people

Sunday, April 27, 2008

weekend in kl

so, i finally made my way back to kay-el,courtesy of kkkl express bus. the back n forth trip costs rm 30, and on average is about 4 hours. on fri evening, i used the double decker bus (which has VERY comfortable seats). considering that kl was a jam since the sungai besi toll, the bus driver must have driven really fast to arrive in 4 hrs flat. and that includes a 20 minute break, and dropping off passengers at various points. i arrived at pudu at 9.30 pm and was very irritated with the kl jam. it sucks! and pudu is such a mess. its absolute congestion. the roads were choked with buses, people were walking here and there, it was such a headache to see. arrived in vista about 10, bought dinner outside vista. so by the time i bathed and sat in front of the tv, it was about 11.15. but it was worth it. i havent seen my mom in two months.and even though she told me i didn't have to go back the whole of sem 10, she was pretty happy when i told her i missed her a lot, and i got a peck on the cheek from her :) its hard to believe my mom and i had problems a long time ago. i do think her moving to kl to work was a good thing for me.
i was supposed to start typing my second portfolio on saturday morning, but cannotlah. when in kl, must go out, shop and eat. so sat morning i went for dim sum at sri petaling, then we went to midv to watch forbidden kingdom starring jet li n jacky chan:



the movie is about 6/10, and i watched it solely cos my man jet li is in it. Hey,i really admired the guy when i was in high school. i even had a scrapbook of him. the thing that irritated me in this movie was the fact that they tried to create some love story between the white boy and the asian girl. NOw, i do not like my kungfu movies to have love stories. i mean, the whole reason i watch kungfu movies is for the action, not face sucking. jet's movies like once upon a time in china is a good example. we know, for example that fong sai yuk is in love with miss whateverhernameis,but it ends there. no kissing, no cuddling, no love scenes. this is what happens when white people try to do kungfu movies. i really want to watch a muay thai movie, i just forgot what the title is. i think muay thai is one of the most dangerous forms of martial arts, cos its raw and brutal.

anyways, after that movie, we went to Puma cos mom wanted to buy some clothes. i can't believe puma is as equally expensive as nike and reebok! but the clothes were pretty good. i don't like the sneakers tho. i prefer nike for working out, and adidas for outings. in 2 weeks time, we're having a one week holiday, and i plan to do some major shopping.

i went to church after a long drought. its so good to be in sfx, and being in front of god made me think back of all the wrong things i've done, and try to be a better person. My general observation of people who practice some form of religion is that they are less materialistic, more caring, and more aware of the needs of others. of course there are also atheists who are good people, but so far i have met few.

i went to a steakhouse for dinner, cos i so missed steak. my favourite is ribeye steak,medium done. sanfrancisco steakhouse has really good soups, cos they use lots of cream, not the campbell tin punya soup taste. while waiting for dinner, mom called grandma no 1. seems she's ok after her stroke and AF. the cause? undiagnosed hyperlipidaemia. i really wonder why her dr did not bother to do an annual lipid profile knowing that my granma is at high risk of getting hyperlipidaemia. she has been having hypertension for more than 15 years and is obese. i felt that all could be avoided if the dr were more responsible at her job. anyway, mum laughed really hard at one point in the conversations. seems granny told her she couldn't hear so well, and my aunt who was with her found that she held the phone upside down. LOL
then, it was my turn. she asked me when i'm going back, and that i was the only grandchild that she didn't see when she was in the icu....that made me feel very baaaad. so i told her i will grad in 3 months time, and she can see me. i always feel bad when i can't be around, cos everyone else will be there. its a horrible feeling,i feel like i gave the impression that i couldnt care less, when in fact i do feel very worried, but there's nothing i can do about it.

then, i watched AF at nite, cos my mum wanted to see the 40 year old granny sing (she got booted out). with the new host,the show was a bit better. my parents are still thinking of buying me that damned Chery QQ car. i'd rather get a second hand than Chery. My bro will be getting the Perdana that was originally meant for me. now, i'm trying to convince them to get me either a kenari or kelisa, or better yet, a gen 2. i must convince them, i must........

went back today via kkkl and sat next to my bestie, JMP. i told her i couldn't believe we're gonna finish in 3 months time. its an unbearable wait, but also scary, cos housemanship is scary. still, in 3 months time, i should and will have finished. after 27 years of studying nonstop, i will finally be working. and i'm gonna strive to pass the sem 10 exam cos i'm tired of studyinglah. i don't want to stretch my studies even further. now i must get back to portfolio.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Kluang

I have just about finished my portfolio.suppose to pass up tmr. its 28 pages, and i'm so sick of typing. anyways, i am so loving madonna's new single, 4 minutes, as well as estelle n kanye west's new collabo. i can't get madonna's new song outta my head. its currently spinning like mad on my ipod. the music video is boring though. Miley cyrus made a dance video with the ever gorgeous Channing Tatum. u all can watch it on youtube when u have the time.




Kanyeizzle and estelle in american boy:




and finally, miz Janet Jackson with LUV:




next week, the ever scary and impressive DK will be coming to see us. as much as i miss him, he never fails to terrorize us. i'm just scared of the questions that he will ask. he just loves to ask questions which are not found in the books.
i went to Kluang hospital last tuesday. took about 1 hour from there to BP. the journey itself was fascinating. i love sceneries, and we passed by a lot of kampungs, multinational factories and small districts. there are so many foreign workers here. i spotted vietnamese and bangladeshis, and also some from india. especially along the parit raja area, you suddenly don't feel like you're in malaysia anymore. I have nothing against them, its just eye opening. there was even a certain stretch of road where there was just mist surrounding us as we drove. sigh...very the romantic.
kluang town itself is something like downtown kuching, full of old british shops. The kluang railway station is famous for its roti bakar, but by the time we came around 12pm, it was closed, and only open again at 2.30pm
the hospital itself is small. its been around even before the japanese occupation. we had to go to the male and female surgical wards, outpatient clinic and emergency room.
i wish i could take pics of the hopsital wards. it reminds me of a british army hospital. in the male ward, there was even an arch in the building. if you could imagine scenes of old british war films and their hospitals, well, kluang hospital was something like that. it was not hot because the way it is designed made it very airy. what i find amusing is that relatives/wives would just poke their heads through the ward windows to see how their loved ones are. imagine if your bed is under a window, and you keep finding an unfamiliar face peering at you. creepy....
the female ward, however, was so congested. just stepping into the ward and looking at the entire layout made me feel like i was gasping for breath. the beds are so close together. there is just enough space for 1 person to move around. i cannot imagine how the place is like during ward rounds and visiting hours. it feels like packed tuna.
we went to town for lunch. its kinda hard to choose a place to eat, cos you need to think about everyone. we had banana leaf for lunch, it was not bad. and while having lunch, the astro indian channel was on. They were showing really old indian movies that i hadn't watched in say, about 10 years? its quite interesting, as those old indian movies don't have much dancing segments. its a LOT of fighting and talking.
and on the way to the hospital, i saw an army camp that has a logo of a scorpion on its entrance. i'm really wondering if that camp was just for the special forces, as the army camps i usually see don't have that logo.
anyway, it was a good outing for me. i'll be going there again in another 2 weeks time. if you were to ask me the best part about being in peninsular for many years, its the fact that i get to see other places of malaysia, places that i may have not been able to see if i didn't study here. it shows a slice of rural/old town malaysia.
i would like to go and see kelantan and terengganu. the journey and scenery there must be amazing.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

swatch sucks

Today is officially my first weekend in surgery posting. God, i'm always grateful for my weekends now. i thought obs n gynae would be the busiest posting and boy am i wrong. Turns out surgery is worse.
Worse, because i have to stay in the wards from virtually 7-5pm, worse because i have 3 oncalls per week, worse because i have cp's at night, and worse because there are not many cases to have for portfolios. Not many cases to be seen here, but its oklah. one thing i have to be glad about is that my group is allowed to write about any case as long as there are relevant learning issues to be discussed.
Honestly, i am really tired for this posting. mornings in the ward are from 7.30 to 12 pm (with said lecturer deliberately turning up in the wards at 1130 am just to see if the students are there). Then its time for a break, and back to the wards from 2-7 pm (if on call can go back at 5pm). then, we may suddenly have some class in the evenings, say from 5-6.30 pm. Then, if i'm on call that night i have to be back from 8-11 pm. Crazy rite? and don't give me the "you're a HO in training"shit cos' i'm still a med student. i have not had time to study, relying only on my oxford to remember what i have learnt.
Today i went to the ward to check up on my patient who is going to be sent to JB hospital, when our ex IMU senior (IMU shall be known as IMOO from now on) asked me to insert branula for 2 patients. the first was my pt, and i also had to take some blood samples for fbc buse etc. in my excitement i forgot to take of the tourniquet so blood was really oozing fast into the test tubes.i made a bit of a mess on the patient's bed. pt no 2 was an old man, and i thrombosed his blood vessels. IMOO senior had to help me to put the branula on the other hand. then i was asked to take blood from a IVDU. Boy, susah betul nak ambik blood from druggies. their veins are virtually thickened from all the needle injections. i tried twice and gave up. the staff nurse also couldn't do it. IMOO senior once again came to the rescue. Bestnye dapat senior yg nice kan :)
the lesson from today is: its hard taking blood from the elderly and druggies. but i really like our seniors. they are nice to us and just let us do everything, teaching us in the process also. sigh, i am so the happy to get nice seniors :)
then after that, i went for a nasi briyani lunch (so many nasi briyani shops in bp) and proceded to go to bp mall. i wanted to find another pair of shoes, but nothing is nicelar. summit got better choices. so then i went grocery shopping. Guess what, my ikan jelawat is there, and bigger than the previous one. i promised to cook the fish for some friends, just need the right time to do so. bought my mexican ready to cook chicken, salads n my kerang.
Oh yeah, about the swatch thingy. i currently have 2 swatches and both are considered SPOILED. the oldest is only 2 years old. one fell down and the suface was cracked on the way back from swimming, the other one, i dunno what the problem is. i took it to the watch shop, and the people there happily tell me both can't be fixed. shitty lah. i'm frustrated that both are spoiled, as i most probably will be going back to kl in another 4 weeks?? but at the same time glad that i have an excuse to go shopping.
i would probably get a watch from Fossil (cheap n nice), Esprit, Guess or Baby G. The only problem is trying to 'bodek' my mum to buy a good watch for me. i shall try my damndest not to buy another swatch again. Now i have to go and dig out an old watch that i have. its a Fossil, and i still hope it works.
one thing good about bp is that i'm developing more compassion for my patients. there was this one patient who had an MVA, and is currently unconscious and on a ventilator. IMOO senior had to get an ABG from the patient. at the time, both the pt's wife and father were in the room taking care of him. when senior came, both went out of the room and i happened to look at the father's face. it was heartbreaking for me, because i saw despair,hopelesness and also a great love for his son (who's in his 30's). the pt had been there for a few months and has not regained consciousness since then. i suddenly realized that the old man had been there nearly everyday taking care of his son. i feel sad when i think about it. in seremban, i dont really see and think about it because there are so many beds, and the turnover rate is really high. but in bp, life is a bit slow, and if you are aware, there are a lot of things going on. another thing that makes me sad is that the patients here put their ENTIRE trust in the doctors, like listening to everything the doctors say and looking at you as if you are their saviour. a few of the patients i have clerked did that to me, and even though it feels good, in reality i am just a student. its true most of the bp people are not city folk, and it just makes me want to treat them real nice, cos they deserve it, for putting all their faith in the hospital doctors. it also makes me want to work in government, even though i know my life may be shitty due to the work and pay. but i believe its these sort of patients that need the best care available.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Damn i'm stuck in BP

heeeeeeeeeeeeeey, another boring weekend in BP. I have finally finished my obs/gynae posting. i celebrated by going out with my good friends fahzi n squid to a nice cafe somewhere near carrefour to have dinner. i initially wanted to go back to kl this weekend but my mom went back to sarawak. Her mom (granma no. 1) just suffered a stroke a few days ago, and mom is worried. as usual, i was the last of the family to find out. my dad said he sent me an sms, but i never recieved it, i swear! she's doing ok now, but according to my dad she's learning to walk again, and he says she's walking like a crab. don't get pissed with my dad, he's just trying to make me feel less worried.
My parents are actually kinda overprotective of me. i'm usually the last to know about any news (lest it upsets me and my studying) and they usually sweeten any bad news so i dont' worry so much. Add to the fact that i have been barred from driving for the past 7 years, i feel its a bit too much, even though i am the only girl in my family.
i remember once when low cut jeans were the rage, and i was a 2nd year student in um. i went back to kch for a holiday once and happened to wear those jeans. when i came home, i unpacked my suitcase in the living room, and the tips of my undies can be seen because of the jeans. heh, my parents were freakin'angry with me. i was scared, but it was quite funny at the time to see them get angry. if i were to wear g-strings at the time, instead of the usual undies i'd probably give them a heart attack.
Now, i don't wear low cut jeans cos its really uncomfortable (and i've added more fat around the waist). Levi's is still going ahead with their low low waist jeans, and i congratulate any girl who can wear them. i'm still sticking to my bootcut jeans though, cos it makes my butt look good :)
I have finally gone to bp mall and carrefour bp. I'm pretty happy with bp mall. its something like jusco seremban, except its less overcrowded and more shops. i had sushi king, cos i just had the urge to eat raw seafood. the outlet here has the same taste, but less choices. nevertheless,i'm pretty happy (and pretty broke) after eating there. The pacific supermarket is also a god given to this place. the vegies and fish here are really fresh. thanks to my hsemate's microwave,i finally got to eat steamed sultan fish after a long time. THey call the fish jelawat here, but it keeps reminding me of jerawat, and i don't want to think about pimples when i'm eating my beloved fish. if only they built a cinema at the mall, it would complete everything. and no, i have not been to the cinema here.
carrefour is also okay, the usual stuff. what gets me upset is that i can't find my favourite quaker's cereal bars. i have to resort to Nature's valley cereal bars, which i agree are too dry to eat in the mornings. still, any cereal bar is better than no cereal bar at all.
My neighborhood is very safe. the one thing i don't like is when i see dogs being kept just for the sake of guarding the houses. i happened to walk past one particular house this morning on the way to get my morning paper. that house has 3 dogs, which barked and bared their teeth at anyone passing by the house. can you imagine what would happen if they were let loose? i do agree that dogs should take care of the house, but i don't agree that that is their sole purpose. i would prefer to have my pet dogs be friendly and install a complete burglar system rather than to just train them to be ferocious. and i've seen one shop nearby where they keep 3 dogs in a small cage. 2 big dogs and 1 puppy. its so small that they can either just stand or lie down, with no room to move around. and they look so depressed. i wonder why some pet owners can't be considerate enough. even though they are just dogs, but they deserve better treatment than this. even worse are owners who abuse their dogs by tying them to a short leash all day. and in this country, where dogs are considered haram, nothing much is being done to amend animal cruelty laws despite efforts by ngos to do something about it.
oh, and good news!! my fave tv shows are starting again. i've managed to download criminal minds, csi and simpsons. now i'm waiting for the terminator chronicles. thank god the writer's strike is over. not much in the movies, and becos bp is a small town, i've resorted to downloading them via mininova and azureus. i'm gonna start downloading doomsday soon,its ur typical virus attacks earth and produce weird humans kinda movie. i hope i can go back next weekend. my young brother will be back in town. i intend to torment as much of his life as i possibly can.