Still Recovering...

After writing that last post about my on call week...thinking that nothing else untoward could possibly occur...it did! Big time too might I add. But I am not at liberty to blog about it...because...well...I'll sum it up in one word: consequences. What can I say? There are some things that unfortunately have to be censored. But I will say this about the incident; unfortunate...should never have happened...it's never a good idea to lie to the pharmacist. Sigh, am still rather mad with the 'people' who made this mistake...still very much incredulous...

Well...I have learned something from this 'lesson'. When your senses pick up something that does not seem altogether correct...then it probably isn't. Assume that everyone are idiots...provide 'idiot proof' instructions at all times. It's better to offend people than to ever allow 'avoidable' mistakes from happening.

These life lessons...very difficult to swallow...but they teach you plenty.

And yes...I got another call at around 1:25am that night. So yes...still recovering from the week's events. God save us all...grant us wisdom to do no harm...and discernment when we are about to. Amen.

Just Another On Call Week?

I dread my on call weekends. You either get it easy or you get it really really bad. The in between sort is few if not rare. This week's call has been exceptionally...not good. Let's see...

• Got a call after midnight (it's never before midnight...trust me on this...just wouldn't be challenging enough) from a doctor...PICU...a request for prostaglandin. The drug is actually in the in-patient pharmacy...stupid woman broke protocol and woke me up for nothing. Anyway, contacted my pharmacy assitant to arrange for supply. Then she (the doctor) called again 15 minutes later...asking for the drug again...when I had just managed to fall back to sleep.
• A defective medibag tubing. The metal detector was missing from the tubing and hence...the portable pump was unable to detect the rotating mechanism...the rotating thingie could not rotate...drug could not be administered to the patient. Summary = had to go into the oncology day care centre to fix the problem. This has never happened before. It had to happen on my watch. I am sure that one day I will look back and laugh in disbelief. Right now...it's just disbelief.
• And then there is that ever exciting problem of us having a no stock or low in stock situation. I just want to point something out here...and this is especially directed to you doctors reading this post...IT IS NOT ALWAYS PHARMACY'S FAULT. There are many reasons why this happens (buy me coffee and I'll elaborate...but not Besta's or DeliFrance's coffee...I have certain standards I adhere to...strictly) and the most common one really is this; the pharma company is unable to cope with our demands. So back to basic economics...in a situation where the demand (whether from judicial use or not is a different debate altogether) exceeds the supply...use alternatives! So anyway, I think that we are out of Pip-Tazo, Meropenem, Cefepime and soon to be octreotide. Wow!
• A six year old surgical patient who was sent back with two month's supply of cefuroxime syrup. Oh joy! Had to break into the store for this one.
• A DVT (deep vein thrombosis) patient that needed TED stockings. Surprise, surprise! My dispensary had all the sizes except for the one she needed. More breaking in took place.

There were some other incidences that have escaped my short term memory...so I will end here. Need more doses of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice...which I will have to thank Christie for...he he...feel all better now. Going to have the Segambut seafood tom yam noodles for lunch. Wow...the salivary glands are fully activated now...better go...

Resident Evil Rat

I have not been blogging in a while. I have been a busy, busy bee. And in that time that I have been buzzing away, many an interesting things have taken place. Some happy events (sun, sand, sea) and then there was THAT nasty encounter of a rodent kind. I have discovered a vile and foul RAT lurking the halls of my pharmacy. It is really the MOST disgusting thing that I have ever seen in my whole entire life. Mangy stringy gray hair. Mean beady piercing eyes. A sharp yet crooked nose always sniffing, sniffing, sniffing the air for its next prey. It (Resident Evil Rat) wields a sharp tool used to probably hunt its meals and to stab the other rats in the back. It pokes its nose into every corner there is and leaves a horrible stench in its wake. Why has nobody caught it yet? I don’t know.

I used to really hate this rat. But the act of ‘hating’ is not only a waste of energy (I have now come to realize) but also rather tiring. I now pity this rat. It must be a rather friendless existence being the unbearable and despicable rodent that it is. So the rest of us aware of its subsistence are wise to avoid it altogether…to have nothing to do with it. Life suddenly looks up again. There might be a resident evil rat running around…uninhibited…but I believe in a greater good…a Higher Being. I believe in doing no harm, in spreading joy…love…peace. If I can’t do that…then at the very least…I refuse to spread hate around.

Some of you might be puzzled by this post. It’s okay. Buy me coffee in exchange for this tale. It will be the best RM13.50 ++ you will ever spend. Well…not really…but those who know me will know that I’ll say anything for a free cuppa. (NB: RM13.50 ~ the price of a tall Java Chip Frappucino).

By the way, today was a three cups of coffee sort of day. I would have drunk more (I certainly needed more)…but was not in the mood. Can you believe that? No in the mood for coffee. Gah!

It Was EXCELLENT!!!

I am back! All of my limbs are intact and I am proud to say that I survived Gua Tempurung...all of the 5 hours it took us to truly get a 'taste' of it's beauty. This has got to be one of the best trips I have ever been to and I have to thank Lionel for organising it so well.

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All the three things (abseiling, white water rafting and caving) we did was fantastic!!! I just can't decide which I liked best. I really can't. I thought that I would like caving the least but the ammonia from all that bat guano I inhaled (five hours...you can just imagine) must have done something to my brains. I am now a changed person. Caves aren't all that bad. I know that I am gushing...but it the trip was THAT enjoyable an experience..which was made even GREATER by the other 26 colourful characters that will be mentioned later.
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As time is running short...now...have a dinner to get to...I end this post with some of the pictures I managed to capture...with whatever battery I had left. Brilliant me left the camera charger in the office. Sigh...will have to 'beg' for pictures from Lionel (who had a water resistant camera) and Chew (who brought along his kiasu camera fully charged)...'beg' cause I know that it won't come easy. But Richard and Hok Lee...bless you guys...should be able to get their pics without being tortured and made to perform idiotic stunts. Ha ha!

Like everything else, the trip started with 'makan' time. Bidor. Pun Chun restaurant. Wan tan noodles with a punch. The punch being the KL price that was charged. Yeah yeah...I know...the prawny wan tan and all that but still...the food here was much better fifteen years ago before commercialism took over. Eh, I know all this because me was brought up in Teluk Intan and most trips when 'balik-ing kampung' included a stop at this restaurant.

You can tell that the trip was bound to have some exciting moments when our cars got stuck right at the beginning of the trip and the passengers had be unloaded to enable a clear passage through. Especially Lionel's car bearing Chew Cheong Tat...ha ha ha...I am so going to pay for this...but I just couldn't resist.

The end of the 7km or so river that provided a thrilling (at parts) and peaceful (at the other parts) 2 hour ride through the rapids. Go team alpha! Ok...so, I couldn't think up of a better name. Anyway, team alpha consisted of Chew Cheong Tat (Icing...ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!), Christie Cheam, Andrew Loke (cupcake), Alyssa Loke (munchkin), Alexandra Loke (Hobittses) and yours truly.

Well...we started with food...and so...the circle ended with...yes you guess it...more food! We went to this famous place that served the chicken wrapped in really soft yummy-licious bread. We had the two varieties...yuk choy and curry. Oh wow...we attacked it with so much gusto that some husbands even forgot to serve their wives first. Tsk tsk...yes Lionel...I know...Lay Suan is very capable.

I am already planning a trip to Padas River in Sabah...reported to be a grade III to IV river. The websites look fantastic. Any takers?

It's My Birthday & I'll Pig Out If I Want To

Thai at Atria
The eating started on Saturday with Choobs and Su-Ai. Thai food at Atria. The tom-yam was hot enough...Su-Ai's lips were swollen...Choobs was struggling to finish her bowl of mee hoon that seemed like a never ending story. The 'som tham' was really good. Sour enough and the ikan bilis crunchy enough. So yummy that we even ordered a second bowl.

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Italian at La Risata

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The destination was still a mystery when Amelia picked me up on Sunday evening. But she had somehow let the cat out of the bag earlier that it was 'somewhere' behind Victoria Station. The gang was already there when we arrived. Mei actually got her mum to fry the rest of the 'keropok lekor' she had bought from her trip to Terengganu (how long ago was that?) and so we sat there chomping on it (perfectly bite size...not as hard as her first experience) with the really sedap original chilli sauce. The food was good...not GOOD...but passable...the company however was EXCELLENT and that made all the difference.

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We had two sorts of pizzas...funghi (which is mushrooms...okay...not the stuff we were growing in the complex!) and smoke salmon. I still maintain that nothing beats the smoke salmon pizza at Souled Out. Trust me. Not even the one in Italiennes. If you are a smoke salmon lover (and I definitely am...that and salmon sashimi...I think that my inner soul is Japanese), then you just have have have to try the Souled Out version. You will not be disappointed.

The mains were a salmon ravioli covered with creamy salmon sauce dish, lamb chops (needed meat for Mei's sake) and spaghetti carbonara. The only dish that receives the LEECHES SEAL OF APPROVAL is the salmon ravioli. The sauce covering the lamb chops was salty...and when that comes from me...you know that it is REALLY salty. The spinach that adorned the plate was even saltier. The carbonara was just not carbonara-ish enough; watery sauce and sorely lacking in the garlic category...and of course it being a halal place...yeah, something missing there. To date, the best carbonara I have ever tasted was at La Bodega (Bangsar branch).

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Of course life would not be as exciting without a few 'accidents'. Don't worry Mei...we were not in the least bit embarassed...really! Yeah...do you notice Adwin edging AWAY from Mei? That's an evasive manouvre...smart boy!

Then there was my first ever tiramisu cake. Yummy. It was a good thing we booked it first. Fast thinking there Wen Chieh.

Margaritas at Chillis

Monday. Girls night out. Minus girl currently in London who is forgiven because of earlier wishes sent through sms. Happy hour. Presidente Margaritas. Nachos. Salsa sauce. Big happy smiles all around.

(Sang to the tune of the Elephant Show theme song)

Two munkee buds came out to play

In a real cool bar one sunny day

They had such tremendous fun

That they called for another one to come

Spanish at La Bodega
Din din was a stone's throw away where we ordered tapas' and seafood paella (I am sure I got the spelling wrong)...and...and...a pitcher of sangria. The food was GOOD good. But don't get the fried shrimp tapas. A little disppointing there. But the mushroom and eggplant and fried squid...LEECH APPROVED! The seafood paella...OMG! Fantastic! The sang-ria...good...but liked the one we had in Italiennes better. But the pitcher was cute, wasn't it (yeah I know...a comment that only a girl can make).

The weather was nice and cool because of the rain that continued throughout our dinner. A+ for the ambience there...and plus...they gave us the happy hour price for the sang ria though it had passed that twitching hour. Birthday girl rights. Woo hoo!

This pic was taken by the macha at 2 o'clock.

My attempts to take a pic of the spaced out white fella at 12 o'clock. Alas!

That's how in love we were with the pitcher.

Thanks Pals!

I am oh-so touched! Emotionally that is (tsk...tsk...tsk!). My friends have heard my pleas for decent food and have responded in kind. Calls have been coming in with offers to take yours truly out for lunch and as such, I am not in such a foul (initially spelt it as 'fowl'...read it and laughed myself silly) hypo-glycaemic mood post 1 o'clock.

Plus, Mei Mei (bless her soul) have been supplying Amelia and myself with coffee (a chinese brand that is written in chinese which the banana in me is screaming 'Foreign!! Unable to decipher alien symbols!!'). We have demolished most of it...only one packet left...which we will have to share tomorrow...so sad...don't think that it will be enough caffeine for the both of us. On that note, I have a confession. I dropped by Tesco last night after UMSC clinic...had to get some contact lense solution after using up the very last drop that morning...and yes...I FORGOT TO BUY COFFEE! How could I have forgotten you ask? Well...it was after 10 o'clock and the dori-ness in me was starting to play up.

Anyway, back to my main purpose of this blog...so easily distracted. Christie was one of the kind souls who turned up on Tuesday to ferry me away to a 'nasi padang' restaurant somewhere in Sri Hartamas (very near Saffron). The food was good...then again...anything is fantastic when compared to my cafeteria food. After lunch, as she was about to drop me off at the green lane, I suggested donating blood...since she was already there and she agreed. I don't know whether she regrets it now (but I somehow don't think so)...but it was NOT an easy donation. First, the nurse had to adjust/manouver/slide in and out/tap the needle about a couple of times to gain access to her deep veins (ahem...tak buat kerja rumah ke?). Secondly, her flow rate was quite slow...so it took some time to fill that 450 mL bag. But I applaud her for being so patient through the whole ordeal. You mah regular hero sis!