31st March

Today is a momentous day in that it's the last day I spend in IPR for the Tuberculosis attachment, which I thoroughly and completely enjoyed. Treatment regimes for mutidrug resistant tuberculosis and other possible complications of treatment of mycobacterium tuberculosis. That's what's been the bread and butter for the last month. I'm nowhere near intelligent enough to sort ALL TB-related problems now but I can reason some stuff out.  So there you have it....my thoughts for this morning. Oh dear..I'm late for work. Again!!

Found in the public toliet at MJ Midvalley:)

A birthday gift

Thanks to the admirable speed of aeroplanes, I flew to...and flew back on the same day. But travelling sucks the energy out of you and leaves you deflated like a balloon. I am reminded unnecessarily that the weekend is all but over. This week is Holy Week; Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Saturday Easter Vigil.  My father's birthday falls on Easter this year. Which makes going home for Easter that bit more special. After pondering for 2.3 days, I decided to get a keychain made in his name. The lady who did it was lovely....as was the finished product.

The BEST maggi goreng in town. Honest!!

If you are doubtful this version of maggi goreng is tasty given its rather tepid colouring, allow me to persuade you otherwise.

World TB Day 2010

We celebrated World Tuberculosis Day at IPR yesterday. Picture is of the director of IPR giving her talk yesterday afternoon. Useful information which reminded us that Tuberculosis has been around for a long time and despite this, we have not succeeded in controlling the spread. We cannot lay the blame solely on the patients for being non-compliant to treatment. We too as health care workers have contributed by being complacent with the care we dish out to our TB patients. An eye-opener, to be more vigilant.

Not one book fair but TWO

A busy Saturday

So many clips to choose from. It's a roaring business. Women like shopping. Women have hair. Women like glittery bits on their hair, and they will pay good money if the clip is functional as well as decorative. So yours truly bought two hair clips and wore them both on her head. One was a flower which looked like it belonged on a wedding cake and the other a small clip studded with glitters. Worn on either side of the head. A REAL fashion statement. No pictures were taken so you'll just have to use your imagination a bit.

Just started...

It's true. When you least expect it, you'll find something delightful. Which is what I did at the secondhand bookstore. Just started reading it....but before that. Some background information. This book was first published in 1964. It is the 15th book in the Lone Pine series. My version: armada paperback edition, which sadly has no illustrations except for a map. The Lone Pine series was written over a span of 36 years. Thankfully ( phew ) each book is complete in itself. Otherwise, I would go a little mad in my hunt to get the series and read it in chronological order. Malcom Saville starts by writing a short foreword introducing his readers ( the new readers) to members of the Lone Pine club and gives a little background on the place where the book is based.

An interesting read

The original "Parent Trap" story can be found here. Found tucked in between a pile of nancy drew books in a second hand bookstore in town. First published in Germany in 1949. And if you find the author vaguely familiar, he's the same person who wrote " Emil and the detectives" Speaking of books, allow me to deviate and announce " the TIME bookstore sale" is on currently at Plaza Damas Hartamas. Don't rush there in a hurry because the selection is a sad one. And the discount miminal. It was almost an insult to have to wade through books to find out-dated books on how to utilise your ipod fully as well as a large selection of unknown authors ...who should remain firmly unknown and should be punished for inflicting such painful ugly books for us to read. At least one table was filled with new titles. Cecelia Ahern and the shopaholic series dominated that scene. Discounts hardly worth mentioning. 

Roti Tampal

We had lunch out. Nearly everyone does. It would feel a dreadful shame if you were to eat at the local canteen when just a stone's throw away you have tasty cheaper choices. I learnt a new thing to order at the mamak stall today. Roti Tampal, which is pretty similar to roti telur except it's less oily ( feels healthier which may not be so important to some of us ahem ) and it is tastier. I ate mine with very minimal lashings of curry. I wonder now whether it is actually the same thing and the difference of oil is a result of different restaurants rather than them being separate entities. Lunch was  a cheery affair. There were 9 drinks and just 4 of us. So you now know some at the table could store water like camels whereas the more normal of us drank more than one glass. 

Perseverance...no other way

This is the motto for getting the annoying scales and arpeggios right on every single note. The shifting of positions messes the sequence up. We now have to master the melodic as well as the harmonic version of the minor keys. Bleah! I use the metronome for scales. Found a website which shows you how to play with the metronome. Of course THIS makes you believe it...rather than your poor teacher telling you this fact almost every lesson. That's the power of internet for you. Somehow reading/ watching it on youtube makes it more believable. How silly...:) Picture of my scale book...the pencil markings are the teacher's attempt to get them fingering and shifting positions right. 

Finally.....the heat eases off

Sugar Rain...................Sugar Snow, originally uploaded by ƒreg / Fernando Gregory.

It has been bloody hot the last couple of weeks. Moving fast makes me sweat and at the end of the day when I arrive home, I feel like I've had a little jog around the condominium carpark rather than returning from work. So, I'm very pleased the temperature seems to have sorted itself out a bit this evening. I'm feeling nice and cool for once. And am wearing proper jammies ..and not a bead of sweat in sight.

Bill Bryson Books

Bill Bryson Books, originally uploaded by martin.roberts32.

Am re-reading "Notes from a small island" by Bryson. There was a time where it stayed on the shelf and other more chic-lit books were favoured over it. But now, the time is right to have a bit of Bryson as company. Technically it isn't re-reading exactly as the last time I picked it up I only managed a few chapters and as it was MONTHS ago I can't remember the first few chapters and the bookmark has gone a-missing. ( Of course). I wonder which of Bryson's books you would pick as your favourite...

When Easter arrives, I shall celebrate ( apart from the confession bit and Easter Mass) will a shopping spree at the nearest bookstore. In the meantime, I'm delving into my bookshelves for reading material.

Slow going

I'm still reading " The Inheritance" by Nina Bell. Some of you may remember the book as " the-one-left-at-the-mamak-stall". Have just reached chapter 25. There are 40 chapters in total so I'm slightly more than half way. The first chapter which is basically centered around Edward Beaumont's death is an enticing read. But the subsequent chapters need some patience. This is where, I must confess, to chucking the book to one side and reading at least 3-4 books before returning to it. This being Lent, no new story books to amuse self so I decided that the decent thing to do would be to finish the book. I surprised myself by beginning to enjoy the story as I got past what I call the rather boring bits. I wish the story had started revealing things earlier on. For me, the pace starts picking up when Felicity returns to Lorendon. Actions and conversations are full of deeper meanings. And there is the under current of something bad happening. Some deep secret. The danger now is, that I would be disappointed with the "secret". It's happened before. The language and description of the horses and scenery is okay. But Bell's real weapon is the ability to stir feelings. 

An old sidecupboard

An old sidecupboard like this deserves to be in a nice home. I wonder how many of these have survived the second world war.We had one very similar to this ages ago. I used to squeeze self into the longer side compartment for fun. The furniture came with the rented house so we left them behind when we moved to the place I currently call home.  I don't have a side cupboard in my current apartment. It's no longer the trend. What I do have is a chest of drawers.

How was your weekend?

Picture is of Ah Tuan Ee restaurant at the Curve, Mutiara Damansara which is where we were on Sunday. Along with us, were possibly about 75% of the folks from klang valley. The lure = Ikea sale. We saw folks with them push trolleys which are flat piled with odd looking boxes smugly pushing thier wares to their cars. The loading and unloading area ( I always confuse the two ) had a trail of cars. And more importantly, we drove about quite a bit before we found a parking spot tucked in a little nook just beside a pillar. What did we buy? Nothing from Ikea. The apartment already has more than it's fair share of furniture. Tucking in more would seem unkind. I borrowed a chair from home recently having found it the perfect chair for violin practice.  It's got arm rest just the right height...so when your arms get tired after a bit of scales you may ( it's wrong I know ) rest them temporarily. I'm very happy with the chair. And mum is very happy she has more space at home. She tried in vain to off load a table to me as well. 

What I did do, was to test my dad's new camera. Pssst...I don't care much for it. The G10 still wins hands down. 

A cosy place to eat

There is something seriously wrong with BSC of late. I suspect the refurbishment of the place has made it more popular. You would be very fortunate indeed if you found a place to park at the level that you enter. And anyone who's been there recently will agree with me ( surely ) that the annex parking looks narrow and unpleasant. Granted the walls are freshly painted and they place a couple of guards there. For safety I suppose. And so yesterday evening, I resisted the temptation to go around in circles waiting for a decent spot and chose instead to go down and down. 

Earlier in the evening, we( a group of folks and I ) had scoffed some popiahs for tea. I must have eaten at least 5-6 of them popiahs. Wasn't looking forward to dinner with a full stomach but that problem was solved by the rather long wait at Alexis for dinner. Alls well that ends well. Picture is of a scene to my right as I ate dinner. Perfect lightning and I especially like the privacy of the pseudo walls. 

A change

You know how you fret and fuss over something for a few weeks...and then you realise what a bloody waste of time it was and that there was NO reason at all. Well, this was it for me. I wasted last weekend worrying over my one month stint at another hospital for NOTHING. My week there has been brilliant. Everyone..and I really mean everyone there, has been friendly and helpful. Parking is a breeze. Good food is accessible and you have the opportunity to sample it. There is opportunity to learn but it's not forced down your throat. ( Very important that) and I get to meet both OLD and new friends. More updates to come..watch this space

Reading this....

I suspect I've read this before. But I couldn't resist buying this from the second hand bookstore today. RM2 would you believe it? A hauntingly touching book about an orphan who doesn't interact well with other children. Anna, whose granny died just before this story starts, is sent away to the  seaside to recuperate from asthma. She befriends Marnie and together they have loads of adventures together. As the story unfolds, you begin to suspect Marnie might not be totally alive by the sudden emergence and the timing. She always seems to be waiting a long time for Anna to appear to have fun. Anna doesn't seem to think so. For her, the days pass and when night comes, she seeks Marnie out.

Have a guess...

Apart from looking like a very suggestive pair of organs....anyone want to hazard a guess what these actually are? ( picture cannot be rotated for some bizarre reason...apologies)

A one day conference

This was the scene which greeted me as I walked down the stairs. Picture taken in the Mariott Hotel in Putra Jaya. There was a concurrent conference of ministers which inconvenienced us somewhat. The hotel's carpark was closed to us "commoners". I parked at the adjoining carpark which was quite a distance and meant walking through some rather empty echo-ey corridors. Altogether not a pleasant experience. I was tempted to believe there was someone following me closely. Only to find out it was the blasted echo of my own footsteps. 

The actual hotel was rather nice. Again, because of the other conference we saw a smattering of bodyguards and police personnel looking very important. Lunch was served at the chinese restaurant. I will have to be brutally honest and advice anyone considering having a meal there to stay well away from the place. I didn't take any pictures of the food. 

Dinner was brilliant though. I met up with AJ for dinner. We drove to Cyberjaya to this middle eastern restaurant. Not posh at all. But packed with folks. 

Saba Restaurant was packed. Now what did I like about the place, easy parking. Cyberjaya was very quiet when we arrived. And the buzz of activity seemed to be centered around Saba. We sat next to a table of middle eastern students who ordered 6 drinks for the three of them. ( granted the day was a very very warm evening) Isn't it nice that they should be able to find a restaurant in a foreign land able to cook their own favourite  food?