Where Are The Flags?

It's the 23rd of August.
Just 8 more days for Merdeka.
It doesn't seem like it though.

Here is what I remember of Merdeka Day a few years back.
The Jalur Gemilang everywhere - in front of all shops and in (or on) almost all vehicles. Some flew the flag in front of their houses, some decorated their whole car/van/lorry with flags.

Now, I just see a few pathetic flags aound the padang, and it takes me a while to remember that they are there because it is the Merdeka month.
What happened to all the elaborate Merdeka day celebration?

I am not going to point my finger at anyone though.
I have not done anything and nor am I going to do anything to mark the day.
To me, it's just another holiday, another excuse to wake up late (if I am not working), as it is for most of Malaysians.
I don't even stay awake for countdown anymore - I used to because they had good programmes on TV.

When I was younger, I used to wake up early on the day itself to watch the parade. Now, I don't have a TV in my room, and even if I do, I doubt that I would do as I did previously.

It's not that I love the country any lesser than I did before, but somehow the spirit is no more there.
Why - I am not sure. But from the looks of things, it doens't seem like anyone is in the Merdeka spirit anymore.
What went wrong?

Bob's Big Mistake

Bob works hard at the office but spends two nights each week bowling, and plays golf every Saturday.

His wife thinks he's pushing himself too hard, so for his birthday she takes him to a local strip club.

The doorman at the club greets them and says, 'Hey, Bob! How ya doin?'

His wife is puzzled and asks if he's been to this club before.

'Oh no,' says Bob. 'He's in my bowling league.

When they are seated, a waitress asks Bob if he'd like his usual and brings over a Budweiser.His wife is becoming increasingly uncomfortable and says, 'How did she know that you drink Budweiser?''

I recognize her, she's the waitress from the golf club.I always have a Bud at the end of the 1st nine, honey.'

A stripper then comes over to their table, throws her arms around Bob, starts to rub herself all over him and says, 'Hi Bobby. Want your usual table dance, big boy?'

Bob's wife, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of the club.

Bob follows and spots her getting into a cab.Before she can slam the door, he jumps in beside her.Bob tries desperately to explain how the stripper must have mistaken him for someone else, but his wife is having none of it .

She is screaming at him at the top of her lungs, calling him every 4 letter word in the book.The cabby turns around and says,'Geez Bob, you picked up a real bitch this time.'

Bob's funeral will be on Saturday and all are invited .

Ice Cold

Day one in anaesthesiology.
It was quite an interesting day.

First I was in GOT where MO D tried to input lots and lots of information into my brain (of which I hope at least some entered), and then I followed another MO for premed (pre-operative evaluation) and then I tagged with another MO in OOT during which he tried to give me more useful information.

Too much information + too slow a brain = blur.
Guess I need a bit more time.

But you know what, I am enjoying it.
For the first time after a long, long time, I am actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow!!

Maybe it's the MOs and specialists who are super nice.
Maybe it's the absence of daily ward work and reviews.
Whatever the reason, I hope this feeling stays.

The only thing I don't like is the cold!! The OT is freezing. Maybe I ought to get my winter clothes or my thermals and some socks! Must definitely remember to bring some long sleeves to wear in OT after this.

Dog Or Goat?

Having a pet is like having a very mischevious cute kid.
I was home for holidays last weekend and I got to see first hand how naughty Phoebe can be.

Phoebe has a few toys of her own - a plastic bone, a collection of strings and a ball.
But for some reason, when she is let out of the house, she looks for new 'toys' - leaves and sticks and flower pots. Once she gets it, she would chew and chew on it, like she has not been fed for days!

Here's what happened yesterday :

I found Phoebe chewing on a piece of stick. I somehow managed to get the stick from her and threw it somewhere else.

She was then given her toys to choose from.

But Phoebe 'ditched' all her toys and went exploring.

And found a piece of pipe and refused to let it go until dinnertime (I have no idea why the pipe was there in the first place).

And today, the object of fascination was coconuts.

We had a few coconuts at home, given by cousin S.

Phoebe decided that they were new toys and picked them up from inside the house and carried them all the way to the garden to play with them.

Initially one was enough, but once it was all chewed up, she decided that she wanted more and got another one.

And I thought goats ate everything..

Surgery

Another department over with.

5 down, 1 more to go.

The last 4 months passed by very quickly that I didn't even realize the time flying by.
Surgery was an interesting experience.

It was a very 'teaching' department.

Weekly Surgical department activities.

Monday : Houseman teaching.

Tuesday : Lunch and drug talk

Wednesday : Mortality and Morbidity

Thurs : Pre op assessment and sometimes MO teaching

Friday : Breakfast + journal club/MO teaching/grandward rounds/department meeting

Everyone who goes through Surgery will also go through the suturing workshop where the MOs specialists and even consultants teach housemen how to suture properly. There aren't many places that the HOD teaches Housemen how to suture, right?

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's a very activity oriented department.

Previously they have had family days and other outdoor activities but then I didn't have the chance for those (came in at the wrong time).

I did have fun in the department, although there were some things that I didn't like about it..as I said before, colleagues are the most important thing in making your working life fun.

I will be joining Anaesth next Monday. I don't really know what to look forward too, all I know is that it is going to be cold (because I think we will be in the OT most of the time). Time to dig out all my long sleeves..

For Kicks?

I went for a movie last night. I don't usually watch movies on weekdays, but I was on leave yesterday and woke up late so I didn't really mind sleeping late.

It was a Tamil movie, Thilalangkadi (I still don't know what it means because Bala doesn't know the meaning as well). 10 of us went for the movie but I think only 2 of us stayed awake for the whole movie. I am rather proud to say that I am one of the 2.

I went for the movie for 2 reasons:
1. The hero is Jeyam Ravi - his movies so far have been quite OK, so I don't mind watching his movies (there are some actors whose movie I REFUSE to watch even if I am given a free ticket).
2. Those who have gone for the movie said that it was a good watch.

I can't stand the movie!!
It wasn't a bad movie, but it wasn't good either.
Mr. S said that he didn't even realize the time passing, but I felt that the movie was going on and on and all I wanted was for the movie to end.

There are some similarities between this movie and Santosh Subramaniam - in this movie he is acting crazy, and in Santosh Subramaniam, the heroine is the crazy one. And I don't like both the movies (although if you ask my parents, they would say that Santosh Subramaniam is a very nice movie).

Some parts of the movie was not bad, there was even a part or 2 where I laughed out loud (and you have to trust me on this one- I am not the kind who laughs out loud). My favourite part was when Prabu goes to the police station. But for the most part, I just found the acting irritating and the jokes lame. Like most Tamil movies, the plot is predictable and there are many unanswerable questions (like how did he manage to run away from 4 policemen whose guns are all directed right at him). Plus, if he is really such a nice person, how come he felt no regret when cars blew up (and I assume people got injured or died) because of him?

I didn't enjoy the songs as well - maybe I've grown too old and cannot enjoy the current generation songs anymore..*gasp*..have I become my parents?

I guess you could put it this way - go for the movie without expectations and you will like it. Just enjoy the jokes and (for those who can stand him [I can't]) Vadiveloo. There is no complex story line, just humor from the beginning till the end. But go there hoping to catch a great movie - you will be disappointed.

Phoebe The Labrador

We have a new addition in our house, Phoebe.



Now, let me clarify something. I am not a big fan of pets and I didn't actually agree to having a labrador in the house. But then, I am not living at home, and I am not the one who is going to be doing the taking care, so I guess I can't complain.

I am actually quite afraid of dogs...not Togo and Tagar and Gamby of course (although I still cannot bear for them to jump on me), so I was rather nervous about meeting Phoebe for the first time last weekend.

I bought her a new bowl, a toy and a treat as a bribe, hoping she won't bark at me or bite me. What happened was, she took the toy and the treat and then ran away from me.

I don't understand, is she afraid of me? This is the first time a dog is running away from me instead of vice versa. I tried the whole weekend to get into her good books, but for some reason she kept running away or barking at me. Although she runs to me when I give her treats. I guess she needs more time to get used to strangers (just like me!).

I must say, she is rather well trained. She does her bussiness only outside the house, and never in the house or her cage (which is inside the house) even overnight. She knows that she can only have her food and drinks inside the cage. She knows that when we go out she has to get into the cage and never causes a fuss.

I am rather surprised though - I never thought that my Mom would allow a dog into the house, free to run in and out. She is SO attached to the puppy, it's like a proud Mother with a newborn baby. In fact, everytime I talk to my mother nowadays, she will be telling this and that story about Phoebe. When we go out anywhere, all my Mom want's to do is get back home so that Phoebe won't be lonely. 26 years, and I never knew Mom loved animals so much..

Well, I didn't have time to take pictures with Phoebe the last time I was back, mainly because she was too busy running away from me. Here are some shots of her when she first joined the family.

a rare moment - Phoebe standing still enough to be photographed


"Hmm..what am I supposed to do with this?"

"Doesn't taste that good, though"

p/s I have no idea what happened to the tennis ball; it wasn't anywhere in sight when I went back.