Escape

The Start of a New Journey

2016-06-20T14:30:00.001+01:00

It's been such a long time since the last time I blogged. Kinda feels rusty trying to pen down my thoughts at the moment. Such a similar experience to when I tried to do a proper examination while being examined during bedside teaching today. It's been such a long time since I'd last practiced clinical examination.

What triggered me to start blogging again is that all the similar feelings of stress and anxiety are rushing back again since I'd started the masters programme and I needed another outlet to release them. It's the same feeling of what ifs...... What if I lose my motivation? What if I'm studying the wrong materials? What if I don't have enough time to study? What if I fail and get kicked out? What if......I'm worrying too much!

It's such a mixed feeling when I got my results that I passed the theory exam and interview. Initially I was happy that I manage to pass the first round of screening which was the theory exam, then followed by the nerve wrecking interview which wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be. Then there was the stressful period of packing up my things and moving from Kulim back to KL. At least I managed to squeeze a trip to Ho Chi Minh right before I started the programme. So there's no regrets there.

2 weeks into the programme, I'm starting to miss my peaceful routine which I've established for the past 3 years in Kulim. I can't wait to settle down and get used to the new working and studying environment. The adaptation period is one of the hardest things for me that's why I'm reluctant to move out of my comfort zone but somehow the need to progress has made me take this drastic step.

Live without regrets, as long as I've tried my best. This, I'll have to keep reminding myself whenever I feel the struggle is too much. Hopefully I'll be well adapted soon.

PL&C Church Wedding and Trip to Langkawi

2015-07-23T13:16:00.000+01:00

Time flies. It's been a month since the events in this post too place. Seems like just yesterday. Make sure your tummy is full before reading. It's going to be a long post.

The weather even threw in some extra spice before the big day when everyone was flying into Penang. It didn't rain but poured. So many flights were delayed or canceled. I was supposed to pick H up from Penang airport but found out that her flight was diverted to Langkawi due to bad weather. We were supposed to go to Langkawi after the wedding not before!

Finally, after 1.5 hours, H landed safely in Penang. Brought her to Queensbay Mall newly opened food court to have lunch.

Had Chilli Pan Mee. Lesson on eating this is not to underestimate the spiciness of the dried chili. Taste first before stirring everything together. Overall, taste was delicious.

Next, we went over to St Anne's Church to help out with the flower decorations.

So pretty! Took the florist 3 hours to set up the flower arch. According to PL, the arch itself cost her as much as the prize money for her APC. Money well spent.

The end result. So beautiful.

PL's Parents' House

All these cakes were baked by PL's sister's boyfriend. Too pretty for consumption.

Catered buffet dinner. Food was delicious. Didn't know that Guiness Stout can cooked with fried chicken.

Second trip to the airport to pick up PP and L. Their flight from KK was delayed too. Luckily they didn't detour to Timbuktu.

Breakfast on the big day at the coffee shop next to Bukit Mertajam Market

Luckily we managed to get up and still had time for breakfast. Ok, not all of us. Half are still asleep.

Siew Pau. Fresh from the oven that the outer layer is still crispy.

Penang Char Kuay Teow. The taste can never go wrong anywhere in Penang.

First picture of the Bride and Groom. Aren't they lovely. We stayed at Vince Villa which is near to St Anne's Church. The place is beautifully decorated with antiques. Even the car was older than me.

Lighting the candle. The whole ceremony happened so fast that I actually didn't take any photo.

PP and I. The bouquet of flowers was actually for PL's mum. I was carrying it around for safe keeping. Hahahaha.

Girls and the bride

Liked this one the most

Group photo

M03N class photo. We've known each other for more than a decade. Sound so old.

Group photo

I was leaning close to the professional photographer to learn their photo taking techniques and it turned out so good. The models were very professional too. Hahahaha.

I was kneeling on the floor to take this shot. Next to the photographer. Worth paying them as their job isn't easy.

Throwing the bouquet. Guess who caught it.

The one who caught the bouquet. Pressure is on you, H.

Tea Party at PL and C's condominium

Nice catch up and really enjoyed the video prepared by PL and C.

Karaoke session with buffet dinner at Neway. There was a buy 3 free 1 offer by Maybank so it was affordable. PL and C really enjoyed themselves.

Day 1 Langkawi

Finally, the start of the Langkawi trip.

This is how you book a good spot for parking your car at Penang airport.

Shopping spree started at the departure lounge.

Touched down at Langkawi. We stayed at Dayang Bay Beach Resort. This was the view from my window.

Lunch at Nagoya Thai Restaurant

We had so much food, there was the papaya salad, Tom Yam, stir fried water spinach with belacan, chicken curry. Food tasted so much better as we have a professional waiter at our table.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Need to take photo of the food too.

Road trip! We rented this 7 seater for only RM240 for 3 days. So cheap during off peak season.

Shopping/relaxing at Jetty Point Complex

Badly needed massage after all that shopping.

The guys were all so excited about this Snow beer saying that it's the best beer ever. To me, it's smoother but still doesn't really make me fall in love with beer. Too bitter.

When it comes to shopping for alcohol, leave it to the guys. They even bought a knife, salt, and lemon for the sake of drinking Tequila.

Dinner at GLK Seafood Restaurant

Initially we wanted to go to Wonderland Seafood restaurant but the place was packed with people. So we settled for the next door GLK restaurant which was also a good choice. Seafood was fresh and affordable. The Tom Yam here was even more delicious as compared to the one we had for lunch. Had the Guiness Stout chicken again. I think it's only in Malaysia that we combine caramelized chicken with beer.

Langkawi Day 2

Underwater World

Fish, lobsters, penguins and even flamingo. Make sure to catch the feeding sessions as there'll be documentary on these beautiful creatures too.

Seals need to take care of their teeth hygiene too. It's so obedient letting the trainer brush its teeth.

Bird watching...I mean people watching.

Groupie

My French Factory

Highly recommended to head over to My French Factory for tea. The shop is run by a French couple who are really friendly and accommodating. I love their blue cheese crepe. Juices are also freshly made. Highly recommended.

Natural shot of the newly wed couple

Using our new selfie stick

Had a stroll along the beach before dinner.

Unkaizan Japanese Restaurant

Authentic Japanese food. Price wise is medium range. Recommended to try at least once to get the real Japanese experience. My cold udon was served on ice!

Langkawi Day 3

We finally got around to doing tourist stuff on the last day.

Eagle hunting at Dataran Lang

Finding burnt rice at Beras Terbakar.

Wooden house at Beras Terbakar

Pit stop at the petrol station

Paddy field

Groupie

Back to Penang Island

Dinner at Carnation Bak Kut Teh

There was big bone and small bone Bak Kut Teh, dried Bak Kut Teh, You Tiao, lettuce with oyster sauce and yam rice.

Dessert at Miam Miam, Gurney Paragon

The desserts here are just delicious. Best to go in a big group to try out more varieties. The French Toast is simply amazing. Wonder how can bread taste so good. Luckily I don't have to go back to Singapore to get this toast.

Last day before flying back

Breakfast at Maxim Dim Sum Restaurant

Round 1 - highly recommended to come here for Dim Sum. Everything was delicious. Still couldn't convince some to try the chicken feet. Hahahaha.

Round 2 - I know, we're monsters.

Last group picture before parting ways.

Phew. Finally finished. Hope you enjoyed it. Holidays always end too soon. Can't wait for my next adventure.

Weekend trip to Penang

2015-07-03T15:54:00.000+01:00

The month of June has been crazy. So many events, short trip to Langkawi, AGM to attend, and on the last weekend, my parents came to Penang. I'm skipping the blog entry for Langkawi as there's just too many photos to sort. So, here's the story for our time in Penang.

Nibong Tebal - Chang Kee Seafood Restaurant:
I met my parents at Nibong Tebal for lunch on the Friday that they drove up from KL. This restaurant is very popular and usually you won't be able to get a seat if you arrive after 12.30pm. Luckily, after my GPS sent me to some deserted kampung, made a few u-turns, I managed to arrive at 12pm.

Must try Curry Crab. Its finger licking good. Usually the crabs in Semenanjung isn't as sweet and tasty as the ones in Sabah. However, the cooking style made up for that aspect. Imagine if the cook had fresh crabs from Sabah combined with the delicious curry sauce.....yummy!

Fish ball soup. Something light to balance the flavourful curry crab.

We then drove to Penang island and went to visit our relatives. Soon, it was time for dinner. Two hourly eating is the norm when we go to Penang.

Wu Jia Zhuang Claypot Prawn Noodle, Jalan Siam

It an air-conditioned restaurant. Suitable for us in this hot weather. There's limited parking so make sure to go at off peak hours.

Hokkien Mee aka prawn noodles. Somehow all prawn noodles taste the same to me in Penang. The only unique thing about it is the claypot keeps it hot till the last mouth.

We ordered Lor Bak but it wasn't that special.

My aunt recommended the famous Char Kuey Teow at the end of Jalan Siam, so we decided to take away one portion as we were still full from dinner.

Char Kuey Teow, Jalan Siam

This uncle has been frying Kuey Teow for 3 decades. His son is the one in the green T-shirt. Heard that the son tried to take over the business when his dad plan to retire but the business became bad as the taste changed. In the end, the old man had to come out of retirement and the son because sous chef. Place your order with the son as he's in-charge of remember them. We had to wait for half an hour for our takeaway. A frequent customer said that's the average waiting time and it can go up to an hour. Watching him fry the kuey teow, he uses charcoal instead of gas and he fried portion by portion. That explains why it's so delicious.

It is very fragrant with prawns, cockles, egg, lap cheong, spring onion and bean sprout mixed into it. Really worth the wait.

Chowrasta Market
My mum's favourite place to go in the morning when she's in Penang when the shopping malls are still closed. There's a lot of places for nice breakfast too.

Kuey Teow Teng. The soup looks clear but is very flavourful, the noodles springy and cooked just nice. One thing I noticed is that the prices of food has gone up. It's now minimum of RM4 per portion. Gone were the good old days where you can get a bowl of soup noodles for RM2.80.

Chee Cheong Fun - the dish in Penang is prepared differently as compared to KL. The major difference is the sauce where it is made from prawn paste whereas in KL, the sauce is made from beans. I like both version. My dad said the Penang version is an acquired taste for some people so I have acquired taste. Hahahhaa.

Walking around, I noticed that I was at the ideal height.

After breakfast, my mum said she wanted to find the famous Penang street art as none of us went there before. Following a map taken from the hotel, we went hunting for street art.

Street Art, Lebuh Armenian

We parked our car at the start of Lebuh Armenian. It felt like I've stepped into the 1970s. The shop houses there were so old and small.

My mum found her first street art - the boy on chair.

Magic

The famous kids on bicycle mural

The two tourist. Hahahaha. There were many souvenir shops around the area too.

Balik Pulau
It is durian season and Balik Pulau is the place to go for good durian. However, it's not recommended to stop at the stalls along the way as the durians are not as nice and it's the same price as in Balik Pulau town.

My dad surveying the durians

King of fruits

This stall had a special device to open durians. Should get it patented

Red Prawns Durian - I don't know how it got the name but I'm guessing it's because of the red tinge. When choosing durian, go for those which are round in shape so that there's more fruit inside. Durian in the photo is one you should avoid.

When you go to Balik Pulau, you should eat the Laksa there. There's two types of Laksa, the orginal Penang Laksa and Siam Laksa. I prefer the original one. The Siam one has coconut milk in it so it's more creamy.

That's the end of my Penang entry. Hopefully I'll have time and motivation to start on the next post. It's going to be a long entry.

PL&C Chinese Wedding

2015-06-11T15:16:00.003+01:00

It would be my second time becoming Ji Mui for a close friend's wedding. After all that preparation, luckily the games went well and everyone had fun. Most importantly, all the girls look beautiful.

The fans turned out to be very useful as props and to cool us in the hot weather.

The happy parents

The beautiful bride

Ji Muis and the bride

Important question of the day - what colour is the heart? Pink. Agree? One of the games was to make the heart redder. The catch is, we are colour blind that we can only recognise the red of bank notes. Hahahaha.

Which really caught the groom by surprise as he only prepared blue and green notes. Somehow he succeeded to make the heart redder and that's the end product.

Finally, the bride and groom are together!

All the Heng Dai, Ji Mui and the couple. Good work guys.

Chinese Dinner at Starview Restaurant

Photo with a Disney princess. I love the dress!

The other Ji Muis with the bride and groom

Group photo

The food was delicious but the place was a bit crowded. PL had some difficulties getting around in her princess dress and there was a part where she even lost both shoes. Hahahaha. The prince can't find Cinderella if you lose both.

More to come....

Exciting Friday

2015-06-06T10:43:00.003+01:00

Lunch talk at Isshin Japanese Restaurant Juru Autocity

I was lucky enough to be invited by Nestle for a lunch talk on Childhood Obesity just yesterday. Not only was the talk educational, it really highlighted the dire need to tackle the obesity problem in Malaysia. We've been recently crowned champion of obesity in South East Asia. No more carbonated drinks. No more fast foods for all of us.

I really liked the food at Isshin restaurant. Not only was the portion worth the money, the sashimi was fresh too. Would come back next time.

EPL's Hen Night

Initially the plan was that I go over early to help EPL cook. I did go over early, but ended up not doing anything as Chef C took over the food preparation and also stepped in as the professional food photographer. We chased him away after he's done his job. Hahahahaha.

Cute mini cupcakes from The House of Mini

The Ji Muis and the bride to be! What we did after will forever remain a secret. The only thing I can reveal is that there was a lot of brainstorming and even a Eureka moment for me. Hahaha.

EPL brought D and I for breakfast after the sleepover. Penang Hokkien Mee is still the nicest.

The pork ribs was also delicious. I hope I can fit into the dress tomorrow.

The big day awaits. Need to conserve energy first.

APC and Kami Nak Sihat dan Ceria Program

2015-06-06T10:26:00.000+01:00

I realised that my past entries about work was mainly about bad experiences and difficulties. This entry will be a good change as it is about how proud I am working at my small clinic.

Anugerah Perkhidmatan Cemerlang 2014

I didn't expect that I was nominated by my specialist and managed to get it for the year of 2014 as I'm not one of the more senior doctors. However, it was a very big motivating factor as my work and effort have been recognised. My dentist colleague next door also got it this time around. See that batik baju kurung? It was a last minute, day before the ceremony, purchase from one of the shops at Tesco, Kulim. The shop is called Arsley - Batik Asli Malaysia. Really saved me the trouble of worrying that I wouldn't blend in. Material was cotton and the price was reasonable. This will be my uniform for any official events from now on. Hahaha.

Kami Nak Sihat & Ceria at Klinik Desa Jubai

Who would have thought that a health program planned just one week before the event would turn out to be this successful! I am so proud of my team. While I was worrying about my stupid stage fright, needing to give speeches etc, my organising team was working this hard in the background. The aerobic session at the beginning was one of the most fun sessions that I've attended

My clinic staffs and committee members from Kospen, Panel Penasihat, the local library, volunteers, and many others. I even joined in the 10,000 steps walkathon, which explains the hat, towel and the tired look.

The interesting part - Kerabu cooking and towel arrangement competitions. I love cooking competitions as I get to taste the food after. Hahahaha. Guess who won the towel arrangement competition. The only male participant cause his creation was one of the kind. Thanks to all who participated.

Colouring competition for the kids - Van Gough in the making. Thanks to the local library committee who sponsored the prizes.

Chocolate collecting competition. Kudos to the kids who managed to get chocolates.

That's the end to a wonderful and interesting day. I'm actually looking forward to planning the next event.

Short Getaway to Singapore

2015-05-22T08:41:00.004+01:00

This short trip was the badly needed break. Work had been stressful since February and I felt like I was about to break down. Note to self - need to take breaks once in a while.

When I told LC the good news that my leave was approved, the first thing that she asked was, what do I want to do in Singapore and my standard answer is anything also can. So, I left it in her good hands to plan the whole trip. Somehow it ended up as non-stop eating from the moment I touched down till the day I left. Hahaha.

Food picture overload. You've been warned.

I took Malindo airlines from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore on Labour Day. There was bad weather in Singapore and my flight was delayed about 20 minutes as the plane circled around Singapore trying to land. With all the accidents happening to planes, I was just glad to reach my destination in one piece.

It was funny how LC couldn't really recognise me as I waved at her after passing customs. Has it been that long? We couldn't stay to catch up that long at the airport as we had to rush to the Japanese buffet booked for 6.30pm at Ikoi Japanese Restaurant.

Ikoi Japanese Restaurant, Hotel Miramar

The place was packed. Luckily LC made a booking earlier or else we wouldn't have the opportunity to dine here. I don't think the hotel guests even have the chance to have their dinner here. Off we go to order.

California and Salmon skin Temaki (handrolls) with a pot of complimentary fish soup. The ingredients were really fresh and tastes delicious.

Itadakimasu! Place was a bit cram but somehow the waiters and waitresses were experts in arranging and clearing out plates.

From ebi tempura, breadcrumb ebi, grilled salmon, chawan mushi, tomato bacon maki, tonkatsu, salmon and tuna sushi, to 2 big plates of sashimi. I really love the sashimi especially the salmon and octopus sashimi. Price for the buffet is just below SGD 50 after including taxes and charges. Highly recommended.

Day 2
I spend most of the morning hibernating as I didn't have the chance to hibernate properly previously. Poor LC had to go to work while I caught up with my beauty sleep. Hahaha. This is the life, starting my day waking up just in time for lunch.

This day was all about shopping and eating. We made our way to Jurong East Station where there are three malls for us to shop.

Dian Xiao Er, Jurong East

Anyone who walks into this restaurant much try their duck. It was well seasoned with herbs and the sauce was delicious. I could just eat the sauce with rice and be satisfied.

Stir fry mushrooms. Just realised that adding ginger to the mushrooms can make it taste much better. Part of dining out is to learn how to improve my own cooking.

Steamed fish - I really love this dish. The fish meat was not overcooked and there was a dash of Chinese wine with small pieces of pork and bamboo shoot. If only I can replicate this at home.

Guai Ling Gou - bitter herbal jelly eating with honey. Known to be good for the skin.

After refueling, it was time for intensive shopping. I won't disclose how much money was spent during this shopping therapy.

Sailormoon soft toy! I want!

Dinner at Miam Miam

Miam Miam has branches in Gurney Paragon, Penang and One Utama too. I just had to find LC all the way in Singapore to visit this restaurant. Sometimes it's the company.

Two shopaholics

Miam Miam's chef recommendation. Highly recommended.

Look at the size of the plate! Luckily we ordered to share. Highlight of the place is the desserts. Remember to save some space for that.

Can't wait to dig in

I have never expected french toast to be that good. Best french toast that I have ever tasted. Must order!

Pancake - again, managed to impress me.

Poured the syrup and divided to share.

JEM shopping mall, one of the malls we did our shopping at.

Day 3
I have a really funny story to tell. It is so funny that I will remember this for life.

Lunch at Peperoni

Queuing up

LC is in love the pizza here. She was telling me that the salmone flavour was the best and she couldn't eat enough of the pizza as it was that good. She confidently ordered the largest size which was 21" and even told me that she's ordered the same size the last time she was here. I actually suspected something was amiss when the waitress moved us to a larger table after we placed that order as she said the small table will not be enough to fit the pizza. Hmmmm

5 ways to eat pizza. I can tell you now that I actually had to use all 5 ways this time.

The culprit! I'll let her enjoy her drink first.

When the pizza arrived, you have no idea how big was the shock and how big my eyes were. It was as big as the small table. No wonder we had to change table. We ordered half Salmone and another half Prosciutto Crudo di Parma (Parma ham with rocket salad).

As you can see, the pizza was that delicious that we managed to finish the whole thing. I was glad that the crust was very crunchy and thin. Or else I would have raised my white flag a long time ago. This story will be passed from one generation to the next. Moral of the story, never let the pizza enthusiast order the largest pizza.

Time for some serious exercise as LC told me she booked a buffet for dinner. I know, we're crazy.

Alive Museum
Lots of photo shooting sessions and posing! The photos did come out nicely but you have no idea how physically challenging to get some of the effects. Very good arrangement for us to burn as much calories before dinner.

I totally feel like this after that pizza.

Save me Charlie Chaplin!

Trying Michael's anti-gravity lean but not very successful.

Off to save the world with the penguins

Attacked by zombies

Tadah! Ran away to join the circus

Luckily this boat didn't sink with the weight of two of us.

2 pieces of me

Naughty jumbo

Up!

Stencil elephant

Many many more fun photos

Dedicated to my dentist friends. The traditional way of teeth pulling.

Enjoying the view of the fountain of wealth for almost 2 hours after our workout at Alive Museum. Hopefully I've absorbed enough essence from this fountain to be wealthy.

International Buffet at Amara International Hotel

It was my first time trying so many different types of shell fish. There were spider crab, Atlantic crab, oysters, prawns, lobsters. Ended my meal with macaroon and cheese cake.

That's the end of my trip to Singapore. Thanks LC for entertaining me and leaving unforgettable memories. Now to start my exercise and diet. Note to self - not to check cholesterol levels for at least 6 months.

Weekend food outing

2015-04-15T15:59:00.004+01:00

It's been ages since I last went for intensive shopping and food hunting. PL invited me to go on a special mission last weekend and the food was an added bonus. Can't mention what was the special mission. Hahaha.

Imperial Chinese Cuisin, Prangin Mall
Who would have known that there was such a nice Chinese restaurant hidden in the lower ground floor of Prangin Mall. The last time I went there, the whole place looked run down. This little gem is a very nice surprise thanks to my new friend D. The prices were affordable too. We ordered 4 dishes and a soup and it came up to only RM30+ per person. By the way, there wasn't any service tax. So, it was only the 6% GST.

Soup of the day - Boiled groundnuts with pork rib soup

Very flavorful. Have you had the sensation that you've forgotten that you've missed something until you've had it. That feeling just hit me when I had my first mouthful of the soup. Delicious!

Two types of Kai Lan

Still trying to figure out how green leafy vegetables be that crunchy.

Butter Prawns

Worth all the hype about it. It's my first time trying the moist type of butter prawns and it is recommended. I would love to try the other types of prawn dishes the next time.

Three type of steamed egg

I was wondering how many types of eggs are there. Got my answer after digging in. It's a combination of salted egg, century egg and fresh egg. Very unique. Would order again.

Claypot pork with salted fish sauce

The sauce is just addictive especially when mixed with rice. Not bad.

After refueling our stomachs and chatting for almost 2 hours.....finally, we started out special mission. Hahahaha. Won't give away what we had to do.

Almost at the top flood of Prangin Mall, we were attracted to the lovely aroma of Thai food.

Papaya salad in the making

Papaya Salad

This reminds me so much of my trip to Thailand. This version is much spicier than the ones that I've had in the past. My friends preferred the mango kerabu though.

Back to special mission.......then pit stop at Gloria Jeans Coffee.

Hot chocolate and chocolate cake

Somehow I felt that the hot chocolate tasted a bit weird. Can be improved.

Rainbow cake

If only the taste was as nice as the colours. A reminder that looks can be deceiving.

Fast forward to dinner at Sri Pinang Foodcourt

Hokkien Mee aka Penang Prawn Mee

Missed this a lot! If only I can get nice Hokkien mee near my place.

Char Kuey Teow

Missed this dish too! I'm already satisfied after having this.

Grilled French Beans

How can beans taste that nice. Must be the seasoning.

Fried Lala

The sauce was very unique. There's curry powder, curry leave, sweet and spicy all mixed into it. Makes one wanting to go back for more.

Grilled Fish

One of the nicest grilled fish that I've had in my life. The spices really brings out the flavour.

Visiting PL's two new baby guinea pigs

Awwwww.....so cute!

Coconut Palm Wine

Didn't know that Malaysia produces wine. I'm not a good wine critique but I can finish one bottle myself.

Thanks PL, D and RY for such a wonderful outing! Too bad I had to leave the group earlier as I was working the next day. Luckily could wake up when my alarm went off.

Looking forward to the next adventure.

Essential from one's prespective

2015-04-05T15:31:00.000+01:00

Many hoped that it was going to be an April fools joke including myself but it's here finally - Goods and Service Tax.

There were many reassurances given by ministers that essential items will not be taxed. However, I wondered if there were any ladies in that committee deciding the list.

The thing that really irritates me is that sanitary pads are subjected to the 6% GST! What nonsense is this? It's like we're punished for this normal menstrual cycle that allowed mankind to repopulate. If we can't afford to keep ourselves hygienic during our monthly cycle with sanitary pads, what are we suppose to use?

Those who are savvy and rich enough would have stocked up on their supply. But sooner or later we'll run out and can't escape from this GST. Those of you who have light and short duration of period can start counting how much money you would have saved. Times have just gotten tougher to be a girl.

I propose that there should be a regular review of the items included in the taxation. I hope that Malaysian women will get their voices heard and not be bullied with this new taxation system.

Conscientious

2015-03-11T11:52:00.000+00:00

Too little conscientiousness. That's what happening at our workplaces nowadays. Add in the assumptions. Now that's the best recipe to kill off any respect.

When I received the invitation letter as a speaker today, not only was my marital status changed but a new surname (which also implied that my religion was changed too) was given to me. I really salute the effort put into creating a whole new identity. Maybe I should just let this imaginary speaker do all the hard work.

People's reaction? Some started laughing, some got angry. I can understand that because such an absurd thing can happen. Maybe if there wasn't that much fear or religious polarisation going on, I would have been amused. Yet I felt insulted and feared that rumours will start.

It isn't hard to be conscientious. My full name isn't a secret. All it takes is a little extra effort.

Missing Fish and Chips

2015-03-06T13:03:00.001+00:00

My cravings for fish and chips didn't just come out of the blue. It was triggered by seeing a photo of fish and chips while surfing Facebook.

I was in luck that I'd arranged to meet Pei Lian for lunch today. There's no fish and chip in Kulim but luckily there's Manhattan Fish Market at Sunway Carnival Mall. So, I get to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Fish and Chips at Manhattan Fish Market, Sunway Carnival Mall

So satisfied! It's been too long since I'd ordered fish and chips. Somehow didn't get any cravings previously. Plus it's so difficult to get good fish and chips. Nothing beats the original fish and chips from the UK.

Scanning through my memories, there are a few places where I really remembered eating my fish and chips.

Llandudno

Having my dose of fish and chips at Conwy Castle. Best peas that I've tasted.

It was that good that I even brought my parents there for round 2

One of the best moments in Llandudno - having fish and chips by the promenade

Isle of Sky:

Fish and chips during one of the road trips north

Black Country Living Museum

Fish and Chips at Hobbs and Sons Fish & Chips shop within the museum. Look at the size of that fish!

Apologies if anyone feels hungry after reading this post. Malaysian fish and chips can never beat UK. Anyone up for trip to the UK just to have fish and chips?

Blog revived after so long

2015-03-04T13:56:00.001+00:00

Procrastination somehow led to the urge to start blogging again, like how I used to procrastinate from revision and ended up composing blog posts. I wonder if anyone even read blogs nowadays. Hahaha. Working life is so much different as compared to student days. Free time is a luxury no longer a right.

Work has been getting busier and busier. Gone were the days where I had time to give teaching to my staff and spend more time talking to patients. The number of patients has doubled if not tripled as compared to last year. Maybe this can serve as a very sensitive indicator to the economic situation - the more the number of patients, the worse the country's economy is performing.

Points to support this include:
1. Lower spending power leads to switching from private GPs and hospitals to government as nothing beats RM1 per visit to the doctor plus supply of medication. This is true as so many patients bring medications that they've been getting from private and asking if they can get them from my clinic. Sadly, most of them are listed under specialist prescription only or not even available.
2. Economy slowing down means more jobs will be cut leading to higher stress levels and less care for health and subsequently falling ill to acute or chronic illnesses in the long run. More requests for medical certificates, application for welfare, SOCSO, insurance claims, younger patients with non-communicable diseases, etc. I'm not sure how the productivity of existing employees will be affected if suddenly there is a need to work harder to cover the jobs of employees who has been fired. One can argue that factories can increase automation but can they afford to upgrade that quickly?

Speaking about medical certificates, I feel that reward should be given for employees who has been able to take good care of their health and well being with less than 5 days of sick leave taken in a year. This will encourage more awareness of one's health and discourage people from seeking MC from the poor doctor. Why do I say poor doctor? No one empathises with the doctor if any patient hurls threats, verbal abuse and sometimes physical abuse when being denied of an MC. Sometimes I hoped that there will be a clear guideline issued by any authority be it the Malaysian Medical Council or the Ministry of Health on the issuance of MC so that we can protect ourselves. I've seen so many actors and actresses even as young as teenagers who deserves the Oscars for amount of effort put into getting and MC. Other who are not as talented revert to threats. Sometimes as the only female doctor in the consultation room, I fear for my own safety. I try to overcome this problem by requesting for an assistant but due to shortage of staff, it is a luxury to have an assistant/chaperone/safety measure at all times. Maybe it is my fault for not being more firm on this decision. Nowadays, due to the pressure of seeing so many patients in such little time, minimising the risk to oneself, giving up, whatever you call it, I've decided to just close one eye or even both eyes and just issue that MC. It doesn't help when patients' complaints are being held in so high regard nowadays and opinion of the attending doctor over-ridden easily.

Does anyone feel irritated by frequent news on excessive doctors? It is so different on the ground level. Patients visiting government health care are increasing rapidly and yet the number of posts for doctors remain the same and revision of these posts do not occur frequent enough. The visitors to my clinic a year back never had to worry about finding a seat to wait. Nowadays, the number of standing patients are quickly outnumbering the number of seats available. Short term measure - increase the number of seats. Mid term measure, increase floor area to fit more chairs. Long term measure - increase the number of doctors and health care support staff. Sorry for being so sarcastic.

I always tried my best to provide sufficient counselling so that my patient understand their disease and take appropriate measures to manage it properly. In the long term, this will reduce their number of visit and of course complications. However, I am reaching the point of giving up as patients come barging into the consultation room too frequent to complain that they've waited too long. I don't want to adopt the 'Touch n Go' approach but seems like there's not much of a choice. I look forward to the day when primary care can adopt the appointment based system.

Most awaited drama episode of the year - 5th of May 2013

2013-04-26T08:58:00.001+01:00

There's clearly momentum building up to the elections as evident by the number of flags not only increasing in amount but size and height at every corner.

Malaysian news is also getting more and more ridiculous with bombings and scandals. I'm still wondering who made the statement that our crime rates are down. Hmmmm.

Hooray for Kedah having holiday on the 5th of May for the working citizens to work. I'll be happily making my way home after work on Thursday.

Let us all do our duty and excise our rights this elections. Go home and see your parents lah.

Stress - the root of most if not all illness

2013-03-27T01:48:00.001+00:00

It feels like I'm seeing more and more stressed up patients nowadays coming in with non-specific complains like lethargy, body aches, trouble sleeping etc. Some even manifests as central chest pain or gastric pains.

When I asked the golden question, 'Are you having too much stress?' some even started crying. Given the 5 to 10 minutes slot that I have for each patients, the crying will surely take up more than 90% of the time I have. With more than 6 patients waiting and the current one crying, I guess my stress level at that point is much higher than my own patient.

So, maintain a healthy mind, go out and do some exercise, adopt a new hobby, throw some darts to the photo of the person you dislike, shout your lungs out at the beach, or maybe....get a voodoo doll.

Hahahaha.

Leaving my comfort zone

2013-01-03T07:16:00.002+00:00

It's been such a long time since I last updated my blog. There's been massive changes in terms of my career.

After completing housemanship, I was posted to Kedah as a new Medical Officer. One major flaw in our system is that they never tell you in advance where exactly that you're posted to. So, no preparations could be made before starting work. On top of that, you can't claim expenses spent even if you went to your new working place earlier. They expect you to travel on the day that you're reporting and then start hunting for accommodation and even your work place.

On the day that I was suppose to report, I had to travel all the way up to Alor Setar, which was Kedah's capital to report to the state health office. Then, I was told that I was posted to Kulim, which I had passed 1.5 hours ago whilst on the way to Alor Setar. Don't you think that it's a waste of resources? When I finally reached Kulim district health office, I found out that I was posted to a health clinic half an hour away from town. So, here I am, a general practitioner in a small village half an hour away from the hospital.

Starting off as an MO was stressful for me initially. There was the responsibility that you had to carry on your shoulders, being the second boss at this clinic, and most importantly, being the gatekeeper of healthcare. Somehow I missed the times being a house officer when you're not held responsible for mistakes that were made and there'll always be seniors above you to guide you. Currently, if I'd missed something, the patient's health and even life can be at stake.

Actually, treating patients wasn't my biggest headache. The biggest obstacle here is actually handling issues with the staff. Initially, my senior MO was always with me so everything was referred to her. Then, there're times when I was the only MO there. This was when all hell runs loose.

Requests come to you when you're most busy, trying to catch you off guard. There were also unreasonable requests which had to be refused but at the same time, I had to worry about ruining my relationship with my colleagues because I decided to put my foot down. I guess my dental friends who have started out earlier as bosses know this very well. Maybe I can gain from some of your experiences in dealing with these situations.

So far, I'm making ado with the limited drugs and equipment that I have in my small clinic. At least there's tarred road connecting us to the main hospital and it's only half an hour away. Xrays and antenatal scans have to be done at another nearby clinic and blood tests besides FBC have to be sent off to be processed at the hospital. Now I'm still puzzled as to why do we even have an emergency section at the clinic. I can't even diagnose or manage anything here! And there's always this trouble of medical pushing to surgical and surgical pushing the case back to medical. In the end, the patient was deposited at casualty and they can decide which team to take over later. Haih.......

Oh well, back to intensive revision of clinical examination. Maybe I can train myself to diagnose aortic dissection without the need of a CT.

The first step

2012-08-18T07:48:00.002+01:00

I'm still wondering if it was the right thing to do. Sometimes things won't progress if I start thinking too much.

The first step is always the hardest. Looking at that calm lake, thinking if I should dip my foot into it to test water. What if there's piranhas swimming underneath where I couldn't see? Most of the time, I would just walk past that lake thinking that it would be wiser not to take that risk. However, there was always this huge curiosity which sometimes is enough to kill me while I tried to pry my eyes away from the waters.

In the end, I was surprised at the amount of time it took for me to decide. I ended up not just dipping my foot to test waters then slowly proceed with caution, but jumped straight in with a splash. No more walking away, it's time to swim till I reach the next shore. Hopefully I don't drown in the process.

Outings and Eating

2012-06-21T17:45:00.004+01:00

Meeting up with friends after such a long time was not only exciting but brings so much happiness. Time flies and without realising, it has been a year since I last met PP and more than a year since I last met Y3 in person. I would like to say that despite all the stress of working life, non of us showed any signs of aging. Muahahahaha.

Today was Air Asia's 19th AGM which I attended. Most of the shareholders and proxies there were waiting for the door gift this year, which was a free air ticket for any short haul flights. Yay! Now I can start planning my next holiday destination.

It was inspiring to listen to Tony Fernandes' speech and all of us could see how proud he was of Air Asia. Hopefully his business will expand successfully into Indonesia and my share price will go up. Sad to say that our home country has given the most obstacles to talented Malaysians. No one can blame the brain drain except for ourselves.

We had lunch at the famous Siaw Kah Restaurant in Kajang. They're famous for the spicy pepper soup which had succulent pieces of pork in it. Highly recommended but beware of the amount of pepper and ginger in it. The wood ear pork dish was ordinary for me. I loved that the restaurant provided chopped garlic and soya sauce for dip. I practically finished the whole container of garlic.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have more time to blog in the next rotation, which will be anaesthesia. Surgery rotation was not only mentally taxing but physically challenging too. I think I've lost a few years of life completing that rotation. 3 more days of holiday to go! Why won't the time just stop.

How to work smart

2012-05-17T16:03:00.002+01:00

It's frustrating that the more you do, the higher chances of mistakes occurring and more people gets angry at you for making those mistakes and you'll end up at the losing end.

Then you see other people doing the least and even cutting corners but still get away with it. No wonder it's always 20% of the people doing 80% of the work.

A word of advice. Work smart. Take up as little responsibility as possible. Do the least that's required. Take your time and enjoy life. What's the use of being so hardworking?

March Market Chat '12

2012-04-02T10:43:00.000+01:00

Being in KL has its advantages. On a fine Saturday morning, I followed my parents to the Market Chat organised by Kenanga. It was all the way at Subang Jaya and the three of us too the train there as my parents, being 'old' enough, they get to travel for free for 6 months. Hahahaha. The event was held at Empire hotel, which was a 10 minutes walk from the Subang Jaya KTM station.

We were served hot coffee or tea during the 4 hours talk on the outlook for the 2nd quarter of the year and two companies advertised their share. I was starving by the time it was 12.30pm. Usually only a light brunch of stir fried noodles or nasi goreng was served but this time, we were invited to Kitchen Art, their restaurant to have buffet lunch! Anything that can make Malaysians the happiest is free quality food.

I started my course with squid salad, fresh tomatoes and pasta salad. It was shortly followed with prawn salad but I finished them too fast before I could take a photo of it.

Main course was a mixture of roti Jala, meatballs, Hong Kong style roasted duck and Satay.

Being busybodies, we later found out that the buffet costs RM 55++ for each person. The trip was worth it. However, not all events have such luxury. I guess the sponsors this time around were really generous.

If anyone is interested in attending Market Chats to get the latest insights for the Malaysia market, click on the icon below and you'll be directed to the program for the year. I just realised that it's held in all parts of Malaysia. So, what are you waiting for?

The needle-stick incident

2012-03-30T08:45:00.002+01:00

Never think that removing a securely capped orange needle after taking ABG is safe. The least expected thing could happen which was the needle piercing past the cap without you realising it. This was the first contaminated needle stick injury that happened to me.

Suddenly, I became the patient, needing someone else to poke and take blood sample from me and yet, I still needed to take the blood sample from the involved patient. I realised that actually nobody knew the process of reporting a needle-stick injury. There's no support whatsoever. You just feel lost. The irony was, there was a flowchart of steps to take after a needle-stick injury on the main board.

Going to A&E, I was still trying so hard to console myself that the risk of catching anything from such a small wound is just 0.3% and at least I've been immunised against hepatitis B. But what about Hep C and HIV? Plus that patient was an Indonesian, status unknown.

I got my first tetanus ID jab. It was quite painful. An MO even asked me if I could clerk my own history but he was nice enough to do it for me in the end.

Transporting my own blood sample to the infectious disease unit was one of the weirdest thing that I've done. At least it only took them 3 hours to process the sample and finally, I got a phone call to confirm that everything was clear. Phew.

I don't know what have I learned from this episode as I've taken all the necessary measures of taking ABGs from whatever limited tools that we have in the hospital. We don't have the safety needle for ABG taking like in the UK. We still heparanise our 1ml or 3 mls syringes ourselves and remove the needle to cap it with a stopper before transporting it to the lab.

I think it's the hassle and lack of support that deters many of my colleagues from reporting needle-stick injuries. I hope that this won't turn into a normal occurrence for me.

Wee Vien's Wedding

2012-03-26T07:45:00.003+01:00

10th of March was lovely Wee Vien and Jinn Did's Wedding. Congratulations!

Dinner that night was really luxurious. It was held at Noble Banquet along Jalan Bukit Bintang. I guess this is still one of the places that you can find sharks fin soup (bottom picture).

All the lovely ladies.

My next post will be all about food and more food as I've accumulated so many photos and too busy to blog. You all must be wondering what have I been up to lately as I've somehow disappeared from the blogging world. Been busy undergoing surgical rotation. It's tough as we're short of housemen and there's no such thing as shift system here. I really wonder how did I survive when I first joined. Last night's oncall was bad as one of the emergency laparotomy took 5.5 hours. You can actually see me withering away towards the end. The good side of this rotation is, it's always in taxing rotations that you get good bosses to compensate, I don't know why. Somehow that still motivates me a little to get up at 5.30am in the morning to go to work. Haih.....

More to come in the next post. Till then.

The broken elastic band

2012-03-07T13:04:00.003+00:00

A little girl pick up an elastic band found lying on the playground.
Happily, she starts playing with it, tugging and pulling, stretching it and watching it recoil to its original shape.
As she plays along, the harder she pulls, amazed at how much she was able to stretch it.
Suddenly, the band snaps and tip of it smacked her hand causing her much pain before it drops to the ground.

Gingerly nursing her injured hand, now left with a red mark, she bends to pick the broken elastic band with the other. Now it's just a useless piece of thin rubber. She tried to tie both ends together, but as soon as she starts to pull, the knot snaps off and she was left with another sharp pain. She then spots a dustbin at the side of the road and throws the broken elastic band away.

I feel like the broken elastic band. Please leave me alone and not stretch me beyond my limit.

Big baby

2012-02-11T06:21:00.000+00:00

I broke my record of heaviest baby that I helped deliver during my night shift in labour ward yesterday. The mother was a small size lady and it was her first baby. Guess was was the birth weight - 4.0kg. I almost lost balance carrying the baby up to show to the mother as I didn't expect her to be so big. Big baby and big cry too. So cute but poor mother had to put in a lot of effort pushing.

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

2012-01-28T10:01:00.001+00:00

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

2011-12-29T07:56:00.001+00:00

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.