Jenny Hao

Orange Base Hospital and Safari

2011-08-28T17:29:00.000+01:00

I really enjoyed my time at Orange Base Hospital. It's Australia's newest hospital, opened earlier this year. Though it is situated in Orange, a small town in central New South Wales with a population of only 40k, it is a fairly large and very modern hospital as it serves a wide area of rural NSW, which includes local aboriginal communities. The operating theatres were very nice to work in and daresay, better equipped. The consultants are fairly generalised so some visiting consultants fly in from Sydney to run specialist clinics in Orange. Overall, it is a excellent hospital, especially for such a rural community.

For me, the hospital is also notably remembered for the court of kangaroos who lived near the clinical school. They are the first 'wild' kangaroos I have ever encountered, though they are pretty used to humans. What surprised me was how big some of them were. Some of the bulls were as tall as me!

Hospital Safari

James walked towards them and made them bounce

What I will take back most from Orange was how accommodating the people were. My contact in Orange, Dr John Morgan, was kind enough to pick me up from the airport. Having arrived with no luggage, I was very grateful to the other students and staff who went out of their way to help me. Dr Morgan is a general surgeon who practised in Orange for over four decades and now stays on to run some of the hospital grand rounds and journal clubs. He kindly extended an invitation for myself and some other students to his house in the country. He and his wife laid on a delicious afternoon tea and afterwards I enjoyed some stargazing in the clear and crisp sky near his house. I was very touched by the warmth of people in Orange.

Dr and Mrs Morgan invited myself and some med students friends to their lovely home

J x

Orange Weekend

2011-08-17T15:08:00.006+01:00

Nope, not the colour. The first part of my elective has been based in Orange, a small town in central NSW. It's a relatively affluent little rural town with a close-knit community which is full of friendly and accommodating people. I am really glad I came out here to see a side of Australia most tourists wouldn't.

Some medical students and their friends from Sydney very kindly took me around the wineries and vineyards near Orange as it is in the heart of Australian wine country.

We had brunch at an excellent restaurant, Tonic, in the quaint little town of Millthorpe.Then the tour of the wineries began. First stop was Angullong winery in the town, a family business run by a very friendly couple. Next stop was Borrodell, located at the top of a very picturesque vineyard where you could also hunt for truffles. Their cherry liqueur was very worthy of note, not-so-impressed was the stern ex-teacher who showed the wines to us, I think she had some bad experiences with previous groups of medical students... Third stop was Small Acres Cyder where the owner's English wife inspired him to brew a a taste of home with some Somerset and Norfolk still cider. The owner also did an audit of all the visitors to the cider farm so I was glad I remembered my new London postcode (yay, Char!). The final wine tasting and perhaps best of all, was in Phillip Shaw's beautiful home. His award winning red wines were really quite excellent. Sadly, due to my ALDH2 mutant allele, I had to spit out more wine than I drank, sorry to those who had to see that. Here's a little photo montage of the weekend:

Sleepy town of Millthorpe looked like the set of a country and western

Angullong Winery run by a lovely couple

Beautiful view from Borrodell

Harry climbing up the hill after being pushed down several times

Group of us at Borrodell

Cider tasting at Small Acres Cyder

At Phillip Shaw's dining table!

A really fun and enriching weekend. Huge thanks to James and his friends for taking me along.

Jx

London's Burning

2011-08-11T15:55:00.001+01:00

I can't believe what's been happening in the UK since the weekend! Will there be anything left of London by the time I get back? It seems a whole generation of repressed and disillusioned youths have given up and started rioting and looting. It doesn't seem to take a lot to upturn the morals of society.

David Cameron has a lot to answer for. One, for the poor response and lack of control of this situation and two, for neglecting an entire socioeconomic group of young people and giving them so little to be proud of that they would do this to their own city.

I hope everyone is safe and well. If you have received a concerned whatsapp or email from me, please reply so I know you're alive!

Adventures of Dennis

2011-08-05T16:02:00.001+01:00

The Adventures of Dennis

I have luggage!!! I am much indebted to the help of the medical students I am living with from the University of Sydney, the admin staff at Orange Hospital and Scott, the guy at Orange Airport who delivered my case to me in his own time. People in this small town have been so kind and welcoming. My case has been on quite an adventure and bears some significant scars. The force of the baggage handling completely dented one of the corners and the wheel was defunct. Luckily, one of my housemates managed to pop it back into shape and fixed it. I decided that my poor suitcase deserves a name. One of the students next door suggested that it shall henceforth be known as Dennis the Dented.

One travel tip: Always use a padlock for your check-in baggage rather than securing the zips in the locking device on the side of some suitcases. This is because customs will invariably check unaccompanied luggage should you lose your case and it's better they just break the padlock rather than damaging (more of) your suitcase.

Hooray for Dennis! It's great to wear pyjamas again.

Jx

That Dreaded Moment by the Baggage Carousel

2011-08-04T04:06:00.000+01:00

My post is dedicated to this moment. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. That stomach-churning feeling after you've arrived in baggage reclaim with sore eyes and swollen feet and you're standing by the luggage carousel with your fingers crossed hoping bad luck hasn't struck you on the very last leg of your journey. For most, this moment is coupled with a silent cheer and feeling of relief when you see your slightly more battered suitcase being chucked out onto the conveyor belt.

Unfortunately today, I arrived in Sydney, but my brand new, 4-wheel, shiny red, Eminent suitcase did not. :(

The very important lesson I have learnt:

If your luggage has NOT been tagged through to your final destination and you have a REASONABLE CONNECTION TIME, it is better to pick up your luggage at the transit airport and physically drop it off at the check-in desk of your next flight yourself. DO NOT do what I did, which was ask someone at the transfer desk at Singapore Airlines to retag my bag onto Sydney. My luggage is still in Singapore. I had a 2.5 hour connection and I could have easily gotten my case onto my own flight.

Shame, I was all ready to rave about Singapore Airlines because their flight service was excellent. In the luggage office, it turns out they also left some other bags behind so clearly their retagging system does not work.

On the bright side, I now have an extra $100 Aus (approx. £60). Thankfully, I have a couple of days of essential items in my cabin case because I came prepared for the worst. Please give me suggestions on what to buy with my emergency money as my brain thinks it's 4am.

Ok, time to get to the domestic terminal. I am about to get on my first propeller plane to rural NSW!

Jx

Fly Away

2011-08-02T20:42:00.001+01:00

Before I left London I had a conversation with a friend about keeping a travel journal. I've started this travelblog for my medical elective trip this summer. I thought it would be a good idea to share my journey with you - my friends and family, principally to:

1) Let you know I'm alive and safe (possibly, not always).
2) Avoid repeating myself when I catch up with you.
3) Show you I'm 'working' and this is not just a holiday.
4) Read and remember what I actually did so in years to come I won't titter on saying 'things were different when I was young'.
5) Make some of you envious. Just a little.

Please send your mailing address to jenny@jennyhao.com if you'd like a postcard!

Waiting for a connection flight having paid a rip-off 15 euros for a meal I'd rather not have eaten. I enjoy people watching in airports and playing 'guess the tourist' according to grossly stereotyped mannerisms. My attention is drawn to a slim Chinese woman toting a quilted Chanel and tottering in 4" white patent platforms, query Louboutins. On closer inspection, no, not Louboutins. How does she manage to do this while lugging suitcases and looking after a 7-yr-old? I'm guessing she's either on my flight or the flight to Hong Kong. Current track on my iPod and favourite of the departure lounge:

I want to get away, I want to fly away. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

See you on the other side!

Jx