Myths About India

I went for a short trip to India, or more accurately Chennai, recently. No, it wasn't a sight seeing trip, nor was it a temple trip. I went there for my friend's wedding.

I have heard many stories about India - too many in fact.
The stories have made me not want to go to India.
I was actually afraid of going to India because of all the things people have planted in my head.
Now that I have gone and experienced India myself, let me clarify a few things that have been said about India.

1. India is very dirty.
It is as dirty as Malaysia is. I don't think we have a right to comment on others regarding this issue.

2. You get diarrhoea if you eat their food, drink their water.
Let me tell you something, as far as I know, out of the 6 of us Malaysians who went to India together, none of us had any gastroenteritis. We had food at hotels and restaurants, we had bottled water, we had their tea and we had bajji (which they fried at the seaside) and we survived. So guess that is not true as well.

3. There are beggars everywhere and they will all rush and come ask money from you.
Throughout my stay, I saw only 1 beggar I think. Try walking aroung KL for a day and tell me how many you saw.

4. It is hot and dusty.
It is dusty, yes, but then that is because of the lack of rain. But to say it is hot, we don't exactly live in the Artic, you know..

5. Many times, I have heard stories of how the people in India 'relieve' themselves everywhere and everywhere.
NOT TRUE! (At least, I didn't see any)

6. Pickpockets are everywhere.
Once again, please look at your own backs*** before you talk about others.

7. It's noisy.
This I agree. Horns blaring everywhere! But I guess that is their style of driving.

8. You have to wear sarees/punjabi suits wherever you go or people will be staring at you.
I wore jeans EVERYWHERE. The girls there wear jeans as well. No big deal.

9. Shopping in India is good.
It's not just good, it is INCREDIBLE!! Never in my life have I shopped like that. I practically had to tear myself away from the shops. The punjabi suits and sarees are so cheap and beautiful..and the variety they have is AMAZING!!

10. When you shop there, the people will try to cheat you.
I am not much of a bargaining person, so I went to all fixed price shops, and I think I got a good deal. If you are so afraid of getting cheated, just go to such shops.

I can't think of anymore things..but here's what I am trying to say, India is not at all that bad. I never thought I would say this, but I WILL go to India again. For sight seeing and for shopping. Or maybe I should say for SHOPPING and for sight seeing. And to see my friends there (who are such gems and took care of us like children when we were there)

I will put up another post with pictures and more details of my trip - don't have any pictures with me right now.

6 days

6 days of holidays...6 days of doing nothing but eating and sleeping. 6 days of thinking what the next department is going to be like.

Here are some e mails I received that I hope you will enjoy as much as I did..

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LIFESUPPORT

Last night my mom and I were sitting in the living room talking about the many things of life. In-between, we talked about the idea of living or dying.

I said to her, ' Mom, never let me live in a vegetative state, totally dependent on machines and liquids from a bottle. If you see me in that state I want you to disconnect all the contraptions that are keeping me alive, I'd much rather die'.

Then my mom got up from the sofa with this real look of admiration towards me and proceeded to disconnect the TV, the Cable, the Dish, the DVD, the Computer, the Cell Phone, the IPod, and the Xbox, and then went to the fridge and threw away all my beer!

I almost died!

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I AM THANKFUL:

-FOR THE WIFE WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT, BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME, AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

-FOR THE HUSBAND WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO, BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

-FOR THE TEENAGER WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.

-FOR THE TAXES I PAY BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED .

-FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

-FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

-FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE

-FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING, WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING, AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME .

-FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH. .

-FOR THE PARKING SPOT I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .

-FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.

-FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.

-FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

-FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

-FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME.

More Things To Shop For

It's the first day of my end-posting holiday.
And this is what I did today.

I have thought of doing it for quite some time, but then have always been afraid to do it because of my allergic rhinitis - what if it gets worse? But my ENT doctor gave me the thumbs up, and I thought that it's about time I get my nose pierced.

It was more painful than what I expected it to be.

The lady just sprayed on some anaesthetic, used some sharp thingy to pierce through the skin and then pushed the nose-stud in. OUCH!

But I finally did it.
Now I get to buy more jewellery.

:)

Holiday, holiday..

This was the list of things I wanted to do last week.

1. Fill up my log book - DONE
2. Get my log book signed. - DONE
3. Get my leave form signed. - DONE
4. Fill up my call claims. - DONE
5. Submit the log book, leave form and call claims. - PARTIALLY DONE (KV is helping me submit my log book)
6. Get my ticket to go back home. - NOT DONE (there were no more tickets available - tumpang-ed KV back)
7. Pack my bag -DONE
8. Find someone to send me to the train station. - N/A
9. Meet the O&G HOD/specialist/MO. - DONE

________________________________________________________

I'm back at home for a week for my end-posting holidays.
Here are some things I plan to do this week.

1. Straighten my hair - received too many comments that it is messy, that I look unkempt..etc.
2. Message as many friends as possible - have not been in touch for a long time; have many messages to reply as well.
3. Study - although don't think that I will actually do it, but there is no reason not to include it in the list.
4. Buy some working clothes.
5. Lose some weight - although I don't think it will be possible with Mom cooking everyday..
6. Buy a birthday present for my niece.
7. Watch lots of TV
8. Print and arrange photos taken last year
9. Sleep, sleep and sleep.

Hopefully I will get these things done as well.
Am going to do 'thing' number 7 on my list.
:P

Day 1 In Lisbon

01/07/08.
We flew from Barcelona to Lisbon.
We spent quite some time travelling and then getting to the hostel and then settling down in the hostel, so we didn't really do much sight seeing.
We just walked to the places nearby the hostel and bought train tickets for our 'trip' for the next day.

We had lunch in a cafe near our hostel. This is where we tried Sangria (a wine punch typical of Spain, Portugal and Italy) for the first time.

Just went for a stroll. Had delicious ice-cream!

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I finally managed to buy the book Slumdog Millionaire the other day.
The original book's title is Q&A, but since most people (like me) don't know that, they have reprinted the book with the title Slumdog Millionaire.
I don't like the cover of the book, but am really looking forward to reading it (am actually already halfway reading it).

Today, I learnt that in an MRI, the spine is grey in colour. If there is cord contusion, then it will be hyperintense. Cord contusion cannot be corrected with surgery, so whatever neurology the patient comes in with, most likely it will be permanent.

Day 2 In Barcelona

I have not been able to stick to my 1 year-ago events.
It was too tiring - putting up posts for the days that I was oncall.
Besides, I had other things that I wanted to blog about as well.

However, I would like to finish what I started - I have about 3 days more of the trip left.
So, here are the pictures we took on the 30th of June 2008.
It was our 2nd day in Barcelona.
As I mentioned previously, Barcelona is all about Gaudi.
On this particular day, we visited 2 other Gaudi creations - Casa Mila and Casa Battlo.

Our first stop - Casa Battlo

I think Gaudi never liked straight lines


That is a fireplace - cute, right?

Have you ever thought of doing up your window in that shape?

The Casa Battlo chimney

One of the rooms that was done up to show what it would have looked like during the period the house was built - compare this picture to this.

Next up - Casa Mila. This is a model of the place.

The many different chimneys - this is what Casa Mila is famous for.
No 2 chimneys are the same.

The windows are positioned in such a way as to receive the maximum amount of sunlight.

A chair designed by Gaudi. We were not allowed to sit on sit, but the curves supposedly 'correspond' to those on a human body, making it extra comfortable.

After that, we went to the Barca stadium.

A visit to the market.
Even now, looking at these sweets make me drool!

Colourful, no?

Me and Puspha then proceeded to go on a bus ride around Barcelona, just to pass time. And guess what, we met Von Yen, Swee Hung, Jan, Beng and Quek!! Such a coincidence! But it was just a short meeting 'cos we were headed in different directions. Still, it was fun to meet them.

And now I miss them.
:(
Just wish to sit and lepak and talk till dawn like we used to.

There are a few quotes that I would like to share with you.
'Thing do not change. We change.'
'If at first you don't succeed, you're running about average.'
'Never grow a wishbone where your backbone ought to be.'

p/s - here is a post I wrote on that day from Barcelona.

Happenings!

Hmm..quite a number of happenings nowadays....

But I have a specific topic to stick to, for the next 10 days or so - a year ago, today -my very own travel brochure (with limited amount of information).

A quick recap of a couple of things though :

The top new of the day - Michael Jackson died.
My response to the news - OK, so what? So many people die everyday and he is just one of them. I don't feel sad, I don't feel happy, I don't have any feelings.
Why should I, anyway?
It's not like I know him.
I know his existence, I know some of his songs, I enjoy some of his songs.
That's all!

I know many people don't agree with me and might not be happy about it, but hey, my feelings - I can't force myself to be sad for a stranger, right?

Another thing - Everyone seem to be SOOOOO into Transformers.
Everyone wants to go watch the movie.
Everyone is trying to get the tickets/friends to go watch the movie with.

I have had quite a number of invites to watch the movie.
So far, I've declined all invitations.

I didn't watch the first one, and I have no plans to watch the 2nd one.
Is it really that nice?
I didn't even like the preview that much.
Friends tell me I am missing a good movie.
Am I?
Really?

Right now, I think since there is really no other movies to watch, I MIGHT go for the movie, IF I really find the need to kill some time.
MIGHT.
IF.


Anyway, time to start my post.

It was our day 1 in St. Petersburg (SP).
We took the night train from Moscow to SP.
It was the 2nd time I took the train - and the ride was as it was the first time - convenient and comfortable.

We spent 2 nights in SP, in an apartment we rented. It wasn't the cheapest of places (not expensive either), but was very convenient, just along the main street.

Here are some photos we took around SP town that day.

At the Petersburg train station - taking pictures even before brushing our teeth!

Me and Mom at a huge lamp-post (duh!)
(in case you were wondering, by this time, we had already freshened up)



The Kazansky Cathedral - the inside is really, really beautiful

:P


The Church of something-something (a very long name, can never remember it).
It is said to be similar to the St. Basil's cathedral in Moscow, just blue in colour


The city was named after this guy - Petersburg - still wonder why the snake is there.

Mom insisted that she wanted Indian food. We walked and walked for about an hour (?more) looking for the Indian restaurant. See how happy Mom is that we were already there.

Today, I learnt about the existence of fracture blisters.

A patient was admitted for tibial plateau fracture type VI yesterday, and upon removal of his backslab today, he was noted to have multiple large (and unsightly) blisters on his shin and calf.
We first thought of compartment syndrome (which is what we are supposed to think of), but upon examination it was deduced that they were fracture blisters.

Fracture blisters are tense vesicles or bullae that arise on markedly swollen skin directly overlying a fracture.They occurred most commonly overlying the tibia, ankle, and elbow. They usually arise within 24-48 h of acute injury in most instances.

Treatment? My specialist said that it would be better to just let the blisters heal by themself before proceeding with any surgery (for the fracture). The outcome is usually better rather than just debriding the blisters and underlying skin.

P/s congratulations MMA Class of 2009 on your graduation. Enjoy your holidays. Don't think about working life, for now. You will have enough time to mull over that later on.

A Year Ago, Today

I was just thinking earlier on - what life was like a year ago.

So, I opened the My Pictures folder in my laptop, and guess what - a year ago today, my parents came to Russia!

I totally forgot that my graduation was on the 24th of June 2008.

So, for the next 10 days or so, I will be uploading pictures that I should have uploaded a year ago - pictures of me and my parents (and Puspha) on our holidays.

(I have quite a few calls coming up, will try to upload the pictures earlier- let's see how it goes.)

Jan and I went to the market a day earlier and got these fruits

This is what Jan did with all the fruits we bought!
(it was SO YUMMY!!

My parents enjoying the food I cooked (Jan and Push helped too!)
(notice, Mom already comfortable in her caftan, as she calls them, while Dad still wearing slacks)

Mom and Dad wondering how to down the desserts - there were fruits, apple pie and chocolate cake (prepared by Shilpa)

Mom gave up!
Dad decided to have a taste of Russian beer.

Mom and Dad were tired that day, after the long flight to Moscow - so, I let them sleep early - after all, the next day was going to be a looong day....

Today, I learnt that a Jefferson's fracture is the fracture of C1 vertebra.
Although it is a serious injury (as are all vertebra injuries as far as I am concerned), it can be managed conservatively using a cervical collar. Surgery is only indicated if the fracture is unstable.

Life's Like That

Today afternoon, on the way back to Ipoh, I was complaining to KR that after 4 days of holidays, now I have to go back to reality where I don't have enough intubations and might get extended. In his efforts to make me feel better, he brought to my attention a previous post of mine, where I wrote about all the uncertainties of starting a new life.

Here is a small part of what I wrote in that particular post :

I don't know where I'll be staying - I'll be in the quarters, but have no idea which room or what it looks like.
I don't know who my roomate will be.
I don't know which department I'll be in.
I don't know what time my work starts and what time it ends.
I don't know where I'll eat or where to do my laundry.
I don't know when I'll be back next.
I don't know when I'll be able to go online.
I don't know whether or not I'll be having weekends.

Right now, I have answers to all the above 'I don't knows'.
-I live in the hostel - there is one room and a hall.
-My roomate is Suguna, who was in the same induction with me.
-I am in Paeds, and will be going on to Ortho.
-For now, work starts at 7.30 and ends at 5pm (except when I am oncall).
-I have eaten in many different shops and have found 2 laundry shops.
-I went back in the end of January and last Thursday. Hopefully will be going back again in the beginning of April.
-Although it took some time, I can go online everyday now (once again, except when I am oncall).
-I have one weekend off in a month for now, think the next department will be the same.

I guess everyone has doubts in all stages of their life.
I guess that is what life is all about.

One of my brother's lecturer once told his class - if you want a life without problem, then the only way is to die, because in life, you would always face problems.
Can't argue to that statement, right?

Holiday!!

I am on leave! After such a long time, I am back home. The last trip home doesn't count - everyone was busy with my cousin brothers wedding.

I've taken leave till Monday.
It's really nice to have a holiday.
Just relax, do nothing.
One never truly appreciates leave until one works.
When studying, if you don't feel like going for classes, you can always ponteng.
But then, working is different - you have to take leave and leave is SO PRECIOUS!!

My brain is holiday as well, so I can't think of a post to write.
Got an interesting mail the other day..decided to just copy-paste it here.
Hope you enjoy it as well.
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Please take the test to check how stressed you are....

THE BANANA TEST



There is a very, very tall coconut tree and there are 4 animals.
King Kong, an Ape, an Orangutan and a Monkey pass by.
They decide to compete to see who is the fastest to get a banana off the tree.
Who do you guess will win?
Your answer will reflect your personality.
Think carefully . . . Try and answer within 30 seconds


Got your answer?

Now scroll down to see the analysis.
























If your answer is:

Orangutan = you're sick

Ape = you need a break

Monkey = worse, you suppose to be in the hospital right now..

King Kong = I think you better take 1 year leave..
.......

Why?! ????















.......




A Coconut tree doesn't have bananas!

Obviously you're stressed and overworked.
Take some time off and relax! ☺

BORED

I am bored. I am SO bored, I actually considered replying friendster messages sent by unknown people. I now understand why all those 'sms ***** to know your horoscope' kind of things have customers - because there are people out there who are as bored as me!!

I know I can use this precious time to study and prepare for my working life, but then each time I think about studying, I somehow find some reason or other to put it off. For instance, when I wake up, I don't want to study the first thing in the morning, so, I wait for Grey's Anatomy to be over with. Then, I decide that I should eat first, and then study. After eating, I decide that if I study now, I'll feel sleepy, so maybe I should go online first. And after I go online, I decide that maybe I deserve a tiny nap; after all, I am on holidays! Maybe I should start studying tomorrow, or next week or the week after. And so, 3 months of holidays and I have not touched my study books. I know I'll regret this when I start working, but for some reason my hand doesn't seem to ever want to reach for the book!!

I want to watch tv, but then there seems to be nothing interesting to watch. I wanna go out, but then everyone else seem to be working AND I don't have transport. I want to talk to my friends, but then there is the phone bill to think about. I want to write in my blog but there doesn't seem to be anything interesting to blog about.

I don't know what I'm complaining about..I know many people out there wish they can laze around and do nothing..but I guess I've just had too much of free time, too much of nothing to do.

Sighhh..human beings are never happy with what they have, huh?

A weekend in Kahovs

What a weekend or holiday is like for many Kahovians.

12pm - a handful of people are awake. They surf the net, watch a movie on the laptop/computer and wish the others would wake up soon.

2pm - almost everyone (in the hostel) is awake. They wonder what to eat for lunch. Almost no one cooks lunch.

3pm - everyone is still complaining of hunger. Raid the fridge, eat leftovers. Hunger temporarily satisfied.

5pm - start thinking about what to eat for dinner.

6pm - start cooking dinner.

7pm - eat dinner

8pm - wonder what to do next

10pm - get together and play computer games/chat/drink/play poker/play mahjong/sing karaoke

2am - some go to bed

5am - almost every is in bed

Crazy!! Why not just sleep early and wake up early? Why not cook lunch? I wish I knew the answers to those questions.