Simply Lyn

I ended it with a bang!

2011-02-17T22:00:00.000+08:00

It’s the 15th night of the Chinese New Year celebration of 2011, better known as Chap Goh Meh (literally translated as 15th night). Traditionally celebrated by the Cantonese as a “Valentine’s day”. I’m not sure how it’s even logically possible but culturally (correct me if I’m wrong), the single ladies will throw mandarin oranges into the lake/ sea, and whichever (lucky or unlucky) men who pick their oranges, will end up together.

I am Hokkien, so my CNY celebration had ended last Thursday on the 9th day, with Pai Tnee Kong (praying to the Heavenly Gods celebration).

While I would love to join other Chinese on this night as an experience, I was neither upset nor affected when I had to be on call at the neonatal ward. Mind you, I have no intention of throwing oranges myself. I would rather peel and eat the oranges than to throw away a perfectly tasty fruit! But little did I know, I would have a “throwing” celebration of my own in the hospital.

So if I didn’t throw oranges on the orange-tossing-night, what did I toss then?

So I admit I’ve been planning to get rid of it. And I also admit that I’ve been planning on iPhone for awhile now. And it would seem as though I had deliberately done it to ease the “transition”.

But let’s get some perspective here, people. Now not only do I have to fork up more money to fix it, getting an iPhone becomes more and more of a distant dream….

Since I can’t legally do locum yet, MV suggested that I do more calls next month. I think I should set up a Help Lyn’s Foundation, open to public for contributions.

What do you think?

For crying out LOUD!

2011-01-27T21:03:00.001+08:00

Lights! Camera! Action!

Oh wait. Where are the cameras? Are they hidden somewhere? Where are the studio lightings? The only light I see is coming from the cardiac monitors. But wait a minute. The “action” is already started…

Oh, that’s right. The action is always going on. Work drama!

It’s so funny how I despised watching drama series my whole life but ended up getting sucked in a real life drama in the end. And the worst part is that I can’t get out of it!

It’s always a wonder to me, how some people can talk only about themselves so effortlessly. How they can dramatize and exaggerate a simple situation into some mumbo jumbo story, still amazes me. And my personal favourite, how they can brag about their “selfless” good deeds for the sake of others, is beyond me.

Sadly, I’ve met so many of them, that I have unfortunately acquired an unwanted skill to identify them. Call me stereotype if you’d like to. But the minute they started talking I had no choice but to find ways to escape. For crying out loud, no “selfless” deed is all that selfless if bragged about to the whole world!

# 9

2010-10-03T20:41:00.002+08:00

How best to use an iphone on speaker? The pictures explained it all, what more do I need to say?

# 6

2010-09-30T22:02:00.001+08:00

I went out tonight to Pulau Tikus to get this Belgium chocolate cake for Dada’s early birthday, as parents and sis will be coming over for a visit this weekend. The cake is now lying in my fridge, tempting me to lick it! Slurp…

Coincidentally, MV’s parents are also planning for a visit this weekend too! Hmm…

Let’s wait and see how things turn out.

# 5

2010-09-28T23:52:00.001+08:00

I was on call on Tuesday. How awesome it was to say I only had ONE admission! In ward c6! Imagine that. One of the few “madhouses” only had ONE admission over 14 hours. And out of the 14 hours call, I spent 2/3 in this on call room, which used to be an isolation room. Comfy!

# 4

2010-09-27T21:50:00.002+08:00

I’m on call tomorrow and I’m having pre-call syndrome today. It’s raining and I’ve decided not to go anywhere, including the gym.

This was what I made for dinner.

Ingredients: Lettuce, lightly steamed broccoli, tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, ham and cheese in thousand island sauce.

What a healthy dish! What a hearty meal!

#1

2010-09-24T20:35:00.001+08:00

I was on call on Friday in ward c6 (Neuromedical/ Endocrine) with a bubbly friend, CJ in c5 (General/ Gastroenterology/ Rheumatology/ Infectious diseases), whose mom is in Pg for a visit. She was cooking CJ dinner, and had cooked extra for me!
It was home-made, and it was yummy!
Thanks Auntie! And thanks CJ for washing the dishes! ;)

A thousand words

2010-09-24T20:00:00.001+08:00

If the title scares you, let me assure you that there’s nothing to be afraid of. If what you are looking for is something to read for leisure and not lengthy blogs , this is definitely for you.

It’s nothing but a combination of my passion for photographs and a method to make my life more exciting…. On a daily basis!

I will post at least one picture (and not limited to), everyday on anything that happened on that day. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

But of course, I may not be as consistent as to post it everyday.. ;) But do come back and stay tune for the next 365days!

Under The Sea

2010-09-01T19:17:00.001+08:00

I can’t believe it! I actually did and went through with it!

To say I have a reason to do it, I just couldn’t point it out. To say there was a calling, I just didn’t feel it. It was more of a last minute decision, although it was on the optional itinerary. Verbally, I said I was going to do it. But I eventually realized that I was not mentally prepared.

So what is it that I did out of the blue?

SCUBA diving.

MV accompanied me to the neighbouring chalet to look for diving instructor. And we found one at Alu-alu Divers. Introduced ourselves to Mel, who became my instructor and almost immediately, we started our “lesson”.

First session was watching an introductory video, covering the basics- the breathing regulators, the suits, the complications, commonly used sign language which is universally accepted, etc.

After finishing the video I thought I was done for the day. But how wrong I was. Immediately, I was taught how to set up the buoyancy control device (BCD- the jacket the holds the oxygen tank and also helps in staying afloat, ascend and descend at will). Then, load it into a speedboat, and off we went to Turtle’s Bay.

Ok, can’t possibly be bad, I thought to myself. I should be able to handle the dive, since I am quite a fast learner.

But boy, oh boy. We weren’t going for a dive just yet. 200m from the shore, the speedboat stopped and I was told to jump off the boat and swim to the shore! I was speechless. My throat went dry. I thought it wasn’t a pre-requisite to be able to swim (but of course, I’ve already told Mel that I could). So why is she asking me to swim from such a distance away? I thought they were all joking (They meaning, Mel, Dex- the other instructor, with 3 other seasoned divers). But nope. They were dead serious. Dex even jumped off the boat first to “encourage” me.

So I followed suit. And then Mel joined me. Dex and the other divers left for another location. Leaving Mel and myself in the water, with a life jacket that Mel was hanging on to, and refused to give it to me.

It was difficult. I had my contact lens on, so I swam with my head above the water. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to close my eyes and swim properly, or asked for a pair of goggles, since I had it in the boat. I started to swim. And Mel was there all the while, continuously encouraging me to continue and float on my back if I was tired.

Throughout the whole time, I remember thinking, I’m never gonna make it… I’m too tired... I can do it... No, I can't. I’m going to drown… I want to give up… I don’t want to dive anymore… I can do it… No, I can’t make it… The next thing I know, my feet could touch the sand. Oh what a wonderful feeling it was! Finally! Feet, ground. Shore, reached!

The whole idea was to make me face any fear I had of the sea and hopefully, abolish it. And also to learn to trust Mel.

Shortly after that, the boat came back with our BCDs, which we put on, then check the equipments for each other (standard procedure), as we were considered “Buddies”. The next lesson was learning to use the regulator (the hose that connects the oxygen tank to the mouth), how to locate it if it dropped from the mouth, how to clear the mask, practicing some sign language, etc.

After that, we took the boat, pick up the other divers, and went to D’Lagoon for my first dive!

My first dive was awkward. I was swimming upright, just like a seahorse!

But whatever that I saw, was just marvelous. It was a whole new world underneath. It’s one thing watching these marine life on TV, a whole new experience altogether to see and be there in person. It was almost magical.

We dove for about 45 minutes, as deep as 15 metres.

The next day, I reached Alu-alu by 8.30am and started to assemble my BCD for my 2nd dive. This time, we shared the boat with 3 other Chinese girls and their instructor, Alex. Again, we went to D’ Lagoon, but this time to the beach first. Alex was teaching the girls what I learned yesterday, and Mel was teaching me how to snorkeling and use my fins properly so as to not dive like a seahorse anymore!

After that, we went to the deeper side of D’ Lagoon for our 2nd dive. Again, I was diving like a seahorse every now and then. But it was equally as magical.

That afternoon, I watched the 2nd video- which covers the complications of diving Eg. decompression syndrome, nitrogen narcosis, etc. I also had my multiple choice questions test after that, which I passed. ;)

On the 3rd day, was my 3rd and 4th dive to complete my license requirement. The 3rd dive was to T3, which I liked best. And the last dive was to the Shark Point Pinnacle, which of course I saw a shark, as big as the size of a speed boat, from afar. Dove for about 50 minutes each time, as deep as 18 metres.

I love my diving experience. It was a completely different world down there. I felt like a part of the underwater world. During my last dive, I swore I felt like a mermaid, only without the graceful movements. I was still in awe, and somewhat surreal. I couldn’t help but thinking, what an interesting life my dad was living when he was active in diving previously.

I’m definitely diving again. I finally understood,

“One thing we cannot escape- forever afterward, throughout all our life, the memory of the magic of water and its life, of the home which was once our own- this will never leave us.” – William Beebe.

And it never will.

With Mel, on a kayak!

Another chapter has ended

2010-09-01T10:46:00.001+08:00

After what felt like forever, my surgical posting finally ended with 7 days of break, including Merdeka break. So what have I learned in my 2nd posting? ALOT- in terms of medical/surgical knowledge and skills in procedures, survival skills, social and EQ.

There’s no doubt that during each posting you learned the clinical knowledge that may or may not have been acquired from the textbooks. Some may be differently practiced, since our textbooks are from US and UK. Nevertheless, the principles are the same. So, as you progressed in the posting, as you see more cases, this clinical knowledge can be picked up along the way.

However, what’s so different about this posting as compared to other departments is the mental stress. The work load is more than tolerable, but the mental stress that comes from being at work is a torture. Knowing that your every move is being observed and constantly under scrutiny by the specialists. That being just one aspect that contributes to the mental stress.

When things are not done fast enough, it’s your fault- no reason is entertained, period. And when it is done right, it’s your duty- don’t expect to get any credit. Because when a sick patient recovers from his illness after a surgery and a long stay in the hospital, the credit goes to the surgeon, not the staff who look after him/her in the ward, and nurture him to health.

Maybe that’s why surgeons are stereotyped as arrogant. But of course, there are always exceptions.

Some specialists are so nice, it humbles me just to be around them, whether it’s assisting them in a surgery, chit-chating with them or having meals with them. My sub-specialty postings to neurosurgery and urology, were both wonderful breaks in between my general surgery posting. Not only am I able to learn better, the environment as a whole is so much “healthier”.

My MOs are all wonderful people, who allowed me quite a decent hands-on surgical exposure in the operating theatre. Towards my last 2 months of posting, I managed to perform 2 appendicectomies, a few saucerization of carbuncles, some incision and drainage of abscesses, chest tube insertion and suprapubic catheterization and many, many bandings of haemorrhoids.

It was a wonderful feeling after each procedure- a sense of “high-ness” without needing any booze or drugs, which I realized can be quite addictive. So am I “addicted” to surgery? Yes. Am I specializing in surgery? Perhaps, but that’s another day, another story.

All in all, I’m glad I had the opportunity to go through surgery posting in this hospital. It was really quite an experience and truly an eye opener, with its own drama, betrayal and gossip.

1st Solo Shoot

2010-08-15T21:32:00.002+08:00

So I had the weekend off. Parents couldn’t find time to visit me. Mom told me to stay put and rest. MV, unfortunately, is on-call.

What more can I ask for? A day of total relaxation.

Woke up late today, at 9am to the beautiful sun shining into my bedroom. What a rare sight! If you think 9am is early for Sunday, I would agree with you. No thanks to the years of medical school, sabotaging my sleep-wake cycle.

Had a long breakfast at Transfer Road, which is famous for the Roti Canai and Teh Tarik.

Then off I went for my first shooting with my baby.

A new man in my life

2010-08-14T18:59:00.002+08:00

This is an official declaration of my new love.

A love so strong it knows no boundaries. A love so true it can never be divided.

The new love of my life.

Name: Ben

Date of birth ( i.e. purchase ): 14 Aug 2010

Place of birth ( Again, i.e. purchase ): Photo Easycam, KOMTAR

May we create beautiful and everlasting memories together! ;)

It’s all about the timing- April 27, 2010.

2010-04-29T19:15:00.001+08:00

The day started off as usual- reviewing patients, rounds with specialist, ward work, clerk new cases, scans, etc. Nothing unusual or extraordinary happen. There were mentions and reminders of it throughout the day but it wasn’t until that night when it finally hit me.

I have actually completed my 1st posting as a houseman! I’ve been working and earning my own wage through my sweat (literally) and (patient’s) blood for 4 months now. Getting all sentimental about having to leave this department, which provided my very first experience as a doctor, I decided to go back to my ward. All the more because this new found friend, J, whom I became close to over the last month, was on call that night.

For the last 4 months, we’ve been changing work colleagues and wards every month. But it wasn’t until the last month, that I was assigned to work with this incredible team. I would say that we compliment each other and that was what made this such a strong team. Needless to say, the working environment was very conducive with wonderful MOs.

Anyway, being on call means having to eat cold, tasteless, and many a times, the sight itself is an appetite killer and hunger suppressor. Now I’m a person who enjoy good food but at the same time, I’m not a fussy eater. But for the hospital to tender such expensive contracts to a particular caterer for each meal, 4 meals a day, the food is completely unacceptable. Rumour has it that each meal cost around RM30. If you think the price is not too bad, you have to see what they serve to understand what I mean by the price being ridiculous. I’m sure there’s more to it, than meets the eyes, if you know what I mean.

Since I’ve decided to drop by, I sms-ed J to ask if she and SZ (the other person on call that night) would like something (edible) for dinner. Within 2 minutes, my phone rang. It was Anu and I picked up. It turned out, she was here in the island, and was wondering if I was free to have dinner together.

Oh, in my heart, I was thinking, why didn’t you call a bit earlier? I couldn’t possibly say no, since she drove all the way from mainland. But it wasn’t right to say yes either since I most likely would have to go buy dinner.

In the end, I accepted the dinner invitation from Anu, and took down orders for Subway and Starbucks from J. With my quick wit, I decided to have 2 hours dinner with Anu, and then get food for my fellow colleagues, informing them that I would be 2 hours late.

The night went on very smoothly. I explained to Anu the reason why I had to leave early, and to J and SZ why I had to be late. They were all very understanding and accepting. It all ended well.

Above: Japanese dinner at Matzuki with Anu

Above: 2 other colleagues who were coincidentally decided to visit

Above: Look at how happy they were, enjoying good food during their call, which from what I heard was superb- NO new admission throughout the night.

Green, green grass of Home

2010-04-01T00:15:00.003+08:00

When people say that grass is greener on the other side. I just couldn’t agree with them more. When you finally get what you’ve wanted, it’s almost always doesn’t turn out the way you’ve expected/ hoped it to be.

I for one is living with that for a fact, day in and day out.

How is your life so? you asked. Didn’t you just gave the whole I’m-happy-to-live-in-the-present speech? you asked further.

Well, I’m happy to be alive but it’s far from a perfect life. I wake up every morning (and I mean EVERY morning), going to a work that was not what I enrolled for.

At the present, I have strong bonding with only one aspect of my work. I can’t live without it. I can’t work without it. I must have it with me by my side for me to survive the day.

What else could it be? It’s none other than my black pen.

As student, I had the opportunity to just sit by my patients’ bedside and talk to them (or at least, listen to them talk). The older generation will share their life experiences and offer food for thoughts, which can span from the importance of being filial, to their conspiracy theories on politics! With no big responsibilities, or immediate dateline, this was all possible in the past.

At present, it seems like a luxury to me. The turnover of patients in this particular department is so fast, I hardly have the chance to get to know all their problems well, let alone have time to build rapport with them.

I am in no way implying that my treatment is lacking physically. But the only thing lacking is that psychological confidence and comfort, that I am not able to build on, which in my opinion is very important in the healing process.

Maybe I should take up something that allows me to do just that, like geriatrics or oncology. But these are very “heavy” specialty, in my opinion.

But there’s no rush in it. I’m still building my character and style as a doctor. In time, I’m sure I would know what I want to specialize in. Whatever the decision may be, hopefully when I reach “the other side”, the grass is still green.

A Gift for U & Me

2010-03-19T10:33:00.003+08:00

We're waiting for our flight to Singapore by Tiger Airways in Penang International Airport.

For some reasons, everything feels comfortable and familiar to me, as though I've been there many times. But the truth is, I've only flew from Pg twice, back in those days when I was studying in India. Perhaps, the feeling came from all the travelling around Europe. Or perhaps, I'm older ( and wiser, I hope ) now, so it takes more to surprise me and push me off my comfort zone. Or even perhaps I'm just not bothered anymore.

The one thing that's different now would probably be that we are more "seasoned" travellers, who are earning our own income and wanting to splurge on materialistic squander than we should at the moment.

Reflecting back on my life, I would say that I did ok. Of course I have my downs and of course, I would not be where/who I am today if it wasn't for the many, many people in my life. In spite of all that, I wouldn't do anything differently had I given the chance to turn back time.

A cousin asked me recently what would I regret most for not having done, if I were to leave this world tomorrow. My answer was simply, nothing. I was THAT contented with my life.

I am just grateful to live in the present.

I am where I am today because of my family.

I am who I am today because of my upbringing, the people I've met, and the good and bad experiences in my life.

I am ME. I am simply Lyn.

Memory Lane

2009-12-17T11:45:00.005+08:00

This morning had me reminiscent over all the things I was once so familiar with. So much a part of my "previous" life- my childhood and my schooling days. It felt like as though I have a different "life" now.

It started off with an appointment to go Lake Garden for a morning walk, in an attempt to encourage my 10 years old cousin brother, WS to exercise. If it were up to me, I would not restrict his dietary intake as he is still growing, but I would strongly and persistently encourage him to exercise, which was why I "invited" him for a morning walk with both his parents.

7am sharp. The only person in the car to come and pick me up was my uncle! The rest? Still in La La Land.

Since Couz WS "couldn't" make it this morning, we went hiking up Maxwell Hill, instead. The reason being, the last time Couz WS went hiking during Chinese New Year '07, they had to push him up from behind! Imagine how tiring it was to climb and carry a 50kg dumb bell!

Anyway, Seh Han Chek (youngest uncle) and myself hike up Maxwell hill, through the jungle trek, up to the 3rd shed.

It wasn't that we used to go hiking, but what had me reminicent was those days when I followed him to our family orchard. That was back in my primary school years. I would be the only one following. I'm not sure about my sister, but I remembered whenever they( the relatives) talked about the orchard, they would bring up about how Ko had to carry an umbrella whenever he went, which wasn't often! They stopped talking about it for quite some time now. Maybe I should bring it up next CNY, when Ko's around. Hmm... *Evil smile*

Anyway, after our 55 minutes hike up, and then about 40 minutes down the same way. SHC dropped me back home, as I have another errand to run- delivery person.

But that's not the triggering factor. The trigger was the place. I had to help Couz WJ to return her textbooks to her school, which was my old alma mater.

After returning the books, I walked around for a while. There were alot of changes physically, but the feelings was the same. Oh, how we used to spend so much time there, before and after school just to discuss/plan for some events.

It had been 7 years since I last stepped into my school. After 2 years of A-Levels and 5 years of medical school, only now am I going back! I made a vow when I left, to only to go back when I become a "somebody". Not that I'm some bigshot now, but at least I've achieved what I aimed to do.

Above: The miniature field in the middle of the compound. When I was 14 years old, my classroom (2T1) used to be on the right, lower ground. At 15, my classroom (3K1) was the last class on the left, 1st floor.

Above: Check out the toilet! When I was there, it wasn't tiled, there was only one sink at the end, and most obviously, it wasn't walled up with a sliding door! There was just a waist-high wall during my time, obviously providing better ventilation. ;)

Above: A new pond. It used to be just grass. That was where we took our clubs photos and high achievement awards for SPM (O'Levels equivalent) group photo.

Maybe I should go back and have a noodle soup at the canteen when school reopens? Anybody care to join me?

Lyn is in the House

2009-12-05T15:39:00.013+08:00

So here I am. Back to the tropics. I miss the sun. Sounds funny for an Asian? But I really do. I haven't seen it actually shine to scorch for a while now.

I was away for exactly a month to tour around Europe with Mike a.k.a Vino (from hereon will be known as MV) from 5 Nov- 4 Dec 2009. It was a celebration trip for our graduation. What spoiled brats!

We are both very fortunate and grateful for all the people involved directly and indirectly, to make this highly anticipated, all-expenses paid trip possible (not in any order of importance/ contribution/ workload):

Our parents
Siblings: Ko, Sas, Sis

For the following weeks, I will be posting up backdated entries of our trip, corresponding to Malaysian time (+8 GMT).

Note: They will be under November/December entries and labeled under Eurotrip. Also, I will link them from this page, as and when they become available for public reading.

As an overview;

Epilogue

5/11: Flew from LCCT to Singapore Changi Airport (AirAsia). Then, Changi to Heathrow London, with 12 hours stopover in Dubai (Emirates). Arrived at Heathrow on 5/11, 8pm local time.

5/11- 8/11: London.

9/11- 24/11: Around Europe. Flew from Gatwick London- Barcelona (Easyjet). Then, travel via Eurail train the rest of the destinations. Barcelona- Paris- Brussels- Amsterdam- Berlin- Prague- Vienna- Venice- Florence- Rome. Flew from Rome- Gatwick London (Easyjet). The journey is as depicted in the map below:

24/11- 26/11: London.

27/11- 29/11: Rented a car to drive to Lake District, with stopover at Oxford, Bicester Village and a few services along the way.

30/11: Drove back to London, driving through Derby, Peak District and stopover at Manchester and Bicester Village (again) .

30/11- 2/12: London.

3/12- 4/12: Flew back from Heathrow London- Dubai- Colombo, Sri Lanka- Singapore Changi Airport (Emirates).

I'm at Sis' place in Singapore for the weekend. MV and myself will be travelling back to Kuala Lumpur by bus (budget alternative. Haha.. ) on Sunday. I'll be traveling back to Taiping on the same day with parents (Dad had a meeting in KL, Mom followed for shopping, along with 3 Kor and Couz YL).

Talk soon.

Venice- The floating city

2009-11-20T16:34:00.000+08:00

Day 12 : November 20, 2009

Doesn’t he look so stylish?

I've been Prague-d

2009-11-18T22:30:00.004+08:00

You’ve been what? Bet you were tempted to look up the dictionary, weren't you? Well, it’s not a real word. It’s just what I’m using to express how I love my trip to Prague. So, I’ve been pragued. Have you?

Day 9: Nov 17, 2009

Day 10: No 18, 2009

Day 9: November 17, 2009

2009-11-18T04:07:00.008+08:00

It's 2107 local time. And I'm in the hotel room in Prague enjoying what I believe to be locally produced seedless grapes. Let me start from our arrival at Prague.

Unlike Brussels, nothing significant happened to welcome us. But we did meet this Chinese/Taiwanese lady at the train station, about mid 30s (or younger), who had also just arrived in Prague on a solo trip for 5 days. She had no idea about her itineraries, or whatsoever, and kept on repeating she was a tourist. Did we even remotely look like locals to her? If yes, she was so so sadly mistaken.

The only thing she had was a printed copy of her hotel in Google map. Assuming that she knew we were also tourists, she asked us how to get to her hotel! What?! The thing was she kept approaching tourists to ask for help. Also, when I said, "tourists", I meant Mongoloids. We weren't the first she approached.

Being nice people that we are(ahem!), we taught her to the best of our knowledge on how to get tickets for metro from the ticket machine. When we told her that the machines seem to only be able to accept coins, she exclaimed in a very Chinese accent, “Oh my God! I don’t have any. How?” Erm, go buy something and get some change, woman! I’ve always thought that Chinese were good with money. How stereotypical of me. This woman just proved me wrong.

Anyway, enough said. Good luck to her!

We jumped into the Metro, head to I.P Pavlova (I.P. pronounced as ee-pay) and navigated our way to Miss Sophie's Hostel.

Tip: Of all the places we went this Eurotrip, if I had to choose one place I liked best, it would be Prague. Because, like I've said, I've been pragued. And if I have to choose my favourite hostel, coincidentally it has to go to the one we stayed in in Prague: Miss Sophie's.
If ever, no,correction, when ever, I go back to Prague, I won't want to stay anywhere else other than Miss Sophie's.

NB: I have not been paid to say this ;)

We left out bags in the room and went out. Although it was already pitch dark, around 1730, we walked towards our planned destination- National museum. Boy, was I glad that we went! On the way, we stopped at Tesco Express along Belehradska and bought a bottle of fruit juice for the journey (as though it was very far). Just down that same road was the National museum.

That very day was actually a public holiday to commemorate 2 incidences that took place on this very same date, 50 years apart. They called it the Day of a Struggle for Freedom and Democracy. A lot of history there.

When we reached the museum, the area was all beautifully lighted up for this celebration, with a big crowd gathering in front of a big screen, situated across the street from the entrance of the National museum.

Above: The National Museum

Above: Blending in with the crowd. The bright white light was the big screen, with the National museum as the backdrop.

At the museum, we bought tickets for a classical concert, scheduled at 1830 in the museum itself. While waiting for time to pass, we bought pizza and sat outside the shop, as we watched the locals came together to commemorate their struggle in the past.

Above: The interior of the National museum. The main stairway of the central hall, was where the concert was staged. Doesn’t it just take your breath away?

Above: Our 1st class seats. Cushioned stairs steps.

Above: Tada! Prague String Soloists Chamber Ensemble. *Applause*

Below: Just to share the atmosphere of that brilliant night. Here's a shortened video of one of the pieces played- The 4 Seasons- Spring by Vivaldi

The one hour concert was none stop with famous pieces by great composers, namely J.S. Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Vivaldi, and appropriately ended the concert with their very own Czech composer, Anton Dvorak.

What a magnificent night! I felt like crying. I felt so “cultured”! *sob*

Above: The crowd, after our concert.

On the way back to the hostel, we dropped by Tesco again for some food. That was when I bought the seedless grapes (which I am eating now, as I jot all this down), baguettes and pre-made salad filling with ham and pickle, and bottles of water.

Back in the hostel, we had our baguettes in the kitchen, which is connected to the TV room, both located in the basement. Very cozy. We went back to our room for a shower and getting ready to bed now.

Good night, Prague! We’ll be looking forward to see what more you have to offer us tomorrow.

The city of romance

2009-11-13T21:55:00.005+08:00

It's 1455 local time and I'm in the train to Brussels. Au revoir, Paris! I'll be missing you. Call me.

Let's travel back to:

Day 3: November 11, 2009

Day 4: November 12, 2009

Day 5: November 13, 2009

Day 5: November 13, 2009

2009-11-13T21:00:00.000+08:00

Our train was leaving for Brussels at 1455.

Initially, we were going to rest and relax in the hotel room until check-out time. But we were getting quite restless not doing anything. And there were no English speaking channel on the TV, other than BBC (That’s so much of news you can take when you are on your vacation!). Everything was dubbed into French. So, we left about 10-ish to stop at another landmark on the way to Gare du Nord station.

Above: With all our property.

Above: Check out the sky as we were heading to the metro station!

Day 4 : Nov 12, 2009

2009-11-12T22:00:00.007+08:00

Absolutely nothing can stop me from exploring this city of romance. Although, the Moroccan man we met in the train yesterday, in some ways, had dampened my spirit for Paris. It was because I believed that we have to mingle with the locals to actually understand their culture and their thinking, and the fact that he had stayed here for so many years, that was why his comments affected me in some ways.

Nevertheless, bonjour, Paris! Here we come!

We had bread and fruit juice in the hotel for breakfast. Without further delay, first destination: the Louvre.

Above: Musée du Louvre entrance

Above: The most important masterpiece that we came for. The Mona Lisa painting was so far away, we could hardly see it. See? See?

Above: Art student. Doesn't she look like Emma Watson? Maybe she is?

After we exited, we walked across the street towards Arc de triomphe du Carrousel and had something to eat, while we sat and absorb all the culture.

Above: The arch in the background.

There is a nice park where you can see the Eiffel Tower. If we had more time, we would have hang around there. But we were rushing. We were rushing to climb the Eiffel tower!

So off we headed towards the Eiffel tower.

Above: Excuse me. If you don't mind, your head is blocking the church.

Above: Dôme de l'Hôtel des Invalides. Can be seen on the way to the tower, by foot.

Here we are!

We bought tickets to go all the way to the top. You can choose to buy tickets to climb up by stairs or take the elevators. Since climbing was told to be only to the second floor, and then take the elevator up to the top (7EUR/each), why not? I mean it was just 2 floors, how hard could it be right? Wrong. The so called 2 floors were probably 15 floors up! Because by the time we reached the "2nd floor", we could see at the whole of Paris!

Above: Taken from the "2nd floor".

Above: On the way to the top. By the way, that was just a mannequin.

On top of the world! erm... Paris!

It was such a wonderful feeling to be on top. Maybe because of the "2 floors" climbing. The exhilaration and satisfaction that came with it, to be on top of one of the wonders of the world. I felt so "high"..

Because it was all fenced up, it wasn't scary at all. MV is afraid of heights. But look at all his funny faces. No fears there. The wind was so strong, it could push you a little (depending on how heavy you are, I guess). I'm not gonna type out my weight here for the world to see! If the wind pushed you too, meaning it's around there, plus or minus.

Above: Champagne at the top of the Tower anyone? The man in suit, behind the counter was meddling with his computer or something, and did not look up once. But from that angle, he reminded me of those pretty-boy characters in anime.

NB: If you were working there at that time, and recognise that that person is you, why not drop me an email. We'll talk further. ;)

Above: By the time we came down (using elevator all the way), we were hungry again from all the adrenaline rush. Bought a sandwich from one of the stalls underneath the Tower.

Above: Opposite the Tower, across the Parc du Champs de Mars.

Tips: There is a metro station at the end of this park, on the left, across the street. So it's a good direction to head to after coming down from the Tower. If you want to take good pictures of the Tower, you can do it from the park, as well. Also, as you leave, you can still turn back to bid your farewell. I did. ;)

Above: The arch at Avenue des Champs-Élysees

It was already getting dark. Next on our itinerary was to walk along La Siene river, and then head to Notre Dame Cathedral.

Below: With the accordion music in the background, enjoy the 360° view of the bridge near Notre Dame cathedral.

Above: Notre Dame cathedral at night.

Below: Inside the cathedral.

Above: The Choir. The vocals, good sound system and the echoes reflected from this magnificent building made it all sound so grant and enchanting.

Above: Some modern day confession room. The priest was inside with another person and this lady was waiting for her turn. Where is the privacy?

You can’t really see the faces, because of the design of the glass. But from the silhouettes, it looked like they were sitting in the classical doctor-patient arrangement- Priest behind the table, Man on his right, beside the table. More like a counselling room, if you ask me.

Had Subway sandwich for dinner, somewhere after the cathedral and then head back to the hotel.

Day 3 : November 11, 2009

2009-11-11T22:00:00.001+08:00

Our train from Barcelona leaves at 0845 local time. So we had to leave without breakfast, and very quietly, as the other two backpackers we shared the room with were still sleeping. We did not really get the opportunity to introduce ourselves and made friends because of our different timings. The 2 nights that we shared the room, by the time they got back, we were already sleeping!

Anyway, from Barcelona, there’s no direct train to Paris. We had to transit in Montpellier St. Roch, which we were able to make reservation for. But from Montpellier to Paris Gare de Lyon, we were told that they couldn’t reserve the seats for us from Barcelona and that we had to do it when we get there. We had 3 hours to kill when we reach anyways. So no worries there. But we were wrong.

Above: Estacio de Franca station

Above: Breakfast in the train. Just for fun, otherwise it was very pricey.

When we reached Montpellier, first thing first, we went straight to the ticket counter to make reservation to Paris Gare de Lyon. We had to queue for quite a while, and when it finally came to our turn, it was at a counter with a man, in his 50s, who couldn’t speak much English. (We should have just let the next one go first) Anyway, by using sign language, showing him our itinerary and our Eurail tickets, we managed to conveyed our request.

Unfortunately, with a lot of French in between, we came to understand that it was full to Eurail pass travellers. But he offered us an alternative, which was to Roissy Aeroport, instead. You see, although we had Lulu (iPod Touch) with us, she was not operating on 3G and there were no detectable Wi-fi for us to locate where this Roissy station is and how far is it from Gare de Lyon. We asked if we could upgrade to a 1st class and pay the excess, and assuming that he understood us, he said no. So seeing that there was no other ways, we bought the reservation tickets to Roissy aeroport at 3EUR/each.

Plus the queuing, that took us about 1 hour and a half. Subsequently, we tried looking for wi-fi to find out where Roissy is situated but to no avail. After discussing, we decided to try our luck again at the ticket counter- the whole time praying that we wouldn’t get the same counter again. It was a close call, but thankfully when it was our turn, the counter which was empty first was a young man, who spoke more English.

The funny thing was he did not say anything about reservation being full to Eurail pass travellers. There was no hassle whatsoever. He just printed out the tickets and we paid another 3 EUR/each (no thanks to the first teller). Nevertheless, we were thankful that we got the tickets and save us the trouble of having to find our way from Roissy to Gare de Lyon.

We were also having uncertainties with the tickets as this was our first train ride in Europe, and it was printed in French. So we guessed our way to our seats, and asked a man sitting in front of us if we boarded the correct train and seats. It was a 2-by-2 seaters, facing each other, with a small table in between, and the Morrocan man was sitting in front of me. It started off as an innocent confirmation of the train, the next thing we know he talked for the next 3 hours, all the way from Montpellier to Paris Gare de Lyon!

He was a classical case of having flight of ideas, talking continuously, jumping from one topic to another, according to plays of words. Knowing that we came from M'sia, he started talking about his days as a waiter in a 5 star hotel in M'sia serving the Sultan -> how good he is in his waitering job in France, and how because of that his French colleagues dislike him -> about the French disliking foreigners, and how proud they are to be French, refusing to speak any other language -> complained about his wife, a Morrocan who grew up in France, and acted like the French -> how the Morrocans fought in the front line for France during the world war, but was not given any credits... Noticed how I highlighted some similar words but about different topics? That's exactly what flight of ideas mean.

Towards the end, I was getting rather uncomfortable. He was sitting at the edge of his seat, leaning forward, with both his arms on the table. As he was sitting in front of me, it looked as though he was going to reach out and grab me any time now. I had to lean back and actively stick myself to the back of the seat! But of course, MV was there beside me if he ever tried to be funny. Because in my mind, I was convinced he may have some psychiatric problems.

It was already dark when we arrived at Paris. It was very cold and the wind was strong. We bought our metro tickets for 10 rides/each and head to Hotel Ibis. We checked in and asked the receptionist the nearest supermarket to buy charger for Lulu (Left it in London). There was one near the hotel but unlikely to sell charger, so the receptionist taught us how to take the bus to a nearby Carrefour.

That's another funny story:

We waited for the bus at a nearby bus stop and boarded the bus along with a Chinese-looking lady and others. In Carrefour, we bought bottles of water, bread, local apples, Carrefour's junk food and chocolates (Items that we had not seen before in Carrefour M'sia).

Anyway, when we came out, we weren't sure where to wait for the bus! The receptionist gave us the direction to Carrefour, but not from it (And we didn't ask, either). But we saw the same Chinese lady waiting at a bus stop. Assuming that she was heading back to the same place, we waited with her, and boarded the bus when she did. It did occur to us that she might had come from her workplace, stop for some groceries at Carrefour, and was going home now. But we just adopted the wait-and-see approach.

And our hunch was right. She was heading to a different place! The surrounding was unfamiliar to us and there were not many people on the street to ask, as it was already late. We unboard the bus, one station after hers, and walked in the opposite direction from the bus. We somehow navigated our way with a local map, to a bus stop and then board the bus. So much for following a familiar face! The even funnier thing was, the bus took us back to Carrefour area, and picked up the cashier we paid our food to!

We did head back to our hotel in that bus. It was already after 10pm. And we only had one meal the whole day in the morning train- 2 slices of toasted white bread, with coffee, because our lunch in the train was interrupted by a "storyteller".

We walked around near the hotel, which had many restaurants still open for business. The menus placed outside were all in French. We didn't know what they were serving, and then decided against it, as it was already late. So we went and bought crepes with nutella and a hotdog from a nearby stand. The mustard in the hotdog has a light tinge of wasabi-like taste. Very interesting.

We walked back to the hotel and called it a day.

Above: The night view from our hotel room. It actually looked much nearer than in photos. See the tiny orange lighted building on the right, beside all the skyscrapers? That was the Eiffel tower.

Hola! Ciao!

2009-11-11T01:47:00.006+08:00

Today marks the 3rd day of my Eurotrip, Nov 11, 2009 at 0850 local time. I was in Barcelona, Spain for 2 days arriving from Gatwick Airport London (Easyjet), where I was searched, when I set off the alarm while walking through the detector because I left my mobile phone in my pocket! And my carry-on bag was ransacked. Lesson learned- I look like a threat!

Day 1: November 9, 2009

Day 2: November 10, 2009

Day 2 : Nov 10, 2009

2009-11-10T22:00:00.004+08:00

The next morning, we started our day with complimentary breakfast at the hostel lounge. Nothing fancy, just cereal, bread with jams/ nutella, coffee/tea/milk/juices. We had it at the terrace, wearing only a thin cotton shirt with jeans. But boy was it cold and windy, even though the sun was shining in our faces. It has a nice clear view of the Torre Agbar on our right. And again, I thought I would come back to snap the picturesque view we enjoyed while having our breakfast, but I did not.

After clearing our table ourselves, our first itinerary was to go marketing in the famous Mercato La Boqueria.

Above: Various types of mushrooms with seasoning! So tempted to try to cook it. If we weren't leaving the next morning, I would have bought as we have cooking facilities in our hostel.

Above: Look at how nice they line the bottom with leaves. If it were M'sian Chinese, they'll probably sell the leaves as well!

We kept out breakfast in the hostel light, as we had planned to have our second breakfast at El Quim (in the center of the market). There are many other food stalls in the market other than this at the end of the market. So have a walk until the end, passing the meat section, before deciding which you would like to try.

Above: The Zucchini omelette looked like any other omelette, but it sure didn't taste like one. I can't put into words, as to why I thought I was very good. You'd have to try it to know what I mean.

The street outside the market, is Las Ramblas. A busy street with souvenir stalls, street acts, restaurants, tapas bar, etc. But beware of pickpockets. Or so we read from reviews.

Next destination was Catheral de la Barceona and Pla de la Seu. A wide open space outside the church, with restaurants and shops, where we enjoyed our 3EUR pomegranate from the Mercato.

Above: Enjoying all the antioxidants with a view.

Above: Bought this pair of Sketchers in London for only 17GBP, the day before starting our Eurotrip. Nice eh? Even the pigeon is admiring them.

In the evening, we went to the beach, getting off at Ciutadella-Vila Olimpica metro station. The area called, Port Olimpica was an entertainment zone built for the 1992 Olympic.

We had a burger from a local fast food chain (I can’t remember the name) at the docks. The burger has chicken patty along with fries. Bad combo. It wasn’t good. To be honest, we bought the burger because we wanted to use the toilet! But, we were told they were cleaning it, so we waited and had our burger. Half an hour passed, they insisted that they were still cleaning. Some golden plated toilet bowl, I presumed. We left without using the facility. As it turned out, we actually didn’t have to buy something to use the toilet (M’sian style) because we saw a lady just walked in, and then walked out when she found the “Cleaning in progress” board outside the toilet. Lesson learned and practiced- a coffee/ pastry shop near the beach.

For dinner, we went back to Jaume 1 metro station, and to what we thought was a Spanish restaurant. But it turned out, it was run by Pakistanis! Maybe the owner was Spanish, but there was no sign of him/her. But the food was acceptable.

Above: Fideoa (Spanish noodles- comparable to that of paella. Only with noodles, instead of rice)

Tapas that we tried- bread with tomato, deep fried potato.

Drinks: Sangri.

After dinner it was already dark. So we walked to some of the nearby places we went earlier to have a look at the night view. On the way, we saw a pet shop. And naturally, we went in. They have our favourite breed there! Not an easy find back home. It’s none other than, Bull terrier. The puppy was white with a black patch near the right eye. So adorable!

Above: A chess set that we found on display near the pet shop. White sheeps and Black sheeps!

We called it a day after the walk and head back. Back in the hostel, we did our laundry and packed our things for early check out the next day.

Day 1 : Nov 9, 2009

2009-11-09T23:30:00.004+08:00

Arrived at Barcelona El Prat Aeroport about 10-ish am. Head towards the train terminal and bought ourselves a T10 (Zone 1) metro ticket for 7.70EUR from the ticket machine. T10 meaning 10 trips on metro/ train/ bus/ tram and the special thing about the ticket is that it can be shared among the members of the group- 1st person slip the T10 card into the validation machine, walk through the turnstile, and passed the T10 ticket to the next person, so on and so forth. And Zone 1 is the city centre, where most of the attractions would be. So Zone 1 would suffice for our 2 days trip, although we had to buy individual tickets to Parc Guell.

First and foremost was to check into our hostel to unload our “burden”. Mine was about 10kg, and MV’s was 11kg. Why are we already carrying so heavy haversacks at the beginning of our trip? I have no idea.

Anyway, thanks to Google map already bookmarked into MV’s iPod Touch (which I named Lulu, short for orlulu- Hokkien for tarry black), a compass, along with a well developed public transport system, moving around Barcelona was an ease. A compass?! Where were you going? Barcelona rainforest? If that was your first reaction, so was mine. It was in MV’s bag. And thankfully he brought it because it saved us the trouble of having to walk down the road to a junction, check the names of the adjacent roads, and find out if we were on the right direction. And believe me, it could be a long walk.

We took the train from Aeroport to El Clot-Arago, which was the nearest station to our hostel- Barcelona Urbany Hostel. From there, we followed the directions given on the reservation email.

Note: Most hostels we stayed in throughout our trip were booked from Hostel Bookers. It is a very reliable website, covering extensive locations with inexhaustible hostels. It’s a good place to start looking. Once you have narrowed down the hostels, it is equally important to check out reviews of the hostels from other websites. Sounds like a lot of work, especially since we were travelling upto 16 days around Europe. But thanks to Ko, it was all taken care off during our exam.

After unloading our bags, off we went for sight seeing. Not far from our hostel, we stopped for lunch in a restaurant, which serves set lunch at a somewhat reasonable price. We ordered grilled rabbit (Poor, whabbit!) for 7EUR, and a bottle of local wine for 3EUR. I still can’t believe we ate rabbit, especially when we were contemplating to become full time (or most of the time) vegetarian. But that’s another story, another time.

Above: Hmm.. The 3 EUR bottle of local wine.

Above: What's with the sleepy eyes? Anyway, observe the wall behind MV. They probably just hang everything that they are not using from the kitchen.

To make things worse, the meal was bad. It felt as though the killing was so not worth it, and it was too late to save the rabbit. The only consolation was the cheap but good wine to help us swallow our remorse. We did not eat much of the poor animal. Instead, we became full because of the bread that came with it.

Although we had such a lousy first meal, we started our Day of Gaudi’s creation in Barcelona. Gaudi (1852- 1926) was THE architect behind all the peculiar buildings found in Barcelona.

First on our itinerary was La Sagrada Familia ( Translate: The Holy Family).

Next Gaudi’s creation that we visited was Casa Milà (La Pedrera), at Passeig de Gracia.

The other Gaudi’s creation along Passeig de Gracia was Casa Batlló.

As we walked down the road, we came to Placa de Catalunya.

There’s an information (underground) building, to which we were told to go and ask for bus information to Parc Güell.

Tips: Unless you want to pay a visit to the information centre, let me share with you here how to get to Parc Güell and save you the trouble. At Placa de Catalunya, locate where Corté Ingles departmental store is. Walk towards that building. Now, that building should be directly on your right, and the Placa is on your left (across the street). Wait at the bus stop, where Bus 24 stops. You can buy the ticket from the bus driver (I can’t remember how much it was). It’s that simple.

The bus became very crowded along the way. But we did enjoy the scenery and buildings with nice balconies. We passed Casa Batlló on the left, at the beginning of the journey .

Above: The egg shaped building is Torre Agbar. We could see the building just outside our hostel room window. But I forgot to take a picture of it, thinking that I would do it before we leave. But then again. maybe not.

Just hanging out at the peak and enjoy the sunset.

We took the same Bus 24 back to Placa after enjoying the sunset at Parc Güell. By the time we reached, it was already pitched dark. We went inside Corté Ingles departmental store, get a few bottles of water and some snacks; and then look for a restaurant for dinner. The only one that they have is on the top floor. As the place was quite packed, we thought the food must be quite good and so we went in. We ordered a plate of seafood paella and a slice of cake for dessert, which we saw many people took.

Looks very appetising on these pictures I took.

But do not be fooled by the looks. The paella was too dry, the rice was hard and it was not warm enough. As for the dessert, it was basically vanilla cake with sunflower seeds and icing sugar. It was an interesting initial few bites, but it became too sweet by the 4th bite. What a disappointment.

We took the metro back to our hostel after that and called it a day, still very much disappointed with all the meals we had that day.

Epilogue

2009-11-05T00:00:00.000+08:00

Some time in the month of May 2009, H1N1 influenza started. By June, it was declared as a pandemic and continued to spread. About the same time, and for that very reason, my parents decided that it was not advisable for me and MV to be travelling to Europe in November, as it would be cold and common flu is, well, common at this time of the year. Because this announcement came from the highest authority at the Headquarters in Taiping ( i. e. my parents), all plans came to a total halt.

That’s when Plan B was deduced. As our only available travel time coincide with Autumn/ Winter, where else will not be cold, or be quite the contrary, other than the land down under? So, all attentions were diverted 10,000 miles away from Plan A. Not much was achieved (fortunately), other than wonderful Couz CH offered her place for us to bunk in Adelaide, meet MV’s sis and boyfriend in Sydney; and my old friend and fiancé in Perth.

Over the months, the hoo-ha over H1N1 pandemic died down in the news, both locally and in the UK. I took the opportunity of the situation and brought up Plan A to the HQ again. We were still rather adamant to go to Europe as this is the only time we will ever be able to travel for such an extended period before work starts. Mainly because we felt that South East Asia and Australia can always be travelled over a long weekend or so, but not when you have to fly 12 hours to reach a destination. Fortunately, the proposal followed through this time.

On the fateful night of September 15, 2009, orders were issued from the HQ to London ( where Ko is based ) to execute all necessary arrangements- hostels/hotel, domestic flights and Eurail tickets. Thanks, Ko!

From my end, I searched around for the cheapest flight tickets from reputable airlines- namely Emirates, Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines. Out of which, the cheapest was Emirates, departing from Singapore Changi Airport. Why not from Kuala Lumpur International Airport? you ask. Well, the ticket difference was RM800 extra to fly from KLIA, as compared to Changi. Why the extra RM800? you ask. Well, it’s because Malaysia Boleh!

My AirAsia flight from Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), KL to Changi only cost me RM 112, booked only 4 days before departure. I did not check out MAS ticket price, but I’m sure I can definitely get quite some change back from the RM800.

After confirming my Emirates flight, there was no turning back. That was exactly why I was very efficient, even though I was having my study break then. With the flight tickets to substantiate Plan A, and knowing that the London quarter was assigned to make the local arrangements, I had to mentally bring myself back from all the daydreaming and concentrate on the determinant. The key factor that decides it all, passing my MBBS.

So it was laid aside until after the exams. Only then did MV and myself, kick-start our itineraries, based on the locations set out by Ko.

And the journey began.

Joke #1: The man with the flip-flops

2009-10-26T12:39:00.004+08:00

Background (must know to understand the joke): Today is the 9th day of the 9 Emperor Gods festival. A taoist annual celebration to invoke and welcome the arrival of the 9 excellencies for a “visit”, before sending them back with colourful and grand procession. Devotees are dressed in white traditional costume, and are required to remove all footwear during the welcoming ceremony or any other ceremonies.

There is a middle-aged man, who wears flip-flops everytime he goes out anywhere after working hours. Now considering the climate in M’sia, this is not something out of the ordinary. But what may be extraordinary, is the pictures printed on the flip-flops.

This man has always been more concern with comfort and convenience, rather than its looks, as evident by the condition of the flip-flops.

So, 2 days ago at the 9 Emperor Gods temple, this man was seen wearing a different flip-flops. And out of fun/curiosity/tease, a lady relative asked this man what had happened to the Winnie, the Pooh flip-flops and how come he’s not wearing them.

The man replied, “Because I have to remove my footwear during prayer and put them aside unguarded. What if someone steal them?”

Everybody burst out laughing.

Starring:

The middle-aged man: Me dad.

The lady relative: Couz Wen.

Everybody who was there to witness: Couz WW, Aunty L, myself.

The provoking agent:

To be or not to be... (Part 2 of 2)

2009-10-06T23:50:00.000+08:00

Four days later, as we proceed on to the 2nd part of my practical exams, which is known as short cases- 3 different departments other than that of the long case (Part 1 of 2), 10 minutes for each station comprising of examinations, probable diagnosis and discussion about the case.

The worse things about short cases for me (and probably for many others, as well) were the fact that it was so short a duration, one station after another, not to mention having to switch on and off for each station, which were all completely different system of examination. and to top it all, bringing 3 (in my case, 4) specialist examiners of all different departments.

Luckily this time, I was in the 3rd slot, meaning roughly after 1 hours and 15 minutes (i.e. 2 sessions of 30+/- minutes), i was called in.

With me, were a physician, surgeon, paediatrician and an obstetrician as examiners- 2 internal examiners ( i.e. own college lecturers) and 2 external examiners (i.e. invited doctors from government uni/hosp) for "quality control" because results must be agreed upon by all the examiners. The arrangement may not be the same for everybody as it was randomized but there must be both internal and external examiners.

Short case examination in many ways is all about the showmanship. Just do all the things you were taught to do, even if you know you won't find anything. Staying cool and calm is equally as important.

In that sense, since my Manipal days, I've always been grateful for the years of going through piano practical examination, back in primary and secondary school, when I had to perform in front of English ang moh examiners, whom I've never met before in my entire life and would probably never meet again. I feel that because of such exposure since my young age, I don't really get nervous "performing" in front of examiners. It's the waiting for my turn that bothers me still... And of course, the anxiety of not knowing enough to answer the questions.

Anyway, my first station was examination of the abdomen- a surgical case of an enlarged liver. Next station was lead by a paediatrician to a small boy with both legs deformity and walking tip-toeing. Lastly, was to a pregnant lady whose baby was too small for its age.

The last station was probably the funniest when I relate to everybody. I had always had problems understanding this internal examiner's speech. He tends to mumble, speaks very fast, and has a very strong indian accent, which until today, I do not always comprehend what he says. More often than not, I catch the keywords and guess my way as to what he is asking. But of all the days, that method just had to fail this time. It was so bad that up to a point, I had no choice but to say, "I'm very sorry, Sir. But I don't understand what you are saying." And that was when the other examiners tried to explain to me, in their own words, what the question was!! Lol....

That 30 minutes came and went like a blink of an eye. The next thing I know, I was being quarantined with those who had went through the exam and we were all busy relating our cases and what took place during the examination.

The fact that the last station was when the "miscommunication" took place, I felt really, really bad after that. I knew my examination technique was fine and I was able to pick up findings but the discussion that ensued made me really nervous that I might be called for reassessment.

Unlike after the long case, even though my exams was finally over, I felt worse than ever.

The next night, about 7.30pm, the reassessment list was put up. My name was not there. What a relieve!

BUT, not having my name up there, could also mean that it was a straight fail i.e. below 45%, in which case, I would not be eligible for reassessment at all. After convincing myself that I could not possibly had done so poorly, just because I couldn't answer a few questions, or answered a few questions wrongly (due to poor communication), I started packing up my books.

Either way, there's no turning back. I've decided that I want to be....

To be or not to be... (Part 1 of 2)

2009-10-06T23:12:00.003+08:00

As you might have seen previously, the countdown at the bottom of the page had been over for about 2 months now (and I've finally taken it down). My final struggle started in August and had ended today, but the battle continues. Simply because the results will not be out until Friday.

Thinking back, the last 2 months actually passed quite fast. But it wasn't until towards the end, that the torture really took the upper hand. I mean I'm talking about 5 years of education boiled down to this final exam, and laying down the stepping stone for the rest of my professional career. It was so much of psychological turmoil, that at times I find myself.... completely spaced out- very much in my own world, at my own time.

And then the time finally came to show them what I've learned for the last 5 years of my life and how competent I am. I'm skipping the theory papers all together, because they were stupid. I'm jumping straight into the practicals.

First day of practical- 1 Oct 2009.

Going for practical exam run by my college means getting afflicted with hours of waiting for my turn. If being quarantined in a room with other just-as-restless students was bad, not knowing when is my turn, only served to make it worse! I waited from 8am until 1.20pm before I was finally being called. Then I was given an hour to clerk the patient's history and examine him, diagnose his problem(s), decide what investigations I would like to do and plan the course of treatment.

My patient was a very friendly 58 years old uncle, who was very much trying to help me. But in his enthusiasm, he wasn't answering my questions and had elaborated the whole story about it. Now don't get me wrong. I enjoy talking to such patients. In fact, I believe I would enjoy looking after him in the wards. But not during exam, when I only get 1 hour for everything!

To top it all, he had a special combo of diseases- diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and end stage renal failure on dialysis. And because they were all very common diseases, there's a wide ground to cover, not only in the history but in the examination as well. They are basically "high- expectation" diseases all seen in this patient. I'm only speaking in terms of final exam, I'm not even going to go into what the patient has to go through everyday because of his illnesses.

When I realized by the end of the first 5 minutes how tough this case was, I took a deep breathe, calmed myself down, smiled to the uncle and persevered.

Towards the last 10 minutes, when I was writing down and organizing my thoughts, uncle was still chatting away something about when he was in the army. I really couldn't response much anymore, other than occasional, "Oh ya ke?". When he learned where my hometown was, he got all excited because he was trained there for years. And that was also when he mentioned that the previous student who examined him was from Klang. Now that caught my attention and I stopped writing. The only person from Klang, taking exam on the same day, whom I know of was none other than M!

After the presentation and the drilling from examiners, I found out that M had the same panel of examiners as well! What a coincidence!

That was the 1st day of the 2 days of practical exam.

I actually felt a burden being lifted off from my shoulders. The exhilaration of finally getting it over with is actually difficult to describe. There was also a sense of satisfaction, that I had performed considerably well.

I had a peaceful sleep that night.

A different eye

2009-07-08T19:28:00.024+08:00

What do you see when you look at this particular SGD1 coin? What is so unique about this coin that I feel the need to dedicate an entry to it? In other words, what is just staring back at you?

Note:

WW, I know you love these kind of games. So, put on your reading glasses and tighten you thinking cap. With your experience, I believe you can spot it! Even with one eye closed!
For the rest of you with less trained eyes, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s a difficult one but do give it a try. Who knows what you might see if you put your heart into it!

Just for fun, I shall leave you here to chew on it for awhile. Now you wouldn’t want me to just give you the answer now, would you? Feel free to generate a discussion among yourselves under the comments.

Last but not least, I shall leave you with TWO (2) clues :

It’s labeled under My Story So Far.
Look in between the lines.

I shall return in a week or so. Until then,

D-Day

2009-06-30T23:00:00.001+08:00

What does “D-Day” means? It has nothing to do with military attack day or the day when the Allied forces invaded western Europe during the World War II.

In this entry, it simply means Durian Day!

I was invited to a durian party on this night, exactly in the middle of the year 2009 in the year of Ox at Room M400.

The HostThe Main Course

The Dessert

Thanks Tanush for having us!!

While the smell of the fruit still lingers in my mouth, another D-Day event occurred. The other D-Day meaning.

A phone call came from a long lost friend, now in Perth (I think the last time I talked to her was my 1st year of medical school).

So anyway, she found my number from me Mom and called… to invite me to her wedding!! OMG!! I couldn’t believe my ears. I was so surprised to receive her phone in the first place and then so many happy surprises followed suit.

Another wonderful news was the venue.

Well, she’s having her wedding in South Africa!!

And I get a personal invitation. I was so touched. I still am. And I’m so happy for her and her significant other.

Congrats, my friend!!

I just hope I can make it since I would have just started housemanship by then.

My so called "Tanah tumpah darah"

2009-05-29T22:17:00.005+08:00

Here I am. Last four months of my medical school, which has truly been a hate-and-love-collide experience. So much going on all at the same, I don't even know where to begin.

One of my biggest headache at the moment is deciding which hospital I should apply to work in. Some said it's better to work in smaller ones, while others think you'll learn more in bigger hospitals.

Well, I've concluded that there are pros and cons to both hospital settings.

For instance, in smaller/rural hospitals, the opportunities to perform procedures and start taking charge of things start much earlier, as they would be lacking in doctors. On the other hand, bigger hospitals are referral hospitals, which means that cases are being referred from smaller hospitals for further management, and not to mention all the better facilities.

While it would be great to start performing appendicectomy and get the adrenaline pumping (which was what I've always been looking for), the fact that there's lack of specialists, is what that's holding me back from applying for rural hospitals.

And then there's the following plan of working overseas, in the immediate future (I hope). Would it be more impressive to have a resume that says I've worked in a tertiery hospital with 600 over beds, which is a referral hospitals with so and so facilities; or to say that I've performed appendicectomy under minimal supervision?

Regardless of all that, after much research, I finally believe that grass is not all that green on the other side, not for doctors at least. Foreign-trained doctors will always be inferior to the locals -in terms of promotion, further studies, choice of specialising, etc. But would it be all that bad to be treated as a 2nd class doctor in a foreign country, or working like a dog and still be treated as a 2nd class doctor in my own "tanah tumpah darah"?

I'm in a very confused state right now. But I'm taking one step at a time and I'm not too worried over it, as I still have one humungous hurdle to cross this Aug/Sept. All plans will be at halt if I don't clear this hurdle ASAP.

Anyway, just to share a rather old article written in 2006 by an Aussie. While this article could have been easily written by any Malaysians, it was beautifully elaborated by someone who doesn't have to worry about the infamous ISA.

While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dry

Miss me? ;)

2009-05-17T15:48:00.006+08:00

So much to update about but so little time. Well actually, time can be managed to finish all my drafts(!), but I'll end up feeling guilty for "wasting" that few hours on one post. At the same time, there's no guilt in spending time watching movies, series, sleeping... Hehehe...

Anyway, do read on what's going on in Pulau Ketam by Furry Friends Farm, which I'm planning to volunteer after my exams. Anybody else coming??

Click on the picture to go to the website

To whom it may concern,

2009-04-01T22:16:00.005+08:00

Although this post is intended for you, you will not know of this until I’m through with you by the end of this year, to protect my privacy.

I applaud you for your effort to ensure better training exposure for us and for succeeding in negotiating a memorandum for us. Bravo and thank you! While this is an honourable gesture, it also entails many issues related to it, which unfortunately, are poorly handled.

While one effort is admirable, there’s no action to deal with the consequences. First and foremost, the B.U.S. issue. On one hand, this provided an indispensable solution for the transportation problem, on the other, you should be aware that the cheap lousy buses that you rent/bought are polluting the southern states, not to mention repeated breakdowns and non functioning air-condition in a windowless bus for the entire 45 minute - 1 hour journey!

Let’s face it. The bus and all the related revenue is not only preventing you from getting even richer, the petrol consumption is no friend to the environment.

So, as a solution, which is actually precedented by your (smarter) counterpart, how about relocating final year students (or any year of your preference) to Muar for the entire year. Meaning, you would be able to rid your responsibility of us and we would be fully responsible for our own – rentals, bills, etc.

Not only does this save our time of travelling (because leaving at 7am is actually a rather dumb idea), it’s also better for the environment in a long run (in this day and age, not a very distant future actually). But of course, this indirectly means that there’ll be many vacant rooms in the hostel and you would have to lose out on the ridiculously overcharged fees. I supposed it does balance out with the buses expenditure, and more importantly, the ENVIRONMENT.

Also, there’ll be other chain of issues regarding lecturers, MIA students issue, etc. That’s your job to sort them out.

In other words, instead of worrying about our attire in the library to “uphold your image”, why not channel your “concern” to the buses that bear your logo, which are travelling along the highway everyday. I mean, who the hell comes to the library to check on OUR dressing, to place judgment on YOU?

As it is, we have no choice but to dress up professionally in this scorching heat during the day, forcing us to do the same after office hour is just an ingenious way to stop us from stepping into the library. Mind you, I’m talking about dressing comfortably but decently.

There are bigger issues here. Hello!

Do what is important and forego what is not. Paint a bigger picture please. You shouldn’t be needing me to remind you that you are running a professional course, not a military camp.

IXth Surgical Workshop 18/3/09

2009-03-18T18:59:00.004+08:00

I’ve always wondered how it would feel like to cut people up (to cure them, mind you!) Imagine this: you can feel the palpitation of your heart, there’s a constant discharge of adrenaline in your body, you are holding a scalpel in your nervous and steady hand, there’s a live person lying in front of you, anaesthetized and paralyzed, and had entrusted his life to you. YOU are GOD!

Of course that’s a very crude way of putting things. There’s no way the real situation is half of what I’ve just described. I’ve probably just painted a snippet of next episode of Grey’s Anatomy!

What I’m trying to say is, I have great respect for the people who work day in and day out, with such burden resting on their shoulders. All the more, if they love what they do and teach their subordinate well!

I had a brief but nonetheless, pleasant experience in the recent week- my first ever surgical workshop organized by Melaka General Hospital, in collaboration with B. Braun Aesculap (leading company supplying sutures and other related materials to government hospital in M’sia and other parts of the world).

It was a 2 days event at the hospital auditorium, and had allocated only 5 seats for students. We attended only the first day because the second day was intended for PG doctors. We could have attended, but it wouldn't have been useful for us anytime soon. (To be completely honest, I was more than interested to attend the 2nd day as well, as it was related to the surgeries I saw during my electives in SGH. So I wouldn't be completely lost. Had it not been because of college politics, I would have attended myself!)

Activities included:

Proper technique of gowning and gloving to maintain utmost sterility.
Different types of knot tying and their importance and uses.
Types of suture and needle.
Surgical instruments
Last but not least, hands on skin suturing.

with Zaf

the “patient” board

My work of art!

Are you ready for ME to cut YOU up?

Look at ME!

2009-03-18T12:04:00.002+08:00

Like you can't get enough of me, this label is dedicated for even more of ME!

And to commemorate this label, this will be the theme song.

Are you talking to me?

2009-02-18T17:47:00.004+08:00

I supposed everybody has something or someone (in my case), that can just boil them up in mere seconds. For some they are manage to bring down the temperature (eventually). Some don't. And some just manage to keep it warm. As for me, it fluctuates. Sometimes it fluctuates so much, I swear I saw steam coming out from my ENT!

Today i had an incident of that sort.

How can a person (although he had always been famous for it) be so self -centred as to even voice out something solely for his own benefit. AND may I add, he does not seem to feel any remorse! OR even realised that he's not the only human being who paid their tuition fees to be here to learn. How can such person even exist. How can he even be allowed to interact with humans.

How nice would the world be without such people. How peaceful and harmonious would the surroundings be.

There's no point going over the details. No point reliving my vomit. I'm just upset I have to see him for the next few months until I graduate.

This song is dedicated for everybody who's hoping for the best, however bleak the days ahead may be.

Counting down the days to...

2009-01-19T21:55:00.010+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year!
Wishing everybody a prosperous year of Ox ahead.
Pinkiest of health.
Exuberant happiness.
Flourishing wealth.

I'm so looking forward to it this (and every other) year! Bro will be touching down to KLIA on Thurs night. Aunt L, bro and myself will be car-pooling back to Taiping on the same night.

I'm taking french leave on Friday (23/1). AND on top of that, I have my bedside exam on 29/1 (4th day of CNY) and theory exam on 30/1 (5th day of CNY).

Regardless of all that, nothing is going to stop me from celebrating my CNY!

I shall update again soon after I return. Until then...

Memorable Weekend

2009-01-11T18:55:00.029+08:00

If you've known me for some time, you'll find that I have problems remembering or recalling incidences or events, sometimes even significant ones(!). But I believe that last weekend will be one of the few experiences that I'll always remember and cherish. Not because I'm writing it down here, but because it was very special to me in many many ways.

I was looking forward for the weekend the whole week. And it finally came. It was actually a weekend visit to Malacca by aunty L (coming down from KL), cousin PW (from Seremban), and sis (coming all the way from Singapore).

The Saturday morning started off insignificantly, with my having to attend a 3 hours session of students' presentation, called common programme, on bronchial asthma. It ended earlier than usual at about 11.15am, and L and PW were supposed to reach by 11.30pm (calculated based on the driving speed of L with extra time allocated!).

Anyway, I gave PW a call to see if they were about to reach, only to find out that our dearest aunt L's "BMW" got overheated and had to be fixed in Seremban, which had caused their delay. They were just leaving Seremban at that time. By then, sis was already reaching Melaka Sentral. So, M and I went to pick her up and we went for a "light" lunch at a hainanese chicken rice shop.

After lunch, M dropped us back to the hostel, to wait for the arrival of the rest of our "weekend gang" members. They reached at about 12.45pm and we went for lunch at sis' favourite bak kut teh shop in Malacca.

Food was just average. For that amount, it was over-priced. And as for the service, it was a disgrace. No extra soup was given, it was finished apparently. What is bak kut teh without liberal amount of soup?

For dessert, we went to a Nyonya place behind Jonker's street, called Donald and Lily's. Here we ordered their famous cendol with gula Melaka and sago and toufoo rojak.

Below:

This is how PW looked like when I asked her to show her expression into the camera,

as though she's seeing me for the first time after many, many years.

She looks more like she'd just seen a ghost!

After stuffed with food, we went off walking along Jonker's Street towards a smaller lane, where L wanted to get a chinese traditional basket. I've got her one before (sis paid for it, as L's birthday present), but she wanted one more for decoration. That was the intention she told us, and we believed her. How silly of us! When we reached that shop, she started calling her friend quoting the prices of the basket. And she ended up buying a big one for her friend and only a tiny one for herself. I wonder if the small one was just for show, so we won't bug her life!

Below:

Sis with a very typical chinese pose!

Below:

Look at the size of the basket L's holding, which she's buying for herself!

Compare it to the one on the table in front of her, which was for her friend.

Below:

A modern golden variant. More expensive.

Apparently real gold coating.

Below:

Other decorative items for sale in the shop

Below:

These mandarin ducks cost RM108.

Made of some crystals.

Below:

Promoting the other things that we bought at the shop along Malacca river,

which you can go for a boat ride.

After much bargaining at the basket shop, it was almost 5pm. Tea time! This place where I was planning to take them to, specialised in different types of sweet desserts. And it is situated at the foothill of a 19th century chinese cemetery called Bukit Cina. Many of the tombs had collapsed but the surroundings are well looked after by an association. In the evenings, there'll be alot of uncles walking and exercises along the pathway in between ths tombs.

As we were heading to the car, we bought vegetable roll (popiah) at Jonker's street. The secret ingredient was sprinkling oil made of pig's fats! Well, it's not really a secret. EVERY chinese knows that nothing tastes better than food cooked in that kind of oil!

Below:

My favourite dessert from the stall at the cemetery.

It's made of barley, called pai mai (directly translated as white porridge)

After persistent hinting, they finally realised that I would like to go back to my hostel room to handle some "business" in the toilet. So off we went to my campus!

Below:

My door deco to uplift the CNY mood!

While I was in the bathroom, 3 of them were outside chitchatting. Not long after, I could only hear sis voice relating some angry stories to L, in an angry manner and rather loudly. Every now and then, I heard L's voice asking questions or giving comments. Neither did I suspect, but by the time I showered and came out, PW was already sound asleep! Nobody needed to whisper or speak softly, cause she was already in her La La Land...

Anyway, we woke her up after we got ready. Then, it was straight to our next food destination! We went to pack putu piring, which has gula Melaka as filling and eaten with coconut. I'm not sure what putu means, but piring probably came from it's shape. It's basically a different version of Indian putu mayam or idiapam. It was introduced by sis when I first came to Malacca. It was a small time family business, with the shop right in front of their house. Very good business, usually sold off by 10pm, even on weekdays.

We had the putu piring at a famous satay celup restaurant along Jln. Ong Kim Wee, eventhough there was a sign board saying, "No outside food allowed" (some people just don't understand instructions! Hehe....).

Satay celup as the name indicates, is nothing but lok-lok dip straight into hot satay sauce, instead of normal boiling water. There's a pot in the centre of the table containing the sauce, which is continuously being heated up by a gas stove. A must try for all tourist. Abit too expensive for locals, as the size of the lok-lok is getting smaller by the week.

Not to disgust you, but how hygienic do you think it is? For those who only dip new ones everytime, that's ok. But what about those who repeatedly dip their half eaten lok-lok into the same sauce, that will not be changed until the end of the day? Hmm... Maybe that's what that make this so tasty.... The germs and diseases!

Continuing with the dinner, from local delicacy to North Indian cuisines. This place is called Pak Putra, located adjacent to Jonker Street, which only starts operating at 6pm, everyday except Mondays and during fasting season (they are Indian Muslim). They are famous for their tandoori chickens and nans. If you like cheese, their cheese nan is not to be missed!

The special thing about this place that stands out from all others, is their method of cooking. For the chicken, it is skewered and the oil is allowed to drip, while being cooked in a big clay barrel. Beside it, in another clay barrel is where the nan is cooked. It is stuck on the inner side of the barrel, and also cooked without oil. Healthy no?

Below:

The end result.

Served with mint sauce.

Below:

Potato nan,

apparently not available elsewhere according to L.

That was what we thought the last meal of the day was, cause by then we were all having problems breathing from congested abdomen pushing up our diaphragms! So off we went for a walk along Jonker's Street, where the night life is...

Below:

In one of the shops.

We just had to take a picture for remembrance

that we accidentally "colour-coded" on that day.

Below:

Some tid-bits that we tried in Jonker's.

Rt: Fried prawns

Lt: Fried baby crabs
I supposed they would have been nice if they were hot.

But they were not, so....

After the walk, after the food digested, off we went for some asam pedas fish in a Malay stall, just a walking distance away. This was recommended by sis. But what a disappointment. It was "pedas", but there wasn't any "asam" taste in it. Rather blunt, in fact. But it sure was cheap, just RM3 for a fish.

We initially had plans to go for a drink at Geographers (a strategic pub at the centre of Jonker's Street), but prolonged and sustained hyperglycaemia finally kicked in, and we were all too tired and decided to call it a day.

Back in our family suite...

I don't even know where or how to begin describing the hotel... How do I put it in a nicer way? Er... It was utterly disgusting! Haha... Now before you say, or even think anything, this was actually the second time I booked this hotel. BUT, this was the first time we were using the so called family suite. The standard rooms that i booked previously, were satisfactory, I even checked them out first before booking. And having some confidence in it (which was absolutely wrong!) I booked this hotel again, as other hotels were already full. To be honest, it was actually our last affordable option!

To our horror (and just to point out a few problems), the bathroom was dirty, with black stains on the floor and wall. Shower and heater were not working properly. The comforters were yellow (God only know how often they wash them), but luckily there was a layer or white sheets underneath.

We did fall asleep after chitchatting awhile. We were too tired to stay awake, no matter how hard we tried.

I for one, did not step into the bathroom! I showered when we were back in my hostel earlier in the evening. I did not pee. And I did not brush my teeth before sleep or after waking up!

We checked out at 6am and went straight to my hostel! Haha...

We took our sweet time there. Listen to live radio from internet, online shopping, try on my clothes, etc. Slowly one by one took turn to shower.

We went for dim sum for breakfast. Dearest L, were still thinking of yesterday's bak kut teh. She even suggested that we bring one of my bowls from my room, go and pack the bak kut teh and eat it at Dim Sum Garden! We told her to go sit at the next table on her own!

M joined us for breakfast. For once, he did not complain about being full and refused to eat! Good boy. (All because L was there, I think! Hehe...)

After breakfast, M left for his place to continue sleeping, while we head off to Dataran Pahlawan for some shopping. By then it was around 10am and we shopped until 2 something, before starting to leave to go for lunch at the same chicken rice shop as yesterday. By the time we actually left, with the jam and all, it was too late for sis to join us for lunch, as her bus was leaving at 4pm, and her bag was still in my hostel.

We collected her bag and sent her off to the bus station. Poor fella...

Anyway, M joined us for lunch too. We ordered a mixture of steamed and roasted chickens, stewed pork with eggs, deep fried prawn dumplings with bean sprouts in salted fish.

After lunch, L and PW started their journey home to Seremban. L was prepared to wash and vacuum her car there (She even brought her own vacuum cleaner all the way from PJ!).

I left with M. We guided them to the road leading to the highway. Just between you and me, we kind of took them one big round because we did not show our signal early enough for L's liking (or skills) and missed a turning! Sshhh...

Anyway, after that instead of going home, we went to a sports shop and M finally bought his second long overdue anniversary present.

How I Spent my Christmas '08

2009-01-08T19:48:00.043+08:00

I don't celebrate Christmas. But I do enjoy the season of giving (and taking), for all the creative decorations at the malls, the beautifully wrapped gift items, the sales, etc. And most all, I love this Christmas all the more because i have 5 and half days off!! which is a very rare occurrence at my college.

My Christmas presents from M and his family.

My holiday mood only filled the air at noon on Christmas Eve, immediately after my case presentation on a preterm twin baby. It was the fear of the unknown (or not knowing enough) that made case presentation a stressful routine. But that morning came and went like a breeze, taken by a wonderful teacher and paediatrician, Dr. J.

After that, it was just countdown until 4pm to start our journey home. 3 of us carpooled with R to Ipoh. I am a regular with R. And parents usually have to come down to Ipoh to pick me up, but not this time....

Why?

This is how my holiday begins.

I put a night at 3 Kor's place in Ipoh, as parents and the rest of the family were coming down to have dim sum for breakfast and shopping for CNY. But what they really came to Ipoh for was the dinner. A course dinner so-called "Monk jumps over the wall" (directly translated from Chinese). I have no idea what monk or which wall. But what I do know is that it costs RM200 per person. And there were 33 of us!

So what's so great about this dinner?

Dish 1.
Abalone and huge mushrooms with broccoli.
Each mushroom was proximately from the tip of my finger to the base of my palm. I'm not exaggerating. And meant to serve one for each person.

Separated into individual bowls.

Served sizzling hot.

Dish 2.
Herbal ginseng soup with some extensive ingredients.
Huge enough to serve 3 separate times with all different ingredients for each person.

Dish 2, Soup serving 1.

Shark's fin with some salty stuff (don't know what it's called. But it's something people usually put in porridge)

Btw, I did not eat the shark's fin. I gave my portion to sis.

Dish 2, Serving 2.
The white piece is some huge fish's stomach and the brown one behind it is sea cucumber.

Soup 2, Serving 3.
Some deer's cartilage or something.
Abit soft and gooey.

Dish 2.
This was the ginseng that was used to boil the soup.

Dish 3.
Assorted dish.

Dish 4.

Remember the earlier ginseng from the soup dish?

Fried ginseng roots.

Taste like crunchy chinese medicine.

Dish 5.

Fried noodles cooked with abalone gravy.

Dish 6.

By then, most of us were too bloated for anything else. And we were yet to have our individual mushroom. So instead, we told them to serve ONE mushroom for EACH table. Even with that we had difficulty finishing it! So imagine how full we were, or how big the mushroom was.

Dish 7.

Fruits with blended ice for dessert.

My niece No. 2 and her granny

The dinner would not have been possible if it wasn't for the great generosity of my cousin PW and hubby WW. Thank you both for the wonderful dinner!

For the rest of the holiday, it was all about food! One big family dinner after another. Although there's strong family history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and other closely associated diseases, nothing could stop this family from enjoying good (but high in cholesterol, salt, ajinomoto, etc) food. There were attempts to "neutralise" the dinner food load, by cooking porridge for lunch! Like it'll make alot of difference.

One personal favourite was at the outskirts of Taiping, called Parit Buntar, about 30 minutes away. The road leading to the "restaurant" (not sure if it's appropriate to be called as one), is not fully tarred and only wide enough to accommodate one car at a time! It's the kind of place, where you would not have gone to or would not have imagined having an eating place. I did not take any pictures, but will do the next time we go (probably during CNY). The place was recommended by me Dad, who had been there once with his friends some time ago. He never fail to amaze everybody on the different places to eat or anything related to food. If you believe in the phrase, "You are what you eat", then me Dad is a living prove!

Anyway, that place serves the freshest seafood, and probably one of the tastiest I've ever had. Having only one cook, who's also the boss, an old lady (probably his mom) to help set up the table, and a foreign helper to catch the seafood from the tank, the place functions like a well-oiled machine. Quite a fast service actually, considering the fact that my family alone used up 3 tables full. And the price was rather reasonable too, I would say.

And this dinner was thanks to my other constitutionally (sometimes, pathologically) generous Tua Kor!

That very same night (27 Dec), we celebrated sis birthday, as she was leaving the next day. PW and I went to order the birthday cake at Secret Recipes. Sis had 2 birthday cakes this year! (Not to signify your increasing age sis, just simply because there were too many people at home!). One chocolate moist cake and one mocha cheese cake. So to avoid suspicion, Y helped collect the cakes before dinner instead, and bring them home to keep them refrigerated. It somehow caused some delay for them to reach the dinner place. After giving directions to them through the phone, Seh Han Chek accidentally let the cat out of the bag, saying something about "collecting cakes". Sis, being a thick skin that she is, caught the cue, and said, "Wah! You all bought cake for me? Thank you ah!" I was too shocked to think of something to cover up. And SHC was probably wondering what was actually going on. We were all dumb founded.

But anyway, by the time we reach home, her thick skin was too prevailing.

While everybody was occupied by this cute little girl, and busy trying to catch her attention, a funny dialogue between a hubby and his wife overrides it:

WW: Ah Wen ah!!

PW: Yes?!!

WW: I need toilet roll!

PW: Ha, ok!

Everybody burst out laughing!

Tua Kor: Pang sai is it?

2 Kor: The elder one?

Mom: Constipated.

Tua Kor: The elder one is constipated hor?

The rest was too blur, I can't remember what they were saying either.

It was a wonderful holiday. And truly, truly a family affair.

Futsal in H2O - 20 Dec '08

2008-12-23T12:36:00.041+08:00

Futsal in water? Yes, literally. No special ball. No special rules. Just a special "court" to keep the water in at about ankle deep (like the pool you might have as a child). It was apparently 1st ever water futsal in Malaysia. And because I'm not advertising for any of the sponsors, I shall go straight to the event as such.

We arrived in Sunway Pyramid at about 10.15am. 15 min late according to the alloted time, but few hours early for the event to actually kick start at 1.30pm!

Anyway, lunch was provided so no complaints there.

After registration and lots were drawn, each team was given 10 min to get used to the "pool".

In the mean time, a purple 4X4 Kia with a noticeable logo of Hitz.fm were parked not far from the pool, drawing attentions to themselves with free gifts and games. This is NOT, I repeat, NOT something I would ever be interested in as I find it to be a high degree of lameness. But I believe I need to experience it for myself once, to have a definitive and valid opinion. We had alot of time to waste before the games start anyways, so I went near to see what the fuss is all about.

They were giving away alot of "goodies" but the only thing that caught my attention was the RM100 voucher from Jusco. Who doesn't love free cash to exchange for goods? So I answered a question (incompletely) and thanks to one of the cruisers (I don't know his name), I was in the line up for the RM100.

The game was basically a modified version of musical chair. One of the cruisers, who called herself Lady D (i think), was blind folded and holding a water gun, stood in the centre, while 12 of us stood around her in a circle, wearing black garbage-bag-turned-upside-down-remake of a poncho. The idea is after we stop circulating around her at the end of the music, whomever she shot with the watergun first will be eliminated.

Unfortunately, I was sprayed at the 7th round. *sob* sob*

So, the overall verdict of my preconceived notion that they are of high degree of lameness: Still lame. AND downright degrading to humans too! Why? Because at the end of the so-called musical watergun, they were tossing leftover cheap Cadbury chocolates to the crowd. And the worst part was they expected people to jump and catch them!

In the background, the game was about to start. M's team, the Estate Ranger (since their secondary school years), was the 3rd match in line.

Their 1st game was a breeze and had more fun than the 2nd, which was more aggressive. They won 4-1 for the 1st game, and lost at penalty for the 2nd game. What a waste! Losing at penalty is probably the worst, especially for those blame themselves for being the cause of it.

We left shortly after that for Domino's Pizza...

The pool....

The player...

And the strategy...

My classical "OMG. What did I get myself into?" look.

And then there were 4.

Loser face.

Gearing up. Don't the helmets make them look like construction workers?

Arrgghh....

Round 2

Dangerous sport... Boo hoo.

Game: interrupted

Off to Domino's...

Introducing... ME. My story so far. ( Pt. 1 )

2008-11-01T20:49:00.007+08:00

I'm a medical student. unlike most students, however, i wish to continue being a student a bit longer. but alas, i'm starting my final year in a week's time!! which means that, in about 365 days i must have all the knowledge at my fingertips and master all the skills that i would absolutely need..... not to kill someone!!

It's probably not as bad as i made it sound. but in many ways, this one year is going to be even more crucial than all the last 4 years add up. it will determine how competent i am going to be as a doctor; how much can i be trusted to manage the life of another human being under minimal supervision - safely, efficiently in the least amount of time, and as economical as possible for both patients and the government.

So this is just a scrape of my life at present. and what may lie ahead for me.

Currently, i'm having a break after completing my elective at SGH for a month. and the experience? indescribable. in a good way, of course.

I was posted to colorectal surgery for the initial 2 weeks, followed by another 2 weeks of internal medicine.

What can i say? the surgeons were superb! along with their state of the art equipments, they are probably the most experienced colorectal surgeons in this region, and yet they are as modest as the next person can be. they spoke to me (or any other students, for that matter) like an equal(!) and with respect, something which is quite rare in my country.

another wonderful thing about this department, that i can't help but notice is how close the surgeons are within their teams. but of course it was hard NOT to notice it, because on my very first day, our team, which consist of 4 surgeons, 1 MO, 1 HO, 1 intern and myself, went out to chinatown for lunch, treated by one of the surgeons! i was the only girl there, btw. which made me realise that surgery is still very much a guy's thing. but that's another issue, another time. anyway, what made it even more memorable was that it was my first time sitting in a brand new (1-month-old) BMW 5-series! comfort- got a whole new meaning that day...

of course those were just small parts of the whole experience.

the learning part was endless. never once did i not find colorectal surgery interesting. so do i want to specialise in it? well, that's a different issue, a different time.

anyway, after 2 weeks of continuous fun and learning, (even though i have to wake up at 5.30am every monrning, including saturdays! and my sleeping time was getting earlier and earlier. towards the end i was sleeping by 9pm!), it was time to bid farewell to the surgeons, and greet the physicians.

only after one day, i regretted applying to switch to a different department! of course my supervisor and the team were nice and all but the department itself was rather dull and tedious... now don't get me wrong, i don't mean, "medicine" is boring, neither are the patients. it's just the things they do everyday, is boring. i need to do something with my hands and see fast results (which is why, i would most probably go into surgery).

so after a few days, my enthusiasm plunged. everyday i carry some hope with me to the hospital to make the most out of the rest of my posting.. (i'm exaggerating!)

overall, it was a very fulfilling experience in every aspects. it is without a doubt a good hospital, not only for patients, but also for learning opportunities. SGH is definitely one of the hospitals i would consider working in, in the future.

Thanks SGH for this invaluable experience!

Greetings!!

2008-11-01T03:56:00.000+08:00

so here i am. my blog. my 1st entry. even after repeatedly convincing myself that having a blog is going to waste alot of my time, but i did it anyways.

why?

well, firstly, because of sis' undying "encouragement" (she's even vowed to be my #1 reader and eagerly waiting for my url!).

second of all, this will give me the opportunity to start writing again. i used to love reading and writing. now, the only thing i have time to read are my textbooks, and when i do write, it's for my exams!

as long as i keep this blog alive, i believe it will be an interesting part of my life.

welcome and thank you for being a part of it.