Essential read!

A beginner's guide to being a junior doctor: Dumbing down

Thanks for sharing with us this IMMENSELY entertaining post. I hope all those members of the secretariat read this piece and learn - then act like TRUE secretariats....the ones who treat us with a modicum of respect:)

Somebody's got to do it

Image taken from QTW

2 Saturdays back, I had 3 loads of laundry to do. In fact I can tell you I made it into 2 loads. Under normal circs, this wouldn't have been a issue. Instead, I now know the shiny sequins on your clothes WILL snag whatever bits they fancy. ( Despite being in a special laundry bag)

Surrendering to the feeling

Image from dooce
I can't stop obsessing over the to-do-list every morning. It's hard to break a habit of 5 months. I'm obsessing over it because-well, because we're at work 10 hours a day and this qualifies as more than 50% of our waking hours. And the time we're THINKING about work? So I keep trying to stare down the list. Which brings us to the question why. To hear us working-folks tell it, you'ld think we're a little mental. I like to call it having a conscience:)

Why we need to read labels

Despite a sagging world economy, Malaysians are a defiant bunch collectively. And this same bunch of people was seen (with their extended family) at Ikea last Sunday. How do I know this? Because I made a trip there and waded my way through push-prams, toddlers with sticky fingers, pregnant women ( who took up quite a bit of space) and sulky school-going children dragged reluctantly on this expedition to furniture-land by their parents. Everybody was out to SPEND SPEND SPEND!! I hardly think any other sane person would have bothered heading that direction after seeing the crowds at the entrance.
After a face-to-face meeting with what was to become my sole purchase from Ikea that afternoon, I hurried along ( wasn't that fast...impeded by humans ) and got to the exit. For those of us who are not brain surgeons, looking for stuff ( aisle number and such ) is probably the most complex weekend thing we do. A few minutes later, after developing a torticollis-like posture I gave-up and asked. Only to be told

"Maam, you should have asked the lady upstairs and order there BEFORE heading down here."
"But I'm here now, can't I just get it off you."
"The label says "contact staff for purchase and information" ...ma'aam.
So the tip of the year is " READ THE DAMM LABELS"

Hair today and gone tomorrow

RM1000 to the person who can give the most logical reason why hair drops. We're not talking male pattern balding because that's *wave hands* genetic and I'm not a male, so am not remotely interested in the whys of male balding. I mean to say, are we stressed? Is it the length of the hair what makes it drop? ( This is possibly ot proven to be very accurate.) Having chopped the mop off a few weeks ago..the hair loss remains persistent daily. At this rate *sniff* I shall no longer have a thick head of hair to be proud off:(

Practised to death

P ractising the violin. That's the answer to the query "what have you been doing these days?". Of course I haven't been ( ahem) quite as regular with the practising. You know these things, they tend to get shoved to the bottom of the to-do-list of things. And it's now begun to show. Boohoohoohoohoo.

Temptations of Taste

Ths title is chosen from a booklet picked off the rack at the Gardens. From 16th Feb to 15th March you get discounts from ( most if not all ) bistros, restaurants, bakeries and restaurants. That's what it says. The trouble with reading stuff like that is it gnaws your gastric juices and you now become convinced you wouldn't be happy unless you're eating at least 5 goodies off that hateful booklet.

Australia

As I had tea with "old" friends yesterday evening, we talked and after the obligatory exchange of niceties, the topic of good movies came up. Now, there is no reason not to watch "Australia". It has a good balance of light humour at the begining ( Nicole Kidman does act a tad stiffly..but only because she's potraying a stiff aristocrat). Midway through there's a subtle change of mood. And as you progress along the movie lures you into a thoughful mode. Creamy is a mix-race child who has this interesting aboriginal way of speaking ( not sure how authentic this is..having never met any aboriginal person before). The story line involves Mrs Boss aka Nicole Kidman( Mr boss having died early on in the movie by a spear) heading into the Aussie outback ...along with Drover ( who droves cattles). Together they find themselves in a battle with an old meanie mr bad guy ( I cant remember the name now). You get double the value in the movie, good acting and an exposure to Australia back in the dark ages.There is also a great deal of incidental information about the way aborigines were treated. It is the sort of movie anyone with even the faintest interest in human nature will enjoy.

Wonky internet connection

The streamyx has been acting up. Although I blamed the lightning zapping the modem initially. This led ( not surprisingly ) to a purchase of a new modem yesterday afternoon. It took me about half an hour to get the modem hooked and to realise the problem still was not solved. And there was no chance of getting on line any time in the future. I could have wept with rage. Whenever there is an academic reason to get on line....( and this HAS happened before ) the net shuts me out. My father who was visiting, looked a little mad at this stage...and together we proceeded to try various permutations; yellow wire, blue wire, my laptop, his laptop, my desktop.

Our tempers had slackened by which time, by some trick of fate, we discovered an odd method of linking to the net, wireless with a wired line snook into the modem as well. How's that for ingenuity? Of course, the darn thing didn't work even with that. But just a couple of minutes ago, I finally got on line...( and able to surf the net...with no limited connection.)

Weird contraption

I'm glad my teacher didn't make me use this weird thing

Secret recipe and fusion food

The thing is, despite what you may think, Tom Yam Spaghetti is pretty good. Don't let's worry about what Italians might think....just taste it and judge without prejudice. I like it. And will probably order it again should I eat in Secret recipe anytime in the near future.

Langkawi in 24 hours

Langkawi is HOT! You can feel your sweat evaporating ..leaving the skin dry. The Westin Langkawi prides itself on being the topmost resort on the Island. But I can't think why the place has changed management at least 5 times since it opened. Is it bad feng shui? After staying a mere 24 hours there, I think maybe it's the food. Nothing tasted quite like it looked. 4/10 for taste.