Shaz - Ina : Love Letters

Reminders...

2011-03-07T19:47:00.005Z

Salam..

A lady with alpha one anti-trypsin deficiency who is struggling to breath properly & is waiting for a lung transplant...

A young boy admitted under section 12 (child protection) whose father hang up on the Garda (police) when they called him..

A nice elderly man whom I admitted but arrested & passed away the next morning..

A very polite elderly man who would be delighted every time I saw him but was struggling to speak as he is dysphasic (having difficulty to speak) from CVA/stroke..

They were some of the patients whom I met recently..

As I was listening to the lady's chest, I thanked Allah for giving me the chance to breath with no difficulty..

As I was waiting with the boy to get his x ray done, I thanked Allah for giving me a loving family who is always there for me..

As I finished doing CPR, I thanked Allah for still giving me the chance to live..

As I was waving good bye to the very nice man was going to be transferred to hospice, I thanked Allah for giving me a good health..

And there is just so much more that I am thankful for... Alhamdulillah..

This morning, a patient of mine told us a story, about how scared she was for having to go for a brain surgery.. It was in the 1970's.. her husband couldn't be there for her as he was working to get some money for the surgery & her mother lived far away.. and there were no mobile phones at that time...

Before going into the surgery, she asked the surgeon tearfully, 'Will you please make sure that I'll be alive for my husband & my mother?'

And the surgeon touched her nose and say, 'Hey baby doll, pray to God.. pray hard that He will guide my hands'... And she did...

I pray that my job will always keep me closer to my Creator.. Ameen..

Till we meet gain..

Sweet tooth..

2011-01-03T09:45:00.007Z

Salam..

For the past week my husband & I both have been unwell - fever, sore throat, myalgia, flu.. and poor appetite.. although we are not yet fully recover, we are much better now.. Alhamdulillah..

For the past few days we have been eating porridge, soup, and then porridge again.. and then porridge & soup.. and soup again;p hehe.. and only yesterday I cooked something other than porridge & soup..

As my appetite is recovering, I just felt like eating a delicious moist chocolate cake with delicious chocolate toppings.. *drooling*.. as it is not easy to find a halal & nice choc cake here, the only viable quick solution was to make it myself.. so, my quest for a nice recipe begun.. but I didn't spent much time hunting for a recipe merely because my appetite said we must make the cake ASAP! (I remember the time I had dengue fever, once my appetite was back, I was really, really hungry for rice, like I have been starving for a month! - no joke)..

The recipe that I tried yesterday was the famous moist choc cake by Bebop.. you can just google the name, and you'll find the recipe easily.. the cake was supposed to be steamed but my steamer isn't big enough.. so I baked instead using waterbath technique.. the cake turned out fine.. a bit too muddy for me though.. maybe I wasn't following the instructions properly.. but it was ok and it was an easy cake to make.. and more importantly, my stomach is happy! burpp.. Alhamdulillah:)

Enjoy the pics!

Pardon the mess.. (both inside and outside the dish..;p) - who cares, I just wanna eat;)

A missing slice (already in my stomach!;p)

C'ya next time, insyaAllah!

p/s: why do they call it sweet tooth?? doesn't really make any sense... teeth don't have any taste.. sweet taste buds? haha..;p

Another year ending..

2010-12-31T19:00:00.005Z

Salam..

Looks like my blog is very dusty now.. ok, where's my vacuum cleaner.. let's clear all the dust away;p

Much has happened since my last entry.. my parents & not-so-baby brother were here for 3 weeks (although it felt like just a week!).. we went to Spain for a week & we had a blast there! lots of stories to tell but am not in the mood of story-mory right now:) let us leave that for another time.. ;)

I don't really have anything particular to write about.. just wanted to have a post for the last day of 2010.. another year is indeed ending.. I'm not particularly crazy about celebrating new year.. but I do have resolutions for the new year.. I think I will just keep them to myself.. ;) I hope whatever our new year resolutions are, the ultimate goal is fauzul a'dzim..

Allah has promised to the believers -men and women, - Gardens under which rivers flow to dwell therein forever, and beautiful mansions in Gardens of 'Adn (Eden Paradise). But the greatest bliss is the Good Pleasure of Allâh. That is the supreme success.

Have a good year ahead, biiznillah!

Off work..

2010-10-17T20:36:00.009+01:00

Salam..

The past few months have been particularly hectic for us.. I was working again for about 3 months, from 2nd week of July up till last week.. to be honest I did enjoy working again (although the were times I was stressed out at work & wished that I wasn't working but overall I did enjoy coming back to work;p)..

One of the reasons that I thought made my working days much enjoyable & bearable was the crazy super cool team! yes,we were crazy! I really love the team.. from my SpR to the interns (and of course my already well-known nice consultant!:)), we were having so much fun together! my SpR is super nice & easy-going (& 'mad'.. hehe.. sorry Jude!);p.. the other SHOs are all great craic - Barry, Andrew, Anne & Geraldine.. the interns (Peter & Brid) are super hardworking & crazy too! together, we did went nuts;p haha.. It just made the days easier & way less stressful with great colleagues! the last week I was working was the week of the NCHDs changing teams.. so we bade goodbye to Barry, Peter & Brid (actually Brid was already off sick since a few weeks earlier).. & welcomed the new members of the team - Marie, Ciara & Aoibhinn (they are super cool too!).. it was great working with them & I do miss all of them.. to be honest, I was sad leaving the team.. I thank Allah for giving me the opportunity to work with such a great team!

In the 3 months of working, I just had a week holiday together with my dear husband.. and in most weeks, we rarely did spend much time together.. there were weeks that I got to speak to him just in the car on my way going to or coming back from work (that was just a 5-minute journey!).. so I'm really looking forward for our next holiday together..

Maldives.. keep on dreaming of going there for a holiday..;)

Our next destination definitely doesn't have any beach but I don't mind really.. my idea of a holiday is just to find a place to relax & away from the usual everyday routines.. Ideally no TV, no internet, no video games;p hehe.. and lots of time for us to just chat away.. ;)

InsyaAllah will update again later..

Atrás a trabajar..

2010-08-28T12:39:00.008+01:00

Salam..

It has been quite some time since my last entry here.. and the main reason for it is that I'm now back to work..

It was definitely unplanned.. initially, I chose to be out of work as my dear hubby is working in the ED & I knew that his shifts are changing every week.. and it would be very inconvenient for us.. and I was proved right! last week I was working from 8am to 5/6pm and he was doing the 4pm-12am shift.. and this week he is doing 6pm-2am shift.. so we barely had the chance to speak to each other.. and for the past week, I had been breaking fast all by myself except for a few nights that I went out & the night that a few friends came over.. we are 'lucky' as for now as it is just the two of us.. I can't imagine the time when we will have children of our own.. I really don't think that this is sustainable..

I have been seriously thinking about non acute medicine.. although I love acute medicine, I don't think that I can survive a few more years to come before we can achieve the position that will allow us to have reasonable working hours.. A few days ago, we were discussing about this matter in our team.. about how many doctors chose the field that would give them the chance to have life outside the hospitals.. one of my colleagues was saying, the top achievers in his class are all taking radiology as they chose to have a good working hours.. and he himself is planning to pursuit haematology.. I do agree.. internal medicine are far too busy.. especially being a registrar.. during oncall, basically the registrar is taking care nearly all of the patients in the hospital - he/she needs to review all the new admissions, the sickies in the wards, the HDU patients and the surgical patients that need medical review.. it is a very demanding job.. I am not surprised that foreigner doctors are filling up the general internal medicine specialist registrar schemes as many of the locals chose not to do internal medicine..

And as for me, I haven't decided yet.. still doing lots of thinking.. many factors need considering.. and along the way, I continously seek the guidance from Allah... for He definitely knows whats best for me.. Although I have planned to be off work during this Ramadhan, He has better plan for me.. coming back to work this time makes me realised that I actually enjoy & miss working.. especially with great colleagues! I will definitely miss this team.. from my lovely SpR, 'crazy' fellow SHOs & superb interns, we are the A team! (or at least that is what we thought;p).. we are having great time together.. and I thank Allah for giving me the chance to enjoy my work.. and I hope I can stay happy & keep enjoying my work in many more years to come.. ameen..

I wish you happy celebrating the remainder of this Ramadhan..

Unsustainable..

2010-08-21T12:43:00.003+01:00

Salam..

Not so long a day ago, I had vented about the stretch me and my fellow colleagues in ED are facing to keep the department, at the very least, crawling, if not walking.. I can say with very confident that I enjoy working in Emergency Medicine, and that is a fact.. But right now, because of shortage of personnel in the job, it feels like I am being sucked into the vortex of 'Job comes first, Life only then'.. It's like in the army!

Rota

The new rota has been proven rather 'inhumane' for us.. Tough, to say the least.. At the present, we are doing 12-2-14-break schedule.. That's twelve days straight (5x 9-hour shifts, then 2x 12-hour shifts, and then 5x 8-hour shifts) starting on Monday morning, finishing midnight on Saturday the week after.. Even that seems breathtaking to explain!

And after that is the long-awaited, highly-anticipated weekend off.. That's the '2' part..

And then, the nightmare stretch begins..

Five days of 6pm-2am shift Monday to Friday,
then 2pm-2am Saturday and Sunday,
then midnight-8am Monday to Friday,
then 8pm-8am Saturday and Sunday..

And all that is really hard to swallow..

After all that

After all that, then we get the deserved break for a week (after a week of nights, which is standard) but also have the opportunity to pull an annual leave entitled to us for another week.. Which in total gives us just under two weeks of leave.. Now, doesn't that sound lavish?

Of course, it does.. And I like the breaks! But, is it humanely possible for a doctor to work 26 out of 28 days, albeit shift work.. Sure, you wouldn't let a pilot fly an airplane for more than twelve hours, you don't see a truck driver on their ninth hour on their shift!

Venting.. Is that all there is?

Not really.. There is also the legality of it.. The European Working Time Directives (EWTD) has documented that doctors are to only be allowed to work at a maximum of 48 hours per week.. I'm sure by now you have your calculators out and start adding up the hours than you and I are clocking every week..

As for me :
Week 1 - 69 hours
Week 2 - 40 hours
Week 3 - 64 hours
Week 4 - 64 hours

Ooh.. That is easy way off the scale for legality, isn't it?

Well, hopefully the people of Ireland will understand this situation and will start talking and writing to local and national politicians, newspapers, TV stations and make the policy-makers understand what they are doing putting the populations life in the hands of overworked medical professionals..

Hopefully, in the next near future, Miss Harney will change something and make the system better, before it all collapses and lives are sacrificed..

Salam..

Tough.. And It Will Only Get Tougher..

2010-08-12T22:09:00.002+01:00

Salam..

Just under a week (I guess) from my last entry, and here I am now again facing the blog page, scribbling nonsense.. Maybe, it is just another way of me venting..

Ramadhan

Alhamdulillah, we have now entered the holy month on Ramadhan.. Myself and Ina have now completed two days of fasting, and to be perfectly honest, it is quite different from the ones we had encountered before..

As we all are aware, the Hijri calendar is shorter than the Gregorian calendar, which essentially makes the Hijri months going 'backwards' in relation to the Gregorian.. And as we have anticipated and, in a way, 'feared', Ramadhan now is getting closer and closer to the summer times - at the season where the days are long and the nights are short.. Even for this Ramadhan, at least at the very beginning, fajr is around 4 o'clock and maghrib is around 9 o'clock in the evening.. That makes it easy 17 hours of fasting daily.. Put going to work in between that, and some other work-related issues, subhanallah, it is hard and challenging..

Day-1 of fasting is usually the hardest of them all where our body and mind are trying to adjust to the change.. Ina was oncall up till 10 o'clock last night.. She managed to finish by 9.30 pm.. Kak Riza and Ustaz Wan invited us to break our fast at their place, and so we did.. I picked Ina up and brought her there.. Thank you, to both of them..

Still another 28 days to go, insya-Allah..

Work

Work being work, it is tough and will only get worse, at the rate things are going.. Specifically, we are short of SHOs in the Emergency Department (ED).. At present we only have 5 out of possible 8.. Furthermore, we are short by one registrar..

And work in the department is not getting lighter, with the closure of some services in the satellite hospitals - Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's hospitals..

Fair play to the bosses who have worked, and still working, tirelessly to try to fill the quorum.. At the moment, we are doing 12-day shift, 2-day break, 14-day shift and then post-nights break.. With these numbers, the job is becoming less and less appealing for other people to apply.. *sigh*

A good news just before I left work today, insya-Allah we will be getting two new colleagues in the next two weeks.. So, hopefully this will help alleviate some of the burden we are experiencing..

There is 'I like the job' and there is 'I'm just too tired to cope with this job, no longer physically feasible for me'..

Well, so much for venting.. Maybe some more some other time.. Hopefully, I will be blogging about something more educational and meaningful the next time..

Salam..

No-Pilot Mode

2010-08-05T08:41:00.004+01:00

Salam..

Alhamdulillah, I managed to squeeze some time to jot a word or two in this page.. To be honest, much has happened in the last few months that blogging was way down on priority list.. As a matter of fact, despite many of you had thought Ina was at home all along, it is not solely true.. She is back to work! So, you can only imagine what our schedule is like.. And what our house looks like!

June
June was quite a busy time for me.. I had loads of academic stuff going on and it took a lot of my time.. So, I will not bother you readers with my so-called educational strive..

One good thing that happened was my mom's birthday.. In all fairness, it was all Ina's brilliant idea.. We (and by 'we' I mean Ina) actually booked a surprise birthday present for mom.. It was a home delivery of a bouquet if flowers and a mocha cake.. But, I think Ina will disagree, and probably a bit disappointed, that they delivered the wrong flower and the wrong cake..

Mom with her birthday present - sent with love from Ireland

Believe me, the hard part was to make certain mom was at home at the time of delivery, without making her suspicious of the surprise plan..

June was also the month I bid farewell to Milford Care Centre.. Having worked there for a total of nine months, I suppose I will miss that place.. Despite not all people like to be working there, I enjoyed every bit of my time there.. I was sad to leave the service and move on to something almost totally opposite.. It felt like a farewell that I might not return to the place.. The first six months I was there, I knew I would be coming back later in 2010, bot not this time.. I got a cap from Dr Conroy and a book voucher from Dr Stodart as gifts.. I thank both of them whole-heartedly..

July
It was a new beginning for me.. I had decided that I want to do Emergency Medicine as a career pathway.. And so I did, having secured the job in Limerick before July came.. Unfortunately, instead of 8 SHOs, there are only six of us.. And we are short by one Registrar.. It only meant that the workload is greater and it will only get worse.. Nationally, there are 270 NCHD posts not filled on 1st of July, and the number is still increasing with people who have a job now opting to resign and flee the country.. It also means that training is getting more scarce as we speak..

Ina was also called to do a locum job given one Geriatric SHO had resigned and did not arrive on scene in Limerick on 1st of July.. Ina is doing a 3-month post as of now.. She will be back at home in October, insya-Allah..

August
It is only a few days in August and it feels like it is flying too quickly for my liking..

Erin celebrated her birthday back in Malaysia - unfortunately, being on-call on the day itself.. Zuhaili has now settled in UiTM in Medical Imaging, which is technically Radiography.. I haven't spoken with Intan for a while but last I checked she was managing okay.. Zaqwan is still in school at seems to do well..

As for me, life goes on with Ina here.. Where to next? I don't know yet.. Hoping to get an Anaesthetic SHO job in January as part of my own EM scheme.. Maybe look and assess my chances getting on to the Registrar Training Scheme for EM (SpR).. Otherwise, hmm.. Australia, maybe? I don't know.. I'm keeping my options open for now..

Well, Ramadhan is coming and before we know it, it will be Eid.. Alhamdulillah, I will be on leave on the week of Eid and the week after.. Unfortunately, because of shortage of SHOs, I am only now allowed to take one week off as annual leave after the night's week off.. It also means that traveling home to Malaysia will be difficult.. *Sigh*

Salam..

In desperation & hope..

2010-05-31T14:53:00.020+01:00

Salam...

We were shocked by the news early yesterday morning.. the flotilla carrying aids to Gaza was attacked by the Israeli commandos.. and a number of aid workers were killed with a number of others were injured..When I first heard about the news, I held the tears at the back of my eyes.. these are people who are sending humanitarian aid.. they were in international water.. and the Palestinians are already waiting with hopes at the Gaza's bay..

Ya Allah.. it was too much for me to imagine.. it was too painful.. I felt helpless..

I've been following the news since yesterday morning & I hope so are you.. and keep the prayers going please.. the Israeli is trying to make it as if it was the mistake of these humanitarian workers.. take note of these & make your family, friends & colleagues understand:

1. Israeli were saying it was their right of self defense.. they said it was a threat to them so they have the right to block the aids..
what about the Palestinians? they were denied the rights to live.. they couldn't even have cement to rebuild their houses.. most everything going into Palestine need to go through Israel.. (some go through Rafah).. they're controlling the quantity of things that can go through which clearly are way less than what are needed in Palestine.. what right does Israel has to be the 'custom checkpoint'?? what self defense are they talking about? these are not warships.. these are humanitarian aid..

2. Israeli said they have been offering to channel the aids through their land..
these ships are carrying things including those that are needed by Palestinians but are banned by Israeli.. they carried medical & reconstruction supplies, children toys.. do you think by surrendering to Israeli, they will keep their promises?? what would make them allow these banned items to go through this time when they have been banning them, like since forever??

3. Israeli suspects the ships are carrying weapons to be smuggled..
I watched the news yesterday.. the reporters have been interviewing a few protesters in UK including those that have been sending humanitarian aid before.. these are people who have experiences working with Palestinians & have been dealing with Israeli.. they are peace activist & humanitarian workers that has been working together despite of different religions.. they have worked beyond the restrictions of political issues.. and one of them said she knew these humanitarian workers in the ship.. they are her friends.. she knew the nature of Israeli,that they would shoot & kill anyone without needed to be provoked.. she told the reporter that each time they are sending out the ships, each ship has to go a thorough check according to the international laws.. there is no way that they can even have a firearm in the ship..

4. the commandos were being attacked first..
why did the commandos intrude the vessel in the first place? the vessel was in international water.. they have no right at all to 'touch' the flotilla.. they weren't being shot at from the flotilla.. they were the ones who intruded the flotilla.. and these humanitarian workers on the ship had said that they would send these aids by hook or by crook.. of course they wanted to protect what they're carrying even with their lives.. of course they were defensive & volatile when the commandos started arriving one by one onto the vessel.. they have no weapons other than what they have in the flotilla - metal bars, knives & whatever they could put their hands on.. if they have firearms as accused the Israeli, they probably would have shoot even before the commandos landed on the flotilla! amazingly no Israeli was shot dead.. commandos with full tactics & strategies have shot dead a number of humanitarian workers that have no firearms on them.. what a way to show that they are commandos!

As we already know, the Zionists have been successful in spreading propaganda before.. they are manipulative & I suspect they would be as manipulative as before in this matter.. so be proactive.. we need to make as many people understand the true situation.. we need to start fighting the idea that they're trying hard to put into the minds of people (that they are not entirely guilty in this matter).. use whatever media you can.. the plain basic truth is that they have attacked a humanitarian aid in international water & have killed aid workers who were trying to protect themselves & the belongings of Palestinians..

And on top of that, keep praying to Allah.. for He has the power over all the things..

'Do they not see that Allah , who created the heavens and earth and did not fail in their creation, is able to give life to the dead? Yes. Indeed, He is over all things competent.'
(meaning from al ahqaf,ayat 33)

In desperation & hope, I turned to Allah..

3 years...

2010-05-19T22:09:00.005+01:00

Salam...

It was our third anniversary yesterday..

It has been 3 years since the day we shared our life.. the day he became my very best friend..

3 years had gone by.. and we certainly had gone through a lot.. and I thank Allah for He has granted us with happiness & love that keeps growing stronger every day..

To Abang, happy 3rd anniversary.. these 3 years had been so wonderful.. you've been very patient with me.. you're a loving & a caring husband to me.. I hope & pray to celebrate with you in many more years to come,InsyaAllah... for the countless time, I love u! :)

Doctors..

2010-05-12T08:02:00.024+01:00

Salam...

Indeed it has been more than a month since my last entry.. apart from exams, lack of ideas would be the main reason this page had been so quiet...

This entry will be a long entry.. and I must warned you that you may not like what I'll write, you may disagree of my humble opinion.. I do not mind.. this is merely my opinion & I know all of us have different experiences which inevitably led us to the differences in our principles & opinions..

Recently, the following link has been increasingly glamour, being posted in the facebook by a few friends of mine

Why we left and why we will continue to leave...

I had involved in a lengthy discussion with my fellow friends (some are doctors, some are not) regarding this matter.. to be honest,my first reaction after reading this article was "i didn't know doctors have serious issues with nurses & MAs back in Malaysia".. but I do understand that this article does not represent the doctors as a whole.. reading the article, I realised it was written based on his own experience.. and as I said earlier, everybody has different experiences.. I know a lot of friends (doctors) who are close to nurses.. again, I know this articles doesn't address the nurses & MAs as a whole.. every basket has a bad apple.. no matter what your profession is, not everyone is really good in what they're doing.. so, it is unfair to generalised just because we know one or two that unfortunately falls into the 'bad apple' category.. even from my own experience, I've worked with, I must say, the best of nurses to the worst ones.. same goes to doctors.. yes, we tend to forget ones that are good.. but I do not like making generalisations.. it unfair to those who has been working very hard to be good,if not the best, in their profession..

Well, the main issue that I would like to discuss does not include the issue above..I've read different sorts of reactions to the above article.. some agree, some don't, some blame the writer back.. it is interesting to see different types of responds especially those of doctors.. i know this issue is a very delicate issues to be discussed.. because all the people including the public are getting different inputs regarding this issue from a lot of different sources.. this issue must be looked at from different various angles..

What I want to discussed first is the issue of doctors overworked in the public sector.. because I believe it is one of main reason why people are unhappy at work which leads to demotivation, dissatisfaction, anger and eventually poor working environment.. it is certainly not a new issue.. it has been a longstanding issue.. it has been highlighted in the news, has been discussed over and over again.. and of the main thing that has been highlighted was the doctors who are working overseas/out of the country and how the government should do something to bring them back.. yes, it may be one of the reasons.. but how about those who quit the public sector to join the private sector? do you know at some point, about one third of doctors leave the public service every year to join the private sector? do you know at some point, private hospitals account for 20 percent of Malaysia’s hospital beds, but they employ about 54 percent of the doctors in Malaysia? what has been done to attract them to stay in public sector? when I Googled about this issue, I came across this

Medical tourism (under the topic Malaysian doctors who return home exempted from public service with conditions)

Wow, that is a lot of money.. from RM58.9 million in 2003 to RM 299.1 million in 2008.. yup, private sector is growing fast.. but what happens to the public sector? hopefully an equal improvement.. I know that the basic salary had been increased for doctors which is a good sign.. I don't really know about other incentives that doctors get in Malaysia.. training grant & study leave would be a good idea.. especially for those who are going for mrcp/mrcog/mrcgp etc.. but we have to realise doctors who left are seeking better life, not only in the financial side (probably not even because of financial stuff) but for better working hours, better facilities & equipments, better working environment.. there must be something that can be done to persuade (not forcing) the doctors to stay in the public sector..

I believe that a proper & thorough study is needed to improve the overall working condition for the public sector.. some doctors are too frustrated that they ended up making complaints in the papers/blogs or whatever medium they can get.. I don't blame them.. but I feel voicing as a group/unit will bring greater effects.. through a proper body for example through NGOs or doctors associations.. but having read those responds by various people, I know it's going to be a challenge.. some doctors are not supportive of the others.. this brings me to the 2nd issue.. I know seniority is a big thing back home.. which has its good and bad side to it.. but I don't understand why it is so badly needed.. respect is something to be earned, not demanded.. and it is sad if a superior is being feared, not being respected.. it doesn't contribute to a positive working environment.. but some said if you're being too kind, they will 'step on your head'.. great! then nobody would ever be nice.. it is always should be give & take.. people being nice to you, you should be nice too.. bullying probably has become less now.. but I do know a friend of mine who quit not because of workload but merely because unacceptable bullying.. it is probably an isolated case.. but it proves that it still happens.. and sadly, when he reported to the hosp director, the answer was 'nothing can be done'..

It is even sadder when the doctors are questioning why others are complaining too much.. funny how many times I've came across this phrase 'kitorang dulu lagi teruk.. tapi survived je..' which is another way of saying why bother changing the system,it's good enough now! of course surviving is one thing, making things better is another.. parents will strive hard to make sure their children has a good if not better life than they have.. but why some doctors doesn't want to do the same for their junior colleagues? refuse to help to ensure better conditions for the next generation? even if they do not want to help, just don't scrutinies others who are fighting for a better future for doctors.. and I know some doctors are sick of hearing others whining especially if the others are their juniors/subordinates.. they feel like many of them are spoil and refuse to learn which unfortunately in some cases are true..but I know it is hard to differentiate between 'spoil' and overworked especially when the superiors already experienced those themselves, that overworking is a norm that every juniors have to face.. but then, less work should mean better outcome,more thorough and quality work can be done which unfortunately some junior doctors take for granted.. the definition of overworked itself varies.. how many works do you have to do to be qualified as overworked? straight 48 hours? 52 hours? 80 hours per week? not having time for breakfast & lunch,does that qualified as overworked? I have no idea of what working time directives does malaysia has for doctors.. but we should have one.. yes, people say doctors must endure long hours.. but not too long.. because tiredness will set in and it would begin to cloud judgment and lead to mismanagement.. doctors are humans.. we have limitations.. our mistakes are often unacceptable.. so whatever can be done to reduce the risks of making mistakes, it should be done..

From the discussions I had,we made a conclusion that doctors should be united.. doctors associations & NGOs representing doctors should be more proactive.. we should put aside whatever differences we have - seniors, juniors, races, local grads, overseas grads- and fight for the better future.. because in the end, we are all working in the same system and we are serving the community.. we deserve the best so that we can give the best.. doctors in the private sectors should help too.. there are so many things that they can do.. I found this blog written by a doctor working in private sector & I found it very useful..

The heart of the matter

and this is one of the article written by him (a very good article)

My health, my country

I'm sure there are more doctors who critically analysing the healthcare system in Malaysia.. as for the above doctor,I must say I like his positivity.. I hope we can stay positive and help doctors like him to improve our healthcare system..

It's time to make our voice be heard.. I'm hoping for better lives for doctors.. in which we have time to do what normal people do - outing with family/friends in the weekends, going for a long holiday every now & then, having time to look after ourselves, having enough time for spouse & children, having the time & energy to study, going out in the evening for a jog/to the gym.. also a good working environment where we respect each other, working in high spirit and with high motivation.. and much more.. it may not happen in 10 years time, probably not in 20 years time.. but we have to start taking steps, big or small.. as it is certainly not impossible..

Another lovely surprise :)

2010-04-05T21:50:00.007+01:00

Salam..

Thank you to my dear friends - Syikin, Haizum, Izyan & Sheila for inviting us over for lunch today.. we had delicious nasi kerabu (thank you syikin!!) and lots of desserts.. and they got a cake for me:) thank you again.. It has been quite a long time since I last gossiping with them;) I miss those times when we were all working in the Regional Hospital.. we did have more gatherings back then..now, it is just once in a while.. as they're all working in different hospitals.. Haizum & Izyan are planning to go back to Malaysia for good this July.. hopefully we'll be able to organise a dinner (at least) before they leave.. I really enjoyed the lunch.. we had a good few hours of chit chatting.. now my hubby knows that I'm not the only one who thinks he likes to nag a lot;p hehe..

cutting my birthday cake :)

the beautifully decorated cake..

the glamorous purple wallet.. a present from Syikin.. thanks a million!:)

Thank you very much my dear friends.. may Allah bless you always... :)

Happy birthday to me! :)

2010-04-04T19:40:00.015+01:00

Salam..

This weekend has been extra special for me.. coz it's my birthday today!!:) hehe.. Alhamdulillah.. Thank you to Allah for He has given me the chance to still be breathing today in good health and more importantly in iman insyaAllah..

This weekend is a long weekend as it is going to be followed by Easter monday (which is a public holiday.. yippie!).. so we decided to go to Cork after unable to do so for the past 2 weekends.. we left Limerick on Friday evening..Before reaching Fairuz's house, we stopped by Hafiz/Zue's house as I wanted to give her some of the marble cake that I baked earlier that day.. Zue was on her way out to visit her friends' house, so I made a promise that we would come over to her house again before going back to Limerick.. although I was calculating when would be the best time to do so..

On Saturday, Fairuz got a phone call from Hafiz (Apek is his nickname), inviting us over to his house for dinner.. and I was relieved coz at least I can keep my promise to Zue.. She also invited a few other families & friends to come over.. at that stage, I didn't suspect anything coz it is a norm (for us anyway) to invite friends to come over for dinner and 'mengeteh' - that is melepak and chitchatting while having tea;p hehe..

And we had our dinner - the delicious nasi lemak (Zue's specialty) and yummylicious lompat tikam made by Fairuz.. and somebody brought a few cakes which I suspected they're meant for desserts.. while I was enjoying the lompat tikam, Fairuz made an announcement that it was my surprise birthday 'party'!! Oh my God.. that was something that I didn't expect at all.. and to be honest, I don't like to be the centre of attention.. (shy maaa...;p) hehe.. the cakes that they brought was actually my birthday cake.. I was so touched.. thank you my friends!! Zue made a cake as well.. thank you Zue! I am blessed with good friends.. I can't thank them enough for making such an effort to celebrate my birthday.. I don't know who to thank specifically as nobody would say whose idea was it.. So thank all of you - Zue & Apek, Fairuz & Asma', Mas & k.Aini, Fahmi & Izaidah.. also to Aimi, Jamilah, Fadrie, and Muizz.. thank you so much! I really didn't see it was coming.. it was a pleasant surprise.. I didn't expect any surprises for my birthday.. as I'm 28 years old (owh,I'm old!)..;p

Me.. cutting my birthday cake :)

Thank you, my friends! (this is the best pic after a few try.. pheww)

Later that night, my dear hubby was not feeling very well.. he was suffering from gastritis that kept him awake last nite.. it became quite severe that we asked Fairuz's favour to send Shaz to the hospital at 3 am in the morning.. and he came back nearly at half 5 am.. poor him.. after Subuh prayer, then only he was able to sleep.. so we had to change our plan today..

I was sliding into the car when I found a large red envelope together with a pink/red paper bag.. I got a present from my hubby!! yeay!!.. hehe.. he got me a lovely birthday card and something else.. ;) it was wrapped in a pink wrapper.. as I was unwrapping the present, I was thinking hard of what it could be.. I was pretty sure that it was a watch coz I did ask for a watch (I left mine in Malaysia.. huhu).. but I was wrong.. I was half shouting in happiness when I saw this thing..

From my beloved hubby.. :)

Yeay!! I got an Ipod Touch! the one that I was eyeing for.. I was planning to buy it later on when I was rich enough.. hehe.. thank you Abang! Love you to bits!!:) I'm now a happy Ipod user..;)

Red is the theme.. incidental, I think;p thank you Aimi & Jamilah.. :)

As it was quite late when we left Fairuz's house, we decided to drop by k.Azy & Taqi's house as they were hosting a birthday party for Muslih.. the food was super lovely! I think that was the first time that I had steamboat.. hehe.. it was a lovely party.. To Muslih, happy belated birthday! :)

We also had another birthday party invitation.. but as we reached Limerick quite late, we had to turned down the invitation.. we're very sorry k.Agee & uncle.. I felt so guilty when I found out that she was planning on celebrating my birthday as well.. and that she got me a birthday present.. huhu.. Sorry k.Agee.. *my guilty feeling hasn't subside yet* huhu.. to Aqilah, happy belated birthday!! hope you have a blast birthday! :) to k.Agee, thank you very much & I'm very sorry that I wasn't there.. :(

Apart from my husband being sick, I am a very happy birthday girl! Alhamdulillah.. All praise to Allah who has granted me with good health, happiness, loving families and a loving husband, and great friends whom I considered as my own brothers and sisters.. Thank you Allah.. and thank you for those who remembered my birthday either with your wish or in your du'a and for those who had planned and made effort to celebrate my birthday (can't thank you enough!!).. may Allah bless you always..

p/s : Happy belated birthday to my beloved sister, K.Yah, whose birthday was yesterday.. may you get the best in dunia & akhirat! love youuuu... :)

Ketika Cinta Bertasbih (KCB)...

2010-03-25T21:18:00.021Z

Salam..

It has been a long time since I made a post in this blog.. I intentionally left it for my dear hubby to write in this blog.. hehe.. I have actually wrote 2 posts but then I keep them as drafts (for the time being).. still need some adjustments before I can publish them.. will do so when time permits..:)

For this entry, I would like to bring your attention to an Indonesian movie entitled "Ketika Cinta Bertasbih".. it is a movie adapted from a novel written by Habiburahman El Shirazy.. if I'm not mistaken, this is the second movie adapted from his novel (after "Ayat-ayat Cinta")..

I was introduced to KCB by K.Riza quite some time ago.. but only last week did I watch it.. Subhanallah.. it is a beautiful movie made in the course of da'wah.. a movie that makes us think & realised that we are far from the true teachings of Islam especially when it comes to love & marriage..

Too many things have been so common nowadays.. too many that we have become desensitized by some mistakes & wrongdoings.. I take one example, in engagement ceremony.. (okay, I did have an engagement ceremony as well..).. there are certain things that has changed so much from the past.. nowadays, not only the guy is present, but he gets a ring as well.. not to mention taking pictures together as a couple and how grand the ceremony is.. and recently, I bumped into somebody's engagement pics & the guy actually put the ring on the lady's finger (in stead of being done by his mother!).. okay, that is soooo wrong.. unacceptable (to me).. is it even legal?? (just being sarcastic;p).. hmm, I wonder from which culture did we adopt these practises..

And one more thing that is becoming more popular nowadays, pre wedding photography.. which I very much opposed (especially when it involves holding hands or hugging).. it costs a lot of money (which should be saved for the wedding itself), it is unnecessary and is far from Allah's order..

“And come not near to zina. Verily, it is a faahishah (a great sin) and an evil way.”

translation from al israa'; ayat 32

Come not near to zina.. meaning not only not to do it, but don't even go near it..

In the early chapter of the book "Tarbiyatul Aulad fil Islam" (Bringing Up Children in Islam) by Abdullah Nashih ‘Ulwan, it is written that tarbiyah should start before the child is even born.. that is tarbiyah to the parents.. once one able to follow the teachings of Islam, she /he can then teach her/his children.. and tarbiyah of oneself started even before marriage (including choosing a spouse).. A beautiful family, brought up in accordance with the teachings in Islam, that is what we are aiming for..

Back to movie that I would strongly suggest you to watch.. yes, this movie has some weaknesses.. but look at the message that it tries to convey.. that love should start after marriage.. no need for dating, no need to spend hours on the phone.. and one should prepare oneself with the knowledge of Islam.. that we must believe of His words in the Quran..

"Women impure are for men impure and men impure are for women impure; and women of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of purity: these are not affected by what people say: for them there is forgiveness, and a provision honourable"

( traslation from surah An-Nur, ayat 26)

Asbabul nuzul for this ayat: Allah revealed proof of innocence of ‘Aisyah r.a. and Shafwan bin al-Mu’attal.. from the fitnah and slanderous lies about them..
And indeed this ayat can be applied to us too..

It is never late for us to improve ourselves as long as we're still breathing.. InsyaAllah..

p/s: It's sad to know that KCB didn't enter the cinemas in Malaysia.. it would be a good alternative for all the modern love stories ..

Facts : the actors & actresses playing the lead parts in this movie were selected through a reality TV.. of all, only one has a background of acting.. amongst the criteria were ability to read Al-Quran & speak Arabic.. it is so touching to see they performed sujud syukur when they were selected to act in this movie (can be watched in the short clip at the end of KCB 1)..

Trailer KCB

Do watch this movie in your leisure time.. :)
Salam...

Farewell For Friends

2010-03-19T20:32:00.008Z

Salam..

About two weeks ago, I updated this blog with an entry reminding me about how hard it would be facing life when we have people depending on us.. Well, today will be a bit different.. First up, I will be sharing a little bit of our recent event with some of our friends who will be leaving this country in the near future, going back to Malaysia..

Last Wednesday - in fact, on Paddy's Day - our friend Kak Riza and Ustaz Wan held a lunch gathering specially for two families who, at present, are busy packing their luggage to go back home after finishing their studies here in Limerick University (UL).. They are Abg Zali-Kak Kin's and Hadi-Kak Aida's families..

Over the last 2 years of me and Ina living in Limerick, we have had the magnificent chance to get to know and befriend these lovely families.. In fact, when Abg Zali and Kak Kin were blessed with Hamdan, their fourth child, we were here too..

Abg Zali is in his final stages of completing his PhD in UL.. Kak Kin was a doctor in Kuantan, Pahang, before she took three years off to come to Ireland with her husband.. They are blessed with a daughter and three sons - Huda, Fawwaz, Nabhan and little Hamdan.. We will certainly miss this family when they leave us here..

Hadi is also just a few sentence away from completing his PhD, also in UL.. His wife, Kak Aida, was an English teacher (as what Ina told me, anyway) before leaving her career for a short while to come to Ireland.. They are blessed with three children - a boy and two girls.. Unfortunately for me, I can never remember their names, except vaguely the youngest one, Qistina.. Even so, I can't be certain.. Again, we will miss this lovely couple and their kids..

Pretty Faces

I have now developed some interest in portrait photography.. At the start of my so-called new interest in photography, I thought that having a DSLR would aid me in taking scenery pictures as I love great scenery.. But, alas, it was actually portrait photography that sticks with me at the moment.. I love capturing emotions which, undoubtedly, reveal more than just smiles and laughter, but also innocence and truth..

Now, why was I blabbering about my photography? Reason is simple.. At the recent lunch gathering, I managed to snap a few pictures, mainly as an everlasting memory of our friends, but on top of that, I managed to capture the innocent and pretty faces of the people there.. Hopefully, one day we can always look back at the pictures and remember the visuals of truthful friendship smiles and laughter, and the great innocence of the moment..

I am happy to share these with you..

Ustaz Wan (host) & Abg Zali

Hadi

Happy faces on stairs

Qistina

Nabhan

Huda, Hamdan & Fawwaz

With Hafiy

Salam..

Testing Times

2010-03-06T21:22:00.002Z

Salam..

Another week has passed since my last entry.. In fact, over a week, anyway.. But, hey, who's keeping count?

Not much has happened over the last 10 days, but enough for me to scribble a word or two to fulfill my so-called resolution for consistency.. A call for interview, a week stepping up as team leader and a few trips around the Limerick ground..

Work, Work, Work

As usual, in fact, as any person in my line of work would probably agree, the bulk of our lives, and indeed, conversation revolve around work.. For me, this week has been quite interesting, in a different kind of way.. Two reason for sure, 1) the absence of my registrar for few days, and 2) what's next for me in my career calling..

I had planned to take a week off as my annual leave last week but due to unforeseen circumstances, albeit not from my part, I had to postpone it to this week.. But no harm done for me, anyways.. What's interesting is the 'turbulent' during the week.. My registrar was away on Tuesday for his interview in Cork, my boss was away on Tuesday handling an interview in Dublin, and again both of them were away on Friday for a conference in Galway.. That meant that I was in charge of the dock on Tuesday and Friday.. Furthermore, we were on-take that Monday night, which also meant that, if I had to handle the post-call ward round alone - it would be either disastrous or a complete calamity.. Each way, I was screwed! Luckily, things were under control.. Phew!

I got called for an interview for an A&E job for coming July.. So bold of me that that was the only job I applied for! Should I not get the job, I will be forced to 'change' my career to a house-hubby.. I should be able to make a strong case for my liking of trauma and acute medicine by proving that this is the only job I applied for, plus the off-the-record chats with the bosses down in the department.. Hopefully, I am making the right choice by taking this road.. May Allah guide me to be the best I can be..

Seeing Difficulties

The last few months, I learned that what I am facing now is not as hard as what some others are facing daily.. I now realize how hard it is to juggle between study and work and rearing a family.. But realizing is not the same as living it..

A very nice couple who are both good friends of mine and Ina stayed with us over the last two months.. Adding to the joy to our house was their little boy.. Of course, it was Ina who looked after the boy when all of us were in hospital..

The joy in their faces every single time they held their boy was indescribable.. In fact, even I enjoy snuggling the chubby kid.. But, with that I also saw how difficult it was for them (and, I assume, every other young family) to juggle between the chores of daily life.. I wonder if I would be able to step up like they do? It gave me great pleasure that them staying at our place also meant that Allah had given me and Ina some opportunity to lighten the hardship they were facing, even if not much..

People say 'learn from your experience'.. I beg to extend.. I believe we learn more from our own and other people's experience, and the only way to learn is by seeing, listening and, if you are really lucky, sharing that experience.. Indeed, these are testing times for any family.. But I always remember and will always remind others around me that Allah has given us so much that it is only fair for us that He would give some hardship and difficulties for us to face, only to strengthen our faith and belief in Him..

Some day, when my turn comes to be tested, I hope Ina and I will be as strong as our friends.. The courage they have showed us and the patience they have portrayed are second to none..

Salam..

Big Steps Ahead..

2010-02-23T21:25:00.003Z

Salam..

Ahh.. Every single time.. Every single time my fingers hit this laptop keyboard, trying to jot a post, it would be my 'routine' apologetic opening paragraph.. For some, maybe this is not a big deal, but if this blog ever has (or had) avid followers, then most likely there are now none!

Maybe I should just make a brave resolution and try to make this a routine for me, jotting a word or two, even if not much..

Of course, so much has happened since my own last entry.. But at this stage, I can never begin to share all.. Maybe a little bit of what has happened recently would suffice..

Career Choices

It is the time again of the year when doctors in the country will be looking for jobs for the coming July.. For some lucky ones, jobs are already secured - those in the SpR schemes or the SHO schemes.. As for me, the last time I went fishing for jobs was two years ago.. Then I got on to the Medical scheme.. It is almost over now, and my two-year contract is almost up.. I have to pack my CV and start fishing again.. As for Ina, one year has almost elapsed since she decided to take the year off.. Now, she too will go fishing with me..

Career choices are not easy a task to decide.. I am looking to take a 90-degree turn in my career and switch to my new interest, from Internal Medicine to Emergency Medicine.. Don't ask me why or how that happened - it is hard to explain.. Needless to say, I am still banging my head to complete my medical membership..

Now that is just one side of the coin flip.. The other side is about my progress in trying to make some publications to 'sweeten' my CV.. At this current moment, things have moved forward in small baby steps.. I have in my bag three poster presented as second author, one case report as first author.. I am hoping to get this case report done and dusted by end of March, if I'm lucky.. One poster has already been presented in the Irish Association for Palliative Care meeting in Dublin earlier this month (many thanks to Along) and the same audit has been accepted for poster presentation in the European Association of Palliative Care in Glasgow in June.. Along might not be able to go and I wonder if I would be available.. It would look nice in my CV if I could.. We'll see..

In the meantime, there are a few courses I need to get into, most of them related to my Emergency Medicine hopes, and some audits that I am to start with few colleagues here before I end my medical scheme.. Ahh, so much to do..

Some For Me, Some For Others

Alongside the things that I am doing for my own career and CV, recently enough, I regained my interest in teaching, certainly when I remember the days when I was craving for help and assistance facing the final year exams.. It was horrible!

And because of that, I have always offered, to my best avail, to help students, especially the final year ones, who are ever facing the biggest challenge in their lives yet.. Over the last few weeks, I have got involved with some final medical students - be it in hospital or in small discussion groups.. It gives me great joy to see that I could share some of my knowledge and (possibly) experiences to help and guide them through these coming tough days.. May Allah help them as much and more as He helped me during my days back then..

I still have a few more weeks to serve them if they would allow me..

Oh, well.. Maybe that is all for now.. Maybe I will update some more some other time, hopefully in the near future..

Salam..

Mixtures..

2010-02-05T20:47:00.012Z

Salam..

A month has passed by without any post on this blog.. my hubby has been asking me to update this blog.. but I just couldn't find the time & the right mood.. it has been quite a busy month for me with lots of things happened.. i'll try to keep this post short & sweet.. (honestly, I'm still not in the right mood;p)

1. my new 'career'..;)

You must be wondering what can possibly keep me busy apart from the usual house chores.. i'm now officially a babysitter.. but for 2 months only..;) I'm babysitting irfan hafiy, a very cute 3-month-old baby of Fairuz & Asma'.. Fairuz is working here in Limerick with the geriatric team while Asma' is doing her medical & surgical rotation here.. now, I have a new routine on the weekdays.. & now I have a taste of a true housewife;) it can be very tiring really.. babysitting is not a new thing for me.. I've babysat a few babies before & hafiy is the youngest of all for now:) hafiy is a well behaved baby & I've learned his everyday routines (although he can change his routine everyday;p).. it's not that hard to babysit him.. when he is sleeping, I'll do the chores - cooking, cleaning etc.. and at the end of the day, I'm usually very tired.. although I have the whole night sleep uninterrupted.. unlike the mothers of young babies.. I must say I'm very impressed of those who can function very well although they have only a few hours of night time sleep after the exhausting daytime chores! well,I guess it is a good practise for me(?);P

2. birthdays..

There is quite a long list of birthday boys & girls for January & February.. started with Fairuz's birthday on 22nd Jan, my dear hubby's birthday on 2nd Feb, my sister & nieces' birthday on 3rd Feb and Ustaz Wan's birthday on 7th Feb.. I've made 3 cakes for the birthday boys - red velvet cake for Fairuz, fresh fruit cake for my hubby & marble cheesecake with cream cheese frosting for ustaz.. None for my dear sister as she is far away in Malaysia.. i'Allah someday I'll make a cake for her & Nusaibah:)

Happy birthday to the birthday boys & girls! May Allah bless you always...

3. inhuman humans..

It was very sad & disturbing reading the news lately on the unfortunate babies who were found lifeless at different places back in Malaysia.. 3 babies in 3 consecutive days.. how on earth do people have the heart to do these (or should I say these people have no heart at all?).. I've heard from my friends who are working in Malaysia that there is a very high numbers of unplanned/unwanted pregnancies (especially those who are not married) - sadly many of them are Muslims.. unwanted pregnancies can lead to lies, feeling terrified, panicky and eventually lead to abandonment or worse, killing of these poor innocent babies.. there is only one solution to this matter.. prevention.. for prevention is always better than cure.. and how to prevent? the answer is simple.. back to Islam.. the teachings of Islam is the perfect solution..

"O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy."

(translation from verse 208, surah Al-Baqarah)

Read the Quran, understand, think & practise.. Don't let Islam be only in your name or only been written on your IC.. Let us be a true Muslim.. Ameen.. InsyaAllah..

I think that's all for now.. hopefully I'll find the mood to write again in the near future.. 'til we meet again in the next post,I'Allah..

P/s: I really think I need a good massage therapy:)

2010..

2009-12-31T20:08:00.007Z

Salam..

Looks like this will be the last entry for the year 2009.. Alhamdulillah.. I thank Allah for still giving me the chance to breath the air, for keeping me in a good health and for giving me a good life filled with the people I love - my husband, my family and friends....

Nothing much has happened since my last entry.. winter is still here.. no more snow for us in Limerick.. but we have frequent rains here.. and strong wind makes it colder than before.. now i have to wear long sleeves t shirts inside the house.. plus fleece robe, socks and wrap myself with an extra fleece! it is so cold that i feel so lazy to do anything! huhu..

Despite the cold & wet weather, I managed to get out of the house last weekend.. k.aida invited me over to her house for lunch + farewell party for along & k.islah who will be moving to Dublin.. my dear husband was working last weekend,so k.yana gave me a ride and we were later joined by k.riza & ustaz wan.. there were lots of foods and believe me, they were all yummylicious!! i brought a choc fudge cake over to her house.. k.aida made a blueberry cheesecake.. i just had a slice of that because i was already too full that day but i wish i can have more:) i never managed to make a soft crust for cheesecake.. that is the main reason why i made cheesecakes that didn't need a crust base!

The next day, we (me, k.yana, k.riza, ustz & 2 other students) went to Kildare Village.. it was the first time I went there.. it is kind of like designer outlets village.. there are other shops as well.. the ones that caught my attention are clarks & home & cook (tefal).. they were having massives sales.. but i've succeeded in restraining myself from buying too many things (of course i bought a few things but they were a lot less than what i would usually buy;p).. seriously i'm running out of space in this house..;p

Tomorrow will be a new day, a new month and a new year for us.. my dear husband is working his last shift in A&E tonite.. next week, he'll be going back to the wards, working in the rheumatology team.. i know he'll miss A&E.. he likes the adrenaline rush especially when managing severe cases in the resuscitation room.. he likes the surgical side of A&E -the stitching, reducing fractures, pulling joints.. he's seriously considering to pursuit A&E for his long term career.. but i think he's keeping his options open.. the next 6 months will help him to choose.. and I pray may Allah guide him in every step he takes.. go abang go!;)

2010.. may it be another great year for us.. may we be given the chance to improve ourselves and may we be granted the strength to strive hard to achieve our aims and dreams.. and hopefully,whatever the outcome is, we will not forget to thank Allah.. what's laid for us further down the road is a mystery.. and the mystery what makes tomorrow and the days that follow interesting.. happy new year 2010!

Snowy winter..

2009-12-21T08:10:00.018Z

Salam,

Snow!!! everybody gets excited when it's snowing.. especially for people who rarely get snow like us in Ireland.. I like it when it's snowing although it'll be very cold before the snowfall.. but once it's snowing, it's not so cold anymore.. for me, snow actually makes the coldness well worth it..

It was snowing last night in Limerick.. we didn't realise it until this morning when my dear husband went out to the car.. no wonder it was freezing cold last night.. we had to turn on the electric heater on top of the central heating that was already functioning.. anyway, I love seeing the snow.. the view was magnificent.. everything turned white.. the downside is that we need to 'defrost' our car plus the roads are slippery.. please drive safely people.. also for the pedestrian, be extra careful.. winter is the time when the orthopedics and geriatrics get extra busy.. as people keep falling plus the rising number of road traffic accidents..

Well, lets see some pictures that I took this morning..

The slippery stairs..

The 'frozen' car.. it's actually not as cold as it looks like.. I wore slippers to go out and took this pictures and it wasn't too cold..

Getting ready to drive.. he had to wear gloves coz the steering wheel was ice cold! and we had to 'bath' this car with hot water to get rid of the ice.. see, cars also have to bath early in the morning!;p

That black space was our parking spot last night..

Even the 'lake' in front of our apartment was frozen.. actually there was a swan trying to swim at the time I took this pic.. poor swan.. hopefully the ice will melt soon..

In a way, I'm glad that my parents canceled their flight to come here this winter.. we won't be able to go anywhere in this snowy winter..

Yesterday, we did our last round of shopping before this Christmas.. My husband is working from today up to the new year without any break.. poor him.. hopefully it is not too busy in A&E.. people, go and enjoy the snow.. don't go to the hospital unless there's true emergency please! back to my story, it was crazy packed at the shopping centre yesterday.. the crescent shopping centre probably has more than 700 parking spaces.. and they're all full!! there were people who actually parked in the trolley lane! and we ended up parking at the side of the road.. I felt like it was exactly the same as the raya shopping back in Malaysia.. except it was freezing cold here plus lots of santa around!;) we didn't shop much for ourselves.. we bought a present for my husband's colleague as they're playing the 'Secret Santa'.. We also bought 2 serving bowls, a mini fountain (pottery fountain) and the groceries for 2 weeks' supply.. hopefully they're enough.. I can't stand the crowd and the queue to pay! my kitchen is full for now.. we actually don't have enough space to keep our food supply.. I felt like we're getting ready for world famine or something.. hehe..

I guess that's all for now.. till we meet again in the next post, InsyaAllah..

Happy New Year!!

2009-12-17T10:53:00.008Z

Salam,

As I'm writing this post,I'm actually at a private clinic, doing a locum job.. gosh,it is so quiet here.. I'm doing this locum job for a friend of mine who should be here but she had to go to Dublin instead.. I must say after nearly 6 months of 'holidays', I was quite worried to do this locum job.. i was worried that I've lost my skills.. plus this is a cardiac centre.. and they did ask me whether my ACLS certificate still valid or not.. do I still remember my ACLS? hope so.. hehe.. but I did some reading to refresh my memory before I started this locum job.. but it was surprisingly quiet yesterday.. my work all day was surfing the internet!! hehe.. to those that i've buzz yesterday, thanks so much for keeping me company;) in a way, Alhamdulillah.. there was no emergency cases that needed my intervention.. ;p

well,this post is intended to wish all of you happy new year 1431H!! I wish that I'm more aware of the Islamic Calender.. to be honest, I forgot about the new year until some people was tagged in the FB yesterday on the do'a for the end of the year and the new year as well.. thank you for those who have reminded me.. I wish we're using the Islamic calendar much more.. so that we won't miss the important dates in the Islamic calender.. or else we're just aware of the 1st or Ramadhan, or the 1st of Syawal.. and more sadly when we missed to appreciate the significance of a date or a month in Islam..

I hope you have a blast new year! let us all start our new resolution(s) beginning this new year.. let us make the Islamic year more significant in our life! till we meet again in the next post,InsyaAllah..

When the husband dominates the TV..

2009-12-13T23:27:00.015Z

Salam,

As I'm writing this post,my dear husband is watching 'Match of the day' on the TV.. as we didn't subscribe the sports channel, he would catch up with the results of football games later on at night time.. luckily they have the 'Match of the day' - they show highlights of every game including all goals.. he would sleep late to watch the program.. sometimes he fall asleep on the couch.. he is a big fan of Man Utd.. so whenever there's a match oh his fav team, he'll get excited.. football is like the second wife to him!

Actually his interest is not only in football.. he loves sports as a whole.. rugby, ashes/cricket, swimming, tennis, even darts (which I never knew there are big tournaments for that!).. you name it, he knows them all (well, probably not all but most of them anyway).. when we watch 'Question of sports', he usually knows a lot of the answers.. I must say I've learned a lot about sports from him.. the game, the rules, the players.. I think he is getting tired of answering my questions on sports.. especially if he is trying to concentrate on a game.. what else can I do.. I can't just stare at the TV watching a game without knowing anything about the game, can I??;)

Tonight is the final game of the snooker tournament.. so you can guess what are we watching now (Match of the day has just finished).. I haven't got a clue about snooker before.. now I'm starting to know the game.. and they actually make snooker fun to watch.. the players have their own personality (I like to watch their different reactions, it can be very funny sometimes), and they showed interesting clips to watch.. and of course, a lot of input from my dear hubby makes a lot of difference.. now I know what 147 means in snooker!;)

I'm impressed on how much guys know about sport.. me and my sisters are regularly become the victims of bullies by my husband and my brother in laws because of our lack of knowledge in sports.. when they all watched a game together, and we popped out a question about the game, they actually gave us a made up answer! and we ended up being laughed at! hmph.. ;)

The snooker game has just finished.. Ding won!!

Addiction..

2009-12-11T18:22:00.015Z

Salam,

Silence has been quite apparent lately.. I really don't have anything interesting to write.. but my dear husband kept asking me when will I write in this blog again..

So,today I'll write about my current addiction.. I'm now an addict! opss.. nothing serious.. I'm addicted to baking.. If I'm bored, I'll bake.. If I crave for cake, I'll bake.. If my husband ask for a cake, I'll bake.. my hands are itching to bake again.. I've made 2 cakes this week.. 3 cakes last week.. not included the 8 cakes I made in the previous weeks.. I'm trying to get out of my addiction.. I would have probably bake more cakes this week but I'm running out of flour & eggs in my kitchen.. and I'm restraining myself from buying any more supply in the near future.. I need a baking rehab!

The source of my addiction!

We bought this beautiful Kenwood Chef Premier last month.. I broke my previous mixer when I was trying to make pau.. my husband has been asking for kaya pau.. so while he was at work, I tried making the pau.. but my mixer broke down in the process.. then I planned on using my hand mixer but it 'blew' right after I turned it on! with both of the mixers broken, I kneaded the pau manually ie using my hand! it was a hard work (luckily I managed to get good results ie good pau!).. when my husband came back form work,he found me in a bad mood and the mixers were in the bin! being an understanding and a loving husband, he offered to buy me a new mixer..;) thank you abg!! and a few weeks later, he bought me a Kenwood hand mixer too:) my friends have suggested either Kenwood or Kitchenaid brand for mixers.. to be honest I've never heard of Kitchenaid before.. but it is actually a popular brand.. they're pricey (twice the price of Kenwood mixers) but they're surely beautiful and strong.. and I heard they're hard to find in Malaysia.. but as I'm not a professional baker nor going to be one, I figured the Kenwood mixer is more than enough for me.. popular brand and the price was reasonable (we got 80euro off for the mixer).. I must say I love my new mixer very much!

Well,to be honest the Kenwood mixer didn't come for free.. it was actually a trade - my hubby bought me the mixer,I bought him the Xbox..;) his xbox broke down a few months ago.. as Christmas sale has already begun, we figured it is the best time to buy the things we wanted.. he has been eyeing on the FIFA10 game for a while.. we were planning to buy Xbox 360 and the FIFA10 game only.. but there were special offers for Xbox.. the price of the Xbox with the FIFA10 game was the same as buying Xbox elite 360 plus 3 games (including the FIFA10) and an extra console.. so I got him the Xbox elite instead.. and of course it makes him happy.. he spends most of his time at home playing the Xbox game.. he can spend hours on the game.. and when he is trying to concentrate on his game, I'm banned from going near him coz I like to distract him.. hehe.. but of course, I still do it..;)

The source of his addiction!

Although he is addicted to his FIFA game and I'm addicted to baking, we still spend some time together.. well, we're addicted to each other as well;D.. he will check on me if I'm out of his sight, and so do I.. people have said to us that we're like playful children in the house.. yes, we do get crazy sometimes.. and I love it!:) it keeps us young and happy,I guess..;)

I better stop now.. till we meet again in the next post, InsyaAllah..

Eidul Adha..

2009-11-30T00:10:00.021Z

Salam..

I'm hoping it's not too late to wish everyone Eid Mubarak! this Eid has been quite a busy Eid for me.. my dear hubby is working in the night shift this week (12midnight-8am weekdays & 8pm-8am in the weekend).. hence his sleep pattern has gone haywire! poor him..

Because of that,I made the Eid preparations myself.. for the Eid day, I made a moist choc cake, dahlia cookies & pasembor.. as usual, we had our raya potluck session at K.Riza's house.. :) this time, we have invited almost all Malaysian families here in Limerick to join us.. the last time that I saw many of them was last Eidul Fitri.. we had great time catching up with each other.. I was the last to leave her house at 11 pm that nite!

The next day I 'fainted' as if I was working the night shift;p hehe.. we were planning to go to Asyik's & K.Lin's open house in Nenagh.. but we woke up late & K.Riza invited us over for lunch.. so, we went over to her house again!

Yesterday, Fairuz & his family including his parents came over.. as we have been to K riza's house twice, we suggested to have potluck lunch at my house this time.. I made simple chicken rice, dahlia cookies (again.. the ones I made before has finished) and a marble cheese choc cake as requested by Asma' not a long time ago.. my dear hubby also asked for a cake to celebrate his Specialist Reg's birthday.. so I made a cream cheese buttercake too.. I've made 8 cakes in less than 2 weeks!! a zebra cake, 3 x layered cakes (kek lapis), marble cheesecake, moist choc cake, marble cheese choc cake and cream cheese buttercake (don't worry, we just had a slice or two of each cake.. the rest were given away;)..) I think that's enough for now.. will let my mixer rest for a while;) anyway, our lunch went well.. thanks to K.Riza & Ustaz Wan for the unbelievably delicious nasi impit with sayur lodeh & to K.Yana for the yummylicious kuah kacang!! alhamdulillah.. our Eid has been quite happening;)

***

Our Eid has been extra special this year.. my hubby's little sister (who is definitely not little anymore;p) has passed her final exams! Alhamdulillah.. well,of course the news was not so surprising for us as we always knew she would made it.. what makes it extra special is that she has been invited for a prize giving ceremony.. she herself has no idea of what prize or why she was chosen and apparently the university has been secretive of what prize she will be receiving.. I'm sure they're trying to make it a surprise! We're so happy for her.. we're very sorry that we can't be there..

CONGRATULATIONS DR INTAN SAFFURA!
WE'RE VERY PROUD OF YOU!!
LOVE YOU!

***

In this last part of this entry, I'll be focusing on an issue that has been quite concerning recently especially just before this Eid.. It was about the Eid prayer, whether it is sunat or wajib.. apparently there was an online kuliyyah about this issue and somehow people got the impression and made the conclusion that Eid prayer is wajib from the kuliyyah.. I was quite surprised when I heard about this issue.. after reading on these 2 articles, I can't resist myself from writing on this issue..

This is a link in which I read about this issue..
Solat Aidilfitri & AidilAdha

And another post written by Ustaz Irfan..
Adakah ijma ulamak solat eid itu wajib

As a person with not as much knowledge as they have, I'm just presenting the two articles on this issue.. I like the approach & explanations by Ustaz Irfan.. the 2 conclusions that he made are very valid points.. of course discussing about mazhab is definitely out of my league.. I'm still trying to learn myself.. somehow I got the feeling that more people are towards 'holding on to hadiths sahih' regardless of what mazhab they are following.. I'm not saying that it's wrong.. even nowadays we sometimes adapt the practise of other mazhab in certain things.. of course all mazhab are acceptable.. and of course Al-Quran and Hadiths are the two sources we always need to refer to on any issues.. what I'm worried is for most people who has not so much knowledge about hadiths (like me).. we can't just find any sahih hadith and hold on to it (especially when we're not experts in interpreting hadiths) without knowing that there maybe another hadith that is sahih as well but have different approach to the same issue.. then we will start saying one party is right and one party is not.. Alhamdulillah we had the 4 great Imams who had provide us with their teachings.. they have studied Islamic knowledge extensively and has made life as a muslim much easier for us.. of course there are issues that are called khilaf between the mazhabs.. but as Ustaz Irfan said, khilaf issues should be debated as khilaf issues.. it is better to present these issues from the point of view of the 4 mazhabs rather than black and white as if one mazhab is wrong and the other is right.. I hope we all can be rational in this issue.. and I pray may Allah guide us in every step we take.. we, as muslims definitely have to broaden our knowledge in Islam.. just need to be careful in our steps.. Wallahua'lam..

Till we meet again in the next post,insyaAllah..

Life Goes On

2009-11-17T12:50:00.002Z

Salam..

As you may have noticed, Ina has been the one updating this blog since my last entry sometime in September.. Indeed, much has happened since then.. In fact, much were of great significance that they mark dates and book memories..

Since my own last entry, we had an almost-three-week break in Malaysia, which in that period there, I bought myself a digital SLR camera.. A D90 more specifically.. Of course, within that three weeks as well, I lost the lens hood of the camera! Silly me.. But, it was a bargain and I enjoyed my new toy more every day..

While back there as well, we spent time in Pangkor Island with my family, in Ulu Yam with Ina's family.. To be honest, I never saw Ina's dad having so much fun in the river.. It was almost as if there was nothing bothering him.. Maybe I am wrong, but that was what I saw that day..

Within that break as well, I had made it clear that I wanted to spend some time with my grand-dad.. I had a twinge that Tok had gone down so much since I saw him last year.. He was not as energetic, his memory was bad.. But he still rode his motorcycle daily.. Indeed, I had a bad feeling..

I was not far off.. Tok died in Ipoh Hospital on 7th of November.. Needless to say, I was already back in Limerick, working.. I received a phone call from mom on Saturday 6th, telling me that Tok was very unwell.. He had been suffering with fever and abdominal pain since Wednesday/Thursday.. Pakcik Fakhri brought him to hospital and within the next 12 hours, he declined rapidly.. Mom had told me that all had agreed that he was for conservative treatment only.. He died the next day.. And I received the phone call 30 minutes into my 12-hour-long Saturday shift.. (I thank Rachel and Jason who gave me some time off that day to gather myself)

Last weekend, I received a call from Donald Grant, an old friend of Tok's.. He was Tok's boss at the time British was in Tanah Melayu, some time in 1940's.. They had quite some experience together - Tok leading his boss running away from the Japanese was the story that pops up every time! Also, Mr Grant's son, Roger, was born in Batu Gajah and my grandma had looked after him for a while as a baby..

May he rest in peace, among the people of Jannah..

Ina also had a new toy - a mega mixer! Yup, the one I call 'Transformers'.. It is a Kenwood mixer but has multiple attachment outputs that you can actually attach different other things.. Of course, each attachment is sold separately, like Transformers' gadgets! Hehe..

Well.. I have babbled a lot this time.. I should stop.. Till later..

Salam..

Life is a rollercoaster..

2009-11-13T09:56:00.007Z

Salam,

Sometimes I wonder what's life going to bring to me in the future.. or what will I bring to my life.. where will I be in 5, 10 or 15 years time.. sometimes there are to many of 'what if' questions.. is it a good thing? probably.. sometimes..

We may be too scared to face the truth.. to face the future.. we may have so many doubts in taking each step.. but I guess in the end, we need to have a little faith.. stay brave & strong and take every challenge coming at you.. and believe that He has the very best plan laid for you..

We may not get everything that we wanted.. we may lose the very best thing that we owned.. we may not reached our goals.. we may be tested in every step we take.. should we stopped? should we continue? should we take a break & take time to ponder upon ourselves? there is no definite answer.. when we need some signal or a little direction,we have Him to ask to..

What if we want something so much.. just one thing.. and we keep asking again & again for it.. and without this one thing,we just can't go on.. should we stop asking? should we passed on and forget about it.. what if we can't? what if there is no way that our wish can be granted?

"Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower,"

"Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire!"

Al-Fatihah..

2009-11-08T16:12:00.019Z

Salam,

Yesterday we were given a very sad news.. Tok (my dear hubby's grandfather) has passed away.. He was sick on Friday and was admitted to the hospital.. and my inlaws decided that he was for supportive care only, given his age and overall fitness.. they were told to be prepared for the worse.. and on Saturday,he passed away...

When I got the news from Erin, Shaz has just left for work.. I tried to call him but at the same time my mother in law was actually on the phone, delivering the news to him.. and then he called me back and there was sadness in his voice.. he told me that mum (my MIL) has told him.. and I don't know what else to say to him other than asking him,'are you ok?'.. and he replied, 'I don't know'.. and there was a long pause.. I wish I was there with him when he got the news.. I wish I could find the right words but my mind just went blank.. he was trying hard to calm himself and so was I..

Tok has played a big role in my hubby's life.. I would say I didn't get to spend much time with Tok.. in fact, I just met him for a few times.. but I've heard a lot of stories about him from my dear hubby (and from my MIL & SIL as well).. all the happy & funny stories.. and from the way he told the stories, I knew that Tok is part of his happiness.. and of course part of his life & his memory since childhood..

Last picture with arwah.. taken a few weeks ago..

I remember the story that he told me, which happened when he was in the boarding school.. Tok went visiting him when he was in MCKK.. Tok came by the gate (not the front gate) and ask one of the schoolboys to find my hubby.. and when he arrived, Tok threw a durian over the gate for him! Tok would asked my MIL about my hubby every now and then.. he would cook his ever famous & delicious lamb curry every time we went back to visit him.. I know for sure that Tok loves his grandchildren very much.. my dear hubby also told me about how Tok would make sure that his grandchildren have their dinner.. there were times that he would dragged them and sat them beside him and he would feed them himself.. one of the funny things that Shaz could not forget was that Tok liked to watch the tamil news, a long time ago.. Shaz was merely a boy at that time, and with his cousins,they would sat in front of the TV to watch cartoons.. but as soon as the Tamil news started,Tok would switched the channel.. and nobody could switched the channel back.. ;)

Tok has been a very independent man.. He would do anything he wanted in his own way.. he was a strict man.. his 'best friend' - his motorcycle.. countless times people offered him a ride but his choice would almost always be his own ride.. even until just recently, he still ride his motorcycle, at the age of over 80.. he was the treasurer for the death khairat in the kampung for 23 years.. he has been close with the people & the mosque.. for 23 years, he did his work efficiently..

we'll miss you..

I love to hear stories of his youth.. When he was young, he used to work with a British man, Tuan Grant, who became a close friend of his.. he used to work as a 'pongkah pola' (fan curve puller)- I think!.. and that was the era of the communists.. If I was not mistaken, his work have a lot to do with taking care of the estate/forest.. whenever he went into the forest with Tuan Grant, there was always the danger of being attacked by the communists.. he remembered Tuan Grant very well.. when we went to see him last month, he did again tell us some story about Tuan Grant..

I'll miss his story & I'll miss the sight of him.. sitting on his favourite chair in front of the TV.. doing his own things.. no matter how hectic it was around him, with kids screaming, running or jumping, or when we were chit chatting like crazy, he would stay relaxed in his chair.. like nothing could bother him.. he didn't say much, he made a few remarks sometimes.. a few small cit chats.. but his presence that was important.. and I guess the house will never be the same without him..

I'm glad that we had the chance to visit him last month.. when we were paying a visit to Opah's grave, he showed us some empty spaces nearby and said that he would like to be buried in the same graveyard.. as if he knew that his time was near..

We all will miss him.. he will stay dear to our hearts.. we were told that he passed away peacefully.. with no difficulty.. and so many people turned up for his funeral.. alhamdulillah.. it gives us some peace in our hearts.. in this midst of grieving, everyone is still trying to cope.. the sadness will surely stay but hopefully it'll heal with time.. we will keep him in our hearts and remember him in our prayers, insyaAllah.. he has raised his children and his grandchildren very well.. he has done lots of good deeds throughout his life..

'O Allah! Forgive our living and our dead, those of us who are present and
those who are absent, our young and our old, our males and our females,
those of us who are present, and those who are absent. O Allah!
Whomsoever among us You keep alive, make him to live in Islam, and
whomsoever You cause to die, let him die in faith. O Allah! Do not deprive
us of our reward for (supplicating for) him, and cause us not to go astray'

I'm probably not the best person to write about Tok.. what I've written here is just a small part of his life.. and I'm sorry if what I wrote is wrong or not accurate..

Home sweet home..

2009-10-31T17:05:00.007Z

Salam..

Oh God, today is the last day of October & I suddenly realised that we haven't post anything this month.. the reason is that were in Malaysia from 6-24th of this month.. it was actually kind-of-a last minute plan.. at first we thought that we're not going back to Malaysia at all this year given that we have other plans made up.. but of course plans changed.. and we bought our tickets last month..

Luckily my dear hubby managed to changed his annual leave.. Alhamdulillah.. (adding another week to October, so we had nearly 3 weeks of holidays.. yeay!!).. we had planned our 3 weeks carefully to make sure that we would spent quality time with our family..

We left Ireland on the 5th October,departing from Cork.. my hubby finished work at 8am that morning and our flight was at 4.30pm on the same day.. (we were desperately want to maximise our time in Malaysia;p)..

Alhamdulillah our journey was uneventful.. we had a few ours of transit in Heathrow.. we were so tired - my dear hubby was up all night working the 12hours shift and I spent the night packing our stuffs and cleaning up the entire house.. it was a big relief when we sat in the MAS airplane.. with the 'Selamat datang' greetings by the flight attendants and raya song played in the flight,my heart was shouting "Malaysia,here I come!!".. how I miss home so much!!

We arrived an hour ahead of our schedule.. and I must say that the pilot was a very good pilot.. for the take off and landing,we didn't feel a thing!.. thanks Mr Pilot! ;)

We definitely had a blast back home!! there are so many things happened.. and I'll keep it short here.. the first weekend we had an open house at my home in Kundang.. and guess who did the cooking? my father!! (owh,i forgot to mention that my mum is still in mecca..).. he prepared the undeniably delicious beef curry to go along with the lemang and beef soup (sup tulang!!) for the bihun soup.. my eldest sister also came home over the weekend.. it was like a very busy nursery,with all of my nieces & nephews fighting with one another,nearly non-stop.. hehe.. but I guess it would be so quiet and gloomy without them!!

2 of my aunts came all the way from Perlis to spend some time with us.. they brought so much food ie pekasam & fresh fishes.. and they've cooked so much dishes (all were yummylicious) plus the traditional kuih as well.. thanks very much mak tam,mak njang & pak tam!! I was planning to bring them for a short getaway at a resort but unfortunately syamil had a fever.. plus the timing wasn't very good.. so we went to a picnic instead.. I can't remember when was the last time I went swimming (or rather bathing) in a river.. the water was ice cold! it was so much fun.. the next day we went for shopping at Nilai 3.. I didn't buy anything but just to accompany my aunts & uncle..

the second weekend, we went back to my hubby's side.. we spent a night in Batu Gajah, one night in Pangkor Island and a night in Taiping.. pangkor beach was really beautiful.. it was clean and the water was clear.. we stayed in coral bay resort.. and that night we had seafood dishes at a ikan bakar stall just outside the hotel.. the next day we left pangkor at noon and headed to taiping.. that night,we went to night safari at zoo taiping.. later on,we had our dinner at Doli kuey tiew goreng.. it was kind of funny of how we tried to find the restaurant.. it used to be a small stall.. but now it has become a fairly big restaurant.. they only serve 6 types of dishes but the restaurant was full!! and when we arrived there, there were on 2 types of dishes left.. wow,they really make a good business!! I was so amazed of how successful they've become.. in the restaurant,the put the pictures of their old small stall.. and now it has become a lovely restaurant..

the next day we went to the Maxwell Hill.. we went up to nearly the top of the hill in a jeep.. the drivers are well trained.. 93 corners with some sharp corners and small steep road.. i was quite afraid of the height- going down was more frightening than going up.. it was more than 1000++m over the sea level.. but the scenery, Subhanallah.. it was breathtaking.. beautiful & calming... love it!!

apart from the weekends, we also had dinner at acik Hisham's house & a BBQ dinner at acik nuar's house.. acik Yan said she hosted the BBQ specially to celebrate us.. thanks very much!! we also hosted an open house in Seremban for the TKCians.. we didn't expect that nearly half of the school would come over for the open house.. but understandable as they're students.. reminds me of my students years in a boarding school - almost always hungry..;p

There's so much more that I wanted to write.. probably at some other time.. will try my best to update my blog regularly.. insyaAllah we'll meet again in the next post..:)

Eid 2009

2009-09-29T15:08:00.005+01:00

Salam..

As you may all aware at this stage, I have not blogged a word for quite some time.. Nevertheless, my lovely wife has been keeping this page rather active and alive over the course of my silence.. Enough said on our first ever open house, it was a memorable moment.. To my wife, Ina, I am really sorry I was no more of a help.. The only think I did was literally cleaned up the front (including vacuuming and mopping the floor) and did the trash.. I'll try to do better next time, when we plan another open house or similar gathering at our place..

Eid 2009 - What's Different

To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed so much of this Eid.. The reason was as simple as I had missed THREE Eids prior to this one.. In fact, I actually thought that I missed only two.. Not that one was not significant to remember, but all three were missed because I was working..

Eid Al-Adha 1429 - I woke up that morning in the smelly and stenchy hard bed of the Res.. Washed myself and bought a cup of coffee to-go and on with the post-call ward round.. When every Malaysian women in the hospital wore bright-coloured baju kurung and the men had looked fresh and smiley, I had to spend the day in my, possibly, MRSA-stained scrubs, until I got home that evening.. Of course, I missed the Eid prayer that morning..

Eid Al-Fitr 1429 - Waking up that morning was definitely different.. It was the the first day of October.. I had just finished my rotation in Palliative Care and was then back based in the Regional.. HR had called me and asked me to be on-call on that day.. Despite strongly declining and refusing, their argument was that I would be the only one in the rota for that consultant on-call to know the run of the hospital.. Two new colleagues came from Cork and had never worked here.. So, the best option was to have one 'oldie' to show the ropes to the 'newbie'.. It also meant that my own new team was expecting me to turn up at 9 o'clock that morning..

Eid Al-Adha 1428 - Honestly, I could not remember anything from this day.. Was I to preoccupied with work that I missed this one too?

This Eid

I had calculated the days and found out that I would be working that weekend of Eid.. And it was not as if I could turn up late for work as I had to relief the guy who worked the long-hour night shift.. It would not have been fair for him for me to ask him to stay for another couple of hours just so I could go for the prayers..

Alhamdulillah, Allah blessed me with an opportunity and I managed to break a deal with a colleague - I would do his 8-hour shift on Friday (when I was supposed to be off) and he would cover me on that Sunday for eight hours and I would come in to finish the last four hours of my original shift.. That turned out very well, despite me oversleeping and only left home for work just after 4 o'clock!

* * * * *

The morning breeze was cool enough to chill the so-thought semi-brittle bones of mine.. But the warmth from the bright ray, just peeking from behind the cotton-thin cloud was just about sufficient to counteract the coolness felt on skin.. The day was bright, the weather was perfect, the day was Eid again.. A small drop of tear pooled at the corner of my eye on the very morning takbir was humming inside of me, praising Allah for the opportunity to meet Ramadhan again, and meet Syawal again..

It was a perfect morning..

Though.. Deep inside of me, maybe I had dreamed of something better.. What could be better? Allah only provides the best for His servants, and what we deem better for us may not what He deem best for us.. And He is the All-Knowing..

I had hoped to celebrate and welcome Eid with my children with me.. But they are not with me today.. They are in Jannah, celebrating Eid.. I was here with my forever beloved wife, my soul companion, making the most of Eid here on earth.. Her love for me is undoubtedly the fulfillment and definition of love itself..

Maybe next year, maybe next time, insya-Allah..

O Allah, give us the strength to face the coming days together.. And maybe one day I will have my family with me on the morning when we would all gather and welcome Syawal.. As for now, this is the best for me and for us as seen by Allah, not as seen by me.. Ameen..

Salam..

Our first official open house for Aidilfitri..

2009-09-27T23:21:00.007+01:00

Salam..

Alhamdulillah, we managed to host an open house yesterday (26/9/09).. it was actually a last minute plan.. as I've written in the previous post, we celebrated 1st day of Eid at Ustaz Wan's house only.. I wanted to have the feel of Eid, like I used to feel during my student years.. went from to house to house.. meeting old friends and making some new friends.. so I suggested to my hubby, why don't we host an open house and invite all our friends?.. but somehow I got the impression that he wasn't too keen on my idea (maybe I was wrong).. but probably because we only have Saturday free and he was going to finish work at Friday midnight.. probably he was worried that I would be left alone to prepare all the food..

So I discussed again with my dear hubby and he agreed on my plan.. and on Thursday, I began to send invitations to my dear friends.. I realised it would be on me alone to prepare all the dishes so I decided to cook something simple with less work needed to be done.. so on Friday morning, we went out to buy the groceries.. we went to Harun's shop to get the meat.. when I walked into his shop, the first thing that he told me was that somebody broke into his shop the night before.. poor him.. he lost all his sales from the day before & all of the calling cards that he left in his shop.. when I got there, the police haven't even come yet.. hopefully they will be able to catch the culprit..

So that evening, I started to cook.. I started early coz I knew that I needed quite some time to finish my cookings.. firstly, because I was cooking alone and secondly, I was trying out new recipes.. I started off with baking the cheesecake and making the rendang.. and the list went on.. when my dear hubby came back from work at 1 am, I was still cooking.. the next morning, I had everything on my table - pulut kuning, rendang, mee, kuah bandung, sup tulang, baked macaroni & cheese and cheesecake.. plus my raya cookies... Alhamdulillah, I managed to cook the main dishes in time.. my dear hubby woke up early that morning to clean up the house.. thanks abang!;)

When I first sent out the invitations (through text and facebook), not many people could come.. but on the day itself, many of our friends turned up at our open house.. it was a bless!! some of them I haven't seen for months and many of them came over to our (rented) house for the 1st time.. Alhamdulillah, it was a great day.. I would to thank all of them who came over to our open house (especially those who came a long way from waterford, galway, ballinasloe, cork & nenagh) - abg zali ( k.kin) & family, khaironi (k.azah) & family, asyik ( k.lin) & family, hafis (azraa) & family, fitri (k.yulia) & family, syieza, zai & husband (rifqee) , syakira & husband (fendi), ustaz wan & k riza, fairus & asma', jamilah & the gang, kay reen, fadzrul.. thank you very much!! it was our first official Aidifitri open house.. we didn't get the chance to do it before as we were busy working and we were in Malaysia for our first Eid together:) after all the guests left, we went over to Ustaz Wan's house (for 2nd time this Eid) as abg amin & family were there.. it was quite late & they couldn't come over to our house, so we went over to meet them instead.. we haven't seen them for over 2 years as they were in UK.. we got to meet so many friends in a day! yeay!! Alhamdulillah..

Today, we extended our 'eating activities' to abg zali & k.kin's house.. they hosted a birthday party (Huda is 7 years old now!) plus Eid open house.. we met new friends there.. now I know, Limerick is not that bad after all.. there are quite a number of Malaysians here.. it just that we don't get the chance to meet each other that much.. hopefully there'll be more gatherings to come, insyaAllah:) after the birthday party, saadah & the gang from Cork came over to our house.. we had a few hours of chit chatting & a quick evening tea before they went back to Cork..:) thank you to them as well for coming over to our house.. I am blessed with bliss of friendship!!

I better stop now.. need to get a good rest tonight.. I haven't clean up my house yet;p will do that tomorrow insyaAllah.. till we meet again in the next post..

Eid Mubarak 1430H!:)

2009-09-22T23:23:00.009+01:00

Salam..

Ramadhan has gone and now we're in the 3rd day of Syawal.. All praise to Allah who has blessed us with the holy month of Ramadhan.. I pray may we be given the chance to meet Ramadhan again..

We spent this Eid in Limerick.. my dear hubby had to go to work for 4 hours on Eid day, hence the decision to stay in Limerick.. as there were only a few Malaysian families left here (and many of them have plans on Eid), we had a potluck session in Ustaz Wan's (& K.Riza's) house.. so there were me and my dear hubby, Ustaz & K riza, Mas & K Aini.. and later that day, Fadzrul joined as well (after we left K riza's house)..

I cooked a few dishes - the usual dishes - soto, nasi impit, rendang & pulut kuning.. I also made a choc cake & few raya cookies - makmur, suji badam, almond slices & tart.. all of these dishes were my 1st try except for nasi impit & makmur.. God, I barely could stand on my feet on Eid morning after spending the last evening of Ramadhan in my kitchen.. now I know, cooking can actually be exhausting.. I don't know how did my mum able to cook ( in large quantity) by herself.. usually for raya, she would made ketupat daun palas, rendang, kuah kacang, and the main menu would be different from day 1 to day 7... I remembered when we were living in Kepong, mum's laksa was very famous as that was the main menu for the 1st or 2nd day of Eid every year (without failed!).. Arwah Uncle Safari (a family friend & my school van driver) was amongst the 1st to come over to my house.. he was one of the biggest fan of my mum's laksa.. He would make sure that he came over to my house on the right day;) I can't deny it was yummylicious! not only the gravy, but the laksa itself, she made it from scratch!! I would sat beside her, watching her making the laksa.. she used a special mould for that, and I liked seeing the laksa falling down nicely.. it was like playing with play dough;p hehe.. for me, cooking laksa is quite a hassle.. making the gravy is another long process.. we need to boil the fish first, then separate the bones before blending them.. sometimes they ended up in my mouth first;D hehe.. but the end result, is worth it! I guess most people would say mum's cooking is the best!! same goes to me.. mak is very good at cooking.. even until now, everytime I go back home, she will make sure that I get to eat my favourite dishes..

Usually for the open house, while my mum would be busy in the kitchen, abah would be busy tidying up the house.. making spaces for the guests, and taking out the serving plates & casseroles.. that was his specialty! and on the Eid night, he would be busy following the group reciting the takbir from house to house.. I miss to hear abah reciting the takbir & I miss to perform the Eid prayer with my family.. made me more homesick!!

Writing about Eid, I can't stop myself from reminiscing about the unforgettable memories of Eid.. there was one time when I spent my Eid with scars all over my face ( my forehead, my chin & some on my nose!).. due to my 'stunts' riding a bicycle without a brake! hehe.. I didn't realise that the bicycle actually didn't have a brake (or probably it wasn't working), not until I was riding it down a hill.. I was so terrified cause I was riding it in the middle of the road (which was quite a big & busy road).. and I have no idea at all how to stop the bicycle.. and I ended up hitting a tree (I would called it a 'head on' collision except that trees do not have head;p).. You can laugh about it but it was actually a horrible accident.. sore, a little dizzy and scared, I went home walking.. I didn't even remember crying probably because I was scared to death! when I reached home, my plan was to hide myself (haha.. of course it was truly a failed plan).. abah noticed I sneaked in slowly and ran upstairs, and of course he could sense something was wrong.. ;p so abah was the first to know about my accident.. it happened during Ramadhan and that Eid, I had a few extra 'features' on my face ;D hehe.. my mum was worried about the scars on my face, but Alhamdulillah as I grew up, they disappeared.. but if I touch my chin, I can still feel a small scar.. the scar that reminds me of how 'adventurous' (ie naughty) I was!

Another incident that happened around Eid was an injury to my big toe.. that Eid, my mum cooked satay-styled chicken (ayam masak sate).. and I was the only one who really like it.. there were lots of leftovers of that chicken.. so after the guests went home, as usual mak & abah cleaned up the table & kept the leftovers in the fridge.. then we all went for a quick evening nap.. but I woke up earlier than the others and I was hungry for that chicken.. I knew that my mum kept them in the fridge, in a beautiful casserole ( a white casserole with some small flowers decorations - I can still remember it!).. I didn't want to wake my parents up and I thought I would manage to get them myself.. so I went down to the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out the casserole.. and suddenly.... pranggggg!!! the casserole fell onto the floor (actually onto my foot!!).. Oh God.. I didn't expect the casserole to be so heavy that it could slipped away from my hand.. my good intention of not waking up my parents obviously didn't turned out well.. my parents was shocked by the noise and they rushed down to find me standing in front of an opened fridge with pieces of chicken and shattered casserole at my feet.. haha.. but of course their reaction was more on concern rather than anything else.. and of course i wasn't scolded as I was hungry and was just trying to feed myself! pity me.. not only I didn't get the chicken, I hurt my big toe! I had quite a big cut just underneath the toenail.. it was so sore.. and the next morning, it got swollen and I could hardly walk properly.. so for the next week or so, everyday abah would put the gamat oil and massage my toe, to reduce the swelling until I managed to walk properly again.. both of these incidents happened when I was in primary school..

Hmm.. what a nuisance I was;p hehe.. but my parents have been so patient with me.. that is what we called parent's love.. A love that is given whole-heartedly, not asking for it to be returned.. and all I can do is to try my best to keep them happy, in every way that I can, so that they're not worried about me or my siblings too much anymore.. it's time for them to rest and enjoy their time.. they have done so much and I know anything that I do is not even close to what they have done for me since I was born (or even before I was born!).. but all I can do is to try my very best.. I pray may Allah bless them always.. and I pray may I be a good daughter to them..

All in all, this Eid has been a moderate celebration for us.. we spent the Eid day at one house only and we spent the rest of the Eid day on the phone, calling our families in Malaysia and my mum in Macca.. and on Monday, we all went back to our usual routines.. maybe this weekend, we'll host an open house.. to all of you, I wish Eid Mubarak.. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.. Maaf zahir & batin.. may the spirit of Ramadhan stays alive.. may we meet again in the next post, InsyaAllah..

A special thanks to mama (my mother-in-law) for the beautiful baju raya.. you really made my day!:)

Blogging..

2009-09-05T22:28:00.014+01:00

Salam..

Today we broke our fast in the hospital as my dear hubby is working over this weekend.. I cooked chicken padprik with fried potatoes & egg and brought them over to the hospital.. it was actually a nice feeling going to the hospital neither as a doctor nor as a patient;p hehe..

There were 3 of us breaking fast together - me, my hubby and a colleague/friend.. we were having small conversations and we came to a short discussion about blog & blogging.. he asked us why do we write blog.. and I actually have a very long answer for him.. now my friend (you know who you're and I know you're reading this;)), I'm going to give you the reasons why I started blogging..

I don't remember exactly when I was 1st introduced to blogs but I do remember a few years back, when I was a medical student, I had a roommate who loves writing and owns a blog.. I probably knew about blogs way before that but she sparked my interest on reading blogs.. In her blogs, she put quite a number of links and somehow I ended up reading a blog written by a senior of mine from high school.. but sadly enough she passed away at a very young age in a car accident, leaving behind a son who was just a few months old at that time.. I was shocked by the news and I felt so sad and so sorry for her husband and her son.. Allah loves her more.. she passed away not long before I found her blog and her husband continued to write in her blog.. he wrote about their memories together and how he missed her dearly.. reading her blog from the start, she has documented her journey well.. and I know that someday, when her son grows up and learn to read, he will be able to know his mother through her writings... he will be able to read his mother's wishes for him.. he will know how much she loved him and how much she was loved and missed by her husband, families and friends.. and that's the beauty of writing..

We started this blog a year after we got married.. and my very 1st intention of writing this blog was no other than to write to myself.. I figured out that with documenting our journey together, I hope to live in the memories and to cherish the important moments in my life.. now and again I read my previous posts.. some of which I didn't even remember writing them! and I love reading my hubby's posts especially if it involves me in it;) hehe.. reading what he wrote about me makes me realise that he did notice the small things.. and the small things make things big! I would say reading them makes me fall in love all over again;) so I guess I can say it's a good therapy for married couples (at least it's true for me!)..;)

Another reason why I started to write is to express myself.. I can surely say that I'm not very good at expressing myself.. I like to keep things to myself.. and I think that a healthy way to deal with it is through writing.. it's not really in our culture to say 'I love you' to our parents everytime before we hang up the phone, or to our friends before we bid goodbye.. or to our spouse before we go to bed every night.. but we know that we love them and they love us too but we just don't say it.. why? I have no idea.. when I was little, my mum like to ask me, 'do you love mak (mum) or abah (dad)?' and my answer would always be 'I love mak & abah'.. and somehow as I grow up, the words are no longer mentioned.. I know action speaks louder than words but what harm can it do if we also say the words? So I guess my to go around it is to write.. I love all of you!!

So my friend, I hope you can find some answers in this post of why we started and continue to write in this blog.. as you can see, I didn't put any links or list of followers in this blog (although my dear hubby kept asking for it;p) and the reason is the same reason that I've mentioned earlier - I initially wrote this blog to myself.. but I'm more than happy to share my thoughts and my stories with all of you and as time goes by, we've put in a few posts dedicated to our readers.. I welcome all of you (with all my heart) to read this blog & to leave any comments.. and I'm honoured that I do have some readers:) thank you very much.. do visit this blog as you wish:) till we meet again in another post, insyaAllah..

The memories of Ramadhan..

2009-08-31T16:22:00.005+01:00

Salam..

Alhamdulillah.. all the praise to Allah who has given you & me the chance to meet Ramadhan again..

This Ramadhan feels different to me.. maybe because I feel that I have more time in my hand.. more time that I hope I will spend to improve myself..

Ramadhan brings a lot of memories.. since my childhood until now.. Alhamdulillah, Allah has given me the greatest chances of spending Ramadhan in different environments & with different sets of people..

I don't remember at what age I started to fast properly.. I started fasting for a few hours a day, initially, just to practise.. all that I can remember is that I was so weak on the day that I managed to complete my 1st proper fasting.. towards that late evening, I just laid down, having no energy to do anything else.. and my mum asked me a few times whether or not I want to break my fast early.. but my determination was above all.. but there were also days that I sneaked up on the munchies & pretend that I was fasting.. hehe.. they're all memories that makes me smile.. how cheeky I was!!

Getting up for sahur was another story.. Usually my dad would wake us up.. abah had different ways to wake us up.. he would 'sing', he would tickle and he won't stop talking until we were up.. hehe.. and after finish eating, while waiting for the azan, he would teach me the niat.. everyday until I was able to mesmerise it myself.. I think I was 5 or 6 years old at that stage.. but of course, by the next Ramadhan, he had to teach me again;)

How time flies.. now I'm all grown up & married.. and seeing the pictures of my parents, I realised that age have taken its toll on them.. how I miss them! all the childhood memories of my Ramadhan will be remembered.. this Ramadhan, we celebrate it in different parts of the world.. I'm here in Ireland with my husband, my mum is now in Mecca until after Eid, while abah & the rest of us are in Malaysia.. that doesn't make this Ramadhan less special than the usual.. thanks to the technology.. they're all a phone call away.. but of course, I miss spending Ramadhan as a whole big family, together.. hopefully someday.. insyaAllah..

How is my Ramadhan so far? Alhamdulillah, everything is going good.. and hopefully it will stay good,if not better, until the end.. I guess I better stop now.. need to prepare for breaking fast..;)

Third Ramadhan..

2009-08-24T15:49:00.004+01:00

Salam..

Since my last entry about the Riverdance, which was quite a week ago, nothing much has happened.. Yet, it would be ignorant for me to say that I did not intend to write about Ramadhan which has come to greet us again this year..

This Ramadhan marks my third Ramadhan since I became a husband.. We have gone through so much since the first one, back when we were up in Letterkenny - me not working and Ina was doing her first doctor job.. The cold and misty mornings and wintery wind of North were things I could remember from that Ramadhan.. Not that I have no other recollections, but I would rather keep those to myself.. In this entry, I would just merely share the commons.. We had our Eid prayer in Dublin (even though the Eid prayer in Letterkenny was one day early!) and flew home to Malaysia the same day..

My second Ramadhan was already in Limerick.. That was a tough one for me, not because of the longer fasting hours compared to the last one, but I could remember clearly that it started on the first day of September and ended on the first day of October.. The matter that Eid was on October 1st meant that I was oncall and had to spend the day in the Emergency Department admitting patients, not even having the chance to go for Eid prayer that morning.. I spent most of the fasting month when I was working in Milford, which was not a busy job.. I had the chance to write and distribute an article I wrote about Ramadhan to my colleagues in the centre.. It was a blessing and, indeed, was a da'wah opportunity for me as a Muslim.. 1429 was also the Hijri year that I was post-call on 10th of Zulhijjah, on Eid al-Adha.. I missed both Eid prayers that year..

Starting on the 21st of August this year, Ina and I welcome the third Ramadhan together.. Sadly, it is still just the two of us.. This year, maybe I will have the opportunity to greet and celebrate Eid with my wife.. Insya-Allah, God's willing, Eid will fall on Saturday or Sunday - both days of which I will not be working.. Ina is also not working.. Maybe I will take some time off later in October to go back home and celebrate the remaining of Syawal with our families..

O God, whiten my face with your light
On the day You would whiten the faces of those dear to You
And do not blacken my face with darkness
On the day you would blacken the face of Your foes

Salam..

Riverdance - Irish At Its Best

2009-08-18T21:18:00.005+01:00

Salam..

As promised, I will share my experience having witnessed the great Irish Riverdance in Gaiety Theatre in Dublin last night.. As far as honest is concerned, I had wished to see the show since I first saw and heard of them, and that was quite a few years ago.. In fact, I realised that I like different culture that I would take every opportunity to experience and watch them.. I suppose that statement would now be apparent and evident throughout our travelogues.. Well, here is for sharing..

Riverdance

Where the river foams and surges to the sea
Silver figures rise to find me
Wise and as daring
Following the heart's cry

Feel the magic and power of surrender to life
Uisce beatha
I am living to nourish you, cherish you
I am pulsing the blood in your veins

The show started at 8 o'clock but we were already in there by 7.30pm.. The fact that the hotel we were staying in was so close to the Gaiety Theatre, it was no rush to get to the venue..

The show consisted of two parts, with a fifteen-minute interval in between.. It started off with a very gentle instrumental music and then with a more upbeat dance.. Throughout the show, a mixture of great dances of soft and hard shoes, awesome instrument displays and even magnificent vocals.. I have to say, I enjoyed the hard-shoe dance better than the soft ones.. Maybe because the echo of the strum of steps made by the dancers excites me more - such precision and punctuality..

In between the shows, we refreshed ourselves with some cold drinks and ice-cream, a little bit sugar for the next half..

At the end of the show, the crowd stood up for a standing ovation and, in all fairness, had hoped that it was not the end of the performance.. Overall, I thought it was a magnificent show.. However, I was a bit 'disappointed' by the length of the show (hoping for more, obviously) and quite a small theatre.. Maybe because I had watched Michael Flatley performing in larger centres and had hoped that the Gaiety Theatre would equal them.. But, other than that, it was worth every penny!

Maybe someday I will invest more and watch the troupe perform somewhere else.. Maybe even see Mr Flatley in action..

I loved it!

Salam..

Birmingham : The Leisure Vacation

2009-08-16T12:38:00.008+01:00

Salam..

Clearly for most of you, this blog page has been, for most of the time, very very quiet.. To the point that even myself started to wonder whether it was actually worthwhile having a blog but not updating it on a fairly regular basis.. Of course, being busy is almost always the party line for any excuses.. Well, I am indeed terribly sorry.. I may well vow to update this blog on a more regular basis than the occasional 'sorry' introductory lines, but I will not, because it seems that it would probably be a false promise anyway.. Either way, I can only promise to do my best..

Anyway, the last week was fantastic.. Of course, it was the complementary week off after the week of nights.. The seven-day midnight-to-morning shift was drenching.. It was exhausting.. But enough on that.. After the shift ended, that same morning I got home and took a couple of hours of nap, then got ready for the trip.. Ina had booked our flight around 5pm that evening, so I did not have much time to rest.. Plus, let's be honest, after that week of nights, I was a Batman - waking at night and sleeping during the day.. In fact, 5pm was just around my bedtime!

Day 1 : Cadbury World

We did not plan to go to this chocolate factory until the day we flew to Birmingham.. Not that we did not want to go, but we were unsure when to go.. We took the train from Birmingham New Street to Bourneville, which was about 15 minutes away.. Even the train station at Bourneville was coloured purple.. As a matter of fact, Bourneville is the hometown of Cadbury chocolate.. The trip included shows of the origin and travels of chocolate, free chocolate sampling in the factory and fun with chocolate! Honestly, I avoided playing with the dairy-milk chocolate 'liquor' since I did not want to risk my T-shirt stained!

Day 2 : Drayton Manor Theme Park

For some reason, both myself and Ina have become a big fan of theme parks.. As a matter of fact, I don't even remember a fan of theme parks until just under three years ago.. Of course, I have been to many theme parks before we got married, but I don't think Ina had been to one before we hooked up.. I can still remember the first time I brought her to a mini theme park in Salthill, Galway.. She was scared as a cat in a tin can the first time she was in a ferry's wheel.. But, believe me, it was the trigger of her thirst for theme parks!

Drayton Manor was somewhat a consolation as the original plan was to travel by train to Alton Towers.. But the journey was a little bit to far and ('luckily') the weather was not permitting either.. In fact, even in Drayton Manor, the weather was in the category of 'horrible'! It rained all day that we had to buy a raincoat.. Maybe, the weather was the factor that deterred us from taking all those crazy rides.. We only rode some of the coasters, but avoided most of them..

Drenched in rain, only the cheap plastic raincoat as cover

Either way, it was a wet day but a fun one..

Day 3 : Warwick Castle

It was undoubtedly a better day.. The sun was out, the breeze was soft and the clouds were invisible! We took the train to Warwick and gambled our way to the castle, which was about 10 minutes walk from the train station..

We were greeted by Jolly Jester, the Princess and a knight (in shining armour!).. Paid the ticket and off we went to the castle.. There was a lot of scheduled performances that we did not want to miss and inevitable resulted us entering the Warwick Dungeon later in the day.. My personal favourite was the trebuchet and 'fireball' trebuchet shows.. We also climbed the 255-step towers and witnessed Ina breathless like her lungs had collapsed! That was a scene!

Archery class for 5pounds!

Day 4 : SeaLife & Walking with Dinosaurs

By this day, my sleep cycle has already come to terms with normality.. We headed towards the NIA on foot.. It looked quite far in the map, but was only about 20 minutes leisure walk from our Radisson SAS Hotel.. Ahh, the weather was gloomy but we were indoors.. No bother.. The SeaLife building was next to the theatre where we would be for the dinosaur show..

SeaLife is just another name for aquarium, as far as I was concerned.. Not that it wasn't fun, but at this stage it has all become the same to me.. Later in the afternoon, we walked to the NIA again and watched the ultimate show of our vacation - Walking with Dinosaurs.. The show had only one word to describe it - extravagant! Our seats were on the second row from the front and the view was great.. We had so much fun that the five days there were just a matter of flying time..

SeaLife Birmingham

T-rex in action

Riverdance

We arrived in Limerick around one o'clock on Saturday.. We have about two days to sort ourselves out - rest and wash all clothes.. We will be traveling to Dublin on Monday to watch Riverdance in Gaiety Theatre.. I have always wanted to see this performance but only now I have the chance..

I will let you know the details after I come back..

Salam..

Learning The Hard Way

2009-08-03T20:23:00.002+01:00

Salam..

Indeed, it has been quite some long time since my last entry.. As a matter of fact, my last entry was from our day-2 journey in Paris.. Even that is still not finished yet.. I still have another four days to complete that series.. Oh, dear! I am very lazy, am I not?

New Phase Of Learning

I am pleased to tell you that since the start of July, I am no longer the in-house officer for medicine, but now working in the Emergency Department (ED, or A&E).. To be honest, I was terrified at the start, and in fact still am.. The thought of seeing a patient face on with pretty much nothing but their words was a horrifying one.. But, I was eager to take the step.. In fact, I had once said to a colleague that I would want to spend some time in ED to know the feeling of not knowing and making the best guess for what was happening..

My wish came through.. I am now posted to be an ED officer for the next six months..

I knew it would be hard, but I was (half-) ready to make the leap, run the course.. Alhamdulillah, as of now, I have made it through the first month.. The learning curve for this job is magnificent - from the straight forward unstable angina and pneumonia to the 'I'm not sure what's going on' stuff and multiple-problem cases.. And also, I am learning loads about the surgical stuff that I would never thought of doing as a medical SHO - suturing, dislocations and fractures..

As the days go, I become more confident with my decisions and making judgment calls - stabilising patients before I refer them to the appropriate services or sending them home if I feel they would be safe to be discharged.. To my own benefit, I made a presentation on one of the teaching days pointing out the difficulties I faced to make the appropriate referral.. My boss was present and, in fact, he thought it was a good! I was pleased with myself but also feel relieved that my SHO colleagues were also facing the same and similar challenges..

As of today, I have done few suturings, staplings, reducing dislocations and casts.. I am proud of myself, but also realise that there is still much to be learned.. I don't want to rush myself, so I am taking cases as they come to me.. Hopefully, I will be alright..

I am starting my night duty shift tonight and, to be truthfully honest, I am terrified! There will be only one SHO (me!) from 2am to 8am tomorrow.. I am up to my 90's at this moment and really freaking out.. I hope it would be okay..

Salam..

Cream cheese butter cake..

2009-07-29T15:57:00.008+01:00

Salam..

A few of my friends have been asking the recipes of the cakes.. and I'm more than glad to share them with all of you:) the biggest problem is I'm not a good keeper of my recipes.. hehe.. Sometimes I copied them down, sometimes I printed them out.. and to make things worse, I have about 4 chiffon recipes, a few choc cakes recipe and I couldn't make up which one has the best outcome! I need to have a better way to keep my recipe.. posting them here is a good idea..

As I'm still trying to find the recipes, I will post the ones that I've found.. so, this will be the first recipe.. cream cheese butter cake..

The first recipe that I came across can be found in this link Naz Rinn Chan. Then I came across another very similar recipe (which I'll post in this entry) but I couldn't remember the source of this recipe.. credits to both..:)
the 2nd recipe was really similar to the first one except for the ingredients.. the steps are exactly the same..

here is the 2nd recipe..

200gm butter
200gm cream cheese
250gm castor sugar
5 egg yolks
5 egg whites
250gm multipurpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (sift together with the multipurpose flour)
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1. Mix butter & cream cheese until smooth & creamy
2. Add in sugar gradually
3. Add in egg yolk,one by one.
4. Add in the flour. Slow down the mixer speed, add in vanilla essence.
5. In a different bowl, beat the egg whites until it gets bubbly. Add in cream of tartar.
6. When it has reached its peak, take 1/3 of it and add into the mixture of cheese/butter. Fold in gently. Repeat again until finish.
7. Pour into a buttered and lined cake pan. Bake in a preheated oven 170 degree C for about an hour.

*what does stiff peak of egg whites mean?
It means that the egg whites are beaten to the extent that it gets fluffy.. when you scoop it & try to pour it, it won't pour/ it will hold a stiff peak.. it will takes about 15-20mins using the mixer to reach the peak.. don't overbeat..

It is a fairly simple recipe especially for the first-timers in baking and the outcome is nice.. my husband doesn't like fancy cakes, and he did enjoy eating this cake.. the taste was just nice.. good luck!

Housewife..

2009-07-22T19:55:00.013+01:00

Salam..

It has been a while since we last updated our blog.. We just couldn't find the mood to write in our blog & to continue with our travelogue of Paris.. we will surely finish it sometime (hopefully soon)..

As the title reads, I'm a full time housewife now (temporary post).. ;) it wasn't easy to take this 'career break'.. to be honest I wasn't really sure about this.. towards the end of June, we had great times.. we weren't too busy.. and the workload was reasonable.. and I was offered another 6 months in geriatrics.. I felt like I'm becoming more confident in doing my job... but I've made my mind although the job offer was very tempting.. I kept convincing myself that I needed this break.. that I need to prioritise my life..

But on the 3rd of July I received a phone call from my ex-registrar asking if I'm interested in taking the offer.. and I kind-of-said no.. unfortunately another SHO resigned on the following Monday (that made they short of 2 SHOs) and they were desperate to find at least a substitute.. so again they called me, offering the job at my own conditions - whatever length of time I would want to work, locum rate, no call, either at rehab or regional - just say it, and they would agree.. and at that point I knew they were really desperate.. to think about it, it wouldn't be fair to the other SHOs in that team.. they are all new to the hospital, and geriatrics are nearly never not busy! and I felt obliged to help them.. short by 1 SHO probably still acceptable,short by 2 is definitely not! so I accepted the offer, that I would work up to a month or less if they found a permanent SHO & I would want to work in the Regional Hospital rather than in the rehab..

So I went back to work on the 12th of July.. it was a whole new team - new registrar, SHOs & interns.. turned out it was a quite week (which never happened before!).. our patients list - one page only! Prof made a joke that we should all be in disguise during our ward round (so that people won't argue that we should have less team members).. hehe.. 4 SHOs and 2 interns covering for 20+ patients.. that's like 3 patients each! well.. to be honest, that happens like once in a blue moon or should I say once a year.. hehe.. I felt like I was paid to just be at work without actually doing any work.. gaji bute.. hehe.. we were on general take on Wednesday - so I was expecting more work to be done on Thursday.. turned out we were very lucky.. we just got 9 patients to ourselves.. by Friday, our patients list was back to a page! 4pm Friday - we all left the hospital.. and Collin (the SpR) told me they found 2 SHOs and both of them would be coming to work the following week.. so that Friday evening, I bid goodbye to my new colleagues.. and somehow, I did feel sad.. they were all very good colleague.. I hope they'll enjoy their time in Limerick & I hope that I did help them in some way.. we'll probably be seeing each other again at some stage ( I hope)..

so since then, I'm back to 'unemployed' status.. hehe.. to be honest, I'm quite bored being alone at home.. going out? - too lazy.. but I'm lucky that my hubby is working in A&E now so he is doing shift work.. that means he spends maximum 8 hours in hospital everyday except if he's working on weekend (12hour shift).. and he also have more breaks - he is given a week off after working the night shift + followed by 2 weeks of 'optional' leave (he can either choose to work or to take the leave as it won't affect others), which means he can actually have up to 3 weeks off after each week of night shift.. but of course he is limited to 3 weeks of annual leave & 2 weeks of study leave.. this week he is on the evening shift (4pm to midnight)..

So what did I do at home? not much really.. just the routine things.. surfing the internet, cooking, watching the TV.. oh yeah,and planning our next vacation:) yeay.. our next destination is UK.. it'll be a leisure holiday, which means we are not going to many places and we will have more time to just relax.. can't wait for the next 2 weeks.. and then we will fly to UK.. our tentative is still a secret.. hehe.. this will probably be our last holiday for this year.. but we will see..;)

I did try a few new recipes.. I made the marble trio cake.. I also made karipap daging, keropok lekor, cendol & doughnuts! as for now, my baking activity is suspended as my mixer is broken:(.. my hubby will try to fix it at some stage.. I can't believe I didn't buy the product cover! uwaa.. will definitely buy it for every electrical item I'll be buying from Argos from now on..

the last cake I made before my mixer 'went on strike'.. huhu..

lightly fried meat curry puff..

home made cendol..

I'm a big fan of keropok lekor.. I loveeeee it.. I'm so thankful that I found the recipe - it tasted not as good as the one in Malaysia but at least we can still have a taste of it.. I finished them all in just 3 days! for breakfast & evening tea everyday;)

freshly made keropok lekor..

my breakfast.. hehe..

I guess I won't be cooking much after this.. need to control my diet, need to do more exercise plus I need to study for my exam.. that's all my aim for the next 2 months.. I need to have proper plan for my study and my diet.. hehe..

In less than a month, we will be celebrating Ramadhan.. time really flies.. I pray may this Ramadhan will be better than the last one.. especially as I'm not working.. I miss spending Ramadhan with my family.. the best one that I had was when me & my whole family spent our Ramadhan & celebrated Eid in Mecca.. that was the one of the best Ramadhan so far.. I pray may He give me a chance to be there at least once more.. Aminnn.. to all my readers, happy fasting & may Allah accepts our good deeds & forgives us of our wrongdoings.. Enjoy Syaaban & the coming Ramadhan:)

Paris - Day 2, Walkthrough

2009-06-23T06:07:00.008+01:00

Salam..

Alhamdulillah, we managed to finish Day-2 of our Paris tour in one piece.. Despite the fact being disappointed several times during the day, I was still fulfilled by the achievements in the day..

Louvre - The Wait

We left the hotel early in an attempt to beat the similarly-eager tourists at the Louvre entrance.. When we got there, the shine was bright, the wind was cozy and the morning traffic was just about to pick up.. We stopped by at one of the bridges which connects the two banks of the Seine to snap a few pictures.. All of the pedestrian bridges are usually jam-packed with people, but we were lucky not much of a traffic was there so early in the morning..

We arrived at the front entrance of the Louvre - the famous home of Leonardo's Mona Lisa, the action scene of the movie The Da Vinci Code - with the big glass pyramid welcoming us.. The queue was not that long, probably just about 50 people in front of us.. We arrived around 8.00am and had pre-empted the long queue, so fifty was not bad.. And we knew the front door was to be open only at 9.00am.. Unfortunately, there was a delay in the administrations part that the opening time had to be postponed to 10.15am.. We were losing precious time! So we decided to leave the line and visit other places first, maybe come back to Louvre on Wednesday, again attempting the front line.. We also realised that the museum will be closed on Tuesday..

It was really disappointing that that happened.. I was excited to explore the three wings of the majestic building.. Our day-plan was disrupted..

And Ina was getting cranky!

So, we went off to find some other places to visit, unknowingly to us several more disappointments were waiting for us..

We arrived at the Palais Royal only to be welcomed by a construction/renovation site.. *Sigh*..

Then Ina wanted to see Galerie Vivienne, so we walked there, again only to find an empty corridor of what looked like an old bazaar.. I had to convince Ina that the lighting at the time of photography was the snatcher when we looked at the picture in the guidebook.. *Sigh, again*..

We then headed back to the compound of the Louvre, but rather to queue we walked in the Jardin de Tuileries, a beautiful and one of the oldest public garden in Paris.. It was a stroll, really, taking several pictures along the way, just to soothe the building disappointment that greeted us that morning.. We stopped at the two ponds and dove into relaxation, trying to re-arrange the day as we went along..

At the entrance of Jardin de Tuileries

We decided then to take the Siene river cruise, the Batobus, to continue our vacation.. We hopped on at Musee d'Orsay and went all the way to the Latin Quarter, hopping off at Notre Dame.. We went inside the old cathedral where Quasimodo had lived before, astonished at the lavishness of the interior.. We did not spend long in there as there was a mass going on at the time we arrived.. The long queue again stopped us from waiting in line for the tower climb..

We headed to the Conciergerie and then lunch across the river.. It was not that difficult to find a halal food shop, as we had thought before arriving in Paris.. After that, we were back to the building beside the Conciergerie, Sainte Chapelle.. The queue was long, made worse by the airport-like security checks.. By the time we got in, we did not spend time wandering around and zoomed straight to the chapel.. The two-storey lavish building was equipped with the most extravagant tainted glass collection I had seen so far..

Admiring the stained glasses of Sainte Chapelle

We passed the time there and after that continued back to Notre Dame, now in the queue for the tower tour.. At that stage, even somewhat late in the afternoon, tourists were coming by the dozens, making me wonder whether Monday was usually a holiday for Paris or was it just summer time vacation for people.. After the wait, we managed to climb the tower, and boy it was tough.. The staircase was steep and tight.. We were only allowed to enter by tens every ten minutes, to avoid the traffic.. The first level was not bad, then up to the upper level and then all the way up to the peak of the cathedral.. At that stage, Ina was gasping for breath, puffing and huffing all the way! We climbed down after just being allowed five minutes at the top..

In front of the Notre Dame of Paris

Bird feeding in front Notre Dame

We took the Batobus again and headed back to our hotel..

Day 1 was not as bad as I had painted here, but certainly the queuing was not helping and the fact that the Louvre was delayed and we subsequently postponed our planned visit to the museum made a bad start for the day..

We enjoyed being at the top of the Notre Dame, we were astonished by the greatness of architecture and art in Sainte Chapelle and Conciergerie, we had a nice walk through Jardin de Tuileries and we liked it a lot traveling on water in the Batobus.. It was not all bad at all..

We will undoubtedly keep you updated of our progress in Paris..

Salam..

Paris - Day 1, Arrival

2009-06-22T04:10:00.004+01:00

Salam..

It is early and both of us are excited.. It is our second day of our stay in Paris.. 'Bienvenue' is what the Parisian will offer the greetings of to excited faces of tourists.. I may just summarise the first day of our stay here in this short entry..

Departure

We left our warm and cozy home and had Mate to drive us to Shannon Airport and arrived just before 12.30pm.. We had checked-in online (to spare our €40 per head charge) and had to wait just about 10 minutes before the baggage drop counter opened to drop our bags.. We then had lunch at the cafeteria upstairs.. Maybe we had planned it just nicely that after lunch we made our way to the departure gate and did not have to wait long at any stop..

Interestingly, just when we were about to board the plane (literally!), an airport groundsman asked us if the bag he was holding was one of ours.. It did look like Ina's bag, with the same padlock! We claimed that it was ours, thinking that the chances of somebody else having the same bag with the exact same lock was very unlikely.. Looking back, had we not claimed the bag, somebody might well be spending the vacation in Paris with no changing clothes! Or it would even be that way had the airport staff not taken the initiative to ask whose bag it was because there was no bag tag - it could well be left in the airport waiting for somebody to claim it! Phew..

The flight was direct and took one and a half hours and we arrived at Paris-Beauvais Airport around 5pm French time (GMT +1).. We took the prepared bus to the centre of Paris (well, not exactly) and the drive took about another hour and a half.. Myself and Ina actually did manage to catch a snooze on the bus.. As we approached Paris city centre, we saw the traffic - dense and horrible! But we had planned not to drive here (plus the fact that the French are left-hand drive) so it was less of our worries.. We arrived at Port Maillot bus terminal around 7pm..

Hotel

We tried our best to orientate ourselves in the middle of this new place but had failed so badly - mainly because the bus terminal was not even in the map of our tour book.. Port Maillot was further Northwest from the centre of Paris.. So, we took a cab and headed towards our hotel.. By the time we arrived, it was just turning 8pm.. In fairness, it was still summery bright, so we were not bothered by the lateness of the time.. We checked-in in our little 3-star hotel, Grand Hotel de Champagne.. It was close to the Louvre Museum which we will be spending our time in today.. The hotel is not as grand as we had initially thought, but I think it will be enough for resting as we are not planning to laze in the room but to wander around Paris..

Dinner

We were excruciatingly starving at this stage, so we headed out to find some decent dinner.. We walked North-bound Boulevard de Sebastopol as we were looking for the halal fried-chicken shop up this road, only to stop halfway when we saw a very busy restaurant with some Arabs there running the show.. We saw the Halal Certificate at the door and decided not to go down further to find the fried-chicken shop .. I had a whopping 'grillades mixtes' and Ina had something else (I don't even remember the name!).. They were both basically grilled meat with chips and rice and salad.. We were then entertained by two cups of Arabian tea on the house to finish.. That settled the grumbling tummy!

Strolling down Les Halles

As we made our way home, we realised two things; one - how did people say they manage to finish Paris in two days? It is big and very lively; and two - finding halal food is actually much easier than we thought.. We treated ourselves to some crepes with Nutella chocolate and walked back to our hotel.. At that stage, we were all ready to call it a day..

Lively Paris - street performers

Looking Forward To Louvre

We hope to visit the Louvre Museum today and some other places, maybe spending the sunset watching the busy Paris traffic from the top of Arc de Triomphe.. Maybe we will be able to catch a glimpse of the wrought-iron Eiffel with the lights on when the sun settles for the day, bearing in mind we are approaching the longest day of the year in two days' time..

I will keep you updated..

Salam..

The Long Silence, The Long Awaited Break..

2009-06-20T16:04:00.003+01:00

Salam..

Ahh.. Indeed, it has been a very very long time since my last entry in this blog, and also since Ina's last entry.. In fact, it was Ina's blog was the last entry.. Well, I guess it has come to the phase where job was just too difficult to handle to allow some time for blogging.. I know, I know, blogging is usually for people to read the owner's so-called online diary/journal.. Maybe we are just not ordinary people.. Extraordinary? I don't know.. Different..

For the few who glances into this site, I am very sorry it has not been updated lately..

I thought I would just say a few words.. Next week, in fact starting today, is our long-overdue annual leave.. Now, it is just going to be a week, but trust me, it we will be spending the time somewhere very interesting, maybe even romantic!

I will keep this updated..

Salam..

A week in conclusion..

2009-06-05T22:20:00.020+01:00

Salam..

I haven't been writing since last week.. reason - I'm back to work this week.. Much has happened since the last entry that I made.. There are wonderful memories, happy moments, sad news and mixture of events..

I'll try my best to put them all together in this entry..

Last weekend..
It was a long weekend as Monday was a public holiday.. as the weather was very nice with lots of sunshine, we decided to go to Cork.. People would ask, what would we do in Cork as Cork is a small enough city and actually we've been to all the tourists attractions in Cork.. I really don't know why.. probably it is the nearest city plus we have friends that are working in Cork.. so it would be nice to have a break & get the chance to meet up with my fellow friends..

As we have been to Jurys Cork hotel before, I decided to choose another place to stay (as my husband left it all to me to decide..).. so I chose Kingsley hotel as the price were the same but they included breakfast as well.. so,we were off to Cork on Friday evening.. when we reached Cork,my dear hubby asked me to look at the map and help him to find the direction to the hotel.. I kept searching in the map but I really couldn't fine the place.. I'm really not good with maps & directions.. after about 15mins looking at the map,I suddenly realised something & I laughed to myself.. I was reading the Dublin map!! hehehe.. even if I kept trying for the whole day,I definitely won't find the place.. and in the end Shaz found the place by himself.. hehehe.. Sorry la abang ekk.. ;)

The hotel is near the river and across the hotel there's a halal restaurant.. the room was very nice.. I love the decorations & the atmosphere in the room.. perfect for relaxation.. the bed was super comfy.. I wish that I can have a bedroom like that!

I wished I can bring home this bed;p

After resting for a while,we went out to get some dinner.. it was nearly 10.30pm & the Persian Cuisine was already closed.. so in the end we went to another restaurant..

Saturday..
Nothing much happened on Saturday.. A few of my friends went to Bantry to meet up with Rayyan.. We decided not to join as it would be a long drive (Shaz was postcall on Friday).. so we ended up strolling in the city centre.. We went to the bookstore & bought a few magazines.. I'm very interested in home design,sort of the interior-design-kind-of-stuff.. hopefully I will have the chance to decorate our own home in the future;) the weather was very nice and the city centre was quite packed with people.. there are a few street performances as well.. One that attracted me most was these 2 men arranging seashells to make a beautiful design.. the seashells were coloured with different colours.. I was so impressed as they have actually made an enourmous effort to make some money.. not just sitting around & beg..

there were actually 2 men doing this.. nice work of art..

After having a late lunch,we went back to the hotel & watched the BGT final.. & later that night,we got our dinner from the across restaurant..

Sunday..
We met a few friends & we spent time with them until late afternoon.. I haven't meet them for quite a very long time & most of them are still students.. & they're all going back to Malaysia for summer holidays.. huh,envy.. I wished I still can have the summer holidays.. student time were the best of times!

Monday..

Owh,the last day of this long weekend holiday.. I felt quite low to be honest.. knowing that my annual leave was nearly finished plus going back to Limerick, leaving the nice room & comfy bed.. huhu..

Breaksfast at Kingsley..

On that Monday,most of the streets in Cork were closed for Cork marathon.. we were escorted out of the hotel by a Garda motorbike as we were crossing the marathon track.. I was quite excited.. it is not a frequent event to be escorted by Garda/police.. felt like the guest of honour;)

You can see the marathon runners on the left side of the road..

But before heading back to Limerick,we went to Fota wildlife park just for fun.. i've been there before for a few times and I do love animals.. unfortunately we don't have lots of choices here. in Ireland.. there are Dublin zoo, Fota wildlife park & Lahich seaworld.. probably there are some more places that I don't know of..
As it was a public holiday with a very nice weather,there were a lot of visitors there.. mostly are families with small children.. and to be honest,I was more attracted to the children.. children are cute,aren't they? some are shy,some are very talkative & friendly.. some have tantrums.. I felt like pinching their cheeks;)

There was a group of people teaching how to play African Drums.. My dear husband joined the team but I refused.. prefer to be a photographer rather than a drummer;) there are children as well.. and they all looked like they really enjoyed themselves..

Enjoying themselves with the African Drums..

My dear husband trying to be friendly with the animal - failed;)

After spending about 2 hours,we headed back to Cork City.. and on our way back, we went to Ustaz Wan & k.Riza's house.. we knew them since were were students.. and we met them again accidentally on Saturday.. that was our first time visiting them in Cork and would probably be the last time as they're moving to Mallow next.. and they're planning to leave Ireland for good next January.. their apartment is in the middle of a shopping area.. we had a very nice lunch at their house (both of them are superb cook!!).. thanks to both of them.. we were nearly going to leave as they were expecting another group of guests - syuk & salwani with their newborn baby! but they persuaded us to stay.. and we ended up having dinner there as well..

It was nearly 9.15pm by the time we left Cork.. and we arrived home at about 10.30pm.. and that night we went to bed around midnight.. and Shaz were supposed to be oncall the next day..

Tuesday..
We were woken up by a phonecall at 5am.. Tok (shaz's grandfather) was admitted to the hospital & we were told that he might need an urgent surgery.. Shaz called his aunt and turned out it Tok has small AAA.. and he is stable.. Alhamdulillah.. I couldn't get back to sleep afterwards & lucky for me the day job wasn't too busy but I kept yawning the whole day.. back from work, I started preparing for my presentation for Thursday.. but lack of sleep didn't really help..

Wednesday..
It was my turn to be oncall.. and early that morning I heard the news about the missing Air France plane.. but I didn't know that the 3 irish on that plane were all doctors.. and to my surprise, one of them was working here in Limerick last year.. Dr Aisling Butler was working as a medical intern here last year.. I do know her but we weren't close.. I know she was a hardworking & dedicated doctor.. It is a big loss for all of us..
I was lucky that the call wasn't too busy.. I finished my last admission around 7.30pm & the next patient came at 5am.. and it between that time I managed to finish my presentation on monoclonal antibodies.. it was quite hard for me because I knew nothing about it!

Thursday..
As usual,we started with a dry round in clinical age assessment unit.. it is our routine to go through the new cases & the x rays and blood results first thing in the morning before going up to the wards.. of the 6 geriatrics patient that I admitted, we have 5 for ourselves.. after the dry round,I did my presentation & to my suprise, everybody seems to like it.. Prof Lyons & Dr Clinch thought it was a very good presentation.. so did the registrars.. and Prof even uploaded it in the geriatrics website.. Alhamdulillah.. I was so relieved that it was over..

Friday..
Shaz was oncall again.. he is doing the 'split weekend' call.. which meant he is oncall on friday till 12noon saturday & back to the hospital 12noon sunday till monday.. I didn't do much on Friday evening.. just lazying around.. Catherine & Mercedes held a house party but I didn't go as I don't have my favourite driver to drive for me;)

Saturday..
My dear husband came home at midday.. and later on last night we went to Majella's (the endocrinology SpReg) house.. She hosted a party - Endocrinology night out + her birthday party.. I baked an egg custard tart & brought it over to her house.. It was a nice party but we didn't stay for long as my hubby is oncall again today..

After my annual leave last week & the nice weekend we had together,I felt this week is quite tough for me.. and me and my dear hubby is taking turns doing call.. tonight I'm all alone again.. but at least this is the last weekend call for my dear hubby.. for some reason, I felt so lonely & I wish he's not oncall.. and tomorrow it's my turn to be oncall..
I can't wait for July to come;)

The Weekend With BGT

2009-05-30T22:17:00.009+01:00

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..

2009-05-27T09:11:00.009+01:00

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!!

2009-05-25T17:44:00.014+01:00

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

2009-05-24T20:16:00.002+01:00

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;)

2009-05-17T21:05:00.009+01:00

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...

2009-05-10T15:47:00.011+01:00

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..

2009-05-06T11:28:00.004+01:00

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

2009-05-03T23:39:00.005+01:00

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..

This Week

2009-04-26T20:05:00.005+01:00

Salam..

It has certainly been a fairly long while since my last entry.. As a matter of fact, I had half-written an entry and even that I didn't finish! Call it procrastination, call it lazy, or call it whatever you want, I will accept those and I'll just say "I'm plain lazy!"..

I might just take this entry to summarize the events of the week..

Dublin Trip

I started off the week with not knowing I was to be oncall on Monday, until about 5 minutes from leaving the house.. I was 99.99% convinced that I would be oncall on Wednesday until that very second I checked my oncall schedule.. Phew!

My first assignment that night was to transfer a 25-year-old man from ICU to the ICCU in Mater Hospital, Dublin.. Now that was not really the worse part.. I was told the man was on 'pressors' (dobutamine infusion) but was 'stable' and was not on ventilatory support.. What that means was this man is high-risk to 'crash' while on transfer.. Luckily, the transfer was quick and uneventful.. The drive from Limerick took merely two hours to arrive in Dublin! and we headed back (which took just under three hours) and I was back in A&E, ending up with two admissions in Resus just before 9am and missed half of Prof's ward round that morning..

Rest of the Week

Nothing majorly interesting throughout the week, though.. On Friday, I went to Cork with Mas and attended a Solat Hajat ceremony for the students.. In a way, I missed my involvement with students since I left the student body and phased into working.. Of course, the thing that made it more interesting was the Ceramah Motivasi oleh Pakar Motivasi dan Psikologi Dr Mas Mahadi (Motivational Talk by Motivational and Psychology Expert).. The fact that Mas had thought it would be a 15-minute informal talk to students facing their days of exams was the glittering part of it.. It turned out he had to 'made it formal' and prepared few slides for his presentation..

We came back to Limerick that same night after stopping by at Puden and Fiza's place.. Ina didn't come along as she finished late on Friday and was probably too tired to tag along..

We only stayed home on Saturday, cleaning the house..

Sunday - we went to Zali's house and met some friends there too.. Puden and Fiza and Fitri were there.. Fitri came all the way from Waterford.. Kak Yulia is not around, she is on maternity leave and went back to Malaysia with the baby and their first daughter too.. So Fitri was probably pretty much lonely and bored alone in Waterford..

We had lunch there and the chicken was good.. Puden and Fiza brought some spring rolls and muffins and Ina baked two cakes.. I'm not sure whether the cakes were the gauge of how 'depressed' she was facing Sunday and knowing Monday will chart the start of a new working week.. I know she finds relief in baking, so maybe she was in 'Level 2 Depressed'.. Her lip ulcer doesn't make it any easier..

Another Week

All in all, the coming week is coming and I m looking forward for the next weekend - it's the Bank Holiday weekend again.. Unfortunately, Ina will be oncall on Friday and she is dreading it..

We will keep you updated..

Salam..

Excuses...

2009-04-19T21:59:00.003+01:00

Salam...

I'm back again after a long silence.. busy, lazy and no exciting stories.. they're my excuses for not writing for a while..

Busy with work - as I'm the rotating SHO,I'm working in between 2 teams & this past week was the week of me changing team.. It's quite tough for me especially on the first day with the 'new' team as I need to learn about a whole new set of patients.. From the 1st day they were admitted including all the investigations they had.. and elderly patients are never simple cases.. and unfortunately for me,my first day with Dr Clinchs' team which was last Tuesday,was the day I was on call.. And as early as 10 o'clock,I've got a referral from A&E.. and adding to my misery, 3 of my patients in the wards were complicated cases - 2 with pyrexia of unknown origin & 1 with massive ascites complicated by oliguric renal failure (which we 1st thought she had acute urinary retention!).. I had to arrange urgent consults for all these patients.. and guess what,the 1st patient I admitted from A&E had a massive subdural haemorrhage! I'm so glad I survived this week.. Alhamdulillah.. I'm still trying to adapt to this team.. It's just way too different between these 2 teams.. and I have to admit it's not easy.. huhu..

Lazy - of the hectic life in the hospital,anytime I spent at home was just for relaxing.. I have no energy to do anything else.. and I left everything to the weekend.. And weekend seems too short!! I need a holiday..

Nothing exciting - I'm soooo depressed.. how do people fall on love with their work? how do people love working? hmmm... probably I just need a break.. I hope I will find the reason for me to love my work.. to find the reason I love going to the hospital.. I do love seeing people getting better..I love to inform them about their progress with their treatment.. I love to find answers to a mystery.. but I hate dealing with bureaucracy.. hate dealing with people with no sense.. hate the long working hours & hate to be on call.. hehehe... this is me,being miserable every Sunday evening,knowing that I need to be at work tomorrow..;p and my dear hubby will try everything he can to keep me smiling..

I pray may my life will be filled with love everyday.. all sorts of love of the goodness.. Ameen..

***

Congratulations to my dear sis on passing her written exam for the master programme!! Way to go,K.Sobah!!:) I know you would made it!
She is totally the opposite of me.. She is working as a doctor as well but she is really into her job.. although she did say she wanted a new career,but she did give her all to the master programme that she's taking:) with a busy job & 3 children,she strives hard for her exams.. unlike me,who is too lazy to even open a book;)
I wish her the very best for the clinical part this coming May.. May you'll pass with flying colours!!

Priceless Feeling

2009-04-04T21:46:00.003+01:00

Salam..

It has been quite some time since my last entry.. As a matter of fact, I might well consider myself a little bit on the 'slo-mo' gear.. But with the weekend oncall last week and the busy first part of the week, as the final few days with Nephrology, I do not think I need to explain any further or worse yet dig deep for an excuse..

Today is a very special day for both of us, Ina and me.. Of course, it is Ina's birthday today.. And me being 'mean', I did not wish her until later in the day.. Now, not that it was unintentionally I forgot about it, but I had a big plan, of which I had planned secretly since about three weeks ago..

We started the day a little bit slow, with Ina was slightly unwell with flu since after her oncall last night.. I had to hardly persuade her to go out of the house and we headed to Cork at about 12.30pm.. Of course I did not say anything about anything apart from me singing in the car with the tune from my Sony MP3 player.. When we reached Cork, we headed straight to Wan's house but Ina had never been there before, so she was absolutely dumbfounded by the agenda of the day.. When Wan opened the door and Fid literally screamed "Surprise!" at Ina's face, all Heaven broke loose and all secrets revealed!

Wan had prepared a chocolate mousse cake with Japanese 'Happy Birthday' written on it.. Wan's mom made a telekung for Ina as a present.. The girls bought Ina a Spongebob balloon and a Brown Thomas purse.. We had vermicelli with soup and loads of desserts..

As for me, the greatest enjoyment of the day was to see Ina's face when the surprise party hit her flat! It was just priceless.. It was the joy for her from me..

I thank Wan and her family for organising all these.. Wan was my 'partner in crime' since the last three weeks, organising this event.. She had help from (with many thanks) Fid, Sepose and Syiown.. And I thank all who attended and made Ina's birthday this year as special as it was.. Many thanks to all..

Happy birthday, Sayang..

Forgetfullness...

2009-03-29T12:36:00.005+01:00

Salam..

I certainly has been dormant from blogging for a quite some time.. I guess I don't really have anything interesting to write on.. My dear husband has made the entry about our vacation in Barcelona.. I did enjoy it very much.. I wish for more of the great holidays to come..

Nothing much has happened since.. We both has been quite busy with work since.. It has been tough for me.. It's a busy job & lots of expectations comes with it.. It is challenging, both physically & mentally.. Work starts at 8 every morning & continues to 6 or 7 pm in the evening.. If I'm lucky,I'll get some break for lunch.. or tea sometimes.. most of the time, I took a break just for prayers.. Even when we were postcall,it was just the same story.. and there will always be an assignment for us for the night.. recent journal or guidelines to be read.. sometimes,i do feel really exhausted.. not to mention yet,on calls & house chores.. this week,I've been taking turns with my dear husband doing calls.. Tues,he was oncall.. Wed,he was postcall & I was oncall.. thurs,I was postcall.. friday,he was oncall again.. and today, I'm all alone again.. next wed,we'll both be oncall! despite being busy & having a hectic life, I do feel empty.. drained.. I'm not really enjoying what I'm doing.. sometimes,I do enjoy it but most of the time,I just feel empty... and I can't denied asking myself,is this what I really want to do for the rest of my life??

***

Last night I had the weirdest dream.. I dreamt about my daughter.. She came back to meet me.. She was beautiful & she was talking to me.. I remembered asking her does she remembered me,and she does remember me.. but she doesn't remember ayah.. I was crying in front of her & for some reasons,I kept apologising to her.. I suddenly woke up & found myself weeping.. I didn't wake my husband & I didn't even tell him about the dream.. I do miss my babies..

***

"On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray: ) “Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith.”

Tafsir Al-Baqarah (verse 286)

Last night,a close friend reminded us about this verse from the Holy Quran.. How easy we feel stressed.. hopeless.. But we often forgot that Allah won't chose us unless He knows that we're able for it.. even we ourselves are unaware of our true capabilities.. We often reacted the wrong way for each time we're tested either through our behaviours, our thoughts or our emotions.. but the great thing is that as long as we're still breathing,we're always given the chance to seek forgiveness from Allah.. He,to whom we seek guidance & strength throughout the journey of our life..

O Allah,please forgive me of the times that I'd lost hope & forgot.. Please forgive me of my wrongdoings.. And please guide me for each step that I take..

To our friend,thank you for the reminder..

Burnin' Up

2009-03-25T21:44:00.002Z

Salam..

In all fairness, I have not a clue of what I will be blogging on tonight.. I am severely exhausted, mentally drained and grievously emotionally retarded at the moment.. Event the narcissistic 'unsub' in Criminal Minds on television could not startle me..

Maybe this is one of the signs of when a doctor (like myself) is burned up.. I hope not.. I hope this is just literally pure physical and mental exhaustion after a run of serious 32-hour work.. Even with a short period of sleep/rest time, many of my colleagues would agree that the fact that we needed to be at the tip of our toes and literally be just at the other end of the phone makes us too drained of every little juice of energy we have..

I have always have this worry that it may come to a point when a doctor feels that he works no more than just fulfilling his career ambitions and as a day job, not as what he intended it initially - to help others..

Hopefully, it never happens to me..

Salam..

The Week That Was..

2009-03-22T20:18:00.002Z

Salam..

Oh, dear.. What happened to this blog? It has been over a week since the last entry.. And that was when Zuhaili got his SPM results and the straight-A student was breaking news of the nation..

In all fairness, nothing much has happened over that period, that neither being extravagantly busy nor being extraordinarily lazy would serve reason for not writing an entry.. Maybe because I just got blind-sided by other things that blogging passed me by..

Aqilah Turned Four

Last weekend, we attended a very sweet and nice birthday party.. It was for Aqilah, daughter of Uncle and Kak Agee, who turned four last weekend.. The day turned out to be bright and sunny and we were served with a Cinderella and a Princess's Castle cakes.. Of course, for all viewers there, it was Kung Fu Panda on the big screen.. Uncle also had the bouncing castle in the backyard for the kids.. It was a big event and a memorable one, certainly for Aqilah.. Indeed, Joe is still too young to appreciate if a party was thrown for him.. But, all in due time, Joe..

This weekend, we did not do anything major.. Certainly watched the Irish rugby team broke record and emerged triumphant in the RBS Six Nations - Champions and Grand Slam! Of course, my celebration was dampened by some degree after Manchester United was humiliated by a 0-2 lost to Fulham and two sending offs! Also of note, Chelsea lost but inevitable Liverpool crushed Aston Villa 5-0..

And one achievement this week for me and Ina was that we managed to send in our photo album for printing.. I made the Barcelona vacation and Ina made the Scotland trip album.. She has already started the London trip from last year.. Maybe we will start our own collection of albums of our vacations and events.. I should get myself a digital SLR camera.. Hmm, how about that for my 'surprise present'..

Oh, well.. As of now, the tiny Sony will do..

Salam..

Too Clever?

2009-03-12T10:39:00.004Z

Salam..

It is the time of the year when the telephone never stops ringing, certainly at my parents' place and the homes of our extended family members.. I cannot speak this as an agreed generality.. Some of you may think ringing phones are not a matter of exciting interest, but this ringing phone at this time means something different to our family..

If some of you have noticed, the results of the Malaysian Examination Certificate, or more commonly known as SPM back home, was just published earlier today.. It may have just hit the newsstands and will be aired in the 8-o'clock news shortly.. And since we have a, quite boastfully saying, huge family - with my mom having 13 siblings, all married, and approximately 60 cousins of mine - it is such a time when these results of big exams, be it UPSR, SPM or PMR, make a big impact to us all.. Most of my mom's siblings and some of the in-laws were and still are in the education system, be it teachers, principals, lecturers and professors.. And that said, these exams and their results somewhat stands as a podium for the "Annual Inter-Family Competition".. Of course, the competition is the unsaid strive to perform better and be noticed and 'glorified' when the results come.. For some subconscious reason, it is a matter of family pride and reputation, so to speak..

As for my family, we have marked for ourselves such a standard that it becomes a sibling 'rivalry' as much as it is sibling motivation.. I marked my path through UPSR, PMR and SPM with nothing less than A's.. And Erin and Intan followed suit.. And because of that, the pressure is just immense.. And even sadder is that these 'marks' are becoming a 'must-achieve' target! And I hate to be in my siblings' position..

But it is always nice to know that whatever our results are, we are who we are and who we want to be and our family accepts us as who we define ourselves as..

Peer Pressure

Today, in the local newspaper, another 'genius' broke the record.. Scoring 20A's in the SPM! No parent wouldn't be proud.. In fact, most parents might just 'advertise' this phenomenon nationwide!

This phenomenon of nationwide peer-pressure is not something new, certainly not in Malaysia.. In 2004, a female student broke the news with 17 A1's, and she became the first teenage public-exam trend-setter.. And it only gets better! In 2006, another girl re-wrote the record with 18 A's, and further in 2007 a young boy scored 21A's (19A1's).. Today, another genius marked the newspapers with 20 A's (19A1's)..

I stand tallest with envy and astonishment at the fact that they achieved such credentials.. I feel inferior and ashamed that my parents did not have the chance to be proud of me with those results..

But at the end of the day I forward this very question to all of you and the geniuses :

What will you do with all the A's?

It may sound rhetoric.. In fact, it may sound offensive to some ears.. When I was at school level, I was a good student, I studied hard and with utmost dedication, I played sports and socialise, I was not a geek, neither was I a jock.. But I had something clear in my mind - I wanted to be a doctor.. And I did everything needed to get me there.. And I did get there after school, went into college, ultimately overseas in one of the most prestigious college in the world and graduated.. I did enough to get me there, because I know where I wanted to be..

I fear my next lines would be so offensive that people may stop reading this blog..

Sometimes I feel and somewhat convinced that, despite the multiple A's, we assume these teenagers are multi-talented, super-achievers.. That no matter in what well they are thrown into, they will climb their way out..

I, for one, feel that they have now so much on their plates that the real challenge now becomes to pick which one to digest first.. And the pressure is vast! I believe that some people see a full plate as 'maximising your options', but I regret to say that my stand is with 'no clear ambition and self-doubt'.. Anything they pick will determine their path and, needless to say, the path is wide open with their A's backing them up.. But, it is the matter of choosing the correct one, the wise decision.. With 20A's, you could be a doctor or an engineer or a businessman or a lawyer or a secretary or a janitor or a fishmonger.. But which one is YOU?

Well, that was just me being argumentative and harsh..

I dedicate this entry to my dear brother, Zuhaili, with my utmost congratulations with his results.. I know you want to do Medicine and I will support your ambition all the way.. You have now a brother and three sisters already doctors and we are here for you for advice and support.. I know that you have determined this ambition even before the exams started, and that is how I know the motivation you need to get to it..

Well done!

Salam..

Career Pathway

2009-03-11T15:59:00.004Z

Salam..

Yet again, I visit this blog page and create another entry.. It seems that my stagnant brain has just eclipsed my sanity and thus dreadfully flood me with blogging ideas, which by the end of this read, you will realise that you have probably wasted some precious time.. I forward my most sincere apology in advance..

However, despite my disturbed judgment and still-mildly-preserved executive cerebral function, I have come to a rather interesting issue, mainly for fellow doctors reading this blog.. I will try to maintain non-discriminating arguments for non-doctor companions.. This is the issue of Career Pathway, as nicely-mentioned at the title..

Dreams and Ambitions

Ever since these ten small toes walked into a school, there is a certain mind-set and 'target' that has been embedded in the mind.. Some kids call it dreams, others call it ambition, a small portion call it motivation.. As for me, I might have fallen into all those three groups.. You may reason that you were in one of the groups, but I assure you, the selection into any of those particular compartments did not deem any significance now, that you are at the level of comprehending and arguing this blog entry..

Let me explain..

This 'certain mind-set and target' is not a genetically-driven thought, nor it is environmentally-nurtured spirit.. Rather, depending on the family and parental factor (hence, genetic) and the upbringing and the cluster of nurture (hence, environmental), it is actually a combined and complementing outcome..

Some children 'dream' about being a doctor, or a pianist, or a business executive, or even the Secretary of the United Nations.. Does this dream make him less a motivated person? The answer is 'No'.. As a matter of truthful fact, these dreams are the ones pushing and giving the reason for a child to go to school, to enjoy counting in Maths class, to memorise the notes from nursery rhymes.. That deep inside his mind, these are the baby-steps he needs to walk the entire stairwell towards being his dream person.. Just because he does not share his dreams with his parents, does not mean he does not have one.. Do not, at any particular time, believe that children only have nightmares when the only ones they share are the nightmares..

Some other children are exposed with the word 'ambition' at a very early stage.. No reason to be alarmed at the expression I am relaying with the first sentence.. It is not wrong to expose such big and ambitious word to a child, nor would I say I promote the practice.. From the limited deduction of mine through my minuscule experience in life, I noticed that education-oriented parents tend to use such word to their children.. What it means is that, on top of the dreams that these children have, the nurturing and supportive air in the home environment strengthens the dream.. It enhances the belief within the subconscious territory that the dreams are achievable and attainable.. And within the first few days at school, teachers participate with the parents holding the baton of boosting the belief within the children.. As a material result, we see these children's enthusiasm when they play-act their 'future' role in life..

A small group of children fall into the category of having, what we adults call, 'self-motivation'.. Compared to dreams and ambitions, self-motivation is not a default construct within children's mind.. My proof is self-explanatory when we often see mothers yell and yell for their children to finish their homework! Mankind only develop the capability to self-motivate later in life, usually around the teenage period.. Some children develop this quality quicker than others, especially seen in children entering and spending their teenage lifespan in a boarding school.. The simple reason being the competitiveness of peer-pressure and the cumulative force of individual dream and personal ambition towards, what possibly is, a same goal - good grades..

Translation

But how do all these - dreams, ambitions, motivation - translate to career pathways?

As far as the sane mind concerns, every child, after all these three compartments are thoroughly and fastidiously explored, they develop several major characters which we call intelligence, dexterity and self-confidence.. These are then the characters which we see the children, now eagerly entering adult life, carry and define themselves with.. And these are the characters we collectively label the children with as Personality..

Personality is the definition of a person, who after such tremendous journey through childhood, teenage life and then adulthood, having seen and learned and experienced different tasks and obstacles, and taken all of those in a briefcase named ME! And this Me is the one, along the way, made major and life-changing decisions, which will further define the person.. It all sounds so much like a vicious circle but the reality is this is LIFE..

To cut long story short, one of the life-changing decisions that has to be made is the decision about and around the career.. As for many of us, our initial childhood dream, consolidated by clear ambition statement and further emphasised and driven by motivation, has brought us to where we are today - a professional in what we do.. Despite having gone through all of the hassle and difficulties and having already achieved our ambition, we are now faced with another challenge - carrying our careers to the next desired level..

A doctor now faces the challenge of climbing the ladder through different trainings to achieve specialty consultantship, an accountant now faces the difficulties of paving the path to achieve a level of similar equivalence to a medical consultant, a businessman now faces the hardship of expanding the business to regional, national or even worldwide recognition.. We see this as a challenge, yet the truth is that the path has already been laid out for us by our colleagues before us.. The main challenge is to appreciate and decide which path to take, not how to take it.. And that is the Career Pathway Challenge..

I will not dwell further into the matter of how to choose which path.. The utmost take-home-message for all my readers is, and indeed for my own self, we should not be alarmed, nor be casual of the fact that we are facing such 'turmoil' of holding the steering of life.. Rather, we should take a moment and, possibly a small step back, evaluate all the valid options and available opportunities.. And backed with all the dreams, ambitions, motivation, further driven by intelligence, dexterity and confidence, and coated and strengthened by our own self-developed, self-built personality, we should be able to come up with the best decision for us and our career..

As for me, lastly, I have not made up my mind as yet to what specialty I will spend the rest of my career practising.. Although, despite that, I do know what I will be in five years' time.. Small baby-steps towards a huge trophy.. May Allah help me and grant me strength to walk the path I choose, with His guidance and faith in Him..

Salam..

Defining Love

2009-03-10T11:07:00.003Z

Salam..

This is another not-so-ordinary entry in this blog.. Nonetheless, humour me with this article and sing along with the lyrics mimicking the translation of how bored I am during this period of, what should be, break from my career life, or formally called 'annual leave'.. Despite my grimacing and sour complaining, I have to say, the first week of the break was remarkably tremendous.. Needless to say, it was the extended honeymoon and vacation to Barcelona.. Fellow readers can experience our stories and visits from our recent entries entitled 'Barcelona'..

Very well, there is a reason why this entry will stray away from the norm.. Unlike the ever-active mind of Ina's, despite being slightly dormant on the blogging side, she always has a story to tell.. On the other hand, my head is a can full of supercharged, highly flammable worms, which with the tiniest of catalyst in any direction, could explode with non-functional, erratic, burst of irrelevant ideas! Now, who keeps the can lid? The certain answer is Ina, my buffer and my phone line to the real world.. How she bears holding me is beyond explanation.. And I thank her for that.. One of the millions of reasons why I love her so much..

Lately, one theme seems to surface almost unexpectedly.. The theme of 'Love'.. I am not a big blog-reader myself, sadly but truthfully admitting, but the several ones that I have read recently had this topic as a discussion matter or an experience-based entry.. It has come to my attention, hence the catalyst for my worms, that probably the word and its definition have become virtually loosely-used over time.. And indeed, over and over again.. Well, let us go back to roots and basics.. Let us indulge ourselves to the truthful meaning of the word 'Love' and be reminded what it means to us all and to humanity as a whole..

Dictionary Definition

1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness

2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair, the emotion of romance

3. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction, beloved

These are some of dictionary definition of 'Love'.. In fact, all of them, and even if you search any other dictionary in any language, the definition of 'Love' is technically an attempt to define a feeling of fond affection.. Now, catch this - Even the most philosophical and linguistic attempt of defining 'Love' seems so far from the (I'm at lost of words!) intended description.. Not to mention, the 'meaning of love' varies from one person to the other..

Having seen and agreed on such basic level, that we all feel love and define love in our own separate way, despite the common theme of 'affection', I (for myself) have come to a general, yet arguably my best, conclusion that 'Love' is not definable in ANY word.. No offence to linguists and philosophers, and to writers and speakers who make a living from books and seminars on the 'basics of loving' under the name-tag of 'interpersonal relationship experts/advisors'.. As for me, despite my own stand that love is not definable by word, I do not envy those people who make their living through this theme.. In fact, I envy those linguists and philosophers who, with great detail and intellect, serve their lives to define and redefine the true meaning of this very special and heavenly feeling.. I envy those writers, authors and speakers who, with great charm and enthusiasm, devote their lives to help others understanding and practising this divine passion..

I wonder if my fellow readers are still in doubt of my stand, or even possibly disagree, that no word can define 'Love'.. If you disagree, then I would be so grateful to hear your definition of 'Love' that YOU feel adequate to your heart, that you feel will undoubtedly and wholly encompass your feelings in a sentence.. In fact, I may well challenge you to it!

The glorification of this feeling is such of a magnitude that, and hence my proof, great people began not to define 'Love', but attempt to materialise 'Love' in sentence and phrases, in the form of quotes and poetry..

Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle..
(Crystal Middlemas)

You know you are in love, when you see the world in her eyes,
and her eyes everywhere in the world..
(David Levesque)

These are among the thousands and millions of quotes of mankind attempting to put in words the emotions of 'Love'.. Not to say that they fail to impress, but even so, with such meticulous choice of wordings, the quotes and poems still feel unable to grasp even the shadows of the true meanings of 'Love'.. I could list quotes after quotes, and poems after poems, of 'Love', but I feel it will never suffice to reach the feeling one is experiencing of it..

To dear fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, I have no reservations to remind you that the only way that we would ever define 'Love' is until we have a whole grasp and grip to these very words..

"None of you becomes a believer until I am dearer to him
than his children, his parents and all mankind.."
(As reported by Bukhari and Muslim)

"Tidak sempurna iman seseorang kamu sehinggalah dia sanggup menjadikan aku lebih dikasihi daripada dirinya, anaknya, hartanya dan manusia seluruhnya.."

And it is only after then that we will be able to fulfill the love for our loved ones in our hearts, when we know and realise the most basics and integral reason for loving another person - Loving in the name of Allah (God).. In fact, I cannot stress this enough.. It is actually and spiritually the confidence of love for God and from God that completes the feeling of love to other people - to your parents, your brothers and sisters, your wife and children.. That is the ultimate basis of truest love, unrestrained by doubt or fear, unintimidated or stirred by monetary inadequacy or difficult conflicts..

Conclusion

I have relentlessly laid the most arguable word of all time, 'Love', in a plate for you to debate among yourselves, with your spouse, and more importantly (for me) to debate the theme within yourself.. It may be a heavy enough push to urge you to have a think about this generic theme.. But I insist on attempting that.. Hopefully, by the end of your own debate session (either with yourself or with others), you will feel rejoiced and refreshed with your own new meaning and definition of this lovely feeling..

As for me, my definition and, indeed, materialisation of love is as simple as three letters...

INA

Salam..

Friendly Visit

2009-03-08T20:59:00.004Z

Salam..

Since coming back from Barcelona, it felt like there was no story to tell.. Certainly after the eventful trip to Spain.. Over the last few days, not that many have passed, despite my constant digging into my brain of what would I write in this blog, nothing came natural and, probably, meaningful to share.. So, be that the case, the blog became dormant..

Friday was the day we flew back from dreamland vacation Barcelona to 'reality-check'-land Limerick.. We started the day early, with the wake-up call at 6am, checked out at 6.45am and the booked taxi came straight away and we were off to Estacio Nord.. A couple of snaps of pictures and we boarded the bus to Girona Airport.. We checked in early and had our breakfast at the airport.. I was not much into the early breakfast mood, especially the one that had 'vacation over' marked on the plate! But we had a glance of the morning sun making its way into Spain over the mountains.. It was so picturesque, that it was impossible to miss the opportunity for a picture.. Despite the tired body after the 'hectic' vacation, we managed to stay 'alive' for the next few hours until we boarded the plane.. Oh, by the way, James Stodart was on the same flight too.. I'm sure he and his wife enjoyed every minute of their stay in Barcelona, just as we did..

The next few hours was practically a blur.. We took the liberty of dozing off on the plane.. But, here's the nice mathematical part of it.. The flight from Barcelona to Shannon took about three hours.. But because the time-zone difference, even after we slept for the whole three hours on the plane, at arrival in Shannon, we still saved one hour of our day! Now, that's useful maths!

Clonmelian Visit

Today, we had a visit from our friends.. Aini is now working in Clonmel, where Erin used to work as an intern, and her husband, on the other hand, is still studying in the UK.. This weekend was their vacation, I guess, that they went up to Cliffs of Moher.. On the way back, they stopped by and had dinner at our place.. Simple dinner - chicken curry, fried eggs and sambal belacan..

And, we had the chance to get acquainted with the five-month-old Muhammad Naimullah.. Surprisingly, his mom calls him Mamat, which was not a name I thought would even make the list of call names, not for him anyway.. Either way, Mamat was comfortable with me and Ina, despite it was our first time with him.. He didn't cry, well, not until later that evening when bedtime was due.. Big round eyes, pink rosy cheeks and such cute smile..

After dinner, some tea and a family photograph, they were off back to Clonmel.. It was a visit probably due since the last time Ina met Aini was when they both lived and worked in Letterkenny, way back in end of 2007.. Much has happened since, proven by the baby boy who visited Auntie Ina for the first time.. Maybe someday Ina can tell Mamat that she and his mom had lived and worked together too..

Naim and me - just look at the eyes!

Ust Nisar, Aini and Naim, Ina and me

Ina will be back to work tomorrow.. I, on the other flip of the coin, will have another week of holiday.. Still, there are some things that I need to do in this coming week.. Maybe I can off-load Ina from some of the house chores as well.. I will keep you readers updated..

Salam..

Barcelona (Day 4, March 5) : Catalan Walks

2009-03-05T21:57:00.006Z

Salam..

This is the fourth episode of our Barcelona adventure series.. It may well be the last episode as we will be leaving for Limerick tomorrow morning, and I don't think tomorrow counts as another visit day.. Anyway, the title for this entry is "Catalan Walks", not for the reason that we took the Barcelona Walks, but merely because we explored the few places that we had missed by bus, mainly by walking.. Today was a pretty quiet and leisure day, far from the tight schedule of bus timetables..

Also, last night we noticed that one of our friends, Julia, was spending her holidays here in Barcelona too, and to make it even more surprising, she was staying in the same hotel as us! It was unfortunate that we did not even bump into each other during our stay here..

Leisure Day

The morning kicked off with a nice bright ray of sunshine flooding Placa Catalunya.. We strolled down La Rambla trying to decide where to have our breakfast.. It took us a while before realising that I wanted something different than the servings in La Poma.. But even after almost the length of the boulevard, we could not find a decent breakfast menu.. Hence we walked back up to La Poma and had our breakfast there - for the third day in a row!

Our first stop for the day was the Gran Teatre del Liceu.. This majestic and magnificent theatre served as a brilliant stage for artistes from all around the world.. Despite suffering major damages after two fire episodes, the restoration was perfect to rebuild the theatre and preserve its character and identity.. Unfortunate for us, the Main Theatre hall was out-of-limits for cameras, hence no picture for us to prove our visit.. Needless to say, it was spectacular inside! The one-hour guided tour was worth it..

Ina with our tour guide before the Gran Teatre del Liceu tour

What it would look inside the Main Theatre

We then made our way to Palau Guell, the home (palace) of Eusebi Guell.. Again, Guell took Gaudi as his architect to build his house.. Unfortunately, the place was under major restoration, so the only place we could visit at the building were the main entrance and the basement.. We barely spent half an hour there..

Palau Guell

The one place we re-visited was the Monument a Colom, the monument with Christopher Colombus, which was erected in 1888 at the foot of La Rambla.. One reason we re-visited the monument was to climb the tower and enjoy the view from 60-meter height.. The bright sky was great to allow us to enjoy the magnificent view from the top.. However, the windy day did make the tower sway a bit that a small inch of me did feel somewhat stirred! Nonetheless, the view from the height was awesome..

La Rambla - viewed from the top of Monument a Colom

We journeyed further and visited Palau de la Musica Catalana, somewhere up in the Barri Gotic district.. Again, misfortune struck when the tickets for the guided tour was sold out.. So, only few pictures outside the building and we headed back to Placa de Catalunya.. We spend some time playing with the birds at the plaza before having lunch at a restaurant at La Rambla..

Outside Palau de la Musical Catalana

Bird-feeding at Placa de Catalanya

Seafood Dinner

After some rest in our hotel room, we were out again and this time made our way to the IMAX Cinema where we watched Gigantes Del Oceano (Monsters of the Ocean), a 3D National Geographic movie.. After an hour, we walked and spent some time at the port and managed to catch a view of Barcelona at sunset.. The wind was gusty and made it slightly chilly.. It was the perfect view, with the port very calm at the end of the day..

Sunset at Port Vell

We had dinner at El Rey de la Gamba, a seafood restaurant.. We ordered a mixed seafood grill called Parillada, but we were suggested to take half of that and add half of Cigalas (crayfish).. We agreed and we were served with a very large portion of magnificent seafood that we could not finish it in the end! We took a taxi back to our hotel and packed for home..

Seafood dinner

Barcelona has surpassed all expectations and very well notched the definition of 'Holiday'.. I would recommend Barcelona highly as a Europe tour site and spend at least four to five days to fully enjoy the city.. As for me, I enjoyed every bit of my stay and I hope Ina did too.. She certainly looks like she did..

Adeu-siau! Hasta la vista, Barcelona!

Salam..

Barcelona (Day 3, March 4) : Red Line

2009-03-04T21:27:00.009Z

Salam..

I am back with the next installment of our Catalan city tour.. Day 3 started earlier for us.. For some reason, despite the busy second day and, quite honestly, tiring, my sleep was broken at least three times during the night.. Maybe the excitement of enjoying my vacation in Spain has sunk in and revving my engines inside..

Dawn at Placa de Catalunya

The morning started off with our breakfast at La Poma again, and again Ina's hope to have half-boiled egg was stunted by the hard-boiled egg at the crack of the first egg she took.. Sigh.. After breakfast, we headed towards our starting point Placa de Catalunya, but this time from the opposite side of the park, to board the Red Line roof-top bus.. The morning was perfect, with the sun coming out and inviting everybody's shade to make appearance..

Gaudi

Our first stop was the three buildings by the great Gaudi, the Manzana de la Discordia (Block of Discord) - Casa Lleo Morera, Casa Amatller and Casa Batllo.. It was Casa Batllo that was open to visitors and we made no delay to be among the first to be awed and astonished by Gaudi's magnificent work.. Subhanallah, true genius was the man, gifted and granted with a sense of beauty unfamiliar to mankind.. The ocean-based building represents a majestic feature of how nature can be reanimated in the form of a structural build..

Ina in front Casa Batllo

Casa Batllo rooftop

After Casa Batllo, we went to Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia (Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family).. This is another of Gaudi's work.. He started this project at the age of 40, but unfortunately never made it to see the completion.. In fact, even until today, this cathedral is still incomplete! A worker of the cathedral once asked Gaudi when will the cathedral be finished.. Gaudi answered, "Don't you worry, my friend.. My client is not in any hurry.. God has all the time in the world.." Well, talk about working without datelines! No wonder even to this day, after more than 100 years later, the cathedral is still surrounded by cranes and scaffolding! We did not explore the inside of the cathedral as we were informed that a portion of the tickets sold will be donated to the fund for the cathedral's building..

From there, we marched towards Parc Guell, a failed garden-city attempt.. Eusebi Guell had viewed garden-cities in London and had an ambition to bring the idea to Barcelona.. However, he was snubbed by the wealthy locals and the initial plan of an estate with 60 houses with recreational areas collapsed even under the great hands of Gaudi.. The estate was later bought by the city and turned into a tourist attraction.. Despite the 'failure', Gaudi still managed to put lively ideas into the construction of the estate and his artistic work was again materialised in Parc Guell..

Parc Guell roof

After our visit to Parc Guell, we boarded the bus again and continued our journey to our next destination, Tibidabo.. Tibidabo is the name of the mountain at the north side of Barcelona and at the top lies the Parc d'Atraccions.. We stopped at the foot of Mount Tibidabo and took a bus up the hill to Placa del Doctor Andreu, from which we took a funicular (cable car) to the top.. Our initial hope was to hike the hill on the Tramvia Blau, but unfortunate for us the tram was not in service at this time of the year, hence the reason taking the bus.. At the top, again our hopes were crushed when we were told that the Parc d'Atraccion was closed, plus the weather then turned sour with rain pouring down.. The temperature dropped and it was worse at the top of the mountain.. We didn't spend long up there and headed back to the foot of the hill and had our lunch before taking another ride towards Camp Nou..

Funicular up Mount Tibidabo

Barca! Barca! Barca!

We passed CosmoCaixa, Sarria, Monestir de Pedralbes and Palau Reial-Pavellons Guell before reaching the home ground of Barcelona FC.. Needless to say, the visit to Camp Nou was a memorable one.. We took the stadium and museum tour, which started off with a 3-D welcoming movie.. We explored the stadium to the extend that we were in the dressing room, by the pitchside, in the dugout, inside the VIP box, inside the commentary box and in the conference room! Later, we feasted on the extravagant history of Barcelona FC in the museum.. Before we left, we got ourselves some souvenirs from the megastore beside the stadium..

Camp Nou : Mes Que Un Club (More Than Just A Club)

Our journey on the Red Line finished when we took the bus and ended our journey back at Placa de Catalunya around 7pm.. We headed back to our hotel and I showered before going out again for dinner at Rajah Restaurant, just at a corner off the main street La Ramblas.. We were quite surprised to find that this restaurant did serve halal food! Mixed grill and parathas were our servings for the night.. We ended our day around 8pm with some doughnut and coffee..

The Red Line was yet another great adventure and experience around Barcelona city.. Tomorrow is another day for us to visit the last few places and maybe pack some souvenirs.. We will keep you updated with our journey.. Adeu-siau!

Salam..

Barcelona (Day 2, March 3) : Blue Line Tour

2009-03-03T21:36:00.011Z

Salam..

Day 2 of our Catalan city tour started off quite late.. We only left our hotel at around 10am.. The morning was not particularly cold, but the breeze was chill enough that later I had to buy a sweater to warm myself.. Other than that, the sky was not too bright too, but not too gloomy as well to affect the pictures.. Just slightly on the cloudy side.. All in due time, the story will unveil..

Blue Line

We started off with a quick stroll down La Ramblas, finding ourselves a cosy restaurant for our buffet breakfast.. In all fairness, it was quite cheap.. We spent 20euros for the buffet - scrambled eggs, toasts, coffee, tea, juice and Ina got herself a hard-boiled egg which she had thought to be a half-boiled one.. We noticed that people here don't do 'coffee-to-go' mornings, like in English or Irish cities.. Hence, it was also quite hard for us to find hot drinks to take away..

We headed back towards Placa de Catalunya and boarded the Barcelona Bus Turistic (the Barcelone Bus Tour), just like the popular open-top double-decker bus in most major cities in the world.. Needless to say, we never board the lower deck!

Headed northbound, we passed the great Gaudi's magnificent work of art - the Casa Lleo Morera, Casa Amatller and Casa Batllo.. These buildings are in such a class of their own that they stand out even amidst the tall modern buildings around them.. We did not stop there but continued our journey onwards and stopped at Casa Mila, or La Pedrera, another work by Gaudi.. Oh, by the way, Antoni Gaudi i Cornet (1852-1926) was a genius architect who brought modernism into the eyes of Barcelona and Spain..

We spent over an hour inside Casa Mila, amazed by the majestic and meticulous work of this man.. We took loads of photos, including one picture of us which was taken by a fellow visitor.. This particular photo pictures us sitting in a nice cosy couch in the late apartment, of which no visitor should sit on! How lucky were we to get that picture just in time before we were told that! In our defence, there was no panel saying "Do Not Sit"..

Casa Mila from outside

At the entrance of Casa Mila

The 'forbidden' picture in Casa Mila living room

Casa Mila rooftop - more work by Gaudi

After Casa Mila, we passed several places but we did not stop, including the Estacio de Sants (Barcelona's main train station).. Our next stop was Placa de Espanya, where we took more pictures and it was there I realised the breeze was getting on to me.. I had to find myself a jacket.. I did not bring my big jacket as I knew it would have made me roasted in them.. But not having a long-sleeve shirt was another option all to unwell too.. We walked down Creu Coberta - a long market road.. I managed to find a Puma sweater just nice for comfort and not too expensive.. In fact, most of the products that we have seen here are way cheaper than back in Ireland.. And with a 20% discount, that Puma jacket was mine!

We boarded the bus again.. We passed CaixaForum, Poble Espanyol, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Anella Olimpica, Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic and Teatre Grec.. All of these places were in Montjuic, or the Jewish Mountain, where once this place was the home of a Jewish community with their own temple.. Estadi Olimpic is the stadium which hosted the 1992 Olympic.. This was the event that changed the face of Montjuic and Barcelona as a whole.. Today, this stadium is the home ground of a local football club..

Cable Car Craze

We had a light lunch of sandwich and coffee at Teatre Grec, an art museum.. After that, we took the cable car Teleferic de Montjuic and headed towards the Castell de Montjuic.. The ride was short but undoubtedly with fascinating view, to see the Barcelona laying peacefully from a distance and the sea further to one side.. At the top, we spent half an hour being fascinated and awed by the view..

From there, we headed towards Miramar, where we took another cable car moving down the hill of Montjuic and flying over the main roads by the port towards Torre de Jaume I.. Unfortunate for us, the ride was only up to Torre de Jaume I, which was practically halfway of the length of the cable car line.. The reason was the Torre de St Sebastia was closed.. Otherwise, we would have journeyed across and over the port and sea, stopping at the opposite side of the port itself!

Teleferic cable car and Ina inside the car (Montjuic)

On board the next cable car down Montjuic - Barcelona in the background

From Torre de Jaume I, we walked back towards Port Vell, passed the World Trade Centre and the Colom-Museu Maritim and back at the foot of La Ramblas.. We walked upward the boulevard and decided to have our dinner early.. We had our tapas again and filled ourselves with seven different dishes!

Our early dinner was not without reason.. We had planned to take the bus again to view the city at night.. After a quick break at our hotel room, we boarded the last bus for the day and headed down the Blue Line route again.. The majestic view of Barcelona under the lights of sky was just indescribable.. At the top of Montjuic, the castle at the tip of Mount Tibidabo lit up like a magical shrine..

The other half of the Blue Line route that we did not take during the day we finished tonight.. We passed Port Olimpic (the Olympic Village, which served home to the athletes in 1992), Parc de la Ciutadella-Zoo, Pla de Palau, Catedral and Barri Gotic.. After all that, we arrived back at Placa de Catalunya where we started.. We got ourselves some coffee from a nearby Starbucks and headed back to our hotel..

Placa de Espanya at night

Subhanallah, the view of the city is just breathtaking..

Tomorrow, Red Line! Adeu-siau!

Salam..

Barcelona (Day 1, March 2) : Arrival & La Rambla

2009-03-03T21:34:00.008Z

Salam..

Welcome to the special edition of our series of tour of Barcelona.. This week, both myself and Ina are taking our annual leave and we decided to have our extended honeymoon to Spain.. I will try to relive our Spanish experience in words as best as I can.. Enjoy the read and let your imagination take you with us in our journey in this magical Catalan city!

The morning in Limerick never felt any warmer than this.. We started off very early taking a cab to Shannon Airport, all around 4.45am.. Our flight was scheduled at 6.45, so we had enough time to travel across the city..We checked in and, to my surprise, we saw Dr James Stodart, the new Palliative Care consultant, whom I came to know very well in the last few months too.. All to surprising too that he was spending his break in Barcelona! Despite my best attempt to avoid formality, I kept addressing him as 'Dr Stodart' and repeatedly he asked me to call him James!

Ola, Barcelona!

We arrived at the Costa Brava Girona Airport still with the sun making its way through the morning.. We took a bus straight to Estacio d'Autobusos Barcelona Nord, one of the four main bus stations in Barcelona.. We did not wait long to grab a taxi to Placa de Catalunya where our hotel was located.. It was such a great day, and only made better to realize our hotel was in the middle of all the action and literally within walking distance to La Ramblas, the Grafton-like avenue in the centre of Barcelona..

After checking-in, we went to the plaza in front of the hotel and started snapping pictures.. The statues and architectures around the park were so impressive, like taking a walk down medieval Barcelona when modernism just started.. The plaza centre was filled with an enormous flock of birds, mainly pigeons.. Two small stalls also sell cheap seeds for visitors to buy and feed the birds..

Placa de Catalunya

Next stop, we walked down La Rambla, breathing the splendid atmosphere of multi-function avenue - with stalls selling souvenirs, man-statues, florists and pet-sellers and even artists painting further down the lane.. It was all so brilliant.. We also stopped by at the Mercat de la Boqueira, Barcelona's central market.. The fruits were fresh and cheap all very well displayed for excited tourists! Ina bought some fresh fruits while I got myself some caramelised cashews and salted pistachios.. Then, we walked all the way down to the Monument a Colom, with a statue of Christopher Colombus at the top pointing at the sea.. We walked along the pier and saw Las Golondrinas, a boat that later on took us around Port Vell and toured the near side of the sea all the way to Port Olimpic, the home of the Olympians in 1992..

Mercat de la Boqueira

Port Vell pier

After the boat ride, we explored the pier further and visited MareMagnum, a new addition to the Barcelona shopping scene.. Behind that, we ended up at the L'Aquarium, where without any hesitations, we entered and spent the evening with fishes and octopuses and lobsters..

That night we had our first ever tapas and paella dinner at Micky's.. Now, in all fairness, we didn't know exactly where to have our dinner, hence we tried at the first sight of option available.. It was not the greatest Spanish food we had tasted but it was enough for us to know what exactly tapas and paellas were.. I had some paella vegetale (vegetable paella) while Ina took in seafood paella.. We took some tapas as well - squid, mussels and salad.. Generally, tapas are small portions of meal, be it vegetable salad, seafood or even chips or potatoes.. The great thing about tapas are we can mix and match and choose our own combinations.. On the other hand, paellas are really tomato-base rice, and depending on what the 'extras' are, you get yourself a seafood paella, vegetable paella or other kinds of paella..

Dining the Catalan way - Paellas and tapas

The first day was such a great start for us newcomers to Spain.. We had a magnificent welcoming greet from the Catalan capital and we were so much looking forward for the next few days of our stay here.. Be sure to stay tuned!

Salam..

Bake, bake & bake.. :)

2009-02-28T18:54:00.011Z

Salam..

I've baked a few cakes since last week.. I find that cooking & baking really helps when I'm stressed.. There have been matters that been running through my mind lately.. and i'm homesick as well.. huhu..

My dear husband bought me a cooking book a few months ago & he wrote in it 'desserts are stressed spelled backwards'.. and it's very true;) when I'm in the kitchen, I just indulge myself in cooking and it makes me feel good.. I can forget about my worries & stress.. just enjoy the smell & tastes of the food.. and of course serving them makes me feel even better.. and the best part,seeing people enjoying the food:)

Today,my friends came over from Cork.. I cooked nasi lemak & I baked pandan chiffon cake as specially requested by them.. this is not my first time baking the cake .. the 1st trial was a total disaster.. the 2nd was much better.. and this time,alhamdulillah.. it's not easy to get the right texture.. and after surfing the internet,I found the mistakes.. And I guess they are the common mistakes that people make.. I've learned a few steps that are important:

don't use a non-stick chiffon cake mould.. and don't grease it..
whipped the white eggs until it's stiff
quickly invert the mould once taken out of the oven
Don't remove the mould while the cake is still hot.

This is the outcome..

Last week I made chocopots.. found the recipe accidentally when I was searching the chocolate cake recipe.. It was originally from the famous Nigella Lawson.. I am not too crazy about these chocopots.. I prefer the chocolate cake:)

and my dear husband made a dessert as well!! i don't know that's the real name of this dessert.. we just called it rice crispies choc:) the recipe was given by one of his consultants.. thanks for the recipe.. it was a very simple recipe yet it was delicious..

Two weeks ago I tried a new recipe.. the moist marble cake.. We brought it over to Mas Mahadi's house & met up with hanif & hilma.. their children really enjoyed the cake.. children are just cute! i sure will miss hadif.. I used to babysit him a few weeks last year.. he is just so cute & so well-behaved.. hanif & hilma has gone back to Malaysia for good.. I hope to meet them again some day,insyaAllah..

So,what do you think? should I open my own bakery?;p hehehe.. i'm far from that.. I just love baking in my own leisure time.. and i'm not creative;) i'm still searching for the next recipe to try.. will update soon..

P/s: we're both on holidays next week! hoorayy!!

Two Days, Two Drops..

2009-02-24T22:25:00.003Z

Salam..

Another day has passed in the life of a health-care professional.. Yet, today, after what had happened yesterday, brought a new spirit along with the morning breeze, which quite honestly had some spring notion to it, even at this still-winter season.. The fresh uplifting feeling had materialized within my veins.. It was all so invigorating..

The day had gone well that it seemed a purpose was re-ignited, a reason sparked.. Despite the anticipated long day, I had never thought of sighing or wincing.. The desire to be a good doctor had been refreshed..

And just when I thought yesterday was an epic event, rare yet spiritually enhancing, I was faced with another token of gratitude.. Alhamdulillah, my heart was again locked onto why I wanted to be a doctor..

A lady whom I attended to in the outpatients today handed me a 50euro note just after I had examined her.. I was struck off balance, not knowing what to do at that instance.. It was a token of appreciation and gratitude for me for looking after this lady.. In all fairness, it was the first time I actually saw the lady.. It would not have made any different outcome had I seen her before as well..

"This is for you, doctor.. For taking care of me.." It was brief and direct.. The crispy note was pushed into my palm..

Cultural

In the Irish society, it is not uncommon, especially among the previous generation elders, to toss a huge amount of money as a token of appreciation.. Matter of fact, refusing to accept may well indicate unappreciative sign and may well be looked at as rude..

I finally took the money, discussed that with my colleagues and decided that I would transfer the amount to the Dialysis Unit Fund.. I was then told that this lady does it all the time every time she attends the clinic..

As for me, the monetary value is of no concern to me, but I would humbly accept the note of gratitude from this lady on behalf of all doctors in the world and return the favour as a promise that we all would do our best to be a good doctor..

I may not see this lady again soon, but the experience I had today will stick with me.. Two drop of sweetness from patients are a majestic value of spirit and reminder to me, and I has both so close together.. Yesterday and today were great reminders for me, of an experience to share, of an ambition refreshed, and of a value of which made us human..

Alhamdulillah..
Salam..

The Dew That Keeps Me Going

2009-02-23T21:50:00.003Z

Salam..

Recently, career and job have been subjectively stressing and objectively draining my mental capacity to function.. Nonetheless, the train of life speeds through the dimension of living and, without a doubt, will leave whoever is dozing.. I, for instance, hate to be left dangling at the platform, not knowing what had passed me by.. To that effect, I had been immersing my day life with all the jobs and chores so that my days would be effectively and professionally filled..

So was all my other colleagues, ever so dedicated with our professional undertakings, like bees hounding a fresh morning nectar-rich flower.. Alas, all the pressure of career has made me emotionally blunt, at least during the eight-hour or so of period I am in the hospital.. Shameful to say, that maybe to the extend seeing a patient as a box of mind-challenging pathology questions and less as a person needing help..

Reminder

A quick attempt for lunch break was the turning point of the day and more so as a reminder of the truthful reason of ambition..

As I walked and queued for my vegetarian ciabbata and hot chocolate, I was approached by pleasant man, nicely dressed, probably sitting at the coffee dock with his own cup of latte.. I was caught off guard.. The face was familiar, the voice was recognisable, yet I could not place the man anywhere that I have met him before.. Of course, I felt bad.. And it did not stop there..

"Thank you, doctor, for taking good care of my wife.. She has died since.. But I never had the chance to thank you personally.. Thank you, doctor, so much.."

His hand grabbed mine, his grip firm, honest and pure.. He shook my hand and went back to sit with his latte, with another thank you whisper before releasing my hand..

I smiled and grabbed my sandwich, headed towards the Doctors' Res.. My initial plan for the early bite was overtaken by a shiver of emotion, a mixture of honoured accomplishment and undeserved gratitude.. As soon as I reached the couch in the Res, even with the sandwich in my hands, I could not stop thinking about the gratitude note I received a few minutes ago..

I picked up my mobile phone, dialed a number so familiar to me and worked my way through to Andrea.. Her lovely voiced greeted me and I asked for a favour.. Andrea is like my Penelope Garcia statistical analyst for the day.. In less than a minute, it all became clear..

The man at the coffee dock who thanked me was the husband of a previous patient of mine, recently deceased.. Interestingly, I had looked after her wife previously and had met the husband in several occasions with their daughter.. And the man so composed to walk up to me, despite that what he did might have reminded him of his late wife, thanked me for my deeds, only to face me who had the faintest idea of who he and her family were..

Maybe that was why I was so shook, that I had to find out who he was, who his family were..

Maybe that feeling of being honoured for the job I do is the nectar of this career, the one drop of spirit that keeps us all going and striving in the pathway.. Maybe, it is also Allah's way to remind me why I wanted to be a doctor - to help the unwell..

I am reminded.. Thank you for the gentleman at the coffee dock.. Thank you for reminding me of why I was there by your family's side, for reminding me why I am still here..

Salam..

First, Do No Harm

2009-02-16T22:36:00.003Z

Salam..

Drifting away from the ever scientific and factual lifestyle of a 'medic', I decided this entry tonight will be a lighter version of a person, not bound or tagged by his career.. In all fairness, it is an essential part of being a doctor, that is being a human being!

Recently, much has happened, whether politically or locally, that everything needs to be 'documented'.. That all relates to the legality and traceability of every single word you say.. At least, that is what the medical training and profession in this Western world looks like at present time.. Given that so much was invested to 'cover our own sides', it is not surprising at all that the littlest of information can be harmful if delivered using a wrong combination of words..

Reminiscing Palliative Care

Turbulent and turbid - that would probably the best phrase I would choose to describe the medical field at the moment.. Turbulent, with the pressure of working in a sub-conducive environment, lack of nationwide general understanding on the working conditions and challenges faced by doctors day in and day out, general 'stigma' that doctors are well-paid (and perhaps over-paid!), the mounting pressing drags of neglected doctor support system and cry for help.. Turbid, with the upper-level power ever enforcing external pressure to squeeze every drop of energy left in all doctors and expecting no (or denying any) feedback, with the uncertainty of NCHD-IHCA on-paper relationship level..

When turbulent meets turbid, it only equates to one answer - DENIAL.. Denying the fact that doctors work in a sub-professional condition and terms, denying the fact that doctors' challenges are, in fact, more ethical than legal, where patients' care are compromised, denying the truth that, despite the well-honoured title, doctors are paid very poorly for the hours they clock in, denying the fact that doctors' look for help but nobody cares to listen, hence taken as never spoken for.. Denying the truth that everybody knows the system is slaving the doctors..

And it all further manifests itself as compromise in patient care..

It may take a while to realize this, but as a friend said to me today "Somewhere, someone will die because the doctor may not even care anymore, when people don't care about the doctor's interests.."

At this dark hours of the Irish medical profession circumstances, I reminisce the memories and experience working in Palliative Care.. Of course, at the time I was there, all this nonsense of cutbacks had not been brought up at all.. And I remember the joy of coming to work, despite realizing somebody will die that day, that I made a person comfortable, I made a family face the final days of their loved one with utmost dignity and comfort.. That all the money did not matter, all the tablets would not make any difference.. But being there was the magnet that held everybody together.. And that joy is the comfort and greatest pay of being a doctor.. However, when external pressure squeezes all the good faith in any man, then man rebels to ensure self-sustenance.. It is not evil at work, but purely the literal description of "survival of the fittest"..

No smoke without fire.. A simple enough quote to remind anybody that if you play with fire, the consequences may well be (or potentially) destructive..

First, do no harm - that is basic, How To Be A Doctor : Chapter 1.. Just do not forget, that the mirror meaning also takes effect.. Do not 'harm' the doctors.. Remember, when you entrust someone (for example, a doctor) with your life, make sure you have the same respect of his life, that you would do the same if you were in his place.. If you expect your health be looked after properly, make sure you look after your doctors' welfare too..

I rest my case..

Salam..

Man At Thirteen

2009-02-14T22:54:00.004Z

Salam..

It has been quite a stir in the recent days, certainly after the big news of 'off-loading' the NCHD's from their, what can only be described as, mediocre income.. Nevertheless, despite the many arguments from all NCHD compatriots, be it formally voiced or not, the cutbacks seemed a unilateral dictator decision by the HSE.. As for the the rest of us, counting the days towards the decimation of the majority seems a scary yet real certainty..

Alas, the hearts and souls of the health system in this country have been demolished.. And nobody seems to care.. See us bleed and maybe then people will see and suffer the consequences..

Father At 13

In between the commotion and whirlwind of local scene, another alarming news made the headlines.. A young boy (or should I say by now, man) became probably the youngest father in history to be 'approved' by the media.. Certainly, The Sun made it clear..

(Follow link : http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2233878.ece)

While the mom is only 15, the dad is two years younger.. And at thirteen, he has already made his mark in his country..

I am not here to judge who should or should not be a father.. Neither am I here to dissect whether should this young man be the attention of media and public support or rage.. Rather, behind this interesting set of events, my true intentions will be outlined by the evaluation of media-made humanity, human rights, values and 'what ifs'.. Do not succumb to agreement or disapproval of my writing, but flow me in with comments and debate the matter..

Some readers may have come to realize or feel that a tinge of 'anti-media' has back-dropped by colour pellet.. I am truthful when I declare that media has played a major role in molding our society and thinking.. As for this part of the story, certainly I feel that it is one of cashing in from the news! It is the media business to front-page the most exciting news to catch the eyes of bypassing potential readers at the news-stand.. I do not believe the media runs on a moral basis to excavate the social deprivation and change it, but my beliefs is that the excavation is of monetary and fame returns to the company.. What people make out of the story published is an after-effect possibly not worthy of entertainment.. And in this case, a young boy is made a man at a very tender age, by the media.. So much for humanity.. Welcome spotlights!

My brain has now come to an escalation point that my writing tonight is as messy as a yarn of thread after sandstorm! Do not be alarmed as I will attempt to flee the revolving door and schematically continue my discussion..

To a certain extend, human rights play a part in this issue, when a couple of teenagers parent a child.. As reported in the news, an anti-abortion pro-LIFE wing has supported and commented on the 'courage' of the young parents to bring the baby into this world.. The issue about abortion has been a never-ending battle between two sides and yet none has emerged victorious.. In my opinion, there should never even be any sides.. A child is a gift and, largely, a responsibility from Allah that there should never be a question whether the child should live or not.. Of course, medical circumstances come into play when the mother's life is on the balance.. But that is a whole different ballgame.. As for my own stand, the minute you decide to have a child, it is the same time that you have agreed with Allah that you are taking the responsibility as a father and a husband..

But, as for non-Muslims, does this 'courage' of bringing the baby into this world make it acceptable? Is it the parents' rights to say yes or no? I have no doubt that the child has full rights to be born into this world.. I have no doubt that the parents, be it tender in age, should take full responsibility of their actions.. But I disagree that this is an acceptable circumstances to the society..

Values

This leads to the arguments of values in our society.. Looking from the perspective of, what seems to be, a corrupted society, the whole value of parenthood has diminished with the acceptance of this news.. Bear in mind that there is a lot more than just the 'exciting' news here.. Underage sex and pre-marital sex are major issues portrayed by this event.. Islam has certainly guidelined these topics, that a major branch has been dedicated just towards 'Munakahat'.. What is the Church's stand in this matter? It is a roaring question, and yet a 'yes' or a 'no' will spiral the Church in a way it would be hard to redeem the trust in Church values..

A 'yes' means approval of pre-marital sexual practice and a 'no' would mean the acknowledgement of a cracking society out of hand yet it is not punishable!

And hence it is no surprise that despite the news being front-page every day, the Church has said nothing..

What ifs

People believe that when 'what if' questions make the forefront, then nothing will ever get done as the simple phrase categorically means 'uncertainty'.. In all fairness, it is true.. But, this time, my 'what if' is a challenge again to society, to answer my fundamental question..

What if the baby was aborted or the mother had a miscarriage? As we know, abortion is legal in England since the Abortion Act in 1967, hence the separation between pro-LIFE and pro-CHOICE.. But had the baby was aborted or miscarried, would we have known the corruption and endemic pathology of the society? Or would it just be another local news and be swept under the carpet?

What if the parents were, say, above 18 years of age? Does the Church agree that they are allowed to have sex despite not being married? For sure, Islam is against pre-marital sexual practice.. But where does the Church stand? If they are against, than it seems nothing is being done, but if they are allowing pre-marital sex, then isn't that against the Bible?

So many 'what ifs' can be asked, yet grasping any answer is scarce..

Learn

News are there for a reason.. Events happen for human being to learn, to evaluate, to discriminate between right and wrong, and to reflect and return to Allah (God) for guidance.. As for many cases we see in this world, the good and the bad, asking for guidance from Allah is the measure of how close we are to being a pious slave, an 'abid.. And ask for protection from the evil deeds and influence of Syaitaan..

As for the news, I congratulate the young parents for not giving in to abortion.. Yet I have no doubt on disagreeing of what they did.. I pray Allah will protect the innocent child who was brought into this turbulent world by, what I can only see as, a chaotic value-deprived family.. (Subhanallah, Astaghfirullah, I ask for forgiveness from Allah for my harsh comment..)

May Allah guide us all to be a healthy servant and grant us the strength to hold firm to the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah..

Salam..

Losing Either Way

2009-02-08T23:31:00.005Z

Salam..

I am back again in less than a day, blogging my way in this page.. In case you did not notice, if you look closely, this entry has the same date as the one before.. Does it mean my ranting are getting out of control? Not at all.. The matter of the fact, I thought the last entry was a little to statistic and factual, whereas this one would be a rather deliberate and spontaneous, despite the previous entry title included the word 'FIRED?!'.. I will tell you why..

New Teammate

Behind the turmoil of cutbacks and economic uncertainty, my boss was in the process of hiring another SHO for the team.. It is in fact what he mentioned to me and the other team members earlier on in January.. Of course, after the HSE economic debacle story, even I did not think that the plan to have another SHO would go through.. Hence, it was never even followed up by me, anyway..

In fact, I didn't even realise the post was advertised..

To my surprise, some friends and colleagues had come to talk to me about what was the story.. Because nobody knew what was the deal, it is not surprising that people would think of the worst or negatives..

"Shaz, are you fired?"
"What's happening? Why is there an ad for your job?"
"Dude, are you ok? Your job was advertised as IMMEDIATE.. Are you sick?"

Only then it clicked.. Ahh, the job..

Thank you for your concern.. Luckily, I was not fired.. In fact, it was the new post advertised.. The Renal service will be opening a new Dialysis Unit off-site the hospital.. Hence, the registrar covering Dialysis Unit will have to commute on daily basis between the hospital and the new unit.. The extra SHO will be a helping hand for the registrar in the Dialysis Unit in the hospital when the registrar is at the Dock Road Unit.. That is the purpose..

Despite the certainty, not that I doubted myself, but I went to seek for clarity.. I composed myself and asked my boss whether I was fired.. He laughed and asked "What do you think?".. So I said (with some confidence that I still have my job) I think I have been doing a fair job and I was almost certain that the post advertised was for the extra hand, not that I was fired.. He laughed again but it was clear that that was the reason..

Phewww..
For a second I thought I had lost my job..

Salam..

Cutbacks And Retrenches! FIRED?!

2009-02-08T14:36:00.006Z

Salam..

Over the last few weeks, one theme has come up as an common discussion topic in almost all Doctors' Res and even Facebook - that is the HSE cutbacks and the potential implications to the doctors here in Ireland, particularly NCHD's (Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors).. Of course, the consultants, be it in the public or private sector, had their share earlier on sometime last year with the big row with the new consultant contract.. But, let's face it, that issue was never a big lunchtime topic for NCHD's..

Of course, furthermore, the Irish government itself has implemented several big ideas to further cut the income of the population across the board.. With the introduction of the 1% income levy (on basic annual income, for earnings up to €100,000, and 2% on earnings thereafter), the pinch is such a sting that it may be hard to bear.. Even recently, the government has introduced another cutback on pensions.. It is hard to even try to comprehend when, after all the services you have done, you may end up with not a single penny in your pension account!

NCHD : The HSE Slaves?

Come 18th February, if everything goes 'according to plan' by the government/HSE, the new implementation of cutbacks on NCHD incomes.. Some of the proposed cutbacks are as listed below :

Training grant will be cancelled
Living out allowance cancelled
Higher degree allowance cancelled
Diploma allowance cancelled
Mandatory pre-call day off without any pay
Mandatory post-call day off without any pay
Mandatory one-hour unpaid lunchbreak each day
Interns to be restricted to 48hrs paid hours only from July 1st
Cutting in CORE BASIC pay (unspecified percentage)
Overtime to be cut from time-and-a-quarter for the first 15 hours to TIME ONLY
No premium overtime rates for Sundays and bank holidays

These are the suggestions proposed to the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) as sent by the HSE.. Let us slice through these one by one briefly..

1. NCHD's receive approximately €3,800 per annum for Training Grants.. This fund is used to support NCHD's for paying examinations (eg. MRCP Part 1 exam costs €550, MRCP Part 2 Clinical costs €750), buying revision books, €1,900 allocated for laptop/desktop for continuing education purposes, €550 allocated for PDA, for course fees and so forth.. Should this be cancelled, all NCHD's will have to dig deep in their own pockets to afford those fees and payments for their own education..

2. Living Out Allowances fare approximately €250 monthly as a 'compensation' for NCHD's when the employer (HSE/Hospital) does not supply accommodation to the doctors.. As for that, of course it will never cover the rent/mortgage the doctors are paying but certainly it lessens the burden.. The general rent rate in Limerick at present is €850 for a 2-bedroom apartment or roughly €1,200 monthly for a similar apartment in Dublin!

3. Higher Degree and Diploma Allowances account for about €2,900 and €1,000 annually respectively.. These are extra tips on top of the basic pay as doctors mature with their career.. For example, once an NCHD completes the MRCP exams, then this allowance in payable to him.. Needless to say, although it may sound lavish, the path towards accomplishing these titles are undoubtedly horrid.. In a way, these are a career achievement rather than just extras.. It doesn't hurt to be acknowledged..

Now, the interesting parts..

4. Mandatory no-pay pre-call day off and post-call day off.. This is just a joke, ridiculously a joke! By common sense, no consultant will allow this to happen.. Having said that, remember, this cutbacks does not affect the consultants, hence they may miss to take these into considerations once this changes take place.. I give a simple example, say Dr A, a consultant, is oncall on Tuesday, and (taken Limerick as an example) the whole of Dr A's team is oncall.. On Monday, there will be no one from his team at work because of the mandatory no-pay pre-call day off.. Then, all of his subordinates will be in on Tuesday and then on Wednesday all of his team will be off again! Who will look after Dr A's patients on Monday and Wednesday? Who will do present the patients and sort out the new patients from Tuesday? Does Dr A expect his team to come in for work on Monday and Wednesday and NOT BEING PAID? I rest my case..

5. In busy hospitals, lunchtime is never a lunchtime.. More often than not, it is the time for NCHD's to do the smaller jobs in the wards to buy some time to complete their work by 5pm.. Some other teams, which are less busy, would take the lunchtime to do 'dry rounds' - going through the patient list without seeing the patients.. Teaching hospitals take the one-hour break as much as three times a week for NCHD teaching sessions or Grand Rounds.. Now, what will happen if doctors are not paid in that one hour period? Why not go out for lunch? why work when you will not be paid?

6. Time-Only Overtime.. Up to date, after the 39-hour week scheduled for official working hours, every hour are paid 25% extra on top the hourly rate.. Roughly, if your hourly rate is €20, then every hour overtime you are paid €25.. This goes up to 15 hours overtime.. After that, every hour will be paid as T+1/2, which means 50% on top of hourly rate.. Now, say the first 15 hours now are being paid as basic hourly rate, then common sense sinks in and ask "Why should I stay back?" And what happens during oncall? You stay overnight only to be paid the same hourly rate despite having to work the long 24-hour shift on your toes? I suppose, the pre- and post-call unpaid mandatory day off is the compensation for that.. Maybe.. And no premium overtime rates mean that working on Sundays or any public holidays are as the same as working on any day.. As of now, as of the signed contract to date, Sundays and public holidays are paid double time.. Maybe not for any longer..

All of these cutbacks are a 180-degree turn from the signed contract.. Question is, if these new plans are brought into place :

Does the current signed contract have any legal standing in the eye of the HSE/Government,
That all stated in the contract are easily cancelled by HSE?
Is this the new era of political/professional slavery?

Salam..