Escape

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

2012-01-28T10:01:00.001Z

I'm finally back to the blogging world. The reason for my absence was due to preparations for exams, laziness, politics at work and of course, playing too much. Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone. May the year of the dragon bring luck and prosperity to you and your family.

I was lucky that I was off on the eve and the first two days of Chinese New Year. Our family brought my 86 year old grandmother all the way up to Genting Highlands and taught her how to gamble on the one-arm-bandit. Hahahahaha. I'm glad that she's still very strong and adventurous. My parents and I were amazed to see her try all sort of food from the buffet table including sushi. I got so fascinated watching her eat. Sometimes I wished that there were not that many people at the theme parks. The queues were so long and I was too lazy to wait so I ended up losing RM20 at the casino. With my small contributions combined with all the other gamblers, my GENM share did go up over these few days and hopefully the trend stays that way.

Thinking of all the events that I still haven't blogged about, I think it's about time I start a post a week just to update my blog before I forget. Blogging is just like hobbies, studying and everything else that requires constant effort, once you lose your momentum, it's difficult to start again. I should be more hardworking. The reason why I want to put in so much effort in this hobby is that it gives me so much joy when I'm reading back on all the entries. The things that you do when you're so naive. Ok, I'm still naive but maybe less now.

Dragon year isn't a good year for people working at the labour suite. So many babies were delivered since the start of the Chinese New Year holidays!!!!!! My fellow houseman and I almost fainted during that night shift as we were constantly admitting, delivering, assisting casesareans for the whole night and we didn't even had time to sit down. I'm dreading tomorrow's oncall starting from 9.30am till Monday morning. Haih.....I hope that whoever wants to deliver this holiday has already delivered. But this will never come true. Imagine, for the past few days, labour suite has been so full that patients in active labour has to be admitted to the antenatal ward first. I can't wait to leave obs and gynae posting!

Most entries to come, backdating since last October 2011. Now I'm wondering if I have the motivation to do this. Hmmmm.....

Selfishness

2011-12-29T07:56:00.001Z

It's sad to say that not everyone you'd expect to safeguard patient's well being especially in this line of work actually practices it. Nowadays it's all about documenting that i've informed the house officer on call to safeguard themselves and what happens after that is not important at all as they've already passed the buck to the HO.

I know it's important they nurses do their passing over by a certain time so that the night shift person can go home on time and the morning shift can start writing her report on time. But please, don't take away the nursing care plan (containing patient's vital signs cart, drug cart, investigation chart, etc) when I am in the middle of attending an unstable patient with my oncall MO.

Next time, can I say please don't touch the notes as doctors are passing over as well? I thought we were supposed to practice beneficence and nonmaleficence but I guess most of us are practicing selfishnesscence.

Urban Poverty

2011-11-28T05:23:00.001Z

There's just too many new graduates and professionals including housemans who are living in poverty nowadays. 'Housemans poor? You're doctors, how have you be considered poor?' but that is very true. Any pay below RM3000 nowadays is considered urban poverty and my latest basic pay is RM2550.23. Sadly, I need assistance from critical allowances, living allowances aka 'bantuan sara hidup', and there's still no sign of our shift allowance. Imagine even professionals are living in poverty in Malaysia, what a joke. Ok, there's a pay increase of RM91.84 but even with that, my basic pay is still far below the poverty line.

In our parents generation, a new graduate can easily afford to buy a car after getting 6 months of pay and afford to own a house in a few years. Nowadays, we have to rely on our parent's Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and savings to help us own our first homes as our pay doesn't qualify for that bank loan.

Inflation is getting out of hand and our pay is not increasing proportionately. Poor doctors you say? There's so many aspects to it and now you can add financially poor to that.

Fear of the unknown

2011-11-10T02:39:00.002Z

If only I could channel the energy used to worry about what will I have to face during my first night shift on the labour room tonight to positive thinking and enthusiasm to learn as much as I can, then life will be less stressful.

Will I be able to cope? Luckily time waits for no one, so no matter how bad things turn out, at least it'll be over by Friday 8am. Muahahahaha. Can this be counted as a motivation?

Surviving

2011-11-03T11:02:00.001Z

I bet you all must be wondering what happened to me for the past 1 week or so. Life had been tough but now it's getting easier as I got more used to things in the labour ward. Seriously, it's a highly stressful and scary place to be in initially. The most important thing that could make the transition easier would be good seniors but sadly, that wasn't the case for me for the first few days.

I seriously wonder will degrading and demotivating help in the training process. Sometimes I think that energy used to scold us is better channeled for something better. I admit that most of us don't have enough experience conducting deliveries but that doesn't mean that we're that stupid to the extent that we can't learn. Luckily I've applied enough local anaestetic to both eardrums to withstand all insults and have mastered the art of selective hearing. Muahahahaha. Now even the porters (PPK) scold the doctors for throwing the scrubs into the wrong bin or wrapping the placenta in the wrong way before returning it to the mother. I wonder what happened to the very least respect that I think I deserve to have. Luckily for all those cute little newborns to give me that tiny bit of motivation to go on or I'll fall into a really deep depression and you won't see me ever again.

Labour ward can really suck the life out of you. I go home every single day not only mentally drained but physically as well cause I'm not only the houseman conducting the delivery, I set the drips up, give IV bolus and infusion medications, assist in OT, carry those 10kg stirrups to put patients into lithotomy position and even dismantling and fixing back the end of the bed pre and post delivery. I even change the bed sheets after each delivery. The workout is even better as compared to going to the gym. Good way to cut expenses and stay healthy. I still wake up the next morning having severe aches over both arms, shoulders, legs and even my back. Actually I'm a bit worried if I'll get a disc prolapse from all those lifting. Hmmmmm.....

Can't wait for the end of my attachment in labour ward. I hope that the other wards are more relaxed and seniors are better.

On night shift on Gynae ward tomorrow. I hope that it'll be a relaxing call. I'm dreading my shift on the labour ward which is just around the corner.

Holiday withdrawal syndrome and the start of new rotation

2011-10-23T15:29:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow, I'll be reporting for duty for the obstetric and gynaecology rotation. Sad and excited at the same time. Sad because I'll be suffering from holiday withdrawal syndrome and excited as I have no idea what to expect from this rotation. Plus, it's going to be tough for me as I've just signed up for the January MRCP Part 1 examination. Arrrrrggghhhhh......I don't know if I'll have sufficient time, self discipline and motivation to prepare for it. It's too expensive to be treated as a trial exam. Haih.....why do I put myself through so much torture?

Minimum 20 questions a day from now on!!!

Frustrated and shocked

2011-10-01T19:38:00.000+01:00

What will you feel if suddenly you realised that your senior is not competent at all and that you're left all alone to save a patient's life?

Seriously, I can't believe that this happened. I was suddenly called by the nurse while I was struggling with a difficult cannula as the visiting registrar was looking for me, plus it sounded urgent. So, I somehow managed to quickly put in the cannula and went over. He told me patient suddenly stopped breathing and just stood one side while I rushed to the patient ordering the nurses to take down the vital signs, give oxygen and bring the crash trolley.

Throughout the whole resuscitation up till me bagging the patient, he just stood there and do nothing! I mean, at least he could have ordered oxygen when the patient turned blue in front of him but he just stood there. My nurse even had to get another lecturer to come over to help me. I seriously couldn't believe that there's qualified physicians of this standard in this era. This was hopeless. I was already trying desperately to cope alone as there were no other houseman sent to help me while my partner was on long medical leave and there's still unqualified senior around. I felt like I was seriously in the deepest end of the sea drowning and there's no one there who can help me. By the time my lecturer arrived, the patient had already stabilised and was transferred to the acute bay.

I thought that the drama was over but in the afternoon, when I finally had the opportunity to go down to the radiology department to beg for urgent scans, I received an urgent call from my staff nurse that another patient collapsed. Great, I ran all the way back as fluid resuscitation couldn't be given as her hand with the cannula was already swollen. Usually I don't panic when these things happen, but knowing that all my other seniors are in clinic that afternoon and there's only me looking after the ward while I was trying desperately to set another cannula in an oedematous patient doesn't help with confidence at all. At least my staff nurse tried helping me but desperate times require desperate measures. I managed to set my first external jugular venous access.

To cut a long story short, my 2nd patient who crashed that day survived. Haih......At least my lecturer ran back from clinic just in time when I've already done what I could for her.

I hate working alone. I dread going to work these days. I need a break before I go crazy.

Food log for September

2011-09-25T16:28:00.000+01:00

Life has been hectic despite the shift system as we're so stretched due to lack of manpower for it to even work properly. Sometime I wish I can just hypnotise myself so that I won't start comparing to other hospitals where 1 houseman looks after only 2 patients and they don't have to give IV drugs and do ECGs. Due to the number of bloods that I have to take and the number of patients in my wards which is always 100% occupied, I feel more like a phlebotomist than a doctor. There are speculations that we will revert back to the oncall system soon. Thus, the start of the vicious cycle of insufficient houseman which leads to the need for oncall and nobody will want to come do housemanship in UM as there's no shift system. The situation is so bad that each day after work, I try desperately to reflect on what have I learned for the day besides improving on my blood taking skills but I just can't find one. Can someone teach me how to find joy and motivation in blood taking? Now I'm starting to feel sorry for myself. Haih.....

Let me start blogging about something else other than work, which means, yes, you guessed it correctly - food.

Yuen Garden Dim Sum House

The dim sum here is not bad. The portions are quite big. Come in groups of triplets so that you don't have to fight over the different types.

Ming Tien Food Court

I like the Lo Bak Kou from this stall.

I somehow like eating at food courts with a group of friends as you get to order so many different types of food to share. A good change from just eating 1 kind of dish per meal.

Buffet at Impiana Hotel just opposite KLCC:

My dad won vouchers for the buffet at Impiana in one of the lucky draws. So lucky. It was coincidentally seafood buffet that night and the grilled oysters and smoked salmon were fantastic. The variety wasn't vast but the quality of seafood was really high. Recommended if you have RM90 ringgit and looking for somewhere nice to dine. Too bad that there's no senior citizen discount.

Sanuki Udon House at Taman Desa

This place serves the most delicious and affordable udon in Malaysia. One thing about this restaurant is, it's mainly vegetarian and only offers very limited choices of meat. Above is fried chicken is one of the rare option of meat on its menu.

I highly recommend the original house special cold udon. After eating here once, I had cravings for udon.

This was my second meal there. Cold udon with egg. Not as nice as the original.

Hot udon with egg and seaweed. Not bad too. The price for a bowl of udon is RM5 and if you order sides like seaweed, toufu, it'll be an extra RM1 each. The green tea is refillable. Definitely within budget.

Geylang Lor9 @ SS2:

Have you walked into a restaurant that specialises in frog meat porridge and ordered the porridge without the frog? That's exactly what we did. Hahahahahahahaha. We're too chicken to try the frog porridge but it's famous for it. Actually the plain porridge tasted not bad too.

Some random bar at Jaya One:

Please do the right thing and find some other better ways to unwind after work.

Best Nasi Dagang that money can't buy:

This was a treat that I received from one of my patient's son who works as a royal chef. My patient used to be a royal chef too before his son took over. Seriously, I've never tasted nasi dagang this delicious despite going all the way to Kelantan to have it. You really made my day.

One of the nearest Chinese Restaurant to my hospital:

I just cannot remember the name of this restaurant despite dining there a few times. Hahahahaha. Well, this Char Kuey Teow is famous and the stall is manned by one 1 person. It was advertised in the newspapers. Never chase the cook to serve you quicker as he'll get angry. That's how good the business is. It's actually not bad.

Trip to Kelantan:

I spent Malaysia Day in Kelantan. Had authentic Thai cuisine in the same restaurant that ML brought me years back. It's still the same journey through forests and housing estates and this restaurant miraculously appears out of nowhere. Hahahah.

Ice Kacang. Food here is really cheap.

Cantonese style Kuey Teow. We had to dine in a hotel as all the shops were closed on Saturday as it was a holiday replacement for Friday which was Malaysia Day. Oh well....

Sitting Buddha. My friend wanted to bring me to see this really accurate fortune teller at this temple but too bad, he retired. I wanted to ask him when will I retire. Hahahahahaha.

Fruits rojak. Very delicious.

Ice Kacang again as the weather was really hot.

Penang laksa.

Urban Decay:

After not buying any cosmetics at all for such a long time, I finally invested in Urban Decay eye primer and I even bought its 15th anniversary eye shadow collection. The eye primer is really awesome as it does make the eyeshadow stay the whole day. Work really well on oily skin too. The eye shadows are just too beautiful to be used. Shouldn't have bought it. Hahahaha.

Another day at work tomorrow. I really hate working alone as there's no one to relate to. Looking forward to my end of posting leave. I do need it badly!

The feeling I had on my way back to my room after shift at 8am is.....

2011-09-08T01:17:00.000+01:00

PRICELESS!!!!

Seriously, it made such a big different to get you through the night. My performance was better, line setting flawless, management more appropriate, I even had the motivation to read up on things which I didn't know.

Learning requires not only sufficient exposure but interest to learn which comes automatically with enough rest.

Cheers to shift system.

Food log for July and August

2011-09-04T13:33:00.000+01:00

It's been such a long week since Sunday before Hari Raya. Started with oncall on Sunday followed by covering the ward alone from Monday till Friday with another oncall on Thursday in between. I'm so glad that oncalls are officially over!!!!! The shift system is starting from tomorrow onwards. Yay!

Let's continue with the pictures of food. Don't say I never warned anyone with an empty stomach who are thinking of proceeding.

Original Kayu at SS2:

This is the famous mamak restaurant at SS2 which my friends love going to. I love the nasi briyani especially the mutton.

Mutton nasi briyani with a glass of teh tarik. The mutton was really tender and curry was just delicious and not too spicy.

Are you wondering what is that huge cone shape thing at the top? I got a shock when the waiter was carrying it to our table and he even had to lay 3 plates to serve the 'Roti Tissue'. It's actually crispy flour with sugar coating. Very delicious but unhealthy. Hehehe.

Madam Kwan's at Midvalley Megamall:

It was movie night for us who had worked so hard for the week. We had dinner here before our show.

Kon Lou Kuey Teow with chicken strips. I really like the sauce that went really well with the noodles.

Lam Mee Ya at Damansara Uptown:

Beef noodles with radish. The beef was really tender and the radish was so soft. Must be from hours and hours of stewing.

Hokkaido at Midvalley:

This place serves one of the best Japanese food that I've tasted. We ordered the hot pot with beef. Fresh ingredients and delicious soup.

Unagi with rice. Very nice.

Being fans of Unagi (eel), we even ordered Unagi sushi was was really delicious.

Don't the mushrooms look like bean sprouts?

Jongker Street at Midvalley:

Black glutinous rice dessert with coconut milk. This place serves all kinds of Malacca desserts.

You know, we have commercial breaks while watching TV programmes, now for food blogs, there's commercials for non-food related topics. Hehehehe. Just joking. I thought it would be boring if I'd blog about the hike up Bukit Lalang (Lalang Hill) on it's on. Here goes:

Bukit Lalang, Semenyih:

We just had this crazy idea of doing some outdoor activity after being trapped in hospital working non-stop and not seeing any sunlight for so long that we somehow managed to drag ourselves us at 4.30am on a Saturday and drove all the way to Semenyih to conquer Bukit Lalang.

Seriously, it was pitch black when we started our hike. Luckily of all things I had with me that resembled a torch light the most was my pen torch. Hahahahahaha.

Halfway up the hill. There were certain parts where I was terrified of slipping as I wasn't wearing the correct shoes and it was so sandy. I didn't have any grip at all and I almost gave up.

2nd check-point. This was the furthest that I got to as my shoes were just useless by this point. Too bad we couldn't see the sunrise as it was too cloudy that day.

Befitting its name, there were lalang everywhere and they were so long.

The scary trip down. Seriously, I was sliding down most of the time as it was so slippery. I somehow ended up enjoying the slide. My poor friend sprained her ankle and had to limp all the way down. Ouch.

Steep cliffs.

End of commercial break. Back to food!

Thai restaurant in Midvalley:

Finally, I met up with A, my ex-classmate from secondary school. So much has happened since we last met. It was good catching up with her over good food. Too bad I forgot the name of the restaurant but the Pad Thai was really nice. The charcoal bread with otak-otak filling was really special too.

Kimchi Korean Restaurant at Tropicana Mall:

This is one of the most generous Korean Restaurants that I've been too and the food is not bad.

Starters. They offered to top up our starters 3 times that meal. I was already full from eating the starters before my main course arrived.

Really big portions. Beef on hotplate. Very delicious.

I had the squid with noodles. Very spicy. This was not that delicious due to the 'over-spicyness'.

Famous Hokkien Mee at Damansara Uptown:

The price was reasonable and we should have ordered the famous Hokkien noodles instead of the above Cantonese style noodles. This was not bad but not impressive.

One of the restaurants at Jaya One:

This is Malaysian version of fish and chips, I mean rice. Not bad but I really miss the fish and chips at Llandudno.

Chilli Pan Mee at SS2:

This is the original Pan Mee (Flat noodles) which was delicious and service is really fast at this shop. The Chilli Pan Mee is also really delicious.

Rebung Restaurant at Bangsar:

We had another ex-orthopaedics houseman gathering for breaking of fast at this lovely bungalow converted to restaurant in Bangsar. I love the design and layout of this place.

The variety of food was impressive. So many Malay delicacies served and I really enjoyed myself.

Round 1: Mixture of seafood. I loved the grilled catfish. It was so delicious that I took 2 that night.

Asam Laksa. Really thick rich broth made of fish.

Rojak, Murtabak, banana fritters and fried noodles.

Best Bubur Durian ever! There were sweet potatoe bubur, mung bean bubur but the durian one was the best. The number of bowls I had remains a secret.

The buffet is RM60 per person. Highly recommended for authentic Malay cuisine.

Tenji 2 Japanese Buffet Restaurant in Puchong:

There was a good selection of Japanese cuisine served and I enjoyed the Salmon Sashimi the most. Highly recommended.

Jojo's little kitchen in SS2:

They are famous for Pan mee which was not bad.

New Paris Restaurant, PJ:

Their famous dish - sweet and sour pork. I was amazed at the presentation.

Another famous dish. Crispy Yam basket with topping of your choice.

Duck King Restaurant, Jaya One:

Kon Lou noodles with Char Siew. Not bad.

I only realised how much I missed Lo Bak Kou (Radish cake) when I had it here. So delicious.

Bumbung at Taman Sea View:

This restaurants only has nasi lemak and mee mamak goreng on its menu. Everyone orders a plat of nasi lemak here and I can see why. It's delicious. Very fragrant rice and delicious chicken.

That concludes my collection of food for the past 2 months. I can't believe I ate this much! Hahahaha. I've started to accumulate more pictures of food but I think I'll save it for next blog. Hope you've enjoyed it. Happy eating. Happy Mooncake festival as it's coming soon. I still remember the lanterns that I'd burnt in the past. Hahahaha.

Random ramblings

2011-08-25T15:46:00.000+01:00

How I wish that I can make time stop and then I'll be able to sleep a little longer, play a little more, just so that I have had enough mental preparation to face the responsibilities of tomorrow.

The ability to be able to go back in time would be great too, reliving those carefree moments, re-experiencing the joys of yesterdays.

Recently, I've been having these worries that I'm nearing the tipping point of giving up. The temptation to just forget all responsibilities and walk out on my job is so great. All this is caused by the lack of job satisfaction, pressure at work, seeing so much injustice going on, unequal distribution of responsibilities. Can I not go to work tomorrow??? What if I'd chosen a different profession? Would I have earned more and experienced a better quality of life? It'll be so depressing if that were the case.

I hate this part of me where I don't adapt to change that well. One thing bad about work at the moment is that we get rotated every so often. I do take a long time to settle down in a routine, getting to know the team that I work with. Once I'd established my comfort zone, suddenly, I'm due to change over to a totally different environment and team. Haih.......

Enough of these ramblings. I guess I just need to get it off my chest. Still, the disinhibition tendency is brewing inside of me.

Finally, the start of the shift system

2011-08-06T17:10:00.000+01:00

Last Friday, our team leader gathered some of us to decide on the working hours that we would like to be implemented when the shift system officially starts in September. Hooray!!! Finally, after all that complaint and sufferings we went through. We'll officially be humans working as doctors and not robots.

One major issue faced in UMMC is that we have not enough manpower for the shift system to go smoothly. It'll be so unfair if we were forced to do double shifts and not get paid overtime or oncall allowance due to lack of houseman. Each rotation will require at least 15 more houseman for this to go smoothly, that's not even taking into consideration if some had to take emergency leave or would like to go on annual leave. I seriously don't know how will it go. It's going to be chaotic for the first few weeks, but hopefully things will fall into place.

Another issue that I'm worried is that colleagues from the previous shift will pass over a mountain of work to the next houseman taking over due to laziness, incompetency, you name it. With the current oncall system, we're still facing it, so, I don't think there'll be any difference.

At the moment, I'm losing motivation to work. I'm not as enthusiastic, not as keen, not as generous as I would like myself to be, as there are colleagues who get away with such irresponsibility and both of us still get the same pay. So, why should I do more increasing my chances of making mistakes in the process and risk more lives? I hate people who are already so slow, lazy and good in skiving but is still so calculative. Maybe I should start being as calculative. I am going to be a lazy and stupid houseman from now on thus ending up with less responsibilities and life will be peaceful.

Weddings in July

2011-08-01T17:13:00.000+01:00

July is really a popular month for weddings. I've attended two so far, one at the beginning and another at the end.

Saleena and Fariz:

One of my colleague's from Orthopaedics wedding held at Shah Alam Concorde Hotel. It was really funny on the way there as I mistakenly chose the non-toll way to Shah Alam and my GPS took us all the way to Little India, make a big turn back to Midvalley which getting caught in a really bad jam and in the end we managed to get there just in time before the bride and groom walks into the hall.

The new couple. Congratulations!

The delicious main course that night served with Nasi Briyani.

Desserts

Goodness, I was postcall that day. I looked so tired.

The guys.

Rashidah and Mujaheed:

A fairytale garden wedding in Malaysia. We were lucky that the weather permitted. I just found out that it was chocolate jam in the jar.

Beautifully decorated layout in the garden.

Mini reunion!!!!! Haven't seen H and M for such a long time. At least we still look as young as before. Hehehehe.

Here comes the bride and bridegroom.

Food to fatten us up that night.

Caramel cream for desserts.

Chocolate muffins!

The really nice teh tarik pulled on the spot.

I almost dropped my cup of teh tarik when the fireworks went off.

Saw my colleague H.

The king and queen of the day.

I love the beautifully decorated tents with the blue and purple theme.

I wonder if those prawns can be eaten.

And the fruits too or are they meant to be for decoration only. Hmmmm...

Ok, spot the difference:

Picture 1

Picture 2. Hahahaha.....the bride and groom are more sporting than the guests.

Weddings are such beautiful events bringing two people together. May there be many happy days ahead for the both of you.

Next up will be another food blog before I forget where I had them.

If I'd chosen to take the road less taken by, I'll be traveling around the world, experiencing new cultures and scenes, eating, blogging, and of course, hibernating before the next adventure.

I guess only certain people are allowed to wear yellow these days

2011-07-16T16:14:00.000+01:00

4am - the most dangerous time of the day

2011-07-11T17:25:00.000+01:00

Yup, I somehow is still surviving this inhumane 36+ hours oncall system and yesterday, the worst thing happened to me, or should I say, the innocent ECG machine.

I don't get it. I've already assessed the patient and deemed that he just needed some chest physiotherapy and suction to help with his breathing and as soon as I stepped into the oncall room for less than 2 minutes, the nurse calls me saying that MO's orders were to take an ABG, order chest xray and do an ECG for the same patient. Ok, ABG was fine, at least I was successful at the first attempt.

ECG was another issue. I just don't understand why on earth that house officers at UMMC are made to do ECGs for patients. This is damn stupid. As if the machine could electrocute the patient or something. Well, the ECG machine was more dangerous than it seemed. It has the potential to fracture a bone or two.

I was waiting for the ECG machine to print, but then somehow, it's ink finished and I couldn't get a clear picture. So, I politely asked the nurse if they could get another ECG machine which was returned by verbal directions to where the other ECG machine was hidden. Ok, fine, I had to go find the machine myself.

First warning sign that something was about to happen...... I started wheeling it and the extension plug resting on the wall dropped. So, I unplugged it and started moving it again.........

This time, the whole machine came crashing down while doing a somersault in mid air just before it landed a few millimeters from my foot with a big 'thud' as there was another power cable connected to another power point which I'd didn't realise after removing the first one at 4am in the morning.

Yes, it died and was beyond salvageable and at that point in time, I just couldn't be bothered. I think I woke the whole ward up and nurses were threatening me that I needed to pay compensation for it. Whatever......I'd never learned how to handle ECG machines gently plus is it our job to do ECGs? This is just ridiculous. What a waste of resources and I've caused more wastage.

Never get a doctor for whatever reasons at inhumane hours of the night. We pose a dangerous threat not only to the patients but also to ourselves. Why do doctors need to work inhumane hours for the benefit of mankind? Aren't we humans too? If someone starts collecting data on the number and types of mistakes made by doctors working inhumane hours, it will be appalling.

I'm still wondering if I have the right to refuse to manually ventilate a patient in the CT scan room as I'm unhappy with the amount of radiation that I'm exposed to. Well, I don't even have the basic human right to practice safe working hours, what more avoidance of risks of cancer. Can we get compensated if we develop brain tumours or Alzheimers in future? Who knows what are the long term effects of constant exposure of high doses of xrays. My memory is getting poorer, thanks to the constant dying brain cells and mutations from all those beams.

I hate doing ECGs. I hate giving IV drugs. I feel that we should be learning more to be doctors rather than doing jobs which doesn't require 5 years of medical training to carry out. I rather learn when is appropriate to order ECG and then interpret that ECG.

When will be the time where all Malaysian doctors practice safe working hours? When will be the time where people start making changes for the better of the future generation rather than using examples from the 'good old days' to shut us up?

I think the effect is already there

2011-07-09T02:02:00.000+01:00

Rally or no rally, I think by now, whoever is interested in the politics of Malaysia or who are inconvenienced by the road blocks are aware that there's a fight for the right to a clean election.

It's such an irony that this rally is considered 'illegal' as if you look at it objectively, it's a rally to do the righteous thing. The only effect is that it gives the present government a bad reputation and this whole thing becomes a 'threat'.

All that built-up of tension leading to today will have an impact. I think it has raised awareness too all Malaysians that we want a clean and fair election and most importantly, we want a government who can bring Malaysia to greater heights with solutions to corruptions, high crime rates, inequality, etc. that we all have been suffering from all this while.

This rally will be an interesting start. Even people as ignorant as me will be affected one way or the other. I'm looking forward to the elections.

Please register as a voter if you're of qualifying age. You'll need to be registered for at least 6 months prior to the elections to be eligible to vote. More information on how to register at http://www.spr.gov.my/

I would be delighted if all roads leading to UMMC are blocked tomorrow as I'll be oncall. Let there be 0 admissions tomorrow for medical. Hahahahahaha. Since I'm doing cardiology, I'm worried that there may be elderly at home who gets too angry at their children for misbehaving during this stressful times and they get a heart attack and end up in my ward. Nooooooooo. Please practice a healthy lifestyle, cut down on that coconut milk, and go for 30 minutes workouts at least 3 times a week.

Redang Island through pictures

2011-07-05T16:25:00.001+01:00

It was my first time setting foot in Terengganu's soil and here I was, after a 55 minutes flight from KL and this was the sight that greeted me:

I felt like I've traveled back in time where there's no high rise buildings. Reminds me a lot of Kelantan and Sandakan but this was further back in time.

Kuala Terengganu from the highest building in Chinatown.

Sweet steamed cake. Very concentrated with egg.

After eating so much, we finally made our way to Redang island. It took half an hour by land and another hour by speed boat. I'm so glad that I have no motion sickness. All that traveling paid off as I stepped into a different world:

The view took my breath away.

We stayed at Redang Holiday resort and the first thing on our itinerary was buffet lunch. Throughout our stay, I'm so glad that we had good food at every meal.

Relaxing while waiting for our turn to go snorkeling.

I thought that my spot was the most conducive place to take a nap and forget about all the worries as it was really shady and that constant cool sea breeze blowing at 12 noon was making me sleepy. At the final moment before I achieved 'inner peace', I looked up and saw......

Coconuts hanging directly over my head which can give way to gravity at any split second.....maybe it's time to choose another spot.

Yup, I moved to another spot with a more comfy beach chair and brought along my mp3. I fell asleep before I could understand what inner peace was. Anyone who hasn't watched Kungfu Panda 2 should really go watch it. I loved that movie. Sorry, straying away from the topic.

Redang is all about postcard scenery, snorkeling, relaxation, snorkeling and monkeys...

This was one monkey spotted resting on the water pipe.

And another 2.

This was our accommodation at the resort with no more monkeys in sight as it was noon time and the sun was hot and blazing.

Enough about monkey, let's move on to snorkeling, the highlight of the trip. I love snorkeling!!!! How I wish that I had scuba diving license too. The fishes and corals seemed so far from me.

On our way to Anchor Rock, one of the snorkeling spots.

Bored LC who wasn't too eager to snorkel and she was still tired from the previous snorkeling expedition. Redang is all about the sea. It'll be such a waste if you don't snorkel.

Such beautiful colour.

I loved the clear aqua colour of the sea. So beautiful! I wanted to count the number of colours of the Parrot fish but each fish seemed to be of different colours. I even saw a school of anchovies swimming past me. So cute!

After snorkeling. Tiring but fun.

Let's hope that we get back to the Resort with LC steering.

LC and I

The time flew by so fast while we were snorkeling. Our holiday package came with 3 snorkeling trips and they were worth it.

One of the main highlights was snorkeling at Marine Park.

I remember our guide catching one of the smaller fish to lure out the giant moray eel hiding behind the rocks. So scary.....I thought all fishes were vegetarians but this one was carnivorous. So scary. Photo is taken from this website.

On our way home.

If I could take strolls along the beach every single day like this.

Pass by corals washed up shore by the waves.

Take dips in the sea whenever the weather got too hot.

Enjoy the night life without worries.

Life will be .......mundane for me after a while. I think you didn't expect that coming, didn't you? It's good to be relaxed for a short while, but not too long as I'll end up becoming too bored and lazy.

Pisang goreng (banana fritters) and barley tong sui. What more can I ask after all that snorkeling in the sea.

We had bbq dinner on one of the nights. I didn't expect that the bbq was prepared. I thought I would be sitting around a bon fire roasting marshmallows.

I loved the different variety of pulut pangang. Usually it's filling is made of dried prawns but this was of fish. Delicious! Please don't ask me how many I took.

Freshly made roti canai for breakfast.

Soon, it was time for us to bid farewell to Redang. I will miss this place. Back to Kuala Terengganu for the afternoon before catching our flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

Terengganu's nasi dagang. It's very different as compared to the nasi dagang of Kelantan. However, the sweetness is the same. This was super duper sweet.

Another steamed cake and this time, it's steamed yam cake with pieces of preserved pork topped with dried prawns, chili and friend onion. I love this kuih.

I was introduced to Jim Kuih (Crab cake in Hokkien dialect). It's RM 10 per piece. It was my first time eating kuih made out of while crab with minced pork and some other secret ingredients. Delicious and it's only available in Terengganu. I've never seen it elsewhere. It's such a delicacy that orders have to be made at least 24 hours before or you won't be able to buy any on the spot. Located at the corner shop in Chinatown.

Chinatown arch in Kuala Terengganu. This place really reminds me of Liverpool as there is also a grand arch but the number of shops is so few.

I wished that I'd more holidays. I'm dying to travel to somewhere and escape all the stress at work at my new rotation. Doing cardiology rotation at the moment and all I can say is it's challenging with the number of patients with cardiac problems. Please, cigarettes are so out of fashion nowadays. You don't look cool holding that cancer stick between those fingers.

One of my patient told me today that he thinks that he could start smoking all he wants again after angiogram. It's not even angioplasty or stenting. I don't know if I should start laughing or crying.

Parking

2011-06-28T13:16:00.000+01:00

I don't know if I should laugh or cry because I just found out today, after a short drive to the nearest KFC that I can do reverse parking but fail badly at forward parking. Haih....

One look at my car with it's left back wheel barely inside the corner of the parking lot and you'll know that it's a new driver or somebody in a rush. Maybe I was craving that much for KFC. (consoling myself. Hahahahaha)

Bollywood Night and ATV

2011-06-08T17:07:00.003+01:00

I seriously don't know how but we managed to squeeze in so much excitement for each weekend consecutively. Starting off with Orthopaedics Bollywood Night:

Goodness, the amount of time, effort and money spent into preparing for the dance. Am glad that it paid off.

LC and I
All dressed up for the event. My first time trying out the circle lenses which enlarges the iris. I like the effect. Hehehehe. They do make the eyes so much bigger! Now everyone can have bigger eyes.

The house officers.

The gals. Well, people were quite worried that we might be dancing in those outfits.

The guys.

Me with SS.

All smiles for the camera.

Ushers on one side.

Ushers on the other side.

The grand opening with professional dancers.

We were well entertained by all the colours and energetic moves.

I cannot exactly taste the food when it was served as our group was the first to perform that night. Getting all that butterflies in the stomach. Plus with all the stunts that we were going to perform, there's no way I could eat any of those.

The finishing move. I remembered almost falling off at one point. The only reassuring thing was that if anyone broke any bones, we were surrounded by the right people. Hahahahahaha.

Group picture.

And the winner is............us! I can't believe we won first place!

I loved the MC for that night. He is really one funny man who is passionate about his job. Imagine keeping a bunch of grumpy doctors entertained for almost 6 hours. And the things he made the audience do.

ATV:

This is one dangerous sport to do if you have really bad driving skills like me. It's located deep into the jungle after the turning into Zoo Negara.

All the mini 4 wheels.

All smiles before we knew the dangers ahead.

Excited!

The guys.

The girls.

This sport is only safe for those with good maneuvering skills and arm strength which I don't possess. I almost overturned 3 times! Could have broke something. I somehow managed to survive and returned in one piece but with a few bruises here and there.

Finally we reached our destination - the waterfall.

The tiny waterfall in the middle of nowhere.

The relaxing ambiance.

I'm still alive after all that danger. It was already getting dark by the time we started on our long way home. This time, we had to switch on our lights. On the 3rd time of almost toppling over and being squashed by the vehicle, I got myself a personal driver as I was too dangerous for my own good. Haih.....

All the exhausted people. 2 of us were even oncall the next day. I somehow survived setting lines with tremours in my hands due to overexertion of my arms that day.

Back to my old boring life after this. My team is active tomorrow....noooooooooo........Please, old people at home, do not try anything adventurous. People on the roads, drive safely. Maybe you all should just stay at home. Sports is not a good idea this weekend too. Hahahahahaha.

Acceptance

2011-06-02T15:53:00.000+01:00

Too bad nothing lasts forever,
That's better said than experienced.

Will there still be a place in your heart?
I think I rather not know the answer.

But no matter what the outcome,
I''m still glad that I've crossed paths with you.

Random food post

2011-05-29T07:12:00.001+01:00

This blog is about all the random food pictures that I'd accumulated over the past 3 months. Gosh, I've been so lazy to update my blog nowadays. Saying that, I think it's because my life has been really dull too. Anyway, let's continue with the blog.

Meeting up with PL and ML at Midvalley:

After such a long time, I managed to meet up with these 2 VIPs who came all the way down to KL mainly to shop but also to visit me. Hehehe. I can't believe that by the time I reached there, it was already their 3rd round of shopping but still with at least 2 full shopping bags each to carry home. We had our dinner at Oh! Sushi which was not the best place to have Japanese cuisine as the food was not very delicious. I give them an 8 for presentation but otherwise, not recommended.

Artistic shot by ML.

PL and I. Miss the both of them now. I wished I'd done dentistry instead of medicine looking at how free they are.

Anyone with the first name Joe can get discount when dining at Ninja Joe. This place is really cool. The more burgers you order, the cheaper each burger gets. The best tasting ones are the Teriyaki and Oriental flavours. Yummy! Each of them are quite small in size, I think I had 3 burgers that day.

Dinner at Gao Ren Guan Restaurant at Jaya One. Food here is not bad. I just realised how much I miss Chinese food after having one of my dinner here. The simple joys in life - having good food!

Outing with friends at Midvalley again. Had dinner at Kim Gary. Affordable meal but you get what you pay for.

Once frequented restaurant during Med school but now it's so expensive in Malaysia. Nandos. I think they've catered for Malaysian taste. The chillies are so spicy.

Kimchi Haru Korean Restaurant at Jaya One. One of the best Korean cuisine which I've tasted so far. I like the many variations of food even for a simple meal. Recommended.

Tried the new cornflakes topped crust pizza at Pizzahut. Weird but not bad. Very crunchy. I felt like I was having some junk food instead of a proper meal. Well, that was just my opinion. I was disappointed at the garlic bread as it wasn't as nice as I used to remember.

One of the best Loh Mee that I've tasted. It's one of the few air-conditioned restaurant along Jalan Pasar. This whole stretch of street gives off a very 'out-of-place' feeling.The shops along this street are so run down and yet they're selling the latest electronic devices. The biggest wet market in Kuala Lumpur is located just behind. Don't underestimate the old shops here as you can find any single second hand electronic parts to repair your old TV back home or even a replacement remote control for your Astro. You'll know that you're on the right street as the strong metallic smell greets you at the corner.

Super duper delicious Unagi roll!!!! The flesh is so thick and juicy that it melts in your mouth. As you can see, the portion of unagi is even bigger than the rice. Anyone within reach of Sushi Tei must try the unagi roll.

We caught the fashion show by Valentino Rudy at Midvalley one weekend. I love this brand as its material, cutting and designs are so elegant. The prices are affordable too.

Another weekend at One Utama and can you guess who managed to draw such a big crowd?

It's Andy Lau promoting Osim massage chair. He looks so much more handsome in real life despite the odd pants that he's wearing. Beautiful people can pull off anything.

Lucky winner gets to own this massage chair signed personally by Andy Lau himself.

One evening, we drove all the way to Klang for Bah Kut Teh. This was one of the best Bah Kut Teh that I've tasted. I like it that we had a choice between lean or fat meat. Of course, being health conscious, we went for all lean meat.

The Yau Char Kuey complimented the Bah Kut Teh broth beautifully. Direct translation for this pastry is 'Oil Fried Ghost'. Don't even ask my how the name came about.

Chicken nuggets with cheese. I just liked the presentation.

Now, for the best beef noodles:

This beef noodles was so delicious that I even dreamed about it. The dream was so stupid that I'd blogged about it here. This stall is located in Kepong, opposite Jaya Jusco. I need to get the address of this corner shop so that I can share this place with everyone who eats beef.

The broth is so flavourful and even the tendons were boiled so long that it melts in the mouth. I'm already hungry blogging about this.

I forgot to warn people not to read this post on a hungry stomach. It can aggravate gastric ulcers. Hahahahaha. Till next time.

To be caught in a crossfire

2011-05-26T23:37:00.001+01:00

Our path in life is not a straight road where things go as you want them to.
There's cross roads where you have to start making major decisions which changes everything.
Certain cross roads are easily handled. Some are so unexpected where you may not even make it out alive.

I hate it when you're caught up in the middle and worse, in a crossfire where you have no control over the situation.
You become the messenger, who needs to dodge bullets coming from left and right.
Sometimes unexpectedly from the front knocking out a few teeth.

Hopefully I'll make it out alive and a stronger person.

Who thinks that little things doesn't matter?

2011-05-17T15:49:00.001+01:00

You'll be surprised how little things which started off as just an annoyance can occur one after another and their accumulative effect can be so great that it just mounts up to the tipping point.

It's scary but I think I understand how anger and despair pushes someone to kill.

Penang Part 2

2011-05-15T14:49:00.001+01:00

Finally, continuing from where I left off, trip to Penang Part 2. Lots of pictures of food ahead.

As we took the pedestrian bridge, crossing the main roads circling Komtar complex, we walked past the lazy shop houses which remained closed despite being almost afternoon. People in Penang do have good lives. They start their businesses after 12pm.

The famous Penang Laksa on Penang road which was just walking distance from my grandfather's shop house. My dad looked too big in those seats.

Laksa is a tradisional Malay dish where noodles made from rice is served in hot broth made of fish, pineapple and mint.

My mum ordered Char Kuay Teow (Stir fried rice sticks) which had clams and oysters in it. I think it's the slightly burnt flavour which makes it so tantalizing.

Second round of breakfast:

We walked to Campbell road where this famous cafe lies hidden in one of the small alleys. I felt like stepping into another dimension as I made myself towards the table. We ordered the famous coffee served in teacups more than 50 years old and the famous roti bakar (toast), toasted with charcoal just beneath the boiling water. As the heat came from such a low level, the waiter had to squat down to toast the bread.

Super duper delicious! It was so crunchy on the outside and soft inside with melted kaya and butter. I am so going to gain weight if I'm staying in Penang. I'm not a big fan of coffee but I can say that this coffee was even better than any Starbucks or San Francisco Coffee franchise. Plus, this set came up to less than RM3.

Next to the Laksa stall, there is this famous Teo Chew Cendol dessert just by the roadside. One thing unique in Penang is that you can see motorcyclist having their meals, on their motorbikes with their engines still switched on in front of these small stalls. The best part of this sweet dessert was the juicy and fat red beans and the taste of Gula Melaka. Sweet.

Second round of dessert from the roadside stall on the lane just next to my grandfather's shop on our way back. It's sweet peanut dessert which was really delicious as the peanuts were so soft that it melts in your mouth. Must be from hours of boiling.

For afternoon tea, we had egg tarts from Adventist Hospital's bakery which is famous for its healthy selection of pastries.

Dinner:

We went to Perut Rumah (Stomach of the House) for Penang's Nyonya cuisine.

I loved the atmosphere in the restaurant. It used to be an old Mansion, now converted into a restaurant that serves Nyonya food. If any of those antiques broke, I would be so sad as each carries years of history.

The food was delicious!!!!! That's all I can say. It's not only very unique fusion of Chinese and Malay, it uses fresh traditional ingredients. I would have ordered more but my stomach protested.

I think you can only find this in Penang. This small temple used to be a salon with the old name of the shop still carved on the pillars.

My team is active again tomorrow till Wednesday, which means we're accepting every new admission for trauma orthopaedics. So scared. Wish me luck. I better continue my hibernation tonight.

Burst out laughing

2011-05-07T07:59:00.000+01:00

when I saw my reflection in the lift as my eyebrows were knitted so closely that they almost met and the end of my hair had curled as much as gravity allowed. Hahahahahaha.

No wonder my chief resident asked how long will I be handling the team alone. I looked so stressed.

I look forward to the day I retire from medicine.