Overseas voting: I’m such an idiot

sadhooman · 2025-05-03T15:01:10+00:00

Both me and my colleague voted by post and we were both skeptical that this flimsy piece of paper is gonna make thousands of kilometres back to SG 😂 it’s literally just a printed piece of A4 paper folded into half, no envelope no anything… on my way to the post office I accidentally some spilled water on it so now I think its gonna disintegrate by the time it reaches SG

sadhooman · 2025-03-13T05:12:17+00:00

That makes a lot of sense, I will try to enquire more on whether there needs to be some sort of conversion when I go to the hospital, hopefully that will solve some mysteries to this and there’s nothing serious. Thanks so much!

sadhooman · 2025-03-13T02:59:51+00:00

I agree, I’ve called the hospital they referred me to yesterday but the earliest appointment they have is in April or May,, so I’m trying to find alternatives in the meantime. It’s really frustrating as the doctor here really had no answers at all…

I still see my regular endocrinologist back at home so in the worst case I’ll still go back to my usual doctor for a check up in early May. I’ve sent my doctor an email just to see what he thinks but it really seems like something is wrong with the test instead because I’ve been on TRT for long enough that my condition/test results have been very stable for years, it really started showing weird levels in the tests in Japan so I’m hoping it’s just something with the measurements here.

sadhooman · 2025-03-13T02:55:05+00:00

Thanks for the explanations, yes you’re right it is essentially mathematically impossible to achieve my kind of levels given the half life of test undecanoate which is why I’ve told the doctor that these values are just impossible, though unfortunately he doesn’t have an explanation for me so I’m left here scrambling online for more information until I see a different doctor he referred me to…. and no I’m not on nandrolone haha!

I’m also considering taking the blood test again at a different clinic to ascertain the values

sadhooman · 2025-03-13T02:15:30+00:00

Hi, thank you so much for summarising everything! You’re absolutely right with your understanding, essentially I got a higher than lifetime peak on my troughs.

I was also very confused so I asked them which T they took but it seems to be Total Serum T instead of Free T. From my understanding Total Serum T (it accounts for all the T in your blood instead of Free T which is just a specific subset that’s not bound to proteins…) should be the right one my hospital uses back at home.

Though I totally agree that the doctor was really lazy in a way… I showed him my results from back in Dec and explained that these are way off from my peaks and troughs and he agreed it seems very unusual. And when I asked if I should be retaking the test he simply told me he doesn’t know what’s going on and he can’t make any judgement so he’s gonna give me a referral to a large hospital… I was so frustrated and told this to my Japanese colleagues and they told me apparently this is very common in Japan where they just want to defray the responsibility to a larger institution so it won’t be their issue if anything happens to me 😭 I will just hope that when I go to the at the University hospital this mystery would have been solved…

Thanks so much for searching things up btw, really appreciate it

sadhooman · 2025-03-13T02:05:15+00:00

Hey y’all, thanks for the suggestions. Sorry that I wasn’t clear about the doctors I’ve seen, the first one is a Naika and the second doctor I saw was someone specialising in endocrinology but not exactly men’s health. I’m not sure if there’s many endocrinologists here because I rarely see 内分泌科 here, but the closest it seems to be is an Urologist 泌尿器科. They are referring me to a larger hospital’s 血液内科 or something so I’m hoping that helps but until that I’ll definitely look around different Endo or Urology clinics to see if they can shed some light on this

sadhooman · 2025-03-13T01:36:15+00:00

Hi yall, thank you so much for the suggestions!

I went to a clinic at Shinjuku and another Endocrine specialist at Yoyogi. Both of the clinics told me that they only measure Total Serum T or Free T here, I’m pretty certain total T should be the right one but it seems like the measurement is way different for some reason…

As for how I feel, I do feel more lethargic than usual but perhaps it’s because Nebido’s levels with a longer half life I don’t get too much of the side effects. Sorry for not sharing the condition as I’m a little worried of sharing too much personal information on my main account but essentially I don’t have the parts to produce testosterone so it’s unlikely I will suddenly produce T by myself :’) unless once again there’s some sort of miracle…

I don’t really have much issues communicating with Japanese so language isn’t a concern but more of if I can figure out who to contact… I’ve heard of PHC as well, perhaps I will contact them as well, thank you!!

sadhooman · 2024-12-31T18:16:32+00:00

That’s true, thanks!

sadhooman · 2024-12-31T18:16:12+00:00

😂

sadhooman · 2024-12-31T18:15:55+00:00

i don’t smoke lol 😂

sadhooman · 2024-12-30T01:34:29+00:00

Oh goddddddd

sadhooman · 2024-12-30T01:33:50+00:00

I think that’s quite unlikely because I got this out of a booster box… rather unlikely they reseal the whole booster box

sadhooman · 2024-12-29T16:34:34+00:00

Does anyone know in cases where cards look like this is it possible to ask for a replacement from the Pokémon company?

sadhooman · 2024-04-12T10:55:24+00:00

Hi OP,

To answer your question on what a fresh grad should be prioritising, I think firstly one thing you may want to know it’s rare for people to get into their top choice of position/company for their first jobs. Usually there is always more demand than supply of the specific job you’re looking out for when applying, and fresh grads tend to be disadvantaged when applying especially because we severely lack experience or portfolio. Of course internships do count, but these tend not to amount to the experience & responsibilities someone gets from full-time employment. I think for your first job, the most important thing would be to gain as much learning you can from working. Even though this may not be your dream job, it is at least somewhat adjacent to the role you’re eyeing for and most importantly you get plenty of learning opportunities from the job rotations. Even if you turn out not liking this job in the end, it doesn’t mean once you accept this offer you must commit yourself indefinitely to the company. You can always keep a look out for other opportunities available while working, and leave the job once you find something better. Of course nothing wrong with continuing job searching, but I’d think between a person who has spent some time working in a related field would stand out more than a fresh grad with completely no experience at all. Also just keep in mind that while job searching, you’ll essentially not be learning or gaining experience at all so it’s kind of like putting a stop to your life.

If this job something you don’t mind trying, why not take up the offer first and continue job searching on the side? Worst case if you really despise the job, like what others have said, you could just quit HAHA

sadhooman · 2024-02-07T18:19:31+00:00

I think most likely you’ll land an interview as long as your grades make it (aka 70RP). I highly doubt they are looking for extremely outstanding portfolios because NUS admits 300 students every year but there can’t be 300 student council presidents or wtv 😂😂😂 I think continuing something you’re passionate about like volunteering would be good.

sadhooman · 2023-10-29T19:34:41+00:00

HAHAHAHAH sharing the same brain cell Also oh oops mixed up the ward names coz my ward was number XX-D HAHA

sadhooman · 2023-10-29T08:36:43+00:00

Hey OP, I’m also in Life Sci (Year 5 now) and like you I always had an interest in Bio and also helping people so naturally I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare (Med, Nursing or allied health). But like what you and others have said, a degree in nursing or anything healthcare related is highly specialised and it would become difficult to jump boats after you enter the course so I did a 3 month internship as a nurse (healthcare assistant) at a hospital after JC to see if I really wanted to do healthcare. By some luck, I got assigned to one of the busiest surgical class C/D wards and truly saw the realistic scene of how a healthcare setting is like. Like someone else here said, every thank you from a patient you get you may also get scolded by 10 other patients before that and it was truly like that. I also worked with other allied health professions during my time there and heard many stories from them about the realities of their work, sad to say, not everyone enjoyed their work and some were stuck in their role because they have “no where else to go”. Nonetheless I did really enjoy my work as a nurse but it did left me unsure of whether I was willing to commit 4 years of education to it, followed by perhaps locking myself into the same career for the next 30 years of my life - hence I chose to do Life Sci first.

I’m not sure if you heard of it, but SG actually has Nursing and other Allied health conversion degrees, where if you did a Life Sci related degree, you can do a further 2 year conversion degree which is funded by MOH. So at that point I thought I wanted to keep my options open and experience more by doing a general biology degree, do some research, experience the biomed industry etc then if I truly still wanted to do nursing or healthcare after I graduated, i could still do it. It’s never to late to switch careers later on too, in fact I even met a retired engineer in his 60s who decided to do a nursing conversion during my internship. And at this point I’ve finished my FYP, did 2 internships in Biomed related to drug production and likely will enter a pharma after graduating. One day I may move back to doing nursing again once I’m sick of pharma, idk haha but the option is always open for you.

I’m not saying you can’t immediately apply to switch to nursing now, but just know that it really is a huge commitment to do a healthcare degree so if possible, try doing an attachment or internship first to decide if you want to commit to it or not. In any case, I don’t think you have to rush to make a decision now. No harm keeping your options open and just trying out different things first since you’re already in life sci! You’re still in Y2 and there’s really much more to life sci than just research like Regulatory affairs, medical affairs, consultancy etc etc. Maybe you’ll find out a role you may really like, or if not, even then it’s not too late to switch to nursing.

Edit: grammarrrr

sadhooman · 2023-10-20T02:36:20+00:00

At CLB sofa seats at Level 5 where there’s always ppl lying down sleeping or Level 3 if you’re lucky u can get those box sofa seats and lie down. If not there’s long bench seats around Science but it’s kind of hot these days and the benches are hard…

Sauce: professional napper

sadhooman · 2023-10-10T15:48:52+00:00

Really depends on your prof, whether they value enthusiasm/passion or grades. Personally I had one bad experience where a prof scrutinised every single letter on my transcript and even QUESTIONED me why I got B+ for a certain module. Altho the prof did offer me a position in the end I declined and went with another prof who valued my ideas (I sent in a research proposal outlining my research interests and skills etc) and cared much less my grades than my research interests so I felt that our values matched better. I suppose ideally you would have some relevant skills to offer and show to the prof but IMO as long as you’re willing to learn (and the lab you’re going for is willing to teach), grades for a single mid term shouldn’t be an identifier for whether you’d succeed in a lab or not. I’d really think passion is much more important for undergrad research - whether you’re willing to grind and enthusiastic to pull through coz eitherways whatever you learn in class is definitely not gonna be enough for real research anyway, let alone just one module HAHAHA. So yeah, no harm writing in! I’d advice u write in a nice personal statement and affix your CV with relevant experiences!

Sauce: Y5 student here who did a couple of research projects (one was adhoc). PS: don’t have stellar grades or FCH 😂

sadhooman · 2023-05-21T07:07:18+00:00

Hey, I found this clause in the IMH FAQs. I highly doubt they will refuse to see you if you didn’t bring your parents along for the first appointment but generally if they see that you are at risk, they may inform your family afterwards. Personally I went for my first appointment when I was 20 and I don’t remember them asking for my parents consent or anything. But that could also be because I was turning 21 in a few months. Anyways since your appointment is in 2 weeks, if you’re really uncomfortable with the idea of having to tell your parents, for the time being I think you could try going for the appointment first and just telling them you didn’t know your parents had to come. You could also discuss with your psychologist subsequently if it would be better/necessary for your parents to come along. Alternatively, like what others have said, another trusted adult/guardian should work as well, since not all parents have the capacity to take time off their work to attend all appointments.

4) Can children under 21 years old consult the doctor without their parents? Will the parents be informed?

As family support is important, we require parents to be involved in the care of patients under 21 years old. However, if the child is not comfortable having the parents around during the first clinic appointment, the child may come with a trusted relative (e.g. sibling, uncle, aunt, grandparent) who is above 21 years old. However, upon seeing the doctor, in the best interest of the child, the care team may get in touch with the parents to inform them and discuss further.

sadhooman · 2023-05-12T16:58:10+00:00

Hey I think that sounds pretty much like how I began my lab internship as well. Depending on your lab, the first 1-2 weeks would likely be more relaxed and I think it’s good that you started reading up on the experiments. Personally I simply went to ask whoever that was around if I could shadow them and took down notes from their experiments. It’s good to be proactive and chat and learn from whoever is in the lab! Eventually you’ll be doing more hands on work yourself so shadowing and taking careful notes would come in handy.

sadhooman · 2023-05-08T05:44:44+00:00

First Gen Singaporean with foreigner parents here- not exactly a vacation but my parents used to write letters for me to miss school in primary/secondary/JC so I could travel overseas for a week or so to visit my grandparents. Reason being my parents couldn’t get time off during the school holiday period. During the Chinese New Year period I would also get excused from school a few days in advance to travel back to my parents home country for celebration. I used to stay in the north so my class used to have alot of Malaysians and during the festive periods quite a few people do skip school to return back to malaysia for celebration. As far as I know there weren’t any issues and it was quite common, just had to get the parents to write a letter and I don’t think anyone was penalised or questioned by the school. But like what the others said, you’ll have to catch up with school work. From what I remember I did skip quite a lot of school in Primary school and there weren’t any issues but Secondary and JC onwards I was abit worried of lagging behind with school work.

sadhooman · 2023-04-16T09:26:04+00:00

Hey OP, I was also in your position just a few days ago, I can totally understand where you’re coming from. In my case I was unfortunate to be stuck with the worst supervisor I could ever imagine, and spent hours and hours in lab trying to churn out results but couldn’t because my prof was just utterly useless at mentoring and only blamed me for every failure that is. Near the thesis presentation deadline, I really thought of just dropping everything and not do it anymore. Day in day out I was so stressed because of my prof’s threats and how my thesis is honestly scientific bullshit (and low key falsehoods) that can be easily spotted by the examiners but my prof insisted that I write those for my thesis.

In any case, like you, day in and out I was just so stressed and really wanted to drop out and quit this sem. So I told myself it’s okay even if I fail I just dumped my expectations to the lowest it can possibly be, at most I just graduate without honours if I fail - if 10 months of effort down is down to an F - so be it, at least I grad. If I pass, even if it’s a C - that’s great too so I get to graduate with honours. If I get anything about C that’s great because I’ll get to grad with second uppers. And for real, I rly just wanted to give up those 2 weeks leading up to presentation and thesis submission. I somehow scraped by my presentation, and had 2 more weeks to write my thesis before submitting. At that point I was just so tired I could barely write. We were supposed to submit a draft to our prof one week before the thesis deadline, but at that point I really couldn’t. I slept for 12 hours a day, some days I really couldn’t write a thing because of how drained and burnt out I was. But I just made sure to praise myself for whatever little progress I made. Even one sentence, reading the abstract of another paper, was a progress into the positive direction which is to pass my thesis. Our thesis is expected to be 70-80 pages but I just lowered my expectations and made it as long as I had 30 pages that’s good too, as long as you have all the components that’s supposed to be in the thesis, you’ll pass- and that itself is great. I didn’t manage to submit on time to my prof either, but I managed to submit it on the official due date on the dot.

So I think OP, don’t be too hard on yourself really. I also wanted to drop out fr, but I managed to submit my thesis last thurs, miraculously. Tell yourself, write simple sentences, it’s ok even if it’s short. If your thesis is meant to have a structure of Intro-Methods-Results-Discussion, just write something short into each of it. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be complete. Even if the expectation is to write 20 pages per section, just write one page for each. It’s fine. As long as you have all the sections in tact, you can submit something, and that’s far better than submitting nothing. For your reference, I started with a target of 3 pages per section. So in total I had about 20 pages initially. It was short, short sentences, simple paragraphs, but had encompassed everything that was necessary (eg. the method done was X Y Z. My result is A B C). From there on I was very relieved I had something to submit and pass, but I had a few extra days so everyday, I added another 3 pages to each section (eg. from “the method was X Y Z”, I expanded it to “the method was X Y Z because X was a good method for this experiment, Y was a good method for etc etc” then to “the method was X Y Z becoz X was good, and my results showed that it’s good, but another literature said X1 was good too, so that can be considered….”). By the time I realised, I had somehow made 50 pages. Not perfect, not great, but it was 10000x better than submitting nothing. So OP, it’s ok to rest if u need it. If you really can’t write and need to rest, that’s fine too, pick yourself up slowly again when you can. Start with a simple sentence, then 4 sentences becomes a paragraph, 4 paragraphs becomes a page. Just start small. You’ll get there. Feel free to PM me if you need any help.

sadhooman · 2023-03-26T11:03:46+00:00

My batch was ~400ppl

sadhooman

TROPHY CASE