When Life Gives You Lemon..

Salam..

Well, well, well.. Again and again, this blog has become uninterestingly quiet over the last week.. Despite the backlog of issues and essays I have promised to put on this blog, I still have not done any of the load.. Namely, the finale of the Trust Me I'm A Doctor series, the happenings on our vacation in Malaysia recently and few others too.. Not to worry, all in due time..

L For Life, L For Lemon

Not many people even like the taste of lemon.. surely, people like oranges and mandarins or clementines -they are sweet and tasty, but when people say lemon, the connotation is somewhat 'sour'.. Well, that is life and needless to say, 'life' also starts with L.. Realise this, life can be as sour as the random lemon you pick at the supermarket..

It is not unusual for life to take a stumble and take a nasty turn.. However, it is how we react and keep our calm is the point separating us from others.. How we deal with the fact that life just turned sour in a blink of an eye..

When Life Hands You Lemon,
Make A Lemonade!

Indeed, the secret is to be strong, swallow the bitterness of life and move on.. As hard as it may sound, THIS IS LIFE.. What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger (so I was told)..

Lemon Tea And Honey For Sore Throat

Recently enough, lemons have engulfed my home here.. Ina had a nasty cough (and still some at present) so we decided to go au naturale with remedies.. The usual warm water with lemon and honey.. It has proven effective, yet the fringes of the cough still linger as Ina is one hard one on 'jeruk' (fermented-fruit-based junk food).. So, it is slower for her cough to recover..

The good thing about natural remedies is that it lacks dosing specificity.. What it means is that you can have as much lemon as you want as long as you tolerate the taste with very minimal side effects.. Of course, such fruit with stockload of Vitamin C means that the extra anti-oxidant helps with 'fighting germs' and natural honey soothes the throat.. The specific pharmacokinetic is, however, unknown..

Love Also Starts With An L

Despite the sourness of the not-so-famous-fruit lemon, the remedial benefit is not negligible.. With loads of patience, storms can be faced calmly, and cough can fade with some honey.. And out sparks the love..

So, be patient, be strong and be calm.. Be positive and be grateful.. Insya-Allah, a small bump along the way will only make us more cautious the next time..

Salam..

Fourteen-day Blogless..

Salam..

This weekend is a more relaxing two-day weekend than what it was last week.. This weekend we had the opportunity to host Fadzrul and his wife, Hanis, for dinner.. Other than that, Jennifer was back this week so the load of jobs in hospital was back divided formally.. So I had the (temporary) leisure of the covering-the-ward-only stretch.. Also, last night we hosted Wan, Fid and Shiqin for dinner after our long day shopping..

Spaghetti Bolognese Dinner

Fadzrul and Hanis came over to our place few nights ago.. They brought spaghetti, deliciously done.. We prepared rice and oyster-sauce chicken dish.. The truth is, we had attempted to have this 'double date' since we went back home to Malaysia.. Unfortunately, things did not pan out well.. Even initially over here, we had planned to go out and have dinner but there was always some unprecedented obstacles.. So, the time we had at that stage was the one time that plan did turn out well..

We had nice dinner, nice chat.. Although, myself and Ina pretty much concluded that the Fadzrul-Hanis couple was a very quiet couple.. I don't believe that Fadzrul is a shy person since I have known him from as early as my first year in Ireland, and had lived with him for at least 5 years in Dublin.. So, maybe the thought of appearing as a husband, accompanied by his wife, was probably a bit of a pressure cooker for him.. Hehe..

Wan-Fid-Shiqin Dinner

The three girls came over last night after we came across them in the Crescent Shopping Centre.. Their initially plan was to dine in a Chinese restaurant once finished shopping.. We had thought to join them but pulled out as there was much to be done at home.. Plus we were out since lunch time already yesterday..

So they came over and we prepared rice and tom yum soup.. We had dinner and the girls attempted to watch a 'chick-flick' movie The Wedding Date but with dinner and Fid being post-call, they borrowed the DVD and headed home afterwards..

Blogless

Since we left for holidays in Malaysia recently, we never had the proper chance to blog.. Then when we arrived back in Ireland, my schedule was filled with cross-covering the ward/day-ward since Jennifer was away and only made worse by the weekend on-call afterwards.. So the more than a four-week blogless stretch was undeniably reasonable..

Well, I guess that is all for this time being.. Still got some more stuff to do before tomorrow.. I will keep this updated..

Salam..

P/s : Thank you for Endudians who read and who replied my views on the 'pengkid' and yoga banning.. For those who has not, the file is there for you to read and comment..

Still On-Call! *sigh*

Salam..

November has passed and, like it or not, we are back in Ireland.. Facing the ever-awaiting and ever-eager, full of unwells, hospital.. Unfortunate enough for me, my first weekend after arriving from Malaysia is my weekend on-call.. Yes, I was on-call from Friday and sadly enough both me and Michelle did not get a whisker of a nap at all! That was actually from 4pm on Friday until 12noon Saturday - 20 hours straight! I was wrecked as an old ship!

Well, after last night, I will be going back to hospital for my second half of my weekend call.. I will be back home tomorrow at 5pm, hopefully.. I will write some more then, if I still have some energy left in me..

Salam..

Sunday - Monday

Salam..

Much has happened since the touch-down day entry on Sunday.. And I do mean MUCH! Unfortunately, I had not have the leisure of time to sit and blog, hence the delay.. Furthermore, internet access is not available at my fingertips at all places..

Sunday Was The Day

The very same day we arrived, yes, I have blogged the story.. Needless to say, the fact that I am mentioning this day again means that very same day did not end with the blog..

That night, after a long day of traveling, then the beach, we went to Seremban 2, a fairly new shopping centre at a posh-level comparable to Sogo, and we played bowling.. I had not played for quite some time so my rust was leaking through every joint spaces! We played two games and went back home afterwards exhausted, drained but filled to the top of our lungs! I will let Ina fill in the details of me asking a fellow player (whom I thought worked at the bowling alley!) that our lane was stuck and my ball flew smoothly backwards!

Then Came Monday

Monday was slightly more of a 'working' day.. We started off that morning by going to several offices.. I just may say that those offices were not readily available in Ireland, hence it was impeccable to get it done at any opportunity we had..

Unfortunately for Erin, she had to attend an induction session in Port Dickson (about 20+ km from home) in preparation before starting work as a government servant in Malaysia.. So we planned to send Erin off to the resort, then shoot off to Kuala Selangor (Kusess) to see Zuhaili as he did not have any papers to sit on that Monday.. The drive was long and quite exhausting as we only arrived the day before.. Zuhaili was grand, although he did mention several 'hard' papers.. He still had a few more major elective papers to go through after Monday including Biology and Chemistry and Additional Mathematics..

I could not stay for long, so after a short conversation and loading off a bag full of chocolates, we bid farewell and good luck and departed towards Kundang (Ina's place).. That was easily another 30km from Kusess.. When we arrived, Abg Rusydi just got home and then about 5 minutes later Kak Yah knocked on the door.. We went out dining at McDonald's before returning home and await Ina's parents' arrival from Perlis.. Of course, I was slipping off into dozes when they arrived that night.. Quick hello's, then I was zonked!

More to Come

I knew more would be coming our way given how the initial two days had gone.. I was not complaining, but indeed I could feel the stretch in my muscles.. This type of vacation does mean that all plans with family usually for a year will be compressed into the two weeks we are at home, so the schedule is undeniably tight..

Well, that was it then so far as Monday.. I will attempt to blog in a few more times and catch up on the events on Tuesday to Thursday.. Believe me, those three days could well potentially be the most significant days of this two weeks! Await the news, people..

Till then, salam..

Vacation Has Officially Started!

Salam..

Alhamdulillah, we have arrived in Malaysia, uneventfully, despite the recent roars about Aer Lingus planning a possibly no-notice strike..

Limerick-Cork-Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur

We left Limerick on Friday evening after work.. Obviously I was oncall the Thursday night, so my level of fatigue was up to my eyeballs.. After a shower, Mas Mahadi kindly sent us to the bus station and we board a bus straight to Cork.. Wan and Fid had brought our three bags to Cork the night before, so we travelled to Cork that Friday evening with just two hand luggage..

We arrived in Cork that evening well and were picked up by Wan and Fid again.. They brought us to Spice of India for dinner.. Then only we went to the Radisson Hotel near the airport.. The night was indeed chilly, made worse by my forgetfulness to bring along my sweater.. We checked in and said goodbye to the two and went to bed early.. I was almost nightmare-ish thinking that I may not wake up the next morning to catch the flight as I was truly exhausted.. (The oncall was exceptionally horrible - an SVT, a symptomatic brady, a fast a-fib, a benzo withdrawal with seizures, two meningitis' and four chest pains!) Luckily, I remembered to ask for the wake-up call service from the hotel..

We woke up at 4am Saturday morning and got ready for the airport.. We got the shuttle bus and checked-in straight for the 0620hrs flight to Amsterdam.. We managed to check all our bags straight to KL and got the boarding passes for the AMS-KUL flight too.. Flight was smooth, alhamdulillah..

We had Dutch-style breakfast with (extremely sour) tomato soup, a big bap of egg sandwich and coffee and tea.. I has an extra danish for myself too.. Before we board, I got hold of the current Newsweek and Ina bought some souvenirs.. We did see some lovely Dutch souvenirs but we figured it would meant more if we bought them when we do visit the place, not just 'fake' visits like airport transits.. So, no miniature windmills for the people in Malaysia this time..

Alhamdulillah, flight got up in the sky on time and our hearts were thumping ragingly demarcating our official holiday break is on GO.. After several movies, a few Britney songs, a faint man and a couple of naps, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur unharmed yet I felt slightly feverish thanks to the quick body temperature re-adjustment physiology.. Mama, Erin and Zaqwan were waiting for us outside and we went straight home to Seremban..

Nasi Lemak Breakfast and Banana Boat Ride

Mama had prepared a delicacy yet to be challenged by any known chef - the famous Nasi Lemak with sambal ikan bilis (anchovie chilli gravy) and sambal udang (prawn chilli gravy).. Quick breakfast and rest, we decided that we would see the sea.. Yes, people - to the sea straight after touching down home!

We bought some lunch on the way and headed to Teluk Kemang, Port Dickson, which was about a half-hours drive from Seremban.. There, we took a banana-boat ride and got ourselves soaked wet in the process.. But it was definitely worth it!

After lunch by the beach, we headed back home, showered and I was drained to my last bit of my bone.. Short nap and now blogging after re-setting the router..

Well, that is the story so far.. I will try to keep this updated.. I have planned to dictate our vacation and update the blog when the opportunity arrives but I cannot promise this would be a daily update.. Alright, people.. My Vacation is officially running its course.. Till next time, bye.. Salam..

* To Intan : If you're reading this, not to worry.. We'll send more text messages and pictures to keep you informed (and - obviously - jealous!)

* To Mas, Wan and Fid : Thanks for helping us out.. Thanks for the dinner at Spice of India and the ride to Radisson..

* Unfortunately, after multiple attempts, I was not able to upload any images for this entry.. Hence, I will leave it to your imaginations to re-live our great day-one of our holiday..

One Week Off and Two Weeks Off

Salam..

Needless to say, this blog has been idle for the last (at least) one week.. Furthermore, if any of you have meticulously noticed, the entries since Trust Me I'm A Doctor (Part 2) have been short and rather impulsive, leaning more towards 'time wasting agenda' rather than mind challenging debates.. Unfortunately, this is how things pan out over the last week.. With weekend calls and busy schedule at work (for some unprecedented reason), time for blogging was left minute, making it rather difficult for me to attempt a reasonably good entry for debatable issues..

That was the week that has passed..
The one week off from blogging..

This week, things have gone quite well.. Indeed, after a weekend oncall, precious time is again grabbed for some recovery and rejuvenation.. After all, Monday last week, the hospital has had a lot more visits from me than my own home bedroom.. Needless to say, myself and Ina are still going to the hospital every single day since last Monday..

Home-bound

Although the week has been invariably hectic, both of us have something gigantic and enormous, of which some people say 'gi-normous', to look forward to - spending 2 weeks of our annual leave in Malaysia! We will be leaving Limerick on Friday after work, spend the night in Cork before departing on Saturday morning to Kuala Lumpur via Amsterdam..

It is indeed a time of break between the hectic and pressing work lifestyle before again scrambling ourselves after the holidays.. Alas, it is a well deserved and long-awaited vacation..
We have just finished packing our 3 bags and one hand-luggage.. Most of them filled with souvenirs rather than our own clothes..

Unfortunately, for you readers out there, this vacation may well be that again this blog page will become silent and idle.. This is a big possibility.. Last I heard, Mama has organised a fibre-optic wireless internet network at home.. Maybe there is still some glimmer of light for blogging.. But I won't hold my breath - I may not have the time or energy or the mood and idea to blog then given the plans we have already made during the break..Having said that, I plan to jot down our vacation and travel logs in my diary (and possibly dictate them in a recorder) so that every single detail of our vacation could be shared later on..

Oh well, let us see how things work out over the next few days.. I am excited to have this two-week leave and looking forward to it..

* UPSR results is coming out today.. I wish Zaqwan the very best.. I have a surprise for you!
* SPM has started yesterday (11 Nov).. I wish Zuhaili the best of luck..

"Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow is mystery,
But today is a gift,
That is why it is called the present.."
(Master Ug-Wei)

Salam..

Faineance : The Countdown To Self-Meltdown

Salam..

Such a spectacular word to push for an episode entry for this blog.. Yet, even I only knew the meaning right about 30 seconds ago.. Yes, I blog and indeed use an online dictionary/thesaurus to 'hype' up this journal..

Translation : Laziness, Indolence

That is simply what it means.. No less to describe my weekend.. The fact that the next weekend will be my (possibly, but hopefully not so) frantic weekend is subconsciously an excuse for me to be lazy this weekend.. Sadly though, Ina is oncall tonight and she was oncall on Thursday, only coming home with me on Friday.. Even so, she finished quite late - almost 6.30pm on Friday, when I duly finished just before 4pm..

Nonetheless, I did fill a small percentage of the weekend with some work-out in the gym.. Twice a week should be enough, at least to make my monthly payment's worth..

Well, I have nothing major to write here.. I shall be planning my schedule in Malaysia with Ina very soon.. We have somewhat agreed that WE will have to decide about our stay in Malaysia, not to let things got out of hand just because to keep both camps happy.. It is not easy when all we have is just under two weeks.. And WE need the holiday..

I should stop complaining.. I should just put my pen down, get to bed and think about this later.. Maybe tomorrow.. (And thus I procrastinate again *sigh*)

Salam..