McDreamy, McSteamy and McVet

Warning, spoilers may be ahead.

I just spent the last 5 hours of my morning cooped up in my small and very messy room watching the complete second season of Grey's Anatomy.

When I watch and get hooked to any TV programmes - which I don't really, not that often - it's usually because I identify with the story and their characters. In this case, obviously it's the medical thing, y'know. I love Cristina and her barb wired comments and over achieving streak. I think I used to be like her before I mellowed down (or is it out? Ntah....). I love Miranda Bailey and her no nonsense attitude, because really we all know she's just a human being under all that talk.

I love watching Burke and Cristina and how they got together despite their major differences and how despite not so obvious gestures, the affection between those two still shine through.

and I love how all the characters gel together, weaving in between those stories that each of their patients tell - making each episodes such a gem and even though now I have completed all 20 odd episodes, it's not satisfying me but just making me hunger for more. I guess good TV series are supposed to do that to you.

GA is really one of those TV watching experience that makes you feel all the human emotions possible. Cristina's one liners always made me laugh till my sides hurt and I got angry that I felt like going into the TV and shaking some sense into Izzie when she fell in love with Denny (but of course, with charm by the bucketfuls, who wouldn't?) and I cried like a baby at so many scenes that I've lost count.

Yeah, it's OTT (ever seen a Katherine Heigl look-alike in your hospitals lately, huh????) and over glamourising the profession but who cares.....it's TV, it's escapism and we all need a little bit of that once in a while.....

Customer service part II

Ho hum, another Raya gone by.

It always seems like the whole of Malaysia's population ends up in Kelantan during the Raya festivities. Mind you, KB is no longer the quiet town it was 20 years ago, but come Raya, the whole state is transformed. Roads get congested, restaurants are full - even Renaissance's ramadhan buffets are fully booked by 8 am in the morning! and strange as it sounds, I can almost always tell which ones are local and those who are just here for the holidays.

Despite the slowly westernizing influences, Kelantan girls are still rarely seen without their tudungs. Though, when I see them in their tight jeans, almost sleeveless, low collared baby Ts, I seriously feel like going up to them and asking "Why do you even bother huh?" - most of them are still reluctant to take the tudungs off. But seriously la weyyy...why bother? The tudungs are either a)ikat mulut itik bawah dagu and so short that they expose the nape of the neck or the skin on the chest or b)all properly tied up but for some strange reason hair is allowed to fall out of the tudungs - most of the time can be seen on motorbikes at kampung roads.

KL girls on the other hand, expose their hair unashamedly, 9 out of 10 hair has been dyed - honey blond is quite popular. In fact this isn't exclusive to the girls, KL makciks also tend to exhibit a hair colour that isn't their own. They also have a different type of walk - maybe it's the air of confidence they naturally obtain from staying in a big city. and of course, the way they speak almost always give it away too. It's the Manglish that I usually can't stand.

But anyhow, me digress. I went to KB Mall on the second day of Raya. There's a new store next to P*ci**c open. So, Abg was looking for a suitable wedding present for a colleague and we were getting desperate. Browsing through the household section, I saw some bean bag covers (though I can't really imagine seeing a bean bag in a typical Kelantan home). My old one had become dirty and covered in mould due to the lack of use but I don't really want to throw the beans away. So I chose one of a neutral colour and proceeded to the cashier. So this guy with a fancy walkie talkie asked me I wanted to pay and when I said yeah, he mumbled into his equipment, I presumed looking for the staff in charge.

Okay, you know me, I'm a stickler for customer service, yeah....if you're already open for business, get someone manning the cashier la weh! The store has been open since 10 and my watch showed 10.20 and you still had to find someone at that time? 10 mins passed by and all I get are a bunch of temps walking in a group in between the aisles, zombie-like and of not much use to me. I was already starting to grumble, in a voice loud enough that the group of temps started to walk away from the vicinity of the paying booth.

After 15 mins of futile waiting, I left. Stupid idiots. Didn't even get my chance to exhibit my bekengness to anyone. If this had happened at Jusco, I'll be heading straight to the customer feedback booth pouring out my discontentment on a piece of their stationery. But the thing is, this sort of thing wouldn't even happen in Jusco in the first place.

You people at KB Mall, yeah, you management people....you can copy the physical aspects of big chain stores all you like, but if your staff is as crappy as they are that day, jgn harap la. I only visit your store because of the lack in choice. If Jusco were to open in KB, jangan harap la nak jumpa muka nie dekat P*ci**c/H*me M*rt ok?

Think that's the end of the story? No way Jose! Later that evening brought the gang out for dinner (tip for future KB Mall visitors, if you're planning to catch up on stories and having a nice conversation with friends, don't bother eating at the shop next to the bowling alley, it was so noisy I can barely hear myself think!) and Abg decided he'd get the Visions set. We chose quickly and queued up to pay. Sebesar-besar second floor of P*ci**c tu, they cleverly opened only one cashier and of course, the slowest, most stupid staff was working that night! After ten mins of waiting, the first customer in line still haven't left! The makcik standing in front of Abg started to get restless. Promoters were starting to pile things up on the counter. Then came this Ah So (supervisor kot) and Abg stopped her in her tracks and said "Tak boleh ke awak bukak counter lain untuk bayar?" - she asked what Abg was paying for and even lifted the box, walking towards the outside of the store where an idle cashier is waiting for people to buy clothes at the longgok section. The next thing I know, the rest of the queue followed us!

Hello! What crap management is this? A thousand of Zings are just waiting to be bombarded but Ah So left quickly, so takde can I nak laser dia.

Okay la, I bukan management oriented but even I can tell that you must be doing something wrong if this is how you manage your store. Why don't you go to other successfull chain stores and see how they do it? I've always enjoyed shopping at Jusco - the staff are so friendly, the advantages of the loyalty card are endless - they even give discounted parking if you're a card holder.

Ini, parking in KB Mall dah la already tak cukup to cater to the post gaji, weekend group - last time I saw, they actually converted the first floor parking to expand the store! Apa punya plan nie? So ppl actually park anywhere they want, blocking already narrow roads and what nots....

My solution? Apart from hoping that Jusco might be interested in opening in KB, be there at 10 am on a saturday morning and leave by 12 noon, saves me the hassle and heart ache and much easier on the blood pressure....

ZINGing....

Bengangnya I hari nieeeeee....!!!!

Kenapa I bengang? Well firstly, I luuuurrrrve the movie You've Got Mail. Tom Hanks isn't really the first guy I'd pick to play a hugely wealthy, highly desired, big boss of a chain of successful bookstores, tapi tak kisah lah tu. There is a part in the movie where Hanks emails Meg Ryan's character about what happened when both characters meet for the second time, where Kathleen finally discovers that Joe Fox is indeed of the Fox and Son's Bookstores.

Joe starts by saying this:
Do you ever feel you've become the worst version of yourself?
That a Pandora's box of all the secret, hateful parts, your arrogance, your spite, your condescension, has sprung open?
Someone provokes you, and instead of smiling and moving on, you ZING them?
"Hello, it's Mr. Nasty."

In this case, Hey there, meet DR Nasty....

Ask my staff, ZINGing is like my favourite pasttime or something. and I almost always regret it, the moment the zings fly out of my mouth and I spend a good portion of the day thinking that maybe I could have handled it better, or become more patient.

*************************I actually started writing about what happened this morning which made me so mad but as I read through my entry, I thought so what.....so what if one silly girl decides that she could feel better by applying sarcasm to me. Yes, I should have handled it better, I guess. I could have had more patience, and acted more maturely. I'll even go as far as admitting that maybe I was asking for it. Tapi if I was perfect, I wouldn't be human pulak, kan......?

So, anyone know where I can buy a barrelful of patience..??

Tiada hala tuju...

Seems most of my friends are making a headstart in the advancement of their careers. Most already have decided what they want to do. Some have taken steps in forms of taking professional exams and joining Masters programme.

The same thing can't be said about yours truly though. Sometimes I think I wanna do Paeds, yet sometimes I think I might make a good lecturer and sometimes, I wish I have the option of retiring and becoming a housewife or something (but naaahhhh, I'll be too bored).

The thing is though, sometimes I feel as if I haven't learned much more than I did when I was a med student (and even THAT is not a lot - believe me when I admit that it was totally luck when I passed medical school). What little I learnt, I think a good portion has been forgotten in between the pages of my Kumar and Clark's Textbook of Medicine. Truth be said, sometimes I think I might even know less stuff now than I did 4 years ago!!

Life in a small KK (Klinik Kesihatan to you) hasn't helped much either. Seeing diabetics and hypertensives and headaches and eczemas and jaundice day in and day out can be quite monotonous that you find yourself feeling so discontented that you start venting it out on your patients.

The fault isn't them. It's me. Could it be that I'm just angry at my procrastinating self; added to that a pinch of envy at seeing how my friends have progressed?

I seriously think true happiness comes from complete contentment. Even if you have only ten ringgit in your wallet, if you're content, who is to say you're not happy, betul?

So tell me....what should I do to feel content again..???

Countdown

It's my last three days at my KK. and frankly, tak rasa nostalgic pun. I definitely will not miss the headache of dealing with staff and patients whom I don't really see as sick.

Hmmm, that did not turn out as well as I thought it in my head.

It's like this. When you're working in an A&E, ppl come to you sick. Sampai sometimes tak leh bangun. This, I can sympathise with. When ppl walk into my room all fine and dandy, this, I cannot register in my thick skull as being sick. OK tak cakap macam tu..?

But anyhow, talking about my line of work, I found this great blog called Dari Bilik Ini - it's written by a GP (from what I gather) and it's sometimes about interesting diseases, and sometimes about the patients that he encounters. Cool. and he's the first runner up of Blogger's Idol 2006!

but anyway, again, dr bekeng digresses. Since I'm off for a long holiday after Raya, we've decided to pack and move stuff this Thursday. So Abg decided that we should spend the few nights here. (Pish, pack apa.....tu dia dok melepak depan tv....:))

Anyhow, I told Abg to settle the termination of api, air and telepon and it turns out they needed my IC since the accounts are in my name.

Masa nak gi fotostat IC, Abg kata 'Nak tgk kedai jual nasi untuk org tak puasa tak? Heeheee, siap tgh tuang nasi lagi...' and it was only 12 noon, ok???!!!

and right in front of the JKR Depot and just a few strides away from Masjid Permaisuri, terang-terangan (walaupun berjerubu) dua tiga lelaki melayu sasa (actually tak la sasa pun, kerempeng aje, tu yang dia beli nasi at 12 noon tu kot) sedang seronok mencedok lauk ke dlm take away styrofoam diorg! and according to Abg, the stall has been open since 10 am!

Okla....bersangka baik all you want....tapi WHO buys food for berbuka at 12 noon???? and I was relaying this story oh-so-enthusiastically to Kak M and kebetulan my patient at that time tu a police officer. Dia siap boleh gelak sakan lagi. According to him, the stall owner already has been reported to Pejabat Agama - tapi obviously no action has been taken lah kan kalau dia masih menjual nasi dia dgn meriahnya!

It's one thing if ppl buy nasi bungkus ala spy buat transaction siap ada code word and disguise kit, but to buy it in the open with absolutely no shame at all?? What is the world coming to? and in Terengganu some more!!??

and what is the district Pejabat Agama doing? Why are you not doing your responsibilities and go tear down the stall or something. I'm sure it's not even built on her own property - macam duduk atas rezab jalan aje...

Tomorrow I will post a pic of this stall ok.....tunggguuuuuu.....

Well, gotta go wake Abg, I can hear his melodic snoring already...:)

Kisah dr bekeng disengat tebuan..

I kena gigit tebuan 2 nights ago. Sakitttt....

Abg and I just had dinner and I was in the kitchen washing up. Then I wanted to straighten up the dining table. Masa nak tolak kerusi tu masuk, i felt this intensely painful and burning sensation in the middle of the palm of my right hand. Memula tu ingatkan masuk duri ke selumbar ke apa but those type of pain goes away and you can usually see the culprit, tapi ini tak nampak apa.

When I returned to the kitchen after I told Abg what I thought had happened, I saw this humongous tebuan (hornet kot...) on the floor.

For an instant, my mind rushed over the possibility of me being allergic to the sting, but then I remember, those are usually with bees....hehehe...melodramatic la plak.

Abg put some gamat oil on the sting but the pain was OMG....there was absolutely NO position that I could put my hands in to relieve the pain. Last-last tried putting it in ice water, - helps a bit but then tangan plak beku.

The throbbing discomfort lasted all night. I kept waking up due to the pain. Abg gelak je when I refused to go to the clinic - 'takut kena cucuk'.

The next day my right hand had swollen up so much that I couldn't make a fist. The pain, still there but much less in intensity, thank god. I called in sick - couldn't drive or write and was too 'mamai' from the lack of sleep....
and then malam semlm, the swollen area got so itchy, rasa macam nak garu ngan berus besi je....

I know I don't want to go through that again so I think I will keep an extra look out for humongous tebuans next time I'm clearing up the kitchen....

Public speaking

I had to give a ceramah today.

Ibu Berisiko semasa Hamil serta Faktor-faktor Kematian Ibu dan Anak.

The thing is, I don't think I have problems speaking in public, yet when I'm up there, all good sense goes out the window and brings a speed train in.

So, I end up talking like one.

But I think today it wasn't too bad. The mothers were nodding to what I was saying, and there wasn't that many expressions of complete puzzlement, so I guess I didn't do too bad.

The one thing that I seriously detest is people talking when someone else is giving a speech. If it was something emergency that simply couldn't wait, takpe la jugak. Once, I was at a conference in Ipoh, the guys (who says being a doctor automatically gives you good manners?) behind me were actually giving a review of how Brazil sucked big time this World Cup just past. Ada ke patut???

Hello brother....kalau kau tak nak dgr ceramah, sudah la, gi keluar la ok....jgn la plak mengganggu konsentrasi org yang nak dengar niee.....

That was what I was tempted to say to him and his gang, tapi of course la buat diam je. But one of these days......

and how is it that I am the one who always ends up sitting next to, or in front of or behind, the yakkety-yakking makciks whom, at that precise moment, chose to share her you-must-try-this biscuit recipe?

and what about people who simply cannot be bothered to switch their phones to silent mode? Takkan la beli phone mahal siap ada camera 7 juta pixel takde silent mode kot? and how is it that these same people, would end up with the most ridiculous, annoying ring tones and proceed to take hours to locate the said phones when they ring?

A productive day

I seriously think, the best days are the ones where you are on leave and everyone else isn't.

I had a day off yesterday. Since I'm reporting to JKN Kelantan today, I really couldn't be bothered to drive for an hour and ten minutes to Permaisuri and then drive for an hour and a half back at the end of the day. Afterall, the other MO is finally back from her induction course, so, let her take care of some of my patients for a change...(pembuliiiii.....:))

I'm weird in the sense that when it's a working day, I often wish for just ten more minutes of sleep, but on my day off, it's get up and go, people..! It's already 6 thirty y'know!!! and off I go doing my errands or gardening or whatever. Yesterday was like that. The moment FIL has gone off menoreh and Abg and BIL has gone for work, I started on my beadwork for about an hour and then started to lay down the rest of the tikar getahs and then went off to the shops to get some staples to tack them down. Berpeluh2, okay...after that, I started on my ayam percik which took a good 2 hours jugak,just to get the santan to thicken nicely.

I really wanted to take pictures of the dish, tapi terlupa la pulak. I haven't made this in ages. When I was studying overseas and residing in Biggart House, I loved making it, much to the delight of the other Malaysian students tapi sejak kahwin nie, rasa macam malas la pulak. and it is quite cumbersome, first you have to boil the chicken pieces in some garlic and ginger and salt. Then the sauce takes about an hour to boil down to the right consistency. Then the process of barbequing it takes about an hour - but I must say, the fact that Abang had seconds and thirds was worth everything....

Me: Apa rasa?

Abg: Sedap.

Me: Boleh buat lagi?

Abg: Bolehhhhh.....

Me: *happy*