The Weekend With BGT

Salam..

This weekend is somewhat different from other weekends.. Well, the fact that it is a Bank Holiday weekend means that we are all having an extra day of break on Monday.. Maybe it is due.. Anyway, we have spent the last few weeks watching Britain's Got Talent (BGT) and somewhat pondering and wondering on who was to win Britain's most prolific talent show and later having the chance to perform in front of the Queen..

Hmm.. What a season of this talent show.. Maybe it would be interesting to know what my thoughts are on these finalists..

Acts
1. Flawless - I had always been amazed and flabbergasted by the sharp choreography this group had shown since their audition several weeks ago.. Certainly since George Sampson won it last year and the cheeky Signature came second place, dance act has become among the act that has the 'promising glow' to snatch the title.. Unfortunately, their final act tonight had less electric from their show in the audition and in the semi-finals, and seemed to be drowned in the anticipation of a cracking finale and, probably, maybe I was hoping for them to perform another eye-opening presentation.. Or maybe the pressure of being the first act proved to be too much to handle..

2. Shaheen Jafargholi - This young man certainly has the world to look for after this.. The talent show has, undoubtedly, dug this boy from his slumber and introduced him to the public scene.. Bearing in mind that Shaheen almost stumbled at the first hurdle, the audition.. If my memory serves me correctly, this 12-year old schoolboy from Swansea came out in front of the three judges and sang Valerie (Amy Winehouse) and was stopped by Simon Cowell just after a few seconds.. Simon gave him another go and he went with MJ's Who's Loving You.. And quite correctly like Simon commented afterwards, "This is how one song can change a life".. For his final performance, he perfectly sang his life-changing song again and, in fact, performed it better than his audition.. But at this very tender age, he is a singer but not quite yet a stage performer - stage use and movements.. Nevertheless, the future is bright for this chubby-cheek kid..

3. 2 Grand - This act may well be one which touches your heart, just by hearing their story.. For John (76), a husband who lost his wife 18 months ago, been given the chance to see some brightness and share that happy experience with his grand-daughter Sally (12) may well be a memory to lift his days to come.. Of course, being a singer himself during his earlier years in life made him not much of a new face on the scene with stage-fright conquering his expressions, albeit not a professional singer.. For Sally, on the other hand, this girl with such mature voice may still have some future in the singing career.. However, in their final act, I have to say, John did forget that it was his line to sing and that flaw was obvious when audience were expecting a perfect partnership show..

4. Hollie Steel - This 10-year-old girl from Acrington was the nation's sweetheart when she first stepped in front of Simon and the gang.. In her audition, she tip-toed her way but that was not the impressive part at all.. Simon did not expect it at all when she opened her mouth and started singing.. She does have a very strong vocal, undoubtedly.. In her semi-final act, again she was the one with the drama when half-way through her song, she forgot her lyrics and stopped singing and started crying! Maybe she did charm her cute way through by asking to be given another chance and eventually managed to sing and got through to the finals, disposing Callum Francis in the process.. I am not a big fan of drama queens, so I was not her fan when she performed in the finals.. And I never saw her even as top three in the finals as I felt her performance, although better than her semi-final act, was too mediocre for my liking..

5. Aidan Davis - Certainly this young body-popper has a bright future ahead, and he is only 11.. Sweet-face and confident, he has the right ingredients to make it big.. Stunned the judges in his audition with Flo-Rida's Low and choreographed everything himself.. In fact, he is self-trained! In his semi-final act, he produced most probably the best one-man dance act of the year.. Unfortunately for him, his semi-final act was the day before the finals.. Unlike Hollie who pretty much needed just to choose a song and train, Aidan had to come up with a totally different routine within 24 hours.. And there was where he lost.. His performance lacked ingenuity and originality, merely by the strain of time to choreograph a new routine.. Hence, he lost his flair and flame in the final act when it really mattered.. Even Simon noticed the difference, and his tears after Simon's comment said it all.. But I am sure there is more to come from this young maestro..

6. Stavros Flatley - Another family duo but this dance is the funniest act of the season.. They made their Brit entrance with a cheeky self-choreographed Irish riverdance performance.. Now, you have to admit, nobody would ever thought that an Irish-dancing Greek-family-duo would be in the Britain's Got Talent finals.. But, the act has the perfect combination of electric and entertainment in it.. On top of that, the emotion shown between the father and the son was just touching.. Some people may say that was what entertainment meant - family coming together.. Hilarious routine, made better by the proper Irish dancing troupe behind them, to the level that it was concluded that Simon is so cool that 'no one is that cool and is not a bit Greek'! Absolute utter genius and hilarious..

7. Shaun Smith - This 17-year-old clean-face rugby boy came to the scene with such mature voice, singing his way through his way to the finals.. He was dubbed the biggest competition for Susan Boyle.. His song in the finals was the classical Ain't No Sunshine (Bill Withers, 1971), the same song he auditioned with.. Nobody could doubt his talent when he sang U2's With Or Without You in the semis.. Nicknamed the real-life Troy Bolton!

8. Susan Boyle (First runner-up) - Now here's the lady who did not realize she was famous, to the level that she was a big hit in America! In seven weeks, she transformed from an anonymous Scot to a world icon.. Her popularity only made better by her strong vocals.. Unfortunately for her, due to the media attention she had, she had been marked as having a 'dark side' not worthy of representing Britain as a celebrity.. Well, put it this way, rather than bottling up and giving in, she stepped her game up and gave her best performance to the top notch.. Deserved the attention and certainly the credit..

9. Diversity (Winner) - I may not be the biggest fan of this group, I have to say, merely by the fact that they were already a successful dance group, albeit not on mainstream.. However, I will not deny their talent and perfection in the final act.. The Transformers routine was not new, that they had performed it already in 2008 (in UK Streetdance Championship), but the 3-X buzzes imaging the BGT judges was certainly new and original.. They did, in my opinion, better than Flawless, especially if we were to compare from humour and creativity checkbox.. Certainly deserved the GBP100,000 price!

10. Julian Smith (Second runner-up) - Julian was probably a nobody before BGT.. This humble guy came in to the scene with his saxophone and awed the judges and audience.. From my perspective, he is the only act among the ten finalists who has the soothing and calming charm.. He performed his audition song again in the finals and nailed it so good.. Simon was probably right, he needs to get his doubts out of his mind and tell the world what he could do.. He had always seen himself as 'almost there but never get it'-type of a person, but the Brits now would disagree with him every single time.. Julian Smith is in the house and has every shot of the future..

Our Verdict
This is what I felt the final rankings are (excluding the top three)
1. Diversity
2. Susan Boyle
3. Julian Smith
4. Stavros Flatley
5. Shaheen Jafargholi
6. Shaun Smith
7. Flawless
8. Aidan Davis
9. Hollie Steel
10. 2 Grand

Well, it has been a great season for BGT.. Maybe better next year.. We never know.. And I end this entry with, what I think, the most entertaining performance of the final..



Salam..

My Tuesday..

Salam..

Oh it's Wednesday today.. time really flies.. nearly half way through my annual leave.. huhu.. I just stayed at home as my dear hubby is working this week.. I went out yesterday to settle a few things including paying the speeding ticket! hehe.. I still can't believe we got a speeding ticket.. In all fairness, my dear hubby was driving alone (me, as usual, was sleeping;p), we just finished the 3 hours exam, it was raining & we were rushing home as we were working as usual the next day.. the limit was 50mph & he drove 72mph.. for that, he was 'rewarded' a speeding ticket & 2 points.. hopefully that would be the first and the last one!

Back to my story, after settling a few things in the bank and in the post office, I went to find the tart mould.. went into a few shops but couldn't find even one.. at last, I just went to buy groceries.. I kept thinking what should I cook for dinner.. was hoping to cook something different, at least not chicken! I kept looking around until I reached the fish section.. I was trying to figure out which one to buy when the saleperson/fishmonger said "Off today,are ya?" I just smiled and nodded.. "you're working in the Regional aren't you?".. Oh my God, I was hoping that he was not one of my patients coz I really couldn't recognise his face.. "my father was in the hospital under Mr Kavanagh.. I think I did see you around in the hospital.." pheww.. I wasn't working with Mr Kavanagh but I can understand if he was mistaken because there were 6 Malay girls working as surgical interns at that time! probably he did see me at some stage.. I smiled back to him, "I'm working in the Regional, I was working with Mr Waldron and now with Dr Clich..", I explained to him.. "Oh I know Dr Clinch.. Lovely man.. He is my neighbour.. We live in Adare.."..(oh yeah,that is the same man..) "It was a first class treatment in that hospital.. my father had an operation under Mr Kavanagh & then he was in St Ita's..",he said."so he must have known Dr Clinch then.."."oh,he knew him all his life.. they were good friends", he replied to me with a smile.. I did ask how is his father doing now, sadly his father had passed away.. I apologised for asking.. he smiled and said not to worry about it.. and I walked away with trout & seabass in my hand..

In a way, I'm proud to be part of his good memory of the hospital.. and it reminds me of how my job affects peoples' lives.. that it is important not only to treat the patients well but also their family members.. coz they'll remember you well.. you would have hundreds of patients but they have only a few doctors.. of course they will remember you.. especially at the critical times, when they're sick or become very worried over a family member.. I found that they will really appreciate if the doctor can spend some time explaining a procedure or updating their progress.. of course there are time constraint and sometimes I wasn't able to entertain each and every patient or family members.. it is always a two way understanding between a doctor and a patient.. A doctor have to understand the needs of the patient & the patient have to understand the work & time constraint of a doctor.. there were times that I made family members waited for nearly an hour but in the end,when I apologised they would respond positively,because they knew that I was busy and that they were taking some of my time for other patient as well.. It makes a lot of different if both parties have a good understanding, considerations & most importantly manners.. of course that is just my opinion..

That was not the first time I was greeted by a patient or a family member of the patient.. it is a nice feeling when somebody comes to you out of the blue and thank you for saving his/her life.. or to thank you for looking after them.. of course, we are human.. we tried our best and only God have the power to heal.. I thank Allah for letting me touch the lives of people through my job.. sometimes we may forget, and it is great to be reminded from time to time..

***

I cooked asam pedas ikan and stir fry mixed vegetables for dinner yesterday.. I also made apam balik afterwards.. it wasn't the nicest apam balik but at least it did taste like apam balik;) hehe.. My dear hubby is oncall today.. wonder what I should cook for him.. need to lift up his mood as he is going to miss the football match tonight:)..siannn abang.. ;)

Annual leave = awaited break!!

Salam..

My dear husband had made an entry about our weekend in Dublin.. it was surely a wonderful weekend although it was very short (or else we would be spending more!!).. the weather was very nice on Sunday.. at last, a bit of sunshine.. alhamdulillah..

Our hotel room in Dublin.. I like the mirror & the guy in it as well;)

Pillow menu.. hmm.. which one is tasty;p

We were lucky that the sale is on in Dublin (or should I say unlucky?;p..) My dear husband kept asking me what I wanted for our anniversary.. I really didn't have anything in my mind except the hope & prayers that we will stay happy together not just in this life but also in the afterlife..

Because I didn't ask for anything in particular,we ended up just strolling around Grafton & O Connell street.. until we reached Arnotts shopping centre.. and of course the sale was on there as well.. of all the sale,the kitchen department sale was the most attractive one! there were sales on cutlery, dinner sets, pots sets, coffee machine, mixer etc.. I'm a big fan of Prestige & Tefal.. So whenever there are sale on these brands,I will have a look around.. I already have the Prestige & Tefal pots sets.. So I ended buying the Select Teflon pots with more than 50% off.. They are beautiful pots,red in colour & most importantly non stick.. we also bought the Viners cutlery.. with nearly 60% off,I couldn't resist it although we already bought 1 set in last Christmas sale.. for me,they're worth buying.. good quality plus big sale! (not to mention I got them as anniversary gifts;) thank you,abang!).. I think my kitchen is complete now.. probably will do with one more dinner sets.. hehehe.. hmm.. not for the time being,I guess.. probably before going back to Malaysia for good..

Overall it was a great weekend.. I wish we could spend more time in Dublin.. haven't seen my Dubliners friends for a long time.. definitely will visit them one day,insyaAllah..

Puppet show in Grafton Street.. It was cute & entertaining..

Got the fishing game! hehe.. glimpse of the cutlery at the back..

This week is my annual leave.. Finally I can have a break.. yeay.. I have a few important things to do this week.. today I just stayed at home,did the laundry & tidying up the house.. I definitely need more space in this apartment.. hmm.. I wonder how did we end up with lotsss of things in our house.. hehehe..

I have found a few recipes that I want to try out.. I was planning to make fruit tart tomorrow but unfortunately I couldn't find the tart mould.. will try something else then.. hopefully I'll stay in the cooking mood this week;)

Till we meet again..

Wonderful Weekend

Salam..

As you well have read, Ina entered the story on us spending the weekend in Cork, just lazing around there as part of our pre-anniversary celebration.. Now, the word 'pre-' was an indication that the weekend spent in Cork was merely a warm-up session.. And you may well then deduce that another 'proper' celebration was due.. I don't think that all this would need explanation, but just for the sake of telling, the pre-celebration was because our anniversary had fallen on Monday, which meant that there was no way a proper celebration could be done as it was a working day for both of us.. So, to complete the celebration, and to some extend, to compromise for not celebrating on the day itself, there was the pre-celebration and this weekend plan..

As many of you may have noticed, I had quoted 'a big plan' weekend on my Facebook shoutbox.. This is the weekend for you to share..

Saturday

Ina had her Geriatric Dinner in a restaurant in Adare on Friday night.. She only got home almost around 2am.. I, on the other hand, went out with Mate (Fadzrul) and had dinner in Copper 'n Spice.. We took our time having our dinner since I knew Ina would be late - just like the last time she went out for her Geri dinner last year!

We left Limerick by train at 9.55am, having had Mate to send us to the train station in the pouring Irish rain on that Saturday morning.. Of course, we had planned to take the 7.30am train but the cosy bed and the cool morning because of the rain had made it so hard for us to get up (plus the fact that we both slept late - me waiting for Ina and Ina arriving home late).. We arrived in Heuston Station in Dublin at 12.30 just after noon, with the rain following us all the way from Limerick.. We took the cab to St Stephen Green Shopping Centre, where our hotel is nearby located.. We had traveled with very minimal baggage that it made it easy for us to walk around before checking in..

Brooks Hotel was just about 5mins away from the shopping centre.. We checked in, and then being told that our room was upgraded from a double room to a deluxe room on the second floor.. I wonder if Ina had told them we were spending the weekend there for our wedding anniversary, since she was the one booking the room? The room was simple, quite like an old but sophisticated room used in the early English times.. The kingsize bed was just too hard to resist when the weather outside was not that friendly.. Oh, and I have to highly salute the service and attention they give to their customers - such friendly service that I would actually recommend that hotel for you fellow readers, if you ever want to stay in Dublin.. Probably one of the best service we have had in our hotel stays around the world we have been to..

Since we arrived in Dublin around the time of lunch, by the time checked in and settled in the room, it was due for lunch.. The fact that we only rushed breakfast with some stale scones and croissants didn't help either.. We decided to have a bite in Wagamama for lunch.. Unfortunately for us, even at that hour the place was jam-packed! So, giving in to the grouching stomach of ours, we went off to have lunch in Jewel In The Crown, an Indian restaurant nearby to Grafton St.. I had a small meal with chicken jalfrezi and coriander naan and Ina had her usual Chef's special briyani, which was actually a mixed chicken-meat-prawn briyani.. We didn't intend to have a big meal since we planned to have a sushi dinner later..

We got back to our hotel room after lunch, after stopping by at Clarendon Medical to get some books..

Later on, we went out to have dinner in Yo! Sushi.. It was all a different setting from our usual Aya.. Aya has since closed due to the economic strain.. We got ourselves some sushi meal but I would not say it was the best sushi meal we had had.. Well, at least we kept the plan..

We retired that night after dinner..

Sunday

Starting off the day, we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant.. Of course, it had been included in the bill anyway.. Toasts, scrambled egg, croissants and tea and coffee.. I had some yoghurt too.. Then, after that we cleared our room and checked out, heading to town for a little bit of shopping..

First off, we headed towards Grafton St, but interestingly Ina saw a pair of purple stiletto but the Shoe Rack shop was still closed.. So off we went to Brown Thomas, cruising around and peeked into Prada and Hermes shops, but none of the handbags attracted Ina.. We walked through the perfume department and that was where I offered to buy Ina Magnifique from Lancome.. In all fairness, we had tried it before in Cork but didn't come around to buy it.. So, we closed the book that time and picked up a bottle.. This was on top of four bottles from Saturday - EA's Splendour, EA's Green Tea and two bottles of CK Obsession Night.. They were on sale!

We went back to Shoe Rack and Ina tried on the purple stiletto pair, but eventually did not take it because the rose at the top of the shoes were not the same size.. Instead, she bought a different pair - the silver pair..

After that, we just strolled around Grafton St and headed towards Henry St..

Interestingly and surprisingly, we bumped into Shiqin and her brother with her 'special someone' (so I believe).. Short chat and we were off again.. Shiqin was entertaining her brother who was on vacation from Indonesia.. Oh, yes.. She also informally invited us to her big day which would be sometime in December.. Good new all around!

At Henry St, we stopped by at Arnotts, browsed through some of the kitchen stuffs and got locked into two beautiful things - a set of 58 cutleries and a set of Meyer Teflon pots.. Even more interesting, both were on sale! So, we really had made the decision that we would buy the two but would hold it for the time being and planned to buy it closer to the time we would be going home, avoiding the hassle of carrying the two big boxes..

Ina actually bought a toy set from Toymaster - the one she had been longing since we were in Letterkenny! We went back to Arnotts and got the two big boxes and off we headed to Heuston Station.. We actually bought some lunch to take away from Epicurean before leaving..

Ride Home

Our train left for Limerick at 3.25pm and the ride was smooth and direct.. We didn't have to switch trains at Limerick Junction Station and arrived in Limerick just before 6pm, and took a taxi home..

In all fairness, this year's anniversary was not as posh as it was last year.. The fact that we were both working on the day itself also did not help.. But, celebration being celebration, the most important thing is that our marriage is still going strong and only stronger by the day.. Sure, there are ups and downs, but every moment is just better and more magnificent than the day we fell in love and started this life..

For my dear wife, Ina..

Of course you're beautiful, you are my own angel from heaven..
Of course you're sweet, you are my God-given solace..
Of course you're perfect, you are my blessing for life..
And
Of course I love you, forever and ever..

Happy Anniversary, My Dear Darling

Salam..

Pre-anniversary celebration;)

Salam..

I'm back again.. this weekend has been a happy weekend for me:) usually my weekend is filled with cooking & baking.. this weekend,we managed to escape from the hectic & boring life in Limerick.. hehe.. I really wanted to go somewhere else,anywhere at all except Limerick!! Our next vacation is still quite far away.. so I persuaded my dear husband to go out of Limerick for the weekend especially as our 2nd anniversary is coming soon (ie tomorrow)..

I didn't have a plan for our anniversary this year.. probably because I knew that we'll both be working on that day.. So, I just made a simple last minute plan - spending a lazy weekend together in Cork! we were both post call on Friday,so I knew that it won't be a good idea to go far.. It would just be a waste of time plus my poor husband would have to drive (while me, as always, be a good co driver;p hehe..)

I didn't really know where to go in Cork,so I just use my skill of Googling.. I tried to find a fairly good hotel for us to stay & fortunately managed to find one in the heart of Cork hence it would be handy for us to grab some food from the city..

I booked an executive room for us - it was a nice room,with a nice view.. as usual when we arrived,first thing that we did was exploring the entire room - to make full use of everything there:) lucky for my hubby,he found Sky Sports while flipping through the TV channels.. So he managed to enjoy the match between his favourite team,Man United and Arsenal.. and for me, I enjoyed the first 2 hours by sleeping.. Zzzzzzz...

view from our room...

My husband surfing the internet.. can you see that Nespresso coffee machine?

I woke up just in time to watch Man U given the trophy.. Afterwards we went out for lunch & quick stroll at the city centre.. and we grabbed sushi & burger before heading back to our hotel..

It was a very short getaway for us.. I'm looking forward for a proper vacation next month..

Happy 2nd anniversary to us! to Abang,thank you for for your beautiful love that makes my life so wonderful.. thank you for always be with me through ups & downs.. through rough & sweet times.. thank you for being a good friend & a loving husband.. may Allah bless us always.. I love you so much..

Kuih mode...

Salam..

I'm back again after quite a long silence.. I was oncall last weekend,had to come to work on Monday (which was a public holiday) & I was oncall again on Thursday.. this week has been pretty busy as we were on general take 3 nights in 2 weeks,not including 2 geriatrics take.. we were trying hard to keep the numbers down.. and as for Friday,I think we have less than 55 patients on our list,which was reasonable given the number of our calls in these 2 weeks..

This weekend was the weekend that I was waiting for.. I truly need a break.. Can't wait for my annual leave to come.. *sigh*.. most of my patients are long stay patients,and I felt like I'm seeing the same patients over and over again.. & sometimes I feel hopeless that I wasn't able to do anything more for them..

Enough with work.. this weekend,my mood suddenly changed.. I felt so relieved.. and as usual,my kitchen keeps me happy;) I wasn't in the mood for cakes and bakes.. I was more keen to make traditional kuih muih.. hehe.. so I made roti jala & karipap (my 1st try ever!)..my dear husband recently asked me for karipap,which is my favourite as well.. he was oncall yesterday,so I decided to give it a try so that he can enjoy it after coming back from work.. and the results are good,Alhamdulillah.. I got the recipes from the internet.. enjoy the pics!

Roti jala with condensed milk.. my way of enjoying the kuih.. my dear hubby made chicken curry but it has finished by the time I snapped this pic..

Excuse the different shapes & sizes.. hehe.. I'm so not good in arts! hehe..

Oh yeah.. I forgot to upload the pics of the presents that I got from my lovely friends on my birthday.. Thanks again to all of u! (you know who you're;)..)

A spongebob ballon!! I definitely know whose idea was this..;)

Wallet & telekung - inside the bag with the ribbon.. (made by Wan's mother - thank you makcik!)

The weekend is nearly over.. huhu.. back to work again tomorrow.. *sigh*..

My Study Leave So Far..

Salam..

As promised, despite my time should be spent on books and studies, I am back facing this blogspot site and updating you with my stories.. I am convincing myself, though with not very much success, that my week is being spent ever so nicely with studying for my upcoming exams.. Nevertheless, I am here to share my experience in an air ambulance..

Shannon To Northolt

I arrived at the ward yesterday morning early, quickly grabbed Mrs B's notes and registered the events of the weekend in my brain.. It was only at that moment that Sinead (one of the staff nurses) asked if I had had my breakfast.. For obvious reasons, one being I am not usually a breakfast person, I had not.. So, the nurses being very caring as always had me rushed for coffee before leaving the hospital for the journey.. I got myself a muffin and a cup of tea after stopping by at my boss's office, in view that I wanted to discuss few things prior to the transfer.. I was leisurely having my light breakfast when I was called up and told the ambulance was about to leave..

Myself, Mrs B and two family members of hers got on to the hospital ambulance around 9am and we headed towards Shannon Airport, about 30km from the hospital.. The drive was fine but the morning traffic did not help.. Fortunately, we did not have to rush for the flight as Mrs B had an uneventful weekend and was very much stable..

At around 9.45am, we were ready to take off.. The dark green Air Corp plane was ready to roll.. Paul, Ronan and Steven introduced themselves as the officers in charge and helped us on to the flight.. The inside of the 1994 plane was awesome, in the sense that it was like taking a military plane.. There were monitors and radios and radars and infra-red sensors! Not that we were hoping a more extravagant plane, but Mr B did joke that we were taking the "World War II" plane.. Indeed, the propellers on both wings gave it away.. Obviously, there was no in-flight entertainment, no catering service.. But the life jackets were all equipped with radios and flares, on top of the usual whistle and light.. We got the top-end life jackets!


The flight was a little bit rough.. Certainly we were flying a bit lower than the usual commercial flights.. In fact, we were told that the plane is used as marine patrol usually.. Odd times as a free-service air ambulance.. The air-conditioning was loud and the propellers were noisy too.. Other than that, the flight was good.. Also, as I was the medical officer on duty, my priority was to make sure Mrs B was fine throughout the transfer.. I also brought 2units of red cell concentrate in case Mrs B bled.. I did not go for fun - I was working!

We arrived at Northolt Royal Air Force base around 12noon, somewhat 10miles outside Central London.. An ambulance was already waiting for us to bring us to the final destination - Charing Cross Hospital..

At the destination, we brought Mrs B up to Level 6 and steered around until we found that she had a bed ready in Ward 6 South.. The nurses tucked her in and I had to do two things before leaving; 1) to hand over to Prof Seckl's team, and 2) to dispose the blood I brought there in London.. Obviously, there was no reason to bring the blood back as the patient was there in London! I spoke to Dr Jules (Prof Seckl's SHO) and handed over the letters, briefed her the history and handed her the CD containing all of Mrs B's scans.. In the meantime, I managed to dispose the blood to the Blood Bank in Charing Cross Hospital.. I only had the igloo with me going back..

Long Journey Home

I bid farewell to the B's and headed back downstairs where the ambulance crew was waiting for me to bring me back to Northolt RAF Base.. It was a relief that everything went well during the transfer.. I rang my boss's secretary but Prof was not in, so I left a message saying everything went well and I was heading home..

The three guys were out having their curry while I was in the hospital.. We had predicted the transfer would bring me back to the RAF base around 3pm, but we managed to settle early and I was back at the base just after 2pm.. A little paperwork by the boys and we were set to take off again.. We left around 3pm and I arrived at Baldonnell airstrip, somewhat 15km outside Dublin, around 4.30pm.. The trip was fine except for the last 30mins or so.. We flew closer to the mountains and lower too.. So the air turbulent from the nearby mountains was rocking the plane hard! But I managed okay.. I spent the whole journey back sharing stories with Paul.. I thanked the guys and I was off to Heuston Train Station.. It was a bit of a mess as I had to land in Baldonnell, get a taxi (which was waiting for me) from the Co. Kildare base and take a train back to Limerick on the same day.. That was why I had to dispose the blood products in London, because there would have been drama if I was to bring a 'biohazard' on a public transport!

I arrived in Heuston, tried to catch the 5.05pm train but missed by approximately 30 seconds! So I grabbed a sandwich (which was awful!) and took the next train at 5.25pm.. The journey was okay, no problems.. I arrived in Limerick around 8.15pm and took a taxi back to the hospital.. Up back to the wards, returned the igloo in which I brought the bloods and headed home, having in mind Manchester Utd was playing Arsenal in the Emirates!

I got home and Man Utd was already leading 2-0, with a 3-0 aggregate..

Tired

Watched the game and had dinner at the same time.. Of course, the Devils cruise to the finals with a 4-1 aggregate, but stained by bad refereeing when Fletcher got the red card.. He will miss the finals..

Tadgh Lyons from Patient Services rang me later on and made sure I was fine.. I told her I was and she thanked me for doing the job.. I only had the patient's best interest in mind.. When they started to say that they needed clearance from the hospital's Business Manager to get the green light for a locum at 3.45pm on a Friday, I knew it will never get pass bureaucracy and the compromise was on Mrs B, so I took the job..

Overall, it was an experience flying in an air ambulance and I was actually on-duty for once in a flight, not going for vacation! These opportunities don't come everyday - stand up, stick your hand up and take the challenge! Even if it meant sacrificing one day of my study leave..

Well, get well soon, Mrs B..

Salam..

Lazy April

Salam..

Again and again, I re-visit this blog site and throw a few words of the happenings from me and Ina.. Sadly enough, despite many beautiful stories to share, the blog has not been gladly sharing.. Apologies from our behalf.. We will try harder to entertain and inform as much as we used to.. Certainly by numbers, everybody can appreciate that April only logged four entries from us..

Even more worrying, lately all the entries have been of recent happenings between us, but as many could remember, I used to have and write some interesting stories from outside this cubicle house of ours.. I could still recall my inputs on various different topics including of being a doctor and the Large Hadron Collider..

Maybe it is an indication that I have been reading less and less from newspapers and about the events of the world.. Maybe it is an indication that I am now phasing myself to being somewhat an ignorant..

I should make a change..

Flu

As many now have noticed, despite actively trying or passively drifting to be an ignorant of the world's event, the world is now facing a pandemic in the form of 'Swine Flu'.. Albeit, some have suggested that it should be renamed and called 'Mexican Flu'.. At current position, not much is known about this disease apart from few little details..

We know that it is a virus, and quite likely a variant of the recent (2003) virus pandemic in South East Asia the 'Avian Flu'.. The Avian Flu was caused by the H5N1 virus strain.. Now, this pandemic is likely closely linked to (or perhaps a mutation of) the virus and re-presents itself as the H1N1 strain.. The difference : The Avian Flu was transmitted by birds while this new strain is transmitted by pigs, hence the name.. But, more recently, one reported case of human-to-human transfer has been described..


Where did it start? The Avian Flu started somewhere in Hong Kong, but this time it sparked from somewhere in Mexico.. And with Cancun being a popular tourist attraction, it is quite easy to say how this virus can be carried outside the country and infect people so far away from the native origin..

I shall not babble so much about this flu at the moment.. I have to say, I have been reading about it and I will try to find as much information as possible and digest and present to my readers in the form palatable to non-medical-background minds..

Patient, my friends..

The Week

This week had been rather slow-moving for me.. Studies had been somewhat turtle-speed but job was great..

I had the opportunity to see how hard it is now to enrol into a medical school, to the extend I have now no idea what colleges are looking for in the CV.. Even straight A's and excellent extra-curricular activity list are now being deemed 'not sufficient'? Maybe I was lucky at my time..

Also, we had a very interesting case this week passed.. And to cut the story short, we had to look for somebody to transfer this patient to Charing Cross Hospital in London on Tuesday coming.. I initially opted myself out by default as I am taking the coming week as my study leave.. However, at the very last minute on Friday, the Air Corp rang and told us they would not be able to supply a doctor to escort the patient to London.. And it all fell back on to Limerick Regional Hospital to find the escort..

In the end, I agreed as the hassle of finding another escort was too overwhelming (not for me) for Patient Services and Human Resources to handle.. So, as far as this very moment, I am due to travel in an ambulance from Limerick Regional Hospital to Shannon Airport, transfer the patient to London in an air ambulance, then come back to Ireland the same day in, what I was informed, a 'state plane'.. The ones that the ministers use for official travels.. Maybe if I am lucky, I will be in the flight with Mary Harney and I will certainly take the chance to express myself about the cutbacks and closing off of Nenagh and Ennis A&E departments!

I will share my experience of transferring the patient in due time..

No Sushi

Ina was oncall on Friday and only got back home around 4pm on Saturday.. She was exhausted, drained to the very last drop of her energy.. She fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed.. Later that night, she had asked to have sushi on Sunday, so I agreed and decided to take her to Cork..

Unfortunately, the sushi restaurant was closed and all of that sudden her mood changed.. I knew she was heart-broken.. I knew if that one thing had fallen into place quite nicely, she would have been happy for the weekend.. It was only made worse when she was asked to come in to work on Monday (tomorrow) despite tomorrow being a Bank Holiday weekend.. And, it will only be the consultant, Collin the reg, herself and Donncha.. It will be harsh for the two SHO's to cover the whole Geri patients on a public holiday..

I wish her best..

Maybe I will make some breakfast for her tomorrow to smooth her day.. Maybe even bring her out to dinner later if she wants..

Salam..