Mak Long loves you all....

This is Hannah. She is sis Yanie's firstborn. She was a long (yes, LONG as in PANJANG - she covered the distance from knee to knee and over!) baby, she almost looked weird. But, fortunately, she filled out her length and has turned out into such a darling young girl.


Cantik, kan gigi Hannah? Mummy kan dentist, malu la kalau gigi rongak!

Peace!

No mummy, Hannah tak mau keluar swimming pool lagi....

Sebijik muka sis Yanie when she was about this age.

Hariz is the strong and silent type. Such a good baby, barely heard him cry. He's at that stage where he crawls everywhere and anywhere!


Sporting the jaundiced look.

Hello? Tgk apa tu? Yes, I know I'm adorable...

Almost like Abg and his Mini Me, but a fairer version and without goatee.

Such a handsome one now.

My third anak sedara is sis Yanti's firstborn, Shakeel Arif whom we call Arif. Must remember to take more pictures of him.

Just being the usual jaded me

I spent Merdeka eve at the hospital, in an ambulance and at the HUSM casualty.

A young - married with young wife - male of 20 decided he would spend his Merdeka eve racing his motorbike and ended up unconscious, with a breathing tube stuck down his throat and not doing very well at all.

Happy Merdeka, people.

and then there were three...

....kitties that is.

Abg and I were contemplating getting another kitty for Bubu to play with. We figured all that biting and pawing could probably be due to all that pent up energy while being locked up in the toilet. Abg wanted to get a proper breed but I'm more than happy with a domestic tapi so susahlah finding a cat owner who's willing to give up his/her kitties for adoption. Most people here are either persian (or some other fancy breed) owners who make a profit from selling kittens OR, people who simply abandon their unwanted kittens at the nearest pasar.

So, after a stressful Thursday, I was parking my car at home and heard faint mewing from the nearby bushes. I went to inspect but then the mewing stopped so I figured I must be hallucinating from not taking my lunch.

But later as I went to play with Bubu, again I heard the same mewing. Definitely kittens, and very young. I called Abg who came to see and managed to extract these two scamps!

Rezeki......I've been wanting a kitten and now I have two! and seriously gorgeous ones pulak tu!

I think they are about 4-5 weeks old. Still a bit too young to be away from the mother but luckily I had some specially formulated kitten milk around, so I hope they can survive on that for the time being.....

Rezeki, I tell you......:)


Mimi and Momot (sebab dia comot sikit)....

Kitty-that-is-still-yet-to-be-named

Remember kitty? Yes, the lil thing is miraculously still alive, hallelujah! (Ei, can I say hallelujah? Wait, let me google, yes, I can! Hahaha)

He went for his first lil kitty check up two weeks ago and boy did he NOT enjoy his car trip. Nasib baik duduk dlm carrier. Anyhow, the person I saw at Klinik Haiwan Baru, KB said to bring him over in two weeks time for his first vaccination but he had his first deworming that day. Rm10, I tell you....

We've been locking him up in the toilet periodically for the first few days and now he's totally toilet trained. We were initially thinking about getting proper cat litter but then considering the lack of space, looks like lil kitty will just have to share our toilet.

He's been a hit with my niece Asilah, but Mila just runs away squealing especially when lil kitty tries to make a dash for her toes. He does love toes and fingers - must remember to ask RKM if this is normal with kittens. Asal lepa je, dok gigit2 jari and some more, so easily excited lah this cat...! Pantang tgk benda bergerak sikit, heck, benda tak gerak pun dia excited...!


Pic on the first night I brought him home.


Pic taken just now - gumuks tak dia??? Hehehe...

I've yet to name him though. Kinda like the name Bubu and I've been reading up at forums on how to make your cats respond to their names - RKM, ada tips tak? I give you tips on beading, you give me tips on handling lil kitties, bley? Hehehe - one forumer even had this plan devised over a period of 4 weeks, okay? Must do this soon before my cat only answers to 'tsk tsk tsk' or worst, Abg's 'miau'...hahahaha. Imagine having a cat called Meow.

Also I noticed his nose is persistantly runny lah. We (my family) used to have this domestic long haired cat whom we called Parsen. She used to sneeze all the time, siap ada hingus lagi. Must remember to tell this to the vet.

I actually started to write this entry earlier just now but lil kitty decided that my gebu thigh is just the perfect place to dig his claws into as he was falling off my chair - berdarah, okay. So now lil kitty is keeping a safe distance from me sebab dah kena jentik telinga. Kesian la plak....

Help, I've been hit-and-runned!

There I was, ordering my breakfast of nasi with kropeh gulai and nescafe beng when one of my JMs came to me in a panic, 'Doktor, sedar tak kereta doktor kena langgar?'

I was literally gobsmacked.

Apparently some pakcik in a maroon Nissan Sunny plate number D* 3445 was reversing into the space behind my car, stepped too hard on the accelerator and bang smashed into my poor Kenari! My JM actually spoke to the idiot and asked him why he did such a thing; he mumbled something about his shoelaces getting caught somewhere and then just rushed off.

Seriously!

The damage was minor - the bottom right signal light is totally gone, half of the number plate is lying on the ground and the door is bent and scratched at multiple places - but y'know la how it is, kan? As I said to sis Yaya, keretaku kini dah ternoda! Waaa.....

Contemplated making a police report but then figured it's not worth the hassle and furthermore, my two witnesses couldn't come up with the complete plate number between the two of them. If he had stayed and made an effort to apologise, I think I would've just let it go, you know? Stupid idiot didn't even have the balls to say sorry.

So, there I was standing in the middle of the hospital compound, looking in dismay at the smashed signal light, spewing profanities right and left. I know it's not the right thing to do but it sure felt good.

Someone hand me my sash and tiara; Miss Irritability will be staying a bit longer - expect to find her prowling the TM area, keeping a razor sharp lookout for a D* 3445 maroon Nissan Sunny.

Hrmph!

Miss Irritability

...is what I should be called.

Urgh, sometimes I hate me.

In this extra easily irritated mood that I am, most of the time I will find the typical Malaysian highly annoying.

Take, for example the two hooligans on a bike in my kampung earlier this evening, zipping around at a break neck speed and even SPITTING as they drove past.

Or the nyonya who was gardening at her road side house near the pasar malam just now. Abg and I had just parked our car and was about to get off when this nyonya nonchalantly picked off some random plastic bags and newspaper that was caught in her flower bushes and THREW THEM INTO THE PUBLIC DRAIN! I gave her my most menacing glare and said out loud enough for her to hear, how some people are so inconsiderate that they would throw rubbish into the longkang and then moan very loudly when the next rainstorm comes and the roads get flooded. On top of that I even pointed to her as I told Abg about it. She was picking off the wilted papaya leaves as I caught her eye and I am glad to report that those papaya leaves didn't end up in the drain.

Or what about this group of boys in the red Kancil in front of us - DAE 5**6 - whose driver had no qualms about throwing out of his car window an empty bottle. Eeeeiii, membara betul aku!

I remember, when I was younger, Ma taught us to never throw rubbish simply anywhere. If there wasn't a rubbish bin around, I was to hold on to whatever sweet wrapper, tissue or bottle that I had until I found a suitable place to dispose of them. The habit stayed with me well into my adulthood; something which is lacking in a lot of people I meet.

Yes, it is common sense but even common sense have to be taught before it becomes COMMON. Parents are the ones who have the perfect opportunity to teach kids black is black and that white is white. LIFE will take care of the rest and teach them about the many shades of grey. Tapi, without the understanding of the basics, there is no foundation to lay anything on, so when parents have failed, how do they expect outsiders to teach what is right?

I remember this incident, about two years ago. I was queueing up to pay for an item at a cashier in JJ. This teeny cutie came up to the queue and waddled up to the counter and held up the toy that she was going to pay for. Serious, she was holding the cash in her hands and everything. Anyhow, I was next in line (and not being in the Miss Irritability mood that day, thank god...hehe) and was more than happy to let her pay. After all, budak kecik la kannn, apa la dia tau. But the next moment, I heard her mother's voice, calling her name and telling her to queue up just like everyone else. The mother wasn't shouting, it was very tactfully done; voice just stern enough to let the kid know that Mummy means business and this is something you should remember for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE kinda tone, y'know? I tabik spring to the lady and the kid was soooo adorable too!

I guess, until people learn more manners and parents become more committed to teaching their young uns, I guess I'm just gonna hold on to my Miss Irritability sash and go on giving people my menacing glare....hehehe.....

Phew! Finally!!!

A few months ago, (yes people....MONTHS) I decided I was bored out of my head and wanted to have something to do. Achik (my SIL) had a new baju kurung lying around the house and I thought it'd benefit from a little beading.

I hope she likes it. The sleeves are a little dodgy though, so the beading were a little crooked in some places. I wanted to sew the beads closer together around the collar but Abg said it wouldn't do much since it'd be covered by the tudung.

My manik tabur's still messy; maybe I haven't got the right technique. But, at least I'm finally done! Wha-hey!!! Sakit pinggang laaaaa membongkok-bongkok nie - a 'meja jepun' and a big fat cushion comes highly recommended next time.


The manik tabur took AAAAAAGES.....

The sleeve part.

Sniff and a sniffle

and I think I might have caught it from lil kitty (whom, I have learnt, is actually a boy kitty!). We've been locking him up in the toilet at nights, wanting to train him to pee and poo in the toilet where it will be easier to wash up. and so far, it has been alright, apart from the one time when we found a nice surprise in the basket that he sometimes sleeps in. Safe to say, kitty is no longer sleeping there!

However, usually about 5-5.30 ish, he will be mewing and scratching at the toilet door so I've been letting him out. Instead of sleeping quietly in the corner, he'll be jumping and pawing at our feet under the blanket and sometimes coming to lick my fingers and sniffing my face. I've been noticing his nose to be runny the past few days but didn't really think much about it.

I had agreed to exchange on calls with another MO, she said she's been feeling the beginnings of a cold and doesn't feel like doing her calls unwell. Little did I know that I'll be running a fever starting that afternoon which developed into a full blown cold by the evening. Of course, by then, it was too late to arrange something else. Nasib baik the on call wasn't too busy. I only had one case of query appendicitis, an MVA with cerebral concussion and a bladder tumour case who came in pale as sheet and an Hb of 3. Hmph, two days he said, that he's only started to feel unwell. I've learnt to double and sometimes triple that to get the exact timing. and then, a referral from a KK with abdominal colic whom I immediately discharged after giving him Nubain.

Afterwards it was rather quiet apart from a fast AF in the ward.

By 8 am, my head was spinning, my throat was sore and my nose blocked. Nasib baik there were enough MOs that day to cover for me so I took medical leave. Only my second time in the 5 years I've been working. How ironic is it that we practically give away MCs to the slightest sniffle yet can be so reluctant to take one for ourselves?

But anyhow, it's no complete RIB (rest in bed) for me as I'll be presenting three cases at a Mortality Conference tomorrow. Takuutttt....

Piccies

Ikan terubuk at Pasar Satok.

Hotlink boats.

Kampung Budaya - Santubung in the background.

One of the houses in Kampung Budaya.

View of Kuching from the Dewan Bandaraya Kuching.

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan....

Watcha all lookin' at, huh?

Huh? HUH??

Eiii, org nak tido pun nak amik gambar ke??


...memperkenalkan......*drum roll*, the one, the only (for the moment), the yet-to-be-named-kitty!!!!

I figured, maybe it's high time I had some other purpose in life. Work is one; yet when I get home and Abg goes off to his badminton get-together, hmmm, there is a limit to watching Lorelai antagonising Emily, y'know?

I heard the pitiful meowing while seeing patients on Wednesday. It went away for a while and came back again later. My assisting J/M saw it loitering near bilik 9 and brought it into my consultation room and for the next 2 hours saw me keeping a straight face as the kitty kept on meowing underneath my table as I was asking about my patient's hemorrhoids.

The drive back was fairly uneventful apart from the beginning when I made the mistake of letting it loose in the back seat and the next minute kitty was jumping behind the car pedals. NOT good. So, for the rest of the journey, I had to keep my left hand firmly on lil kitty and for one of the few moments of my life, saw me driving at less than at a 100km/h.

Anyway, Abg has let me keep it.

There is, the problem of those lice but thanks to RKM, I'm sure we'll get around it somehow.

Purrrr....

That is me, in contentment after a much deserved holiday with Abg, sis Yaya and Ma.

We used to live in Kuching when I was 12-13 and this is the first time Ma is able to go back. She was keen to search out old neighbours and such. Delightfully, everything has remained the same at our old neighbourhood. It was an absolute joy seeing Ma so excited about the tiniest memories of our short life there.

LCCT was a pleasant surprise. Yes, there were a lot of people (nampak macam stesen bas instead of an airport) but all in all, the trip was fairly uneventful, save for the steward actually reprimanding a nyonya who 'kiasu'ly stood up to get her bags despite the plane still moving. What is it about people being so kiasu huh? This group of apek and nyonyas, practically ran to be in front of the queue, stood for half an hour before the actual announcement was made and then jammed the whole line for wanting to sit in the front part and taking their own sweet time to store their luggages. We headed straight to the back, leaving all the bruhaha of the stewardesses trying to convince them to move swiftly to the back instead of holding the line up, and ended up disembarking first because they open the door at the back too, you know!

and then, on the flight back to KL, another annoying apek ran down a whole line of people (yes, RAN people) because he wanted to be the first to get off. Hello!?

I wanted to put up photos but the streamyx line is seriously annoying me big time.

and Ooh ooh, I simply have to write and rant about this time when our beloved (dripping with sarcasm here) PM made a trip to see us poor under developed folk in Kelantan and barricaded the whole stretch of the highway and thus forcing me to take this long detour and THEN still managed to be caught in a second jam when he decided to visit this prominent figure at his home (said prominent figure being the father of Idayu of the AF fame).

A weighty issue

Mum used to say that I have the total opposite of anorexia. You know la when anorexics think that they are fat when they are absolutely not; well Ma says that I think I'm not when I am so obviously overweight.

Seriously.

I've always had a weight problem since young. There was never a time when I'm not chubby or montel or sihat or semangat. But despite that, I've never had an intense desire to lose the extra flab. Teruk, tak?

I seriously envy people who have the willpower to say no to another helping of nasi minyak or meehun or even a slither of chocolate. What drives them to the sheer discipline, I wonder? Could it be the love of nice clothes and being able to fit into them? I get that sometimes, when I sigh lustfully at the nice off-the-rack clothes on sale at Jusco, tapi, the moment I step out of the ladies department and into the supermarket or bakery, out goes all lustful thoughts out the window and unto the nice creamed coffee slice, sitting in the display case, calling my name.

Some people lose weight in order to attract attention of the opposite sex - but as I was growing up, in my adolescent years, I don't remember liking a boy so much that I'd rather sit and drink plain water than a plate of nasi lemak while yakking away about how the indian boy in the next class is so intent on beating my English paper marks. Though the popular girls were nice to me, I have never assumed that I was ever one of them and would rather hang out with the so called 'weirdos', quizzing each other on stuff for our SRP exam.

Yes, peeps, I am a minah skema; and I still am actually - apart from when I'm driving, that is.

Health? Oprah once said that she made the decision to start losing weight when she started to have palpitations. Me, palpitations come and go, and STILL takde kesedaran langsung? Am I waiting for a more serious health scare before I really sit down and do this?

I do realise though, that my weight problem might have some contributing factors towards my present childless state. Ma has been telling me repeatedly about someone she knew who really dieted, only ate fruits and water and after losing all the extra pounds, managed to conceive.

I know people look at me in sympathy, wondering what is wrong that she has not managed to get preggy? - but surprise surprise people, I actually LIKE my life without the pitter patter of tiny feet. I'd rather spoil my nieces and nephews and be their favourite Mak Long/Che' Yana and not have the responsibility of making sure they turn out to be decent human beings.

I used to cry whenever it was the time of the month and Abg would pull me into his embrace and tell me that it's okay and that he doesn't mind tapi I know other people talk (among the advantages of having mulut kepochi nieces...:)).

*sigh*

Ntah laaaa - I guess I'm just gonna leave it in the hands of the Almighty. He has taken good care of me - a good family, a good husband and murah rezeki so far - so I'm sure He has something in store for me where kids are concerned.

Busy bee

I really am getting too old for 24 hour calls.

Seriously.

Z left me fairly non congested wards on Saturday morning, and by 1 am Sunday morning, I have managed to admit nearly 20 cases.

No, I'm not complaining - I've repeatedly said that I'd rather be busy with non-urgent-non-impendng-collapse patients the whole day than deal with one difficult resuscitation case. But, if you turn up at 12 midnight with two swollen, red feet which you admit have had for the past two days, you must forgive me for whining a little bit. Patients must really be educated about the role of the emergency department. I'm not sure whether this happens every where else or just in Kelantan or more specifically just Tanah Merah (apparently we have a reputation of never turning away patients), but only here do we have patients with a 5 day abscess or a week old rash coming to the A&E.

Seriously laa...

On a lighter note, a hearty shout out to Najmiah and Syed Akmal whose wedding reception I attended in Pasir Puteh recently. Mafeitz, if you went to the KL reception, I want pictures!!!! :)

Facial Hyperfunctional Lines

I haven't found much inspiration to write lately. I did, come across another fellow MO's blog - DrFrappucino - whom, from what I've gathered, is about my age, just embarking on a journey in Masters Programme and loves coffee.

The last two days was spent at a Dermatology Update. I lurve Dermatology's courses - there are always good freebies around. Paling tidak pun dapat pen. There's just something about medical staff and drug reps - the former cannot not turn kiasu whenever the latter is in close proximity. I was observing the course participants collecting handouts like there was no tomorrow. I wonder just how many of them actually browse through them later. Sorry, cynical me again. Shoo, go back to sleep, I've promised to be good now.

There were, interesting presentations by the drug reps though. One was campaigning this machine called Skin Dr. - which is like my Ogawa vacuum-cleaner-cum-steam-cleaner - it does everything from scaling to iontophoresis (see, I told you I never browse through the pamphlets they gave me) and I never knew they had found over 200 active ingredients in the Aloe Vera plant! They even had this GP come over and gave a talk about Botox (I thought Botox haram meh?) and 'fillers'. He calls it BTA (Botulinum type A - RM1800 a vial apparently) and wrinkles are - let me see, FACIAL HYPERFUNCTIONAL LINES.

I left early - my menstrual cramps was acting up again - I'm sure no one missed me, much more the three male MOs sitting behind me who were yakking away like a gang of makciks on their annual trip to Tangkak to choose material for their Raya curtains.

Seriously!

Yak yak yakking away - a comment for EVERY SINGLE THING! Macam perempuan! Don't they realise how distracting they are to other participants? Nama je MO, perangai macam apa tah......haiyaaaaa.....

I'm on call this Saturday. Though I'm hoping it'd a be a repeat performance of the other time I did a Saturday oncall, I highly doubt it. No one is that lucky.

Stories of my family

Apparently, when Ma dropped me off at primary school for my first day at school, I actually told her to go home.

Seriously.

Ma loves telling this story when we get together, and we love to hear them; bits of pieces of our past that only parents can remember. There was also the bit when I thought lizard's eggs were sweets and how I have this tendency to fall into drains. but let's not get into that, shall we..:)

There was the time when I really wanted to eat KFC. Now, 20 years ago, KFC was THE place, the King of fast food and a once-in-several-month's treat. Ma said I had seen the advertisement and one day Pa brought us to the KFC store in Ipoh. As we got down from the car, Pa actually said to me, if I wanted to eat KFC, I would have to place the orders myself. I think I must be about 7 at that time.

According to Ma, so strong was my desire to eat Colonel Sander's secret recipe that without hesitating, I pushed the heavy glass doors and walked up to the counter, all by myself, all intent on placing that order.

Ma said I had always been very independent. I think perhaps she might feel a little forlorn that her firstborn never had any reservations about leaving home. Hahaha. Seronok giler dpt ke MRSM and even more overjoyed to go overseas.

and because I was away from home most of the time and we moved house a lot, I never had a proper room of my own. When I was back for the holidays, I just slept in the room which they said was my room but was filled with stuff mainly belonging to sis Yanie. So, I guess the connection isn't there. and Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge this at all. When I say this, it isn't with contempt, merely stating a fact.

So, when I got married, THIS felt like going home. I can finally have a room where I can put my belongings and would never be given to someone else. I was never that bride who got teary eyed about leaving home (ala, macam dlm filem hindustan tu lahhh), not because I wasn't sad, it was maybe because the physical connection/belonging wasn't there.

**********************************

We were killing time at this mall in Cheras while waiting for the latest news on sis Yanti's labour and it was lunch time and we were in Kenny Roger's. I was remarking that, despite having been brought up by the same parents, with the same family values, isn't it strange that we siblings have turned out with our own moral values, preferences and priorities?

I don't think I could've done as well as Ma raising 6 kids, much more in this brand conscious, increasingly materialistic world.

I had been to school where kids with Barbie dolls and sticker collections were THE ones to know. I certainly remember practically drooling in 'jakun-ness' at the sparkly, furry, scratch-and-sniff stickers that the popular kids at school were showing and exchanging with each other. I know I had stared many times when the same kids would take out from their expensive school bags these huge box of double ended 24, 48, even 64 different coloured pencils!

But that was it. I stared and I drooled but I never longed. I don't remember going home and pestering Ma to get the coveted items. Even if I did, I don't think Ma would've given in...:)

But I never felt deprived. Life was not severely lacking even if I didn't have Barbie and her huge mansion of a house. To this day, that principle stayed with me. A brand is a brand, it doesn't replace the function of the object. I know of people who starve themselves in order to get a coveted Coach or LV bag and I don't understand that obsession (though a little starvation might actually do me some good! Hahaha).

I haven't got my own yet (sis Yanie insists that all parental values goes out the window once your child learns how to ASK) and I hope I could instill the same values in my child as my Ma did and more importantly, that she (I want a daughter la, a girl is so much fun to do shopping for) would never feel deprived even if other kids have the complete set of Barbie, complete with the ones from each country of the world.

Addiction?

Got this from Dobbs

60%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

and then proceeded to this:

I Scored a 93%!

Okay la, considering it has been a very long time since I got a 93% on anything, haha.

Doctors Complaint Bureau

I had an agressive patient last night and he actually assaulted me.

*sigh*

I'd like to tell myself that perhaps he acted out of the norm, that he may be upset due to his condition and that he's not like this usually but the bottom line is he assaulted me.


I was so shocked, my body went into auto pilot mode. I should've been angry but I was just, ...emotionless. Besides, what would anger get me anyway?

*sigh*

People complain about health care workers all the time; where can I lodge a complaint about patients, please?

The unexpected on call, in more ways than one..

If there is one thing that I've learnt not to do during calls is to mention how 'cool' it has been so far.....unless I've got probably one minute to go before the time is up.

Kalau tak, the minute the words leave my mouth, the most horrendous, weirdest, ill-est case will be wheeled into the casualty/labour room.

Seriously.

So now, when people ask, I just say, 'boleh tahan la' - in other words, don't ask now, ask tomorrow when I'm safely out of the oncall period.

I was savouring my precious weekend on Friday and making plans on where to bring my two nieces the next day when the phone rang.

It was L, who was on call on Friday. Apparently N who's supposed to be on call tomorrow has been admitted to the CRW for chest pains and difficulty breathing. (The skinniest guy I know and he gets chest pains! I guess you can never tell) So what to do but replace him? It's not that I had urgent plans or anything, la kan.....

The next day, my senior MO was all huffy and flustered as she now has to arrange for someone to take his place for a course on Sunday. I was like 'pick me, pick me, pick MEEEEEE! Even if I don't get to sleep a wink, pick me!!!' - I was THAT desperate to get away from the OPD. Hehehe.

See, as I said before, I'm way from being categorised as 'cool' but yesterday's call was freezing! I admitted like 4 cases and referred one (and only because I couldn't be bothered to layan all those constant calls from the ward had I admitted him here) and there were no APO, no APH or PPH or DKA or severe AEBA. In fact, it was like the whole of Tanah Merah shunned the hospital that night! There were of course all those cold cases (one week abscess and you come at 10 at night? Get real la brader...) which I didn't have to attend to, but I was in bed by 11 pm.

Even managed to watch this silly (yet starring the oh-so-gorgeous-and-charming Fahrin) malay offering on TV.

Didn't guarantee me a satisfying sleep though. I was awake at half two, and then 2 hours later. Somehow the labour room nurse decided that it was VITAL for her to inform me at 5 am (?!) of the antenatal cases which I have to clerk (they usually leave it to some much saner time when I'm actually awake). By half 5 I was tossing and turning in bed, and five minutes later surrendered all efforts and went for my shower.

Which of course meant that I was nodding off at the lectures 5 hours later.

Seriously, I think I even snored.

On a more grim note, my condolences to a colleague who lost her mother so suddenly on Friday. I have no words, for I do not have any inkling to what you may be experiencing this moment and I shall not pretend to do so.

Al Fatihah.

Filler

Whether it's just plain laziness or blogger's block, I don't know, but I just haven't the foggiest what to write. Ideas always pop up in my head and I'd say, hey, I'll write about that, tapi bila balik rumah, already forgotten la what to write....

I went to Kuantan last weekend. There's just a limit to the times that you can go to KB Mall lah. KB needs more shopping malls!! Hehehe. I drove from our house to Bandar Al Muktaffibillah Syah (or something like that) - that's the furthest I've driven; previously it was from Setiu to Kuala Berang. Granted the roads are pretty straightforward so that made it easy.

Abg went for his Friday prayers and we got tickets for the 2.45 show for Ocean's 13. While waiting outside, I noticed this odd couple. The guy had a foreign look about him, had longish hair in a pony tail, in a sleeveless shirt with bermudas. The lady was in a tight short sleeved T and a mini skirt with heels. They were pushing a stroller and inside was a baby, barely 2 months old, okay?

I was gobsmacked. But of course not literally lah, because I certainly had loads to say to Abg about it. I mean, who in their right minds, brings a 2 month old baby to a cinema?

We purposely bought tickets for seatings at the side and thought the couple would be sitting somewhere similar as they most likely would leave the stroller in the aisle. But noooooo, the chose the centre sitting area and smack right in the middle some more.

Of course the baby cried lah, like all normal babies would. I totally sympthised with the folks sitting near the couple and it did cross my mind maybe there was a hidden camera somewhere recording our reactions towards the bizarreness of this all.

Totally bizarre, yes?

Seriously.

Anyway, we welcomed a couple of new MOs in the hospital. You could actually hear the collective sigh of relief from all of us. One MO got to 'escape' from ward work because she is now the only one with gassing skills and I get to release my duty as Haemodialysis MO.

They are literally a couple. A young husband and wife, fresh from their houseman postings. As I looked at them, I thought they look more self assured and confident than I felt when I first came to HTM.

It's kinda hard when you go to a new place with your significant other. You don't know anyone else so you stick to your partner, and when you do that, other people tend to be reserved about coming over to say hello.

The wife is doing OPD duties and have been calling me for opinions (which is totally weird because before this I've been asking other seniors and now someone may be asking ME stuff! Pressure tau!...:)) and I hope she realises that despite my appearance I'm actually very friendly. Betul maaa....

The "Awwww" moment and the end of a very good thing...

"Cristina,

I could promise to hold you and to cherish you. I could promise you to be there in sickness and in health. I could say till death do us part, but I won't.

These vows are for optimistic couples, the ones full of hope and I do not stand here on my wedding day, optimistic or full of hope.

I am not, optimistic. I'm not hopeful; I am sure. I am steady, and I know.

I am a heart man. I take them apart and put them back together. I hold them in my hands. I, am a heart man.

So this, I am sure: you are my partner, my lover, my very best friend, my heart. MY heart beats for you and on this day, the day of our wedding, I promise you this: I promise to lay my heart in the palms of your hands, I promise you - Me."
- Preston Burke practising his wedding vows

Yes, Grey's Anatomy fans all over the world - no matter whether you watched it live, or delayed thanks to the joys that are torrents or via the sweat and tears of bootleggers; the third season has drawn to a close. and what an ending it was!

Watch it and cry as I have cried, laughed as I have laughed and sigh in despair as you wonder about the what ifs and what nots.