Driving

Driving has always been an event for me. Yes at my ripe old age driving still scares the shit out of me. Erm I meant it figuratively. It breaks me out in sweat. It's like I'm standing by for a premature delivery at the resuscitation bay. You never know what you're gonna get.

I slow down at corners. And I mean minor bends.I seriously slow down like how they teach you in driving school. To 40km/hr. And I noticed on the roads leading to Sunway Pyramid the speed limit is 60km/ hr and I have no problem adhering to it.But the car behind me always seem to find it a problem and will invariably need to overtake me. Which is fine. That's just great. As long as you don't horn at me. I'm just abiding to the rules right?

And I get cold sweats when I overtake large vehicles like buses and lorries. But buses scare me more. I get scared when buses tail gate me too. Very scary. Now I try not to look at the rear mirror too much . Okay I mean compulsively.

Changing lanes is an ongoing problem. How do I know how far or how fast your car is going at? And how would I know if you'll let me cut into your lane? If only cars can smile or something.Sigh. And why is there this thing called the blind spot? Please if you are riding a motorcycle stick to the left lane and do not go faster than 60/km/hr? It's for your own good.

Sigh... And how do people make driving look so simple?? Even motorcycles ride with such confidence, speeding in between cars and lorries! Where does that confidence come from?

Dear God please bless my car with a magnetic force field so that it does not so much as touch any other object.Thank you.

Uniqlo for Japan tees

Just when i thought i had bought enough Uniqlo tees to last me a long while, they come along and introduce celebrity designed tees in aid of Japan with proceeds of 100 million yen going towards funds in Japan.

Here's the word from the official website:

'The Save Japan! website was established immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake to support the affected parts of the country by providing information on area-specific relief efforts. UNIQLO is working with the Condé Nast Group—a supporter of the Save Japan! website and the publisher of Vogue Japan and GQ Japan—to create T-shirts featuring messages of encouragement from artists around the world. UNIQLO plans to donate approximately 100 million yen through the sale of Save Japan! T-shirts to the Japanese Red Cross Society, to back recovery efforts in northeastern Japan.'

I'm not sure if 100 million yen or RM3.73 million is enough, but it's better than nothing yeah.

The designs are nothing to shout about, but the celebrity designers sure are.

They go for RM59.90 and sizes range from XS to XL.I'm eye-ing either the Nicole Kidman or Gwyneth Paltrow one.None of the designs are particularly wearable but if i'm being honest, Victoria Bechams look the most fashion forward!

26 hours a day

vThis ingenious Japanese variety show was showing on Singapore TV channel U, but i never had the chance to catch it. Nevertheless, the many adverts on TV made me interested enough to search for it on youtube.

This is a show that teaches you how to maximize your time by introducing shortcuts to everyday life.

Here's a clip, where the guy prepares 10 bento dishes in 20 minutes. (Sorry all in Japanese but you can kind of guess what they are saying).

This one is of a lady preparing her kid for school in 15 minutes.

Don't we all want shortcuts in life?

Daiso cleaners

I don't know how, but my Daiso hauls are starting to look very 'cleaning lady domesticated'. A sure sign of old age.

Behold my latest haul.

 They consist of:

1) Arm 'socks' so that i don't tan myself while driving. Yes i'm giving driving a second shot.
2) Brush with long handle for scrubbing sinks.
3) Tea bags without tea. Yup my mom wanted it cos chinese tea don't come in bags.
4) Nail base coat.I realised i needed it when my painted nails started turning yellow when colour is removed.Ewww..
5) Best Buy of All- Pipe de-clogger! Its the statin of all clogged pipes! I have no idea what is written on the packaging as it's all in Japanese, but the diagram on the box tells me it definitely unclogs pipes. It comes in 5 sachets of white powder.I have no idea how to use it or what the white powder consists of, but all i can say it that it works!I poured one sachet into the partially clogged sink, add one jug of hot water, see some bubbling from the kitchen sink and wa laaa... my sink now has a nice water flow to it. It used to be quite clogged up and it had really bad water flow. It was all very satisfying.

Is it a wonder that i am addicted to Japanese household items?

Harper's Bazaar Singapore

Harper's Bazaar Singapore May issue comes with Dr Brandt pores no more refiner and pores no more anti-aging mattifying lotion.

Only available in Singapore though.Costs S$5.40.

Liberty Chic and Non-No with Coach

I'm getting rather tired of the whole Japanese magazines and mook scene.It seems very repetitive. Oh another tote, another pouch by the same brand names. I don't blame them though. They're going through a tough time.I was pleasantly surprised by two upcoming gift with purchase though. These two are worth a watch.

The current issue of Non-no comes with a Marc by Marc Jacobs pouch. 

It's pretty in pastel pink and all, but it's not something I'd get excited about. Just look what's coming up next issue.

Coach scarf and fan!Now this is a notable freebie!

Lee magazine has also come up with a Liberty Print mook of sorts called Liberty Chic.

And Liberty Chic comes with a novel looking half clear tote and pouch in Liberty prints.

G hotel standard room review

I had the chance to stay in both G hotel and Gurney hotel in Penang, on separate times, both while attending weddings.The two hotels are within the same road with G hotel being the newer and more strategic one, situated just next door to Gurney Plaza. Both rooms are decent , but in terms of decor they are vastly different.Pricing wise is actually not that much different.

If you like me, love frills, cushions, antiques and exotic deco, then G hotel is probably not for you.I'd recommend something like this.

But if you are like JH who loves the modern and minimalistic concept, G hotel is a viable option.I thought i'd give a review of G hotel for those who are thinking of staying there.

First, ascertain the price. They do provide government discounts for government servants.

The lobby, is  modeled after an open concept and one could easily mistake it for the counter of a cafe.Reception service is good and friendly and most importantly fast. They greet with welcome drinks and ice-cream.

Now on to the room. Obviously mine is the cheapest room available.

When you get into the room, what greets you is a small walkway with the bathroom on the right. Seems like a standard layout for many hotels.

The aforementioned bathroom.

Ribbons around the towels are a nice touch.

Nice strong shower with a glass panel covering half of the shower area, preventing water from splashing into the non-shower area. I think it's ingenious! I hate sliding panels, cos the whole place just gets fogged up and after a while the sliding panels go all screechy. And don't even bother talking to me about shower curtains. They are so redundant!I'm gonna model my future shower area like that *wishful thinking*.

I love the biji saga soap dish! You can actually purchase it, but it costs something exorbitant like 

RM 200.

Befitting of a hotel of G hotels status, the toiletries are branded. I was hoping for something like Kiehls, but i'll take Aigner. The bad thing is i was unable to nick any complimentary toiletries back home. The good thing (oh wait this is a bad thing as well) is i did not even have the urge to take them back home cos the Aigner toiletries seem tailor made for men. I came out smelling like men's perfume.

Anyway enough about the bathroom, here's the bed. I know, the decor is so... minimalistic! All clean lines, muted colours, and repetitions of squares and rectangles.

My first reaction was, 'Huh.. not my type.' JH was like 'Wow so cool!'.I now testify that opposites attract! He immediately went to the i-pod docking station and plugged in his i-phone. He was also quite enamored with the wall mounted tv too.

Possible next birthday present.

Redundant wall ornament that serves no purpose.

Complimentary refreshments in mini bar.

Awesome sea view!I always never manage to book early enough to get a nice view. Since this was booked under the bride herself, we get an amazing view!

General concept of room : Minimalistic
Bed and pillow rating: 4/5. Slept like a baby.
Toiletries: 2/5. Too manly.
Breakfast: 3/5. Fair selection of local and international but i'm just happy with a cheese platter.
Staff: 5/5 Very friendly.

Only grouse: No bath tub!

Choices

I'm back from my holiday in JB and Singapore and it just seems so surreal to be back in Slim River. Two days ago i was eating ramen in Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery on Orchard road. After eating there i digged up one of my old copy of 8 days and realized that it was rated the number two ramen place in Singapore and has an average que-ing line of 35 minutes.

Today i find myself eating pan mee from the ONLY pan mee shop in Slim River. When there is only one pan mee shop, it is by default the best pan mee in the whole of Slim River. Which illustrates further the point, when you have choices you become picky and you start making lists and produce rankings. When there is no choice, you make do with what you have.I'm still not sure which one i prefer. But i'm starting to feel that it is good to have a choice.

Anyway, as i am too knackered to sort out my photos (Penang trip last month), i'll just leave you with one sunny photo in the sunny island of Penang in front of a conservation piece i really had to put my foot down to go. Some Penangites do not even know this place exists!I blame the poor interest in history due to our dreary uninspiring textbooks, not to mention dreary uninspiring teachers.

Do you know where this is?

Economic divide

As a child and very studious student, we were often asked to write essays about poverty and about the economic divide. Me being a typical 'kiasu' student will often write in gusto about the great disparity in earning power between the rich and the poor. I never fail to pepper my essays with the phrase 'jurang pendapatan' (economic disparity), yet as a child i did not really understand the meaning of it. I have always felt rich. Or maybe my mother made me think so. But when i compare myself to the rest of my classmates in primary school, we were the same. We wore the same uniform, we have a school bag and pencil box. Maybe some of us have nicer pens but that was it.

In secondary school some girls had branded watches and spectacles such as 'Elle' and 'Esprit'. 'Wow, they must be rich!' my 14 year old self thought.

Now as a working individual and governement servant i earn a pay on one of the moderately higher ladders of pay in the government service.Meaning to say if i serve long enough, i can potentially reach the higher scales of salary. However that higher scale of salary is something which a doctor who after leaving the government sector can command immediately in the private sector.

Meaning to say it's not that much but it's okaythe person spends in moderation. It can afford a comfortable life if you save and do not spend extravagantly.

In Slim River, we are exposed to many degrees of poverty.The first being orang asli's who live in the jungle and are generally happy staying there. They seldom ask for help and they are happy living the way they are.They have to borrow neighbours motorcycles or cars to come to the hospital.There are many with electricity and pipes for drinking water but their children prefer bathing in the river because it's caolder. 'The water is crystal clear.'the mother of a patient helpfully reassures me.

The second kind, are those who choose to be poor. I had a patient who was admitted with a mild respiratory problem.The mother was very anxious on the first day, but as the child gradually got better, she was eager to go back. When asked why, she said she was afraid they could not pay the hospital bill. To the uninitiated, hospital charges in a government hospital in Malaysia is practically free. You pay RM5 for a day's stay, RM 1 for each blood investigation, and a couple of ringgit more for imaging studies. If you do not have enought money to pay, no problem you can always pay later.So it comes as a surprise to me why she was so worried.

So i asked more about the social history. Her husband is a lorry driver.(Lorry driver = drunkard until proven otherwise). He had recently been out of work. He earns on average RM 500 a month and have 5 children.The wife does not work.Sigh, why have so many children when you do not have the means to support them?

There are too many such cases.

Many parents can't even afford RM 80 for an aerochamber for their asthmatic children, don't even bother mentioning about toys. Many a times we have to apply for social support. Also on many occasions they request for certain imaging investigations( which have to be done in Ipoh) to be scheduled at the end of the month when pay is banked in, as only then would they have enough money for transport.

On the other hand, i recently made a trip to Singapore.In the Toys'r' us, there was a special playhouse barber shop, decorated colourfully and each client had his/her own flatscreen TV to watch cartoons while the baber cut the child's hair. Parents are willing to pay S$22 = RM 55 for a child's haircut in a toy store so long as the child does not cry in the process. In the same setting another mother was saying to the child 'Just choose a toy. Faster choose!'

Later in the day i visited a friends condominium unit in Orchard road that her parent had bought her. It was amazingly posh but costs a few million singapore dollars.Taking a peek into the lives of the rich,was definitely an eye opener.

I wonder, if the children in Slim River ever come and take a look at the lives of Singaporean or Kl children how would they feel?

In Slim River, branded means 'Lois', 'Crocodile', 'Nike','Elle' ,'Esprit'.
In KL, it's 'LV','Gucci','Coach', 'Longchamp','Tifanny and Co', 'Lewre'
In Singapore it's still 'LV', 'Gucci','Prada','Cartier', 'Manolo blahnik'.

The great economic divide is definitely alive and kicking.The question is how do we find a balance?

Last on- call

Last Wednesday i completed what was probably my last on-call ever! Do you get the feeling that you're going to miss something just because you might never have the chance to do it again? Even if that something is something that you used to dread as a houseman? On-calls are a bittersweet thing. When the call is approching you feel dread as to what cases might come. So you make sure you have enough sleep and try to bathe in 'air bunga' to rid of  all bad luck. But during the call you realize extra sleep is not necessary after all as the adrenaline rush keeps you wide awake  during the call. And when the call is over, and like me you work in a hospital where you get pm off after the call (off after 1pm), you suddenly feel a sense of happiness, and many would describe it as post-call euphoria.

I will definitely miss being on-call. How much exactly, i will not know till later after i have started my new life as a pathology MO (please God  let me love microscopes).

So, for future reference, here i chart my last weekday call.

As a Wednesday is a non clinic day, we could take our own sweet time doing ward rounds. I'm in charge of the Special Care Nursery and our mini Neonatal Intensive Care Unit together with Zuraida a new colleague. We also have one houseman who is lazy, defensive and s-l-o-w.

My other parter in crime, Inthira is in charge of doing the ward rounds in the general paediatric ward. Mind you she is all alone there and post call as two of our colleagues, Zara and Tahirah are at the Advanced Life Support Course held in our hospital.

Rounds were plesant as always. It has been plesant since the day our darling amazingly good and nice paediatrician came a few months ago.

We extubated an orang asli baby with complex cyanotic heart disease called Yok successfully and prayed that IJN will see the baby as soon as possible. Before that of course, we first have to pray the social welfare department lady will hurry up and come back from her  course to pen a support letter for financial aid.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.

As always, patients (or rather their parents) prefer to come after everyone in the hospital has gone home after five.

I was rudely called to the operation theatre (OT). Well actually not rudely but politely, but what irked me was that no O&G doctor bothered to inform me of the case. Rather they made their nurse who does not necessarily know fully the case to give me a call.

Went to OT, gave the O&G MO my two cents worth, stood by for the case - baby is well- felt more happy- clerked the case and left OT.

Received a call from KK Tanjung Malim (district clinic).

Case: 2 year old orang asli girl, fitted at home for 30 minutes according to mother. Continued fitting for 5 minutes in the clinic and aborted with per rectal diazepam. However baby has yet to regain consciousness. No other history obtained. Advised to prepare IV phenytoin and iV diazepam in case child fits again. No phenytoin in KK Tanjung Malim. Shit! Asked the reffering doctor to prepare IV diazepam on standby during transport and send the child to my hospital fast! The doctor seemed very concerned.

Child arrives within 20 minutes of the call accompanied by a Medical Assistant (MA) and a nurse. Wait a minute, where is the doctor!!?? Too lazy to inquire.

Child still unconscious and having tonic movements of both upper and lower limbs that lasted 1 minute. It happened twice and aborted without any medication. Vital signs were all stable. MA set a second line and took blood investigations ordered. I love competent MA's!

Obtained history from disraught orang asli mother. Baby was born at home. No midwive on standy. Baby did not cry post delivery. In fact did not cry the whole day. Brought to private clinic the next day and only given immunizations. At 2 months noted to have congenital cataract. Development very delayed.

This is not a normal child.

Sigh, most likely not meningitis. Nevertheless did  a lumbar puncture and started on antibiotics.No more seizures therafter.

Three more cases waiting in casualty onces i completed the lumbar puncture.

Shit, it's 9pm and i forgot about dinner. JH was equally busy so no time to eat either.

See the 3 cases in casualty. All complained of fever, cough, and flu.

Discharged one. Planned to admit the other two. One of the mothers were not keen for admission. Then why do you bring your child late at night to the EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT of a hospital!! Do x-ray to convince the mother her child has pneumonia and that's why his fever persisted for one week.

Finally at 11pm went for dinner.

Halfway called by MA. Another orang asli girl came in very tachypnoeic.

Saw the child. Still active but very very breathless.

Sent to the ward. Lung findings do not tally with severity of tachypnoea. Lungs were fairly clear with occasional ronchi. Nebulized child continuosly with salbutamol and one dose of ipratropium bromide for one hour.

Took the time to sleep.Reassesed after one hour.Less tachypnoeic. Both lungs were filled with ronchi. Great got my diagnosis. Gave IV hydrocortisone and reduced the nebulized salbutamol to hourly.

Finally could go to bed at 3 am. Bliss.

Called at 6.30am by O&G houseman. Thats a slight improvement. Informed of a case with moderate meconium stained liquor currently with an os of 5 cm. Asked to call again when os is 10cm.

At 7.30am mother is already bearing down with os fully. Seriously who does these vaginal examinations?! Suspicious.

Stood by. Baby delivered well. Admitted for observation.

Started my morning rounds. We are fully staffed today, except for one who had to take leave.

After morning rounds, started clinic. Resolved more orang asli social problems. Seriously what are the Jabatan Orang Asli doing? Review babies and enjoy seeing their growth and smarts.

Finish clinic at 1pm. Go for drug talk. Get free pen. JH post call but still alert enough to win something at drug talk. Eat pizza for lunch. Go to ward. Scold houseman for not giving adequate medication to patient who is planned for discharge.Mother had to come all the way up from pharmacy for a prescribtion slip for medication she should have been prescribed from the start. Should have asked the irresponsible houseman to run down to pharmacy himself. Receive many thanks from patients.

I think i'm going to miss scolding housemen and ordering them around, teaching and guiding housemen.(Don't get me wrong i only scold stupid/irresponsible/slow housemen)

Most of all i'm going to miss seeing the babies and children's happy smiling faces when they make good recovery.

Pathology please give me as much fulfilment as paediatrics!

Disclaimer: This is considered a fairly good and chill call as many doctors in tertiary centres or district hospitals with no specialists have much more work to do.

Cath Kidston x Uniqlo KLCC

And here is ,one of my haul from the newly opened KLCC Uniqlo store! The opening was on 6th May 2011 and me and my hubby had come to KL on a whim in between every other day calls on the 8th just cos we know we're gonna be apart for a year when i start my Master's programme. It sucks but...

Anyway, we took the KTM from Tanjung Malim and came back by ETS. Vast difference in both modes of transport.

Anyway, we had no idea Uniqlo was opening in KLCC that very week, but i was just telling JH how i so want to buy the Cath Kidston Uniqlo collaboration tees.

And he said 'There's a Uniqlo opening in KLCC, but i don't know when.' I was just hoping and hoping and when i was greeted by the bright red Uniqlo sign i just squealed in delight and started queing. Yes queing! Two days after the official opening the place is still jam packed!There was a snaking que just to get into the store.

It did not take long for us to reach the start of the line and the friendly (over enthusiastic sometimes) Uniqlo staff gave us season booklets so that we could plan what we wanted to buy. Smart people.

Lovely Cath Kidston paper bags.The sales person who was doing the bagging gave us a huge ass plastic bag for out mountain of buys (me and JH ok, i really did not buy much) and a single One Piece paper bag for 4 socks!! The One - Piece paper bag is ugly lor so i asked for a Cath Kidston paper bag and he gave me two :)

And this is what i bought!On further inspection i noticed something amiss..

I had bought 2 tops in the exact same print and cut, but in different colour and size!! Am i getting old or what?

I bought the first top on the far left of the picture below in 2 colours!

 When what i should have done is hunt down the cowboy print tees on the far right of the picture below.

But then again the hunt for the tees were arduous. I was battling young to middle aged to old ladies for the browsing rights to the tees. Finding sizes in S is also such a feat already. My strategy was just to take anything in S size. And if i'm not mistaken i could only try 4 outfits at a time. With a snaking que to the dressing room, i wanted to pick only the best four. It must be said though that even though the dressing room que was long, the whole process was pretty fast and painless thanks to the many dressing rooms and efficient staff.

Nice tag on the front of the tee, talk about branding.

Each purchase of a Cath Kidston tee entitles you to a Cath Kidston fan. The tee is only RM 39.90 down from the usual RM 59.90 during the promotional period. The free fan is only available if you purchase at KLCC though. (Sorry Fahrenheit 88 buyers).

I got two pink and while polka dot fans and one white floral one.

Satisfying buying spree :) which unfortunately broke my face out in a rash! Too excited

Scawaii with free Garnier Whiten and Even Moisturizing Cream

Everyone knows SCawaii is a Japanese magazine that showcases about fashion and beauty for the younger set.
You can get scans of the latest issue on the internet BUT you would not be able to understand a thing unless you read Japanese.

So someone ingenious decided to publish SCawaii in Bahasa Melayu and sell it at a fraction of the price.

This is the Japanese cover. It just somehow looks so much more classy.

And this is the Malaysian version which comes with a free full sized Garnier Whiten and Even Moisturizing Cream.

The magazine is very affordable at RM 6.90. The Garnier cream is worth RM 16.90 but i've got a nagging suspicion that it is only exclusive to books KInokinuya which also means you have to travel all the way to KLCC!

Buying the magazine actually confirmed to me that there is no need for text in beauty magazines since the pictures explain everything anyway.

Besides the horrible editing, many spelling errors, and sometimes non- grammatical Bahasa Melayu sentences, this is a good and economical buy to just look at the Japanese fashion spread as well as hair and make- up styling. Also for people with bad internet connection.

Uniqlo sale

From 5 May 2011 till 19th May 2011 Uniqlo is having a T-shirt sale with the tees going at RM 39.90 (instead of the usual 59.90). This is the perfect time to go visit Uniqlo.

Also at tthe newly opened KLCC store, every purchase of a Cath Kidston piece entitles you to a free paper fan. Every cumulative purchase over RM 200 in a single receipt entitles you to a one piece tumbler. This is only exclusive to the KLCC store though.

Here's my haul for today. I'll be posting in detail when i have the time. (On call again tomorrow)

Burt's Bees body lotion with a copy of Malaysian Tatler

The latest issue of Malaysian Tatler comes with a free 70g tube of naturally nourishing milk and honey body lotion. The magazine costs RM 12. This offer is exclusive to Books Kinokiniya while stocks last.

Looks and smells great.

Sun Yan Zi getting married today!

Update:Actual wedding pics at end of post.

Have you heard the news? Sun Yan Zi is getting married in Singapore today! Yeah! Having been a long standing fan, this is indeed happy news. After all, everyone deserves happiness and every girl deserves a dream wedding. I really do not believe in "Andy Lau type beliefs" that celebrities can't get married as they have to be responsible to their fans? Please la. If you are so responsible just go marry your fan la.

Anyway according to the xinmsn site, her gal pals like Jolin Tsai and Ah-Mei will be attending.

Jolin and Stefanie pillow-fighting in a recent interview.

The good husband to be is Nadim Van Der Ros is a 34 year old . He's an Indonesian by birth but adopted by Dutch parents hence the Asian face but Dutch name. I'm guessing he must be really 'ang moh pai' (western asian)

So 'ang moh pai' he was willing to relocate himself from Hong Kong to Singapore to be with his lady love.

Not to forget earlier on in the relationship when fans slammed him for not looking caucasion despite his dutch name, he just kept mum. Every fan was hoping to see their idol hand in hand with some blond haired greek god hunk. Man, who are we to judge? This Nadim guy had remained admirably humble and quiet and we all know having a nice guy is better than any good looking guy.

In my humble opinion, this is a marked improvement from the nerdy Singaporean accountant she was dating way back in 2005.Singaporean guys are just too sissy-fied.

Nerdy double-chinned guy.(Based purely on looks)

So here's wishing the happy couple a great wedding! Here's the lovely wedding card, simple and sweet like the star herself.

Update: Sun Yan Zi's wedding pictures from Xin MSN, Hardwarezone and her Weibo!

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Loving the simple dress and fuss free hair.And orchids are sooo Singaporean.

 I love the Grace Kelly like wedding gown. It's perfect for brides who are skinny and loving it but do not want nosy relatives or unknown guest saying they are too skinny.

But the question on many peoples mind is, how did she get her skin so smooth?? I would love to know the answer to this ever elusive question!

Wacky after party?? I'm loving the geeku specs which make Sun Yan Zi look 12 year old and Nadim looks uncannily like Gary Chou?

Jolin at the wedding with bright red lips some more!

 

While we're at it might as well put up this picture of another happy couple who got married on the same day! Fan Fan and Blackie!

And here comes the auspicious period where all weddings will be crammed! I have 3 weddings lined up from very dear friends! But i have no time to go!!