what's been happening so far......

Thanks to the few people who actually missed my entries and asked if I am okay -- for not updating after so long... wah, terharu also lah, got people so concern about me one, so to you people, thank you very much lah, you know who you are ;-P..

Actually I have been away in KL for a meeting with the Malaysia AIDS Council, for a presentation of their Strategic Plan as an NGO to compliment the National Plan 2006-2010. I'd love to explain some more about the meeting but I don't want to put you guys to sleep so I'll spare you that.

One exciting thing about the meeting is that it's held in Chow Kit, and since I've not been to Chow Kit proper since medical school, I actually looked forward to this meeting. I stayed at Cititel Express Chow Kit, which is just in front of Jalan Haji Taib.

Chow Kit to me, and I know for a fact to another few of us, means only one thing - the night rounds we called "Jeffrey's Rounds" or just JR. I wrote a little bit about JR in my past entries, and this time, I have the opportunity to snap pictures of the streets, on which I learned the most important values to carry us along in medical field - that is humanity, the appreciation of the quality of life, and the respect for Life itself. the streets looked fairly unchanged after all these years, save a few developments here and there. I'll post up the pictures once I'm done editing them.

I then went around with Ben to MidValley, bought ourselves a feast and durian to be had in the hotel room. Purposely lagi bah tu. The difficult part was to bring the durian around using public transport. But we always stand or sit next to big families carrying bags and bags of shopping, because then other people wouldn't suspect it was us with the durian.

Just came back today (I mean, yesterday) and just after one day of rest and unloading my laundry, I have to pack up again for another trip to Tawau next week. Will be there for 3 days, giving talk for AIDS Updates.

During the discussion with MAC and PT Foundation, it sounds positive that they'd look into the urgent need of a drop in centre for TS (transsexuals) and SW (sex workers). With that, we probably will be able to shift the night clinic to the drop in centre. This piece of news is what makes work so much fun now.

Photos will be uploaded later!

random pics......

Taken during Ben's so-called "farewell" lunch at Japanese Dreamfood Reastaurant at Palm Square, Centre Point.

Chicken Torikatsu Lunch set for RM15.00. On the top left corner is Takoyaki, or Octopus Balls.

Clockwise from top left, ebi-ko sushi, squid sushi (forgot the name), inari sushi or sweet tauhu pok, and fried squid - also forgotten name.

Train coming out of the tunnel, with giants at the background...

Buddha statue at David's house.

arteo got patched......

seeing double? triple? quadraple? how many actually? guess and win, the first to answer correctly in shoutbox will get a special prize!!

enough kunun......

Kunun saja I was thinking I wanted to simplify my life by indulging less in complicated philosophies, but today I bought a book on Eastern Philosophy from Times. Bought another 2 books, the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and a Black and White Photography magazine from UK. The reason I got the magazine is because it is featuring Nigel Perry's secret to perfect portraitures.

not on your own kin......

There's a saying like that, where some doctors are hesitant to do procedures like surgery, and even sometimes hesitant to treat family members and loved ones. In cases involving family members, treating them can be an emotional burden and in many cases doctors become less objective in their judgment and decision making.

I've seen countless occasions of motor vehicle accidents and over the years, grown numb to the tragedy of it. I've been in situations when I have to calm down the family members involved, done short post traumatic counsellings, kept silence to let them vent their emotions, but all these have been quite a norm in a daily job. I wish I did not have to see so many accidents cases when I was doing rural clinic, but things like this are just the bread and butter or life in the district. Nothing special.

But things are different when I got a call from my brother saying that mom, dad, and uncle and aunty were involved in a car accident near Sandakan just 2 hours ago. Thank God everybody is well and safe other than a few bruises. The pickup they were driving swerved and went into a ditch when it went through a puddle.

The problem with Sandakan road is that it's layered with palm oil from the fallen fruits from lorries, and when the the fruits got crushed, the oil seeps into the road. So when it rains, the oil, being lighter than water will surface and lessen the grip of car tyres.

I'm doing this entry while doing locum. It took me a few minutes to recompose my thoughts after the news, before I could see the next patient... almost cried for no reason lagi nih... now I'm just being extremely grateful that everything is fine and everybody is safe.

Where is my doctor to calm me down and tell me everything is okay when it comes to my turn?

hey again, jude......

Random juke: HEY JUDE

Got this jazzed up version of the Beatles' Hey Jude sung by Ella Fitzgerald, and can't help but to share it here... enjoy, and have a good weekend!

LISTEN TO HEY JUDE JAZZ VERSION HERE
mp3 / 2.8 Mb / 3:53 / 96kbps

the one about camera ethnicities......

When I am introduced to another photographic enthusiast, quite unvariably the first exchange question is... "what is your camera?"... and this question comes out more oftenly not because we really want to know what camera the other person is using, but because we want to tell them what camera we are using. And at such, the world of photo-takers are grouped into a few categories or camera ethnicities. In Sabah (or even Malaysia) a photo-taker would belong to either the Canonians, the Nikonians or the Sonyans race. Those not of these major racial grouping can be checked under Lain-Lain like you would when filing up a form (Pentaxans, Olympian, Ben-Quins etc)

Note that I purposely choose to call these ethnicities of the photo-takers (or camera-owners), because I believe, that photographers proper should not be divided by their tools of trade, but by the genre of photography they do. Even if technical infos need to be exchanged when discussiong a photo, one should only quote the lens and other EXIF data like the shutter speed, ISO, aperture, exposure etc..

Plus, I own both Sony and Canon cameras. So does that make me half-breed? I wonder, hehehe.

As for myself, I like to take street photography and capture lifestyle in photojournalist style. That is why some of my preferred pictures are those that I took a moment before my subjects are ready with their poses. At the moment when he's taking his comb out to straighten his hair, or at the moment when she was concentrating so hard in her work, she didn't realise I was taking her picture. Posed pictures are fine, but sometimes it disturbs the subject, or takes them out of their natural environment.

It takes luck also to have the moment when you're ready with your camera and just waiting for the subject to engage in the lens to lens connection (eye lens and camera lens - lame, I know) and shoot, like the picture of these boys having Coca-Cola for breakfast.

So, as a photographer, what kind of photographs do you take?

reemember to led'der into your hearr.....

Got to see this, the little fella telling Jude to remember to let her into his heart... More fascinating is that other than the repetitive stanzas and the sudden jump into chorus (come on, give him a break, yea?) the baby can surprisingly hold a note better and more steadier than a lot of the contestants in AF or Malaysian Idol.

For a baby, it's too much to ask him to sing and strum at the same time, that milestones only comes to a child of at least 8 years old, and to some, never developed at all (like me, sigh) so be patient!

POLYCHROMOPHOBICS BEWARE!!!

Warning: the following video is in colour...

happy teacher's day......

To all my teachers that has inspired me, and brought me up to be who I am today, I am truly grateful to you.

To all my friends and relatives in the teaching profession, let me thank you on behalf of the younger generation, because chances are, say just 10 years from now, you'd be forgotten by most of them that you teach today, and that's the shitty truth isn't it?

However, you carry on because you have in your hands gems of value you could not even begin to fathom. You have in your hands, your own future and mine.

Happy Teacher's Day

missing.......

Have you seen my polar bear?

Actually not missing, just being taken care of by someone I know. Dear someone I know, I miss my polar bear!

spongebob got my foot!......

Yi yi, 10 months old, and she does

1. commando crawl at 3 mph
2. sits straight without support
3. cruising on furnitures
4. cries for attention and companion
5. just got past the stranger anxiety phase
6. babbles
7. transfers toy from one hand to another
8. finger approach to get object, still racking but getting better with her pincers
9. not much food preference, semua sumbat
10. is afraid of my panda mask
11. likes tummy tickle
12. likes pua-pua de-de

the one about sensibility and self-restrain......

Everyday I learn something new.....

Being a somewhat perfectionist, I have in many instances (more than I would usually define as perfectly okay) find myself meddling into the works that I have delegated to my colleagues.

One example is the screening of workers of entertainment outlets around KK and Penampang. Sometimes, out of impatience that things are not going according to my pace, I would make a surprise visit to the district office and push my colleague at the district level to do mapping, or contact establishment at that very moment. Even the mapping at Waterfront today was very much at my dictation. As we were going around, Hendrew had to answer phonecalls from his office regarding the HFMD panic that's been affecting some parents. He should be at the office rather than out on the street counting clubs and pubs.

That got me thinking, that I probably have my hands too deep in the works that I have delegated to the district, and it's about time to practise more trust on my district colleagues to do their work.

Former US President Roosevelt once said something along this line. A good leader has the sensibility to choose the right people for a task, or delegate the right task to the righ people, and then has enough self-restrain to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

This may not be an entirely new thing for me, but with this, I hope to start anew...

storm at work......

Few days ago there was a prediction in the newspaper that a storm will hit the west coast of Sabah until 14th May. Well, today's the last day and I'm out at work.

Health Inspector Hendrew was doing a mapping of the KK entertainment outlet around Waterfront area and I joined along. Suddenly there was a gathering of dark clouds with a bright plethora lining running across, separating from the bright part of the sky. It was fascinating, like the collision between darkness and light, and at times like this, I hate to not have my pocket camera with me.

Which brings to mind, that I have to go and make noise at Karamunsing Sony Service Centre. Their service really sucks and I am almost at the end of my patience with the way they handle their costumer service. Sucks big time.

Then the rain suddenly came, and scattered the marketplace (the Filipino market). It was quite a scene, people hurriedly packing their goods, shouting, running, the wind sending sand and plastic bags up flying all over the place. Good thing I had my W610i with me, so beggar can't be chooser.

The sea was getting really rough, and the boats were busy finding a safer docking. The whole thing looked like a scene taken out from the movie Pirates of Caribbean, when the fleet of pirate ships getting prepared for war.

insightful blog award.......

Wah... thanks to UrgRanau who has awarded patch with an Insightful Blog Award... thanks again, friend, I'm so honoured...

travelogue: day 8 - around solo......

Last day in Indonesia.

The room in Solo Inn. At the rate of Rp315,000 a night, this is the most luxurious room I strayed in for the whole vacation.

Monument at Sriwedari Park.

Museum Radya Pustaka.

These are items in the museum, I could not remember the details of which, but I'll just put up the pictures here.

Then I took the becak to Kraton Kasunaman.

Local merchants selling ornamental keris.

Aik, got colour pula ni satu... macam mana boleh escape conversion nih? Nevermind la... just one exception...

The statue doing some gesture, of which in our place is considered vulgar...

Kraton Kasunaman area.

Keris making... hands and feet all involved in the art of it.

Slamet Riyaldi Statue.

After all the museums and Kratons and handicrafts centres, I was very much dying for some cold drinks. My advice, not for the weak stomached.

I asked for iced Coke, so this ibu took a chunk of ice from her cooler, wrapped it with a piece of cloth that was hanging at the fence next to her stall, and with a thick stick, beat the beJ**** out of that poor chunk and filled the ice chips in my glass. Since I'm going home later, so gohet aja lah.

Then I tried some guava juice. The lady claimed that she makes the best guava juice around, so I gave her a chance. My verdict - she should not have blended the seeds together with the flesh.

For lunch, I tried some local food in the nearby restaurant, Ayem Adem restaurant.

The ABC buah.

Nasi gudek ayam special. Gudek is a dish made of young jackfruit and boiled egg cooked in coconut milk.

Gado-gado.

Solo Airport.

Kuala Lumpur LCC Terminal. We waited about an hour plus for the luggage.