perdana Dental Centre. They're both from Universiti Malaya and are now full-fledged dentists, the former specialising in Aesthetics Dentistry and the latter in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. Before this, we only met them as "on lookers" in events where we participated or volunteered in. Mind you, the two of them are very famous amongst dental students in Malaysia as well as the dental scene in general. *coughs* hahaha! Hence, I am still counting my stars to have been given the opportunity to meet them in person.

With the help of waze, we were able to found the clinic but for your future reference, here's the address;

PRESTIJ PERDANA DENTAL CENTRE

Address: Jalan Pekaka 8/1, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Phone:03-6150 1343

We reached there before maghrib and def way before time- and I think DocF saw us from the balcony. Being the nervous mice that we were, we opted to find a surau nearby (slaps face). Sharp at 8, we made our way to the clinic and was warmly welcomed by DocF in his blue surgey uniform, directed us upstairs, where they usually chill out. Upstairs, we were then greeted by Mrs. Fiza, DocF's wife. The space is amaze-balls! They are such nice people, they even had dinner ordered for us! (cries)

DocF was also kind enough to allow us to observe an implant case (2 students at a time) at the treatment room downstairs; this was the most exciting part because I've only heard about implants briefly in Prostho. Witnessing it live was- again, amazeballs! The patient had a bridge failure on 36 region and wanted the best tx option. In this case, it's implants. The patient also had edentulous 46 region. So, DocF had done implants in the 36 (left side) 2 weeks ago and was removing the sutures. He also showed us the gingiva shaper in place. Next, we were lucky enough to witness DocF incising the gums-exposing the alveolar bone beneath. Phewhh I thought it was going to be so nerve-wrecking, but DocF did it so smooth and gracefully ! 

After DocF and DocN were done with their appointments that evening, they both finally joined us for dinner upstairs. DocN even had a journalist from NSTP with us, waiting for her. oh my, they are so much FUN! If you only had very grumpy dentists in your memory, trust me, you'll change your mind once you meet them. They were so patient listening to our queries and in change, so generous in sharing their experiences and stories. I took every single one of their advices to heart.

After chit-chatting, we had a photography session! (if you call selfies and a lot of photobombing-photography! haha) DocN whipped out her gopro and the rest was history--

Before the night ended, they took us for a tour downstairs at the clinic.

                        

 During that whole time, I was unconsciously imagining about the endless amount of possibilities on my future. I realised that regardless of what I'm going to venture in the future;to open up a private practice , have a cafe in my clinic, or just stay with the government--it all comes down to my intentions. I have to choose a path that I will look forward to take on; everyday for the rest of my life.

                                                  Alhamdulillah for this opportunity.

Many thanks to Dr. Firdaus & wife, Dr. Nurul and staff of Prestij Perdana Dental Centre for having us with such hospitality and warmth. We hope nothing but the best for you guys.

So guys, what are you waiting for? Get your dental treatment at the coolest dental clinic!

p/s: we also met Atikah Suhaime, who had her teeth treated by DocN! hehe

 xx

CLASSIC VANILLA CUPCAKES RECIPE

Assalamualaikum, hello reader! Hope you are doing great.

It's that time of the month where my brain decides to take control of my taste buds and appetite. I rarely crave for sweet things, but when I do, the craving is impossible to shake off. Ask my friends, I'll be going about my craving(s) for days! This time, it's vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting! It's a fun, simple, and quick recipe. Give it a try and add some of your personal touchings too!

Ingredients for cupcake (makes approx 28 cupcakes, depending on your serving size)
1. 200g unsalted butter, softened
2. 1 3/4 cups caster sugar
3. 2 tsp vanilla paste
4. 4 eggs
5. 2 3/4 cups self raising flour
6. 1 cup milk

TIP: if your don't have self raising flour, you can use this recipe to make some at home;

Ingredients for buttercream frosting
1. 200g unsalted butter, softened
2. 5 cups icing sugar
3. 1/2 cup milk

Method (cupcakes)
1. Pre-heatoven to 180 celcius
2. Line muffin pans with cupcake cases of your preference

3. Cream butter+sugar+vanilla paste with a mixer until fluffy

4. Add eggs, one at a time

5. Mix until combined

6. Add flour and milk in alternate batches

7. Mix in low speed, not too long
8. Scoop out and transfer bater into cupcake cases.
9. Bake for 15-20 mins or until cooked through (identified by the yummy smell)

10. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Method (frosting)
1. Beat butter until very pale
2. Gradually add icing sugar while beating
3. Add milk and beat until well combined.

It's up to your creativity and imagination really when it comes to frostings or toppings. These are the results! hehe

If you prefer something less sweet, go for the bittersweet caramel and sprinkle some sea salt flakes on top. You can find the ready-made caramel at most bakery supplies shop. The salt flakes can be found in Cold Storage.

Happy Baking ! x

IS DENTISTRY FOR YOU?

Assalamualaikum, hello reader !

 It's that time of the year-SPM results are out! I still remember my time 4 years ago.. the nerve-wrecking, stomach-rumbling feeling of anticipating your results after working so hard-it all comes down to this one day. Praises be to Allah, I managed to get what I was hoping for, although they weren't all "plusses",  I can't be happier that day.

  After a few of my juniors enquired about dentistry, I just decided to write a blog post to help other students out there who want some insights and a clear outline on the things to do before you decide to pursue a career in Dentistry.

(basically me moments ago)

If you're not planning to do Dentistry, it's okay. This post is generally about the steps towards undergrad studies. So let's get started!

 By form 4 you should have a rough idea about what you want to do for the rest of your life. If you are still in high school now, and you still haven't the slightest clue, fret not. Here are some tips to pave your way into choosing the right career for you.

Tip #1
Choose your stream
ie: Life Sciences, Technical Sciences, Arts, Accountancy, Sports etc
This can be done by looking at your achievements in form 1-form 3. What did you always excel in?

Tip #2
Recognise your plus-point
(your favourite subject, the subject that you have NO problem scoring As)
eg: I have always loved Biology, and never had a problem with the subject, so I made some research on Bio related careers and narrowed down my findings.

Tip #3
Keep an eye out for edu-fairs & save the dates!
These are some to get you started;
-http://careersandstudy.com
-http://eventful.com/kualalumpur/events/education-fair-malaysia-2015-/E0-001-078094899-5
-http://www.thestar.com.my/edufair/

After SPM, you can apply for foundation studies through UPU, but basically your placement is solely based on your SPM results. Most straight A scorers will get PASUM.

Tip #4
Check the entry requirements of the course in your uni of choice
The competition is there-and it's hard to get a place in a public dental school. Heck, even private institutions have a waiting list. Unfortunately, to get into a dental course in an IPTA, you must obtain an overall CGPA of 4.00 in your PRE-U studies. Just remember, the better you score, the lesser the competition, and the higher your chance of getting a place.

Tip #5
Have a plan B
This, by far, I have to say is the most important tip I can give-because life is unexpected. You can be the best planner in the world or the smartest person on earth, but life will always win. So to avoid disappointments or a broken-heart, just have a plan B...or even a plan C-just incase things don't work out they way you wanted it to.


BUT BACK TO THE TITLE OF MY BLOG POST....

Is dentistry for you? How do you know for sure if you haven't been in a dental school before?
It is true that there is no definitive answers for that question but through my experience, I chose Dentistry based on these reasons;
(you can also checkout my blog post about dentistry here)

1. I sucked at Math
2. I love life sciences
3. I also love art (D-ENgineer-arTIST) get it? :)
4. I wanted to become a doctor but still able to maintain my social life
5. The pay! (okay we all have to admit this at some point)
6. I think that helping relieving pain is a beautiful thing to be able to do
7. I want to make people confident to smile !
8. I like interacting with people


To get further insights on what we ACTUALLY do in dental school, click HERE. The blogger is a 2nd year dental student from UCLA and I love love love reading her posts! They're witty, inspirational and informative at the same time.

So there you go!  Hope this'll benefit you in any way. If you have questions to ask, feel free to drop a comment or you can email me at jasminealya@rocketmail.com
All the best in whatever it is that you are doing, wether you choose Dentistry, Engineering, Economics, Law etc just remember;

"NOTHING WORTH HAVING COMES EASY"

xx

A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS

Assalamulaikum, hello reader! 

       It's a lovely Sunday afternoon and I was skimming through some Youtube videos- where I ended up watching "A Few of My Favourite Things" scene from The Sound of Music. It's my second fav song from the movie, the first being "Sixteen Going On Seventeen". It's particularly important to acknowledge the little things that make you feel good in your life, so that on less better days, you could still be thankful that at least you've had a fair amount of good things happening as well. Besides, just thinking about your happy things could make you feel good! So here are some of the things that make my brain release endorphins-kicking in the "fell-good" factor--all of which instantly bring me joy.

(This meme gets me every time!)

1. Tea, of any kind, hot or cold, sugared or syruped, infused with fruits but not with milk.

2. Night leisure drive

3. Random adventures 

4. The smell of freshly cut grass 

5. The smell of rain

6. The smell of freshly printed money

7. Flowers (esp peonies, daisies, lilies, and the classic roses)

8. Fresh laundry

9. Babies laughter & babies in general

10. Sling bags with zips, not "locks"

11. Oversized jumpers

12. Notebooks, of any kind.

13. Highlighters

14. The basic butter cupcakes with buttercream frosting

15. Vanilla or yummy scented candles

16. Polaroids

17. The sound of the waves crashing in

18. Fresh coconut juice

19. Pastel colours

20. Shades of pink & purple & green

21. Apple products

22. A really cold drink on a really hot day

23. Hitting a bunch of green lights in a row

24. Having a whole row to myself on a plane

25. Hanging my hand out the window of a car

26. Bakery air

27. When I manage to squeeze enough toothpaste for one last brush

28. Good escalator etiquette

29. Salt

30. Hugs

31. Smiles from strangers, (not creepy ones!)

32. Waking up not feeling the need to go back to sleep

33. The smell of Play-Doh

34. Laughing so hard that I make no sound at all

35. Grandma's cooking

36. SUSHI

37. Walks by the beach during sunset

38. Sunrises & sunsets

39. Cute furry animals

40. Popping a zit

41. Hearing a song which reminds me of someone I love

42. Do nothing days

43. Finishing exams 

44. When a social event I didn't want to go to gets cancelled

45. Old people who always smile

46. Seeing my loved ones happy

47. Reading & writing

Let me know YOUR favourite things in the comment section, if its not listed here. I'm curious to know! :)

MY FIRST "SOLO" TRAVEL EXPERIENCE: Seoul, South Korea

Assalamualaikum, hello reader!


I've always wanted to travel-if given the chance to. During my foundation year, I received some money from the gov to pay for the uni's tuition fees but instead, I kept that money aside for my travel fund. Being a student, the most important thing about traveling is- BUDGETING. Being a newbie in the "traveling" world or as I like to call it "the nomadic life", the things that people asked me to consider about was distance, exchange rate, language, interests and etc. Initially it was planned to be somewhere in Australia, but then somehow I got infected with K-DRAMAS (cries)! I blame my friends for getting me into this mess! Haha, popped my k-drama cherry (if there's such a thing) with Boys over Flowers and fell head over heels with Lee Min Ho. Okay maybe now you know why I ended up buying flight tickets to Seoul HAHAHAHA! The best thing about my time there was, I got to have Syahirah Radzi; aka Vina by my side to share these memories with. So here's some snippets from our week holiday in the land of K-POP ! Enjoy! x

"Being up above the clouds, I realized that there's more in life that I want to be able to experience, more faces I want to meet, more food I want to indulge, more places I want to go to and more cultures I want to understand. The world's a beautiful sight and I wanna be able to experience every part of it. If Allah wills it" 

-Syahirah Radzi, 2013

p/s: Vina had just the words that I searched for to conclude our trip together. Yes, this is what traveling do to people-it opens minds.

I WISH IT'S AS EASY AS IT LOOKS

Assalamualaikum, hello reader.

     It always gets me when people wonder why it takes 5 years to become a full-fledged dentist in Malaysia. "What's there to learn about drilling and pulling out teeth?" (INSERT MY ANNOYED FACE HERE) well..........apart from knowing the anatomy of your head and neck, we are also required to learn some basic medicine because there's like a kejillion of things that can happen during a dental treatment. For instance, your patient could have a sudden heart attack, or is on Warfarin and after an extraction, he/she could bleed excessively or worst case senario (MY worst case scenario), a >7 mo pregnant mother came into labour ON YOUR DENTAL CHAIR!! Hahaha just imagining it makes me anxious. There's also things like  injecting anaesthesia before certain procedures so what happens if you did not learn the head & neck anatomy? A patient might end up with a permanent facial paralysis.

However, what we learn is not limited to the head & neck area only. Basically, pre-dent was exactly like pre-med, only of slightly less depth. Let me break it down for you-:

D1
Anatomy-Histology, Embryology, Dental Anatomy
Physiology
Biochemistry
Oral Biology
PDIT
Malaysian Studies
Islamic Studies

D2
Pathology
Pharmacology & Dental Therapeutics
Dental Materials & Technology- Prosthodontics
Operative & Conservative Dentistry
Microbiology- including Immunology
Preventive Dentistry & Cariology
Society & Health
Oral Imaging

Now that I'm in D2, looking back at D1's subjects are like

and me in D2 now like

haha

Anyway, thought I'd share about one of my work in Cons, which was a direct class 4 restoration on #21 using composite. 

top: before

bottom: after

TA-DA!

oh yes, that green thing is a rubber dam, used for isolation, and that metal thing is a clamp to keep the dam secure. Would have to dedicate a new post on rubber dams! lol

Gotta go do my laundry!

xx

AFTER HOURS

Assalamualaikum, hello reader.

Yesterday we had a short pharmaco quiz. You see, we had to study 3 months worth of Pharmacology lectures. The problem was, out of the amazing number of things we had to read, only 10 MCQs and 1 SEQ were asked. I KNOW RIGHT. It was just a small quiz but the celebration was like completing a professional examination (LOL); Farah was fasting so we used that as a more decent excuse to go out and eat. We all met at Absolute Thai in One Utama, and as usual, we got lost finding our way there, who doesn't? The place's humongous. Afterwards we headed to the cinemas to watch Kingsman: The Secret Service (one of the best movies I've watched, no joke) but then we had more than an hour to burn so we ended up playing a game of bowling! Fun night, alhamdulillah.

Enjoy the short video! haha

Starring: Nina, Amie, Chom, Marwan, Farah, Paan

xx

PASSION, ARE YOU TEMPORARY?

Assalamualaikum, hello reader.

Lately I have been less enthusiastic in life generally. I used to have so much passion for the things I do. I wonder, where does the passion come from, and if it ever diminishes, what may be the reason?
During the first year of dental school I remember absorbing everything like a sponge, did some extra reading and making pretty notes. Even buying stationaries was a weekly thing!

If we rewind further back when I still had my previous blog, I recall my posts very expressive and witty and burning with passion that when I re-read them, I can actually imagine the animated version of myself. I had a lot to say about things! Is this what growing up feels? All serious and dull? Losing interest? Not having that "fire" in life anymore? If it is, I don't want any part of it.

It's not that I don't like what I'm doing. I love them to bits. I still love basketball, I love Dentistry (although it's sucking the life out of me), I loved and STILL love writing. I used to have so many notebooks and journals and diaries (as a by-product of spending too much time at stationary shops!), but somehow words don't come to me as easy as it used to be before. I find it also hard to get myself to study and absorb. MOTIVATION PLS COME.

Here's an excerpt from a UCLA dental student's blog. You can read the full blog post here.

The thing about dental school is that if you do it the wrong way (and believe me, there are many ways to do it wrong) - your happiness fades very quickly. I know I'm not alone when I say that D2 really wears you down. When I went back home for break, my sister jokingly said to me "Rach, what's wrong? It kinda seems like you lost your sparkle" - and in that moment, I knew exactly what she meant. She was able to pinpoint my main struggle in dental school - the ability to maintain my happiness and sanity during a time when everything just felt too overwhelming. 

I'd gotten to a point where my entire life revolved around dentistry and every day was the same - breathe, sleep (very little) and live dentistry. Up until my sister pointed this out to me - I didn't realize that I'd become so serious. I didn't notice how it had become so difficult for me to laugh about anything - few things were ever funny enough to make me smile. I would respond to jokes a little too sensitively, and spend my hours brooding. 

I seriously want to wake up every morning looking forward to the long lectures, ask my lecturers question that will make them require some referencing, reading ahead of time, making pretty notes again, being all determined (read:kiasu). After all, it's not about the destination only, it's the journey as well. I need to enjoy what I'm doing.

Currently I suck in Conservative Dentistry (in the sim lab), well I have my good days but they are countable. Setbacks are NOT supposed to bring me down, it never had before so why now? I feel so demotivated cause it's so hard to get a good mark for my restorations that I'll settle for a 2 out of 3. If the old Jasmine was around, she'd work her arse off to get a 3. (maybe even a 3+, if it's possible lol)

p/s: My 2nd Professional Examination is creeping its way to me in approx 2 months and I need to get my shit together. Please pray for me ! Bismillah.

xx

LADIES & SPORTS

Assalamualaikum, hello reader.

(for illustration purposes)

Let's face it; our physical activity as we enter our 20s starts to plummet quickly. I don't know about everybody else but during high school, my daily routine for 5 YEARS was;

subuh-classes-canteen rest-classes-lunch break&zohor-prep class-asar break-basketball practice-maghrib-prep class-isyak-study-----sleep (sleep is for the weak hahaha)

I don't remember having enough time to even waste time, which is a very good thing. During my foundation year in UM, I maybe got a little too excited for finally having some free-will that it lead to me not maximising my time as much. Yes, the lectures & labs are hardcore and consumed much of my energy but that's just me making excuses not to do something productive. I could count the number of times per week I actually did some physical activity besides lying on my bed scrolling instagram or facebook timeline.. HOW COULD YOU JASMINE!

After guilt overloaded my system, I finally took action (lol). Got hooked up with some other basketball players from different SBPs and played basketball after classes in the evening. As expected, it only lasted for a few days. Had to then play with the boys who came down to play EVERY EVENING given that the weather was favourable. I was the only girl at the basketball court ever since! Tried jogging as well but me & jogging never got along with each other since forever so I stayed in my comfort zone.

Then came degree life...freedom increased, free-time decreased, energy after classes-- almost 0 hahaha. If it's not for the sports event that come around once or twice a year, I don't know what I'll do. I try to enter running events outside of college though, note the word 'try'. But is it enough?

I don't know the problem about women & sports as they grow into their 20's or even 30's. I see my guy peers still actively playing sports (whatever kind, they're so adaptable!) in the evenings and sometimes on weekends too! I get so jealous.

Now that I've started playing futsal and joining my classmates play volleyball and netball, I'm kind of motivated to start staying fit & active again. Let's just hope the motivation is productive. I hate feeling all slow and lazy and just less healthier than I used to be before.

LETS GET EM BLOOD PRESSURE RISING THE POSITIVE WAY GALS !

xx

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Assalamualaikum, hello reader.

I know I have been away from the blogging scene for quite some time now. Apart from having 0.01% of interest in expressing my thoughts into words, I had no laptop. Yes, I have my iphone and ipad but blogging's just not the same without a laptop (i'm just making excuses) but yeah being in dental school does not really give me much freedom to blog. Most of the time I'll be brain-dead from hours of lectures then hours of lab sessions while simultaneously organising events. Some people think I do not require rest. Anyhow, here's some of the big updates about me;

1. I am now in my 2nd semester, 2nd year of Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)
2. Just got a new laptop (praise the Lord)
3. Still not 50kgs (saying this cause I'm always >50kg)
4. Deleted my twitter account
5. Achieved my academic goals in year 1 DDS (alhamdulillah)
6. Going to 2 countries this year, one with family, one with a friend in sya Allah
7. Playing futsal for the upcoming Dental Intervarsity Games at UKM Bangi on 21/3 (HAHAHA)

Can't think of anything "big" anymore, well if there still are, I'm prolly too shy to tell it to the world :p

So this is me letting you know that I will (try) to blog when I have the chance/ideas.
Hope you'll have a good week! x

p/s: IT'S ALREADY MARCH !!!