Snow in salzburg

It was totally unexpected. One moment, it was bright and sunny, though the weather was chilly….

Jimbo took these 2 pictures, right outside where he is staying.

And then, in the night, the first of the little white flecks fell…
And overnight, the whole place was magically transformed into a winter wonderland!

I’ll just let the pictures do the talking:

Isn’t it beautiful? it’s the first time I actually witness snow fall (the one in Beijing doesn’t count), touched the snow, made a snow ball and threw it! I think snow is one of God’s best creation!

Newer Model

*This is a very personal post.

It is inevitable. The relationship was doomed from the beginning.

I don’t know why I failed to see it then. Perhaps love has blinded me. I thought she was beautiful, classy, charming, special….

True, we had fun. Initially it was exciting. We had so much in common. We accomplished much together. She responded to all my whims and fancies. A mere touch makes her purr to life instantly! It was great!

And then, about a year ago, things started to change. It was innocuous in the beginning. She began to act up in small ways. Before long, I found it hard to communicate with her. My attempts at getting through were in vain. She seemed to have lost interest. It took forever to get her excited and by then, often times, my mood was gone. And she doesn’t last as long as she did before which is frustrating.

I begin to see her for who she is. Big, a heavy load upon my back. Excess baggage. Temperamental. Old. So 15 seconds ago.

And then there was her! I passed by her occasionally when I go shopping. She was in a particular shop. Every time I passed that way (and I confess I have deliberately passed that way many times) she beckons to me. She was small and petite, full of promises of excitement and fun! We clicked from the very beginning! My heart was smitten by her. I desired her from the start and each day that desire became greater and greater and before long it was my all consuming obsession.

I must have her! We are fated to be together. We would be happy together.

Last week, I decided to act upon it. I approached her, and found to my delirious surprise, she responded positively. I went for it and now…, now, she is mine! Finally!

Life is beautiful again!

We experimented last week and she brought me to heights of rapturous delight that I did not know was possible! She made me feel like the man I was again!

And so, I have decided to take her along with me on trips. The old beauty can stay behind at home. She still has her uses. After all, she knows more of me than anyone else! But she is nothing compared to my new love.

So, I’m really sorry, old beauty, I had to do this to you. I still have fond affection for you but I have to move on. I’m sure you will understand.

I’d like you to meet her here, here and here.

Mon, 300309 @ 0700

No arms, no legs but lots of heart!

Last Sunday in church, I watched this video:

It brought tears to my eyes.

It inspired and humbled me and it made me want to be a better man.

Sun, 290309 @ 0700; Jimbo touches down in Salzburg today.

Temperature in Salzburg

Jimbo’s sitting in KLIA using the free wifi (which sucks by the way) and he decided to check on the temperature in Salzburg!

And this was what he discovered:

Oh dear, his family jewels are going to be so frozen….

Sat, 280309 @ 2039

Jimbo leaving…

The other day, Jimbo was sitting in a meeting with some immortals* and one of them asked, “What will make you stay on?”.

On impulse, Jimbo answered, “nothing”.

Everyone was taken aback. Jimbo, realising that his answer could be misconstrued as meaning “nothing you can do can make me stay on!!! quickly clarified that he is quite happy at the moment.

But then a thought suddenly popped in his mind.

“A career path!”, Jimbo almost yelled.

That’s what he wants. A career path so that he can constantly upgrade himself and be better (and earn more!). Right now, he is just hitting brick walls…

But that’s another story.

Over the last 2 months, many people have approached Jimbo to ask him this question: “Are you leaving us?”

When Jimbo first announced that he will be going to the land of the ‘Sound of Music’, everyone thought he was playing another ‘Nottingham’ prank. Technically it wasn’t a prank because he DID go to Nottingham University, only it wasn’t the one in UK!

But it’s the truth!

Some time in January 2009, Jimbo applied for and received a scholarship to train in Salzburg (that’s in Austria, NOT Australia)!

Here’s proof:

I particularly like the ‘post-graduate educational program for HIGHLY QUALIFIED, english-speaking physicians…’ part. Fui-yoh, kembang or what!!!! Heh heh!!!

And so, the answer is, YES, Jimbo is leaving.

Tomorrow, Jimbo flies off to the birth place of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!

So, adieu!

Blogging will be suspended, until Jimbo has settled down and there is internet. Meanwhile, leave your well wishes here.

Fri, 270309 @ 0700

*immortals ~ people sitting on high places who will determine if Jimbo and family eat bread or instant noodles or grass.

Confessions of a shopaholic

I’ve been trying to read the chick-read, “Confessions of a Shopaholic” by Sophie Kinsela. I said “trying” because it is really trying to read the book. I think reading the 12 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica or the Old Testament in the original language would be far easier. The main problem is that I found the central character, a Rebecca Bloomwood, to be really unlikeable. I think she is a pea-brained, bimbotic superfluous woman with zero self control and totally detached from reality. And to read a book on her many silly antics could be quite difficult going. However, I have resolved to finish the book, and till date, has read 147 pages of the 350 pages book.

I bet I can write better. Let me illustrate.

Bangkok is a shopping paradise and that’s an understatement. Surrounding the hotel where I stayed in was the Central World (Asia’s largest shopping mall with the largest sidewalk and outdoor TV), the Pratunam Market, the Pratunam Centre, the Platinum Mall, The Big C, to name a few. All are shopping haven! My friends told me, “never buy from the hawkers along the streets because they overcharge you” and so I didn’t.

The conference ends at 4.00 pm everyday and after a short walk in the heavily polluted path between the conference venue (the Centara Grand Hotel) to my hotel, it would have been 4.30 pm by the time I reach my hotel. My routine then was to quickly grab a bite, a drink, change into my Bermuda pants and T-shirt and off I would go to any one of the shopping centres nearby.

“Why the rush?”, you ask. Well, these Thai retailers are probably afraid of the dark or they all have an incredibly active night life because they all close their shops as early as 6 pm! By 8 pm, all the shopping complexes are closed!!! That leaves me with less than 2 hours for retail therapy!

And so, everyday, after the conference, I do the same routine ~ walk, eat, drink, change, walk, shop, shop, shop! I call it ‘tsunami shopping’, the aim being, to buy as much as possible, at the lowest price, in the quickest time before the shop closes!

First let me show you some of the conference freebies:

Non-woven bag with a sewn-on elephant with sequins, courtesy of Pfizer. I won’t show you the conference bag because it looks hideous. I wonder why they can’t give the plain old simple back-packs anymore. The bag has been discreetly disposed off.

Laser pointers (yes, there are 2 of them), courtesy of MSD.

There wasn’t much on my shopping list and a lot less in my wallet but these are some of the stuff I managed to buy: (The current conversion rate is RM 10 = THB 100)

For the missus: a leather bag (retail price: THB 1600, purchase price: THB 750) which could be converted into a hand bag or a back-pack. Also bought 2 blouses (retail price: THB 350 each, purchase price: THB 250 each)

For the daughter, one cutesy T-shirt (retail price: THB 100)

Another one for the daughter (purchase price: THB 39 ~ seriously)

A complete ‘pilot’ shirt for the son (retail price: THB 250, purchase price THB 200) and also a ‘Ben-10′ T-shirt (which he loves to bits!) at THB 100

A much coveted hiking bag, retail price THB 1600; purchase price THB 800

I like it because of the plastic mesh at the back which prevents sweat getting into the bag and helps in aeration. A similar bag in Malaysia would cost between RM 200-300 (btw, a Deuter bag there cost THB 1600 as opposed to RM 400 here)

Working shirts, THB 150-180 each.

A cotton shirt with embroidery, THB 100.

Two cotton ‘muscle Ts’, THB 50 each.

A pair of khaki pants which can be unzipped into Bermuda pants. THB 230.

And two luggage bags since I will be going  overseas again soon, THB 2500 for both!

Total money spent on the above: THB 6409.

Thai Massage (2 hours): THB 500

Thai Foot Massage (1 hour with tips): THB 200

Taxi fare from airport to hotel: THB 660

Sky train (from Central to Sala Daeng and back): THB 30

Burger King at Sala Daeng: THB 110

Food from 7-11: THB 300

Peeled mangoes bought from road side: THB 40 (it was yummy and I survived eating it)

Food at airport: THB 350 (1 bowl of beef noodle and 1 ice-cold Thai coffee)

Rock candy at airport (because the stupid Air Asia flight was badly delayed): THB 70

Total: THB 8689

Hmm, strange, I wonder where did the rest of the money (about THB 1300) go to?!!! I better check my pockets again…!

There are a few unique things about shopping in Bangkok:

1. I wasn’t hounded to death, unlike shopping in Beijing, or Shanghai or Ho Chi Minh City. In the latter, I was once held on by the edge of my T-shirt by a desperate shop keeper who insisted that I look at the clothes she was selling and refused to let go. I almost had to leave my T-shirt behind (and create a scandal in Vietnam ~ imagine this in the CNN headline: HALF NAKED ID PHYSICIAN SEEN FLEEING FROM NIGHT MARKET IN HO CHI MINH CITY chased by psychotic shop keepers!!!

2. I was repeatedly mistaken as a Thai man by the shop keepers in Bangkok. Maybe it’s because I am dark (according to my wife) and so they all spoke to me in Thai. Of course I haven’t the foggiest idea what they were saying. This made bargaining tough because as soon as I open my mouth and ask, “How much”, they had this look that seems to suggest they caught a big fat fish with loads of cash! Sigh…

3. I had so many ‘sawadikaps’ said to me that I was overwhelmed!

There, these are my ‘confessions’.

Oh gosh! Am I ‘a pea-brained, himbotic superfluous man with zero self control and totally detached from reality’ ?

Still, I think my version is definitely better than the book (or the movie!)

Sigh…, if only Bangkok is a mere drive away, I’d like to go (shopping) again…

Thurs, 260309 @ 0700; post call and on leave.

Another entry on thai food

Sorry I had to write this but it had to be written!

There are some food that I would never touch in Bangkok. Like food sold by the road side like these:

The ID physician in me just screams, “Salmonella!!!” and the general physician in me screams, “Cholesterol and heart attack!!!” whenever I see food like these. Strangely, they are very popular with the locals.

Actually I am sure it’s very delicious and probably without any pathogens. In fact, I was sorely tempted to try some of ‘em but decided not to, fearing a massive acute gastroenteritis would be the end result.

On the 3rd evening of the conference, I joined the same group of fellow doctors and we were brought to China town, in Bangkok!

It was quite a distance to the place and as soon as you enter the place, you could be forgiven if you think you were suddenly and magically transported to Shanghai or Hong Kong or even back home in Petaling Street!

The sign boards were loud and colourful. Typical of a China town.

The landmark, according to our guide, is this place ~ a shop with a sign board bearing a non-halal animal! This shop is hugely popular with the locals and tourists alike for its products. The restaurant we wanted to go to is opposite to the shop above.

Like any China town, the roads are narrow and teeming with people.

The restaurant is called T&K Seafood. It’s basically 2 four-floors buildings adjoining each other converted into a restaurant. Each floor is connected to the next with a narrow stair way. Each floor is jam packed with people crowded around small tables eating, talking, drinking, having a good time.

“It’s a fire trap”, I told my colleague as we made our way up to the highest floor; and she readily agreed.

Well, fire trap or not, the food was delicious!!!!

Here’s what we had:

Fried ‘La la’ . Delicious!

Oysters omelet.

Fresh prawns grilled to perfection!

Fried ‘Kang Kung’ which doesn’t look appetizing but was surprisingly very tasty.

We had tom yam again, but this time it wasn’t swimming in coconut milk and was very tasty.

The restaurant’s specialty: crab with fried vermicelli. Awesome!!!

And the bill? A mere RM 144 for 5 persons, inclusive of orange juice (real ones, no added sugar), 2 bowls of gingko soup and a bowl of ‘bird’s nest’ soup for dessert. I had the latter and there was a hint of bird’s nest. I mean, you can’t possibly expect real bird’s nest soup for only 100 bhat, right?

So, next time you’re in town, head on there! It’s worth the long journey, crowd and noise.

Wed, 250309 @ 0700; on call and wish I’m in Bangkok again…

Case # 74: Something iatrogenic happened

This 19-year-old male was involved in a motor-vehicle-accident whereby he suffered a direct blunt force impact to his chest. He was brought to the A&E with severe respiratory distress, requiring CPR and mechanical ventilation. Various lines were set in the large veins during the resuscitation process. He was also noted to have VT and VF on ECG during resuscitation.

Here are 2 reconstructed CT films done 2 days apart. After the first film, the patient was placed in a Trendelenburg’s position for 2 days.

Film 1:

Film 2: (2 days later)

Questions:

1. Spot the abnormality in Film 1 which is absent in Film 2.

2. What cardiac abnormality do you see?

Tues, 240309 @ 0700

Thai Food

At the risk of turning this blog into a ‘food blog’, let me just share with you the food I had the opportunity to taste when I was in Bangkok!

First, food served at the conference:

As a rule, food served in conferences are pretty run-of-the-mill stuff like sandwiches and biscuits. The ISAAR 2009 was no different. I don’t particularly like cookies and so left these untouched.

There were cakes, of course, and almost always laced with migraine-inducing-cheese! I didn’t touch these either. Why put myself at risk of suffering a migraine when in a foreign country with promises of excellent retail therapy?

Once in a while, the organisers spring a surprise! Like these fried ‘squid’ balls which were delicious.

And these heavenly ‘satay’ (I don’t know what they call these barbequed=meat-on-stick in Thailand; in fact, I don’t even know what meat they are ~ I could have been eating elephant meat and wouldn’t know it!). These were delicious to the max and I had to practice immense self control not to act like a glutton and thereafter fall asleep in the plenary lectures!!!

On the 2nd evening of the conference, I joined a group of fellow doctors to savour some authentic Thai food at a place somewhere in Sathorne. I can’t remember the name of the place (something restaurant and gallery) nor could I even pronounce any of the names of the dishes they served us but one thing was for sure ~ it was heavenly as our taste buds were titillated to the max! It was like Thai heaven!

I didn’t manage to capture on camera all the food but here are a few of them:

What’s left of a pomelo-shrimp-chicken salad.

Rice crackers with a (non-halal) dip. It was spicy, it was sweet; it was salty and a bit sour at the edge. Darn nice.

The lemon grass drink was served in a pot shaped like a baby elephant!

Even the cup had an elephant handle!

The place was lighted with oil lamps which made the place very cosy.

A thai dinner wouldn’t be complete with a bowl of steaming hot tom yam! Everything swims in a sea of coconut milk. Chicken, prawns, crabs….EVERYTHING! Thais must love coconut milk a lot.

The last dish for me was the water crest with, yes, you guessed it, coconut milk! And it was delicious!

Ah, but the bill brought us quickly back from heaven! I can’t tell you how much, but the sum was obscenely expensive!!!

More to come…

Mon, 230309 @ 0700

Asstra?

Spotted this sign at a restaurant in town.

I wonder whatever possessed the owner to name his place with a name like Asstra?

Do they…

1. Serve ‘asstra’ large portions?

2. have seats for extra large butts?

3. specializes in fried chicken backside?

4. have a donkey farm at the back?

What do you think?

Sat, 210309 @ 0700