Aquaholic

It all started when I was cramming for Physical examination and Microbiology exam. I fall in love and now, I seem to be strongly attached.

Now, it's jemně perlivá voda (lightly carbonated water), always.

Others won't do.

2 bottles down

Yes, I am currently downing at least 3 litres or 2 bottles of Jemně perlivá Poděbradka, every day.

It's just that it's not too sugary nor heavily carbonated.

Main reason why I keep going to the ladies is beacuse of the carbonated feeling of the water, it's hard to resist.

Luckily, the supply come at a cost.

Buying a bottle each day is insufficient yet heaving 6 bottles from TESCO to home is also not an easy job. At least it keeps my intake at 2 bottles per day.

My concern is that I would increase my daily intake.

Too much water ain't good.

Indeed, anything, if u take it too little or too much, it never end up good.

I don't really know how to stop the intake but since my intake has been 3 litres a day, I try to keep it at 3 litres and gradually would tone it down to 2 litres a day.

It doesn't sound that hard but believe me, it is hard.

Like now, I'm refraining myself to pop open another bottle.

Can not!!!!Even though it's already half past midnight.

A Prayer

O Allah, I beg You.

Ease my path, ease my way.

Please.

Amin ya rabbal a' lamin.

Would You Tell Me

I was at my landlord place just now (just in front of our place).

We were discussing about our extra energy usage~cold water, hot water, heating and electric.

We have to pay an extra of 24 600 czech crown for the energy we used from January to October 2010.

And let me tell you, our rent is only 17 500 czech crown a month.

Admittedly we use quite a lot, but still we think that we have tone down from what we used in 2009.

We cook at least once a day and we use electric for cooking.

Since last December, I couldn't sleep without getting nightmare if the lamp is off, so that's out of topic because December isn't counted in (anyway, I tried to use study lamp instead of the main lamp)

Or maybe we keep our lights on longer than any Czech.

In winter itself, most houses are dark past 8 pm.

Ok, can you tell me how do we save up on this?

So we moved on to cold water, of which I asked where does this come from?

I don't remember using them.

Now Lina, cold water goes to the laundry.

Ah yess, the washing machine.

Now we couldn't really help this part could we?

Or do you expect me to handwash my clothes?

Thanks, I have enough to do.

About the hot water.

Hehehe.

We can help this part a lot I think.

When doing the dishes, I should keep the water in the sink, dunk in the dishes, let the water out, sponge those dishes shiny and then soak the bubbles off.

Yes, we can do that.

When it comes to bath, I think showering does waste your water triple the amount that u would use for bath if u use cebok and kolah.

Now, I couldn't build a kolah in our bathroom, but then maybe we can cut the bathtime.

I know it blows away your body pampering but I'd rather take that than paying extra crown.

Now the heating need a little touch up.

If the bill in heating part goes up next time, we know the person got meter from other house mixed up with us.

We turn off the bathroom heater.

I used the heater in my room just about twice or thrice this winter, each for a brief time only.

We forgot to switch off the kitchen's but we switched it off already when they came to take the reading.

About the big rooms, we gonna get the landlord to seal off any gap in the window frame or doorframa.

And let's hope we make a massive improvement and just have to pay around 4000kc extra.

Does that sound impossible?

Defibrillation

We walked in today to an old man lying on his bed, all prepared for defibrillation.

He had atrial flutter, second most common arrythmia after atrial fibrillation.

As said by my doctor, atrial flutter is more common in old people, usually brought about by organic heart disease (cardiac malformation such as atrial dilatation, valvular diseases etc.)

A doctor provided oxygen to the patient and a nurse administered propofol or what they call, the Jackson drug.

It has milk like appearance.

Propofol is used here as general anasthesia to send the patient into hypnotic state.

Defibrillation is a procedure where you send electric shock into the patient body to correct the arrythmia.

It was a very painful procedure since the voltage makes an excruciating stabbing pain and taken this into account, defibrillation is done when the patient is unconscious.

A patient reportedly needed to be sent to the psychiatric department for few months due to phobia of defibrillator after an excruciating defribillation procedure.

Back to propofol, this drug can cause respiratory arrest in overdosing.

Otherwise it sedative effect is rather transient and patient regain consciousness rapidly.

The defibrilator was put on the chest and the current went through, sending the patient torso in midair for a nick of time before it dropped back onto the bed, his hand rested on it.

It was as fast as a bolt of lightning.

We took turns pumping the oxygen.

The chin must be tilted so that the airway is patent and the mask shall be hold correctly so that no air gets out and all is good as long as the oxygen saturation meter reads above 95%.

The patient woke up as the third person took over pumping the oxygen.

It has been a really good day at the hospital.

And maybe next time we can perform defibrillation ourselves?

Eksesais Wira Jaya

Basically, it's a1 night survival camp. (or was it 3 days and 2 nights?)

They loaded us with knowledge on how to identify edible plant, how to make traps, how to dig the earth so that you can answer the call of nature and whatsnot the weeks prior to the survival camp. The classes are called kelas kraf hutan and were conducted among the trees on the hillslope facing the camp's pond ~ they sure tried to make it as authentic as possible.

On the day itself, packed with poncho, pots and pans, rucksack and some provision we set off to the site which is just 15 minutes walk away from camp.

But still, u are in the middle of jungle. Not thick one though, merely like Czech woods I must say.

First tasks were digging hole for toilet and trash, cutting out bamboo for poles and support for the tent etc.

It was very enjoyable.

Although I grew up going into and out of bushes with the cousins, I never dare to go near bamboos.

Spirits and snakes, enough to send me off that place.

However, it's scary no more when there are girls with parangs excited to show off some manly skills they possess.

Done propping up the tent, we went for a quick dip at the stream.

I mean, my family did this once in a while when I was small.

You know, those times when the water supply was interrupted and the well went dry and you would go for dip in the stream.

Having dip with friends are really nice, plus the surrounding trees (now, my description sounds scary but it's not, when you have tenths of screaming girls with you)

And then the nature decides to send me off the stream..

As I lift my hand to throw water, I saw it, a tiny, dark brown, glistening cylindrical thing, firmly fastened to my hand and since I didn't know what the hell was that and I am ever so disgusted by worms and snakes, I freaked out.

I was frantically shaking my hand to get that thing off and yelling, gone was the composure, who need that anyway in times like this.

A girl came, take a look at that thing and cooly took it off my hand and throw it away~in the water (-,-')

The tentmates

Lunch followed up next and we set our fire and painfully trying to open the cans using parang (mental note : must buy Swiss army knife when I go to Switzerland)

I opened the sardine can at the cost of my combat suit.

The sauce toppled over my wrist, staining it and left a rather strong perfume.

Going to scrub it at the stream is a big no-no, especially when I saw a black snake swam by when I was having a face tan under the sun.

Meet Cikgu Apai. He taught us Golf Romeo (Layman's term, grid reference)

We had a competition, making traps.

Because all of us were doing something else other than listening and making notes when we had survival class in camp, we decided to dig a trapping pit, and since digging hole is very hampering, we managed only a 20+ cm depth and decided to put some sharp=pointed bamboo.

The camp commandant didn't find it useful though but we told him, this would suffice for ayam hutan and mouse deer.

In the evening, we went into lines and they nicked the biggest two in each company.

We were supposed to find those 2.

Walking with torch in hand and the instructor with us with a warning, never shine the torch and see up the trees (yes, even in a big company, it's creepy and is strongly advised)

We went through quite some hurdles, visiting some mad men (who were unmistakeably some of the trainers themselves) dancing around the bonfire and by the time we reached our destination, our legs already aches from the long journey.

And we were supposed to locate those 2 girls in the middle of the pitch dark.

One was thrown somewhere near a bush, another was found on a tree branch.

I don't know how they went through that. For sure, I don't want to be in their position.

I'd rather sleep with an arm feeling like the mucles double their size and aching all night long from carrying those two girls from where we found them back to our campsite, of which I did.

I couldn't believe how another company got their girl back. They had the biggest and tallest girl.

Must have feel like losing an arm for two days I think.

The survival camp came to an end. We close the "toilet" and the trash pit, packed our tent and walked baxk to the camp.

The boys stole some boxes of mandarins from the vice camp commandant Mercedes and a latah girl cut a baby cobra into 5 pieces.

And I was feeling all great, despite the fact of 2 days with no shower in a combat suit stained with sardine sauce.

The camp has been fun and I enjoyed myself.

Credit : the photos are of my national service batch.credits go to feliw wira and wirawati who own them

Rantings

This week passed at unusually fast pace.

After rise, I would go to classes which ends at half past 1 and when I think I've only covered 20% of what should have been done that day (minus class), it's time for bed.

I don't really think that my life this week has been that hectic but oh well.

I'll just hope that next week would creep.

I really need to feel like that.

Anyway, the moon felt unusually close today.

It's a bright full moon and the stars seem rather dim today.

The weather has been such a darling, until last 4 days and yesterday evening, we even had snowfall.

And to day it was freezing cold even though the thermometer said that it's 9 degrees.

I need to dig for those layers again.

This winter has been cold but we were snowed in for the whole December, only.

Which is quite unusual due to the facts ~ snow usually come starting january and would stay in as long as 3 months or so, where there would be piles of them continously. And snow means messy affair. This year, messy affair almost wasn't there.

I had many wrapped things this week.

And it's not even my birthday!

I guess that heals my heart.

Handling unreasonable attitudes, feeling rather unproductive and delayed workloads.

Maybe sometime you are bound to encounter this simultaneously.

The housemates have been really helpful too.

Things like eating dinner together and scrubbing the kitchen while talking about stuff really are good therapies.

I'll miss this in the future.

=)

Old Time

The Workloads

Finally, I am done with Microbiology exam.

After the longest revision I've had and after the first time re-revising all the exam questions.

It was an interesting subject, minus the re-revising part.

Alhamdulillah.

Just as I stepped out of the department, I mentally list down things that need my further attention.

I have to get some new books, order the printer inks

And study loads of topics from 4 of big trophies of theoretical medicines pathological anatomy, pathological physiology, internal medicina andddd pharmacology.

Though the first three are somewhat correlate to each other, it somewhat can be tricky, not at times, but all the times.

Yet the abnormal trait in me come out again and I know, as long as it doesn't concern the final exams, I am very much loving what are in store for me.

I personally think to have many things to tend on is a rezeki.(well, in my case, I do love what are on my plates)

Of course it would be tiring but hey, you are going to gain knowledge, experience and more . You re going to enrich yourself.

Those are rezeki aren't them?

So cheer up and get going!

=)

PLKN : The Food

So, we'll talk about yummy things.

I didn't even think about food until I was at camp.

All in my head were those adrenaline pumping activities that I would be having in camp.

Imagine kayaking, high ropes, abseilling and all things outdoor, they are yummier than food (now, this is quite a statement because I am a person who love her food, very much)

Anyway, food was generous and very well prepared.

No need to pack a baggage full of provision.

And the perk of being in Alpha company ~ U get to go first for breakfast.

And everybody suddenly was not sleepy anymore and hasten to the dining hall from the small hill.

Never, ever run!

The hill is steep and u don't want to go rolling down, believe me.

Every morning, without fail, I would have boiled egg.

Breakfast consists of main menu, white bread with spread and boiled egg.

The heaviest breakfast I had at 7 in the morning before PLKN was nasi lemak.

PLKN beated that record.

I had complete set of curry noodles and porridge with salted egg to name a few in the camp.

We had class in the morning and we would go straight downhill for pre-noon snack in our postman attire.

Downhill again and problem is, girls had these sparkly black and an inch thick heels.

Now, U don't want to scratch them nor u would want to chase your cup that rolls downhill.

U don't want either of that under the scorching sun, and so, u would walk downhill nicely (read : slowly)

I thought SOKSEK lunch throughout the week mostly were horrible.

Anyway, PLKN or to be exact, Kem PLKN Bukit Besar really is a five star camp.

Lunch was always good, nothing that I don't fancy.

Even their shrimp was fresh and guess what? when we said farewell to our commandant that'll leave for Nepal, we had ikan bakar.

Yes, the whole camp had ikan bakar cicah air asam.

Now, that really beats SOKSEK to pulp doesn't it?

The trainers would always patron lunch and asked us if the lunch was to our liking and to tell him if we have any problem.

I cheekily said it's okay to have leaf worm, after all it tells us the vege grew up healthily and the smart-looking trainers said, ok, he'll ask for them to not wash the vege after that. *stick out tongue*

Oh yes, we were even allowed second helping if I'm not mistaken.

We also had tea, only thing was, wira and particularly wirawati, don't really care about it.

Tea consists of some kuih muih and hot teh tarik.

Now, that's not really comforting when u r drenched in the ever so revealing blue shirt and padded tracksuit that have cuff on the ankle (yuckish attire, that one was), or when U r in the combat suit looking like KFC fried chicken.

Anyway, it was good when it's weekend.

I remember being so happy that they would serve bubur chacha on one weekend.

I asked the whole dorm for someone to accompany me downhill for tea but well, the sight of it was scary enough, everybody was in their own world during weekend, because weekend is the only time when we were allowed mobiles and for that, nobody's coming down for tea with me.

But I insisted on having the bubur chacha and went down alone.

Just to be dissappointed because they serve bubur kacang instead (for unkown reason, I never have a liking for bubur kacang. But I really like ais krim kacang)

After all the useless effort to get the girls have tea with me.

After braving myself to go down alone.

Holy molly bubur kacang.

Why oh why??

But in one of our first few days in camp, we didn't really have much to do.

Only we have to work on KKJ which needs us to come out with cheers, flag and name for our company all the while waiting for our turns to get our logistic supplies (survival kits, poncho, boots and such).

And guess what's for tea?

Laksa!!!!

My eternal love.

I just couldn't believe it, laksa for tea!

And so, meehoon sup and bubur gandum for supper were not a surprise anymore.

6 meals a day, so I shall thanks our government and the taxpayer.

That was really, the best thing to do after SPM.

I was a wirawati that's well fed and when I am well fed, I am a happy girl.

And to be well fed, I kept my tray, cup and cutleries on my hand, not rolling down the hill. =)

Food Memories

I feel like reminiscing my food memories with the people from my childhood.

So, I shall start with one of the man that I love and am very thankful for.

This man, was my saviour when I passed out ascaris lumbricoidales and the one whom I spent my days with before I started schooling. He is my Tok Tam.

He is the one who taught me different ways to enjoy my roti canai.

I always had my roti canai damp with the dhal gravy until one day he decided that I should try dipping my roti canai in the gravy instead of having my plate flooded. And he also taught me that I can also have my roti canai with condensed milk instead.

In our days together, we frequented these 2 particular coffee shops in Batu Feringghi. They were those typical Chinese coffe shops in the 90's.

U know, the kind of coffee shop that serves your coffee in the cream coloured cups with mossy green floral prints along the matching saucer.

I wasn't allowed coffe but I had tea. And sometimes, when Tok Tam feel like it, I would have half boiled egg mixed into my tea.

He would pour the hot drink on the saucer, shaking it gently in a circular motion and feed me my drink from that very saucer.

It was very nice that I am thankful that I had that moment to reminisce upon.

I knew those coffe shops that we went to had been stripped down to make way for what they call development but here I am, typing my memories down, so that it won't be stripped away from me too.

I would always tag Tok Tam to the morning market.

For breakfast we sometimes had roti canai at the shop and sometimes, we would pick something up from the breakfast van.

They had this spread of kuih muih and dishes.

Only thing is that I hated all those except for kuih lapis, karipap and nasi lemak.

I always sulk when I had pulut inti.

Glutinous rice is never my favourite, except when you make it yellow and accompanied with generous chicken or beef curry.

And this pulut inti, not only it is plain glutinous rice, it even has this sweet shaved coconut to go with.

Thanks Allah, it dissappeared from my life long ago. =p

We all know there are kids that when we tell them not to do something, they will run towards it instead.

Well, I was one of them.

It was our typical morning.

My paralysed great grandmother was in bed, and I was in the kitchen with my Tok Tam.

I had nasi lemak on banana leaf that morning when my Tok Tam was washing the fishes (he's the housekeeper. Tok Ndak, Tok Cik and Tok Teh were the ones who worked)

He clearly told me not to eat the shrimps' heads.

Instead of asking why not, I decided to find the reason by myself and stuff them into my mouth

Chewing them for a brief second, I found the answer.

I spat out whatever in my mouth and in my stomach and was sporting tears in my eyes, and my Tok Tam left the fishes to attend to the over smart grandniece.

I promised myself I'll never chew shrimp head again.

One day, I was having so much fun at school when dad came fetching me out.

I was jovial and all hyped out to go home.

At home, my parents put me into kurung and they broke the news on the way to Batu Feringghi.

The man that I love, the man that ran away from me in my dream few weeks ago, was indeed, has been taken away from me.

It was the second funeral in half than a year and I was taking it so hard. I was totally not ready for it.

The house again smelt of lime leaves and incense sticks.

They were returning from the shop (they went to buy drinks for the workers), my two brothers and Tok Tam, when he collapsed in the middle of the road.

Nazri was clueless and very small Nazir was calling "Tok Tam?" all the while, giving the lifeless man the spilled teh tarik with the straw.

Our Indian neighbour was the one who found them a few minutes after when she was out to get something.

After the funeral, my parents gave each of us orange vitagen, the last momento from our beloved Tok Tam.

That man, he never allowed me yogurt and always substituted it with vitagen and at his very last moment he bought us vitagen, now, as the substitution to himself.

I grew up embracing the fact that our time is over and at last have the yogurt that I was so keen to try and I still love my vitagen.

One and half years later, I was attending tuiton at Rama's Guest House.

Kala was a lioness and that day I was left to do some exercises in the book.

I learned the lesson not to write "I don't know" to the question that I don't know for the second time.

There was a plate of nuggets in front of me.

I didn't really fancy nugget that much nor do I hate it.

I was racking my brain to solve the questions when a hand with two fingers came running on the table towards those golden nuggets.

That hand came running thrice and was knocked away thrice before it got the nugget.

That hand then came my way with a Hi.

There were wau bulan of various sizes suspended above us and I decided to forget my exercise for a while and shaked that friendly hand.

"Hi, I am Stevey. S.T.E.V.E.Y"

And so, our brief story begins.

Whenever he came visiting with his father, I would be delighted.

He loved the racing bike so much, it has black handles with white stars.

And he got himself injured somewhere near the Chinese school with that bicycle.

I didn't really have a clear memory of what happened next.

I found him on my way to fetch my brother from preschool and we got him home (I forgot how did we actually get him out of the mess).

Anyway, few days later, the nugget boy was all happy out of the shower showing me (who, again with the difficult exercises to tend to) the yellow plastic covering the wound on his leg.

And then it came to an end too.

It was our last evening together.

Small Nazir tagged along, and we went to the beach and crossed the small estuary.

Uncle Peter heaved Nazir and we had paddle pop ice creams on our way home.

We promised to see each other again and I would have camera or watch or whatever the next time we meet.

Only thing is that, now after 10 years, the promise is still yet to be realised.

My family moved away and along the way, we somehow lost contact.

I would love to really know what was it that uncle Peter said to me many many years ago, but I guess nobody remember what was it, or were it now.

I still hope we can see each other and know it.

And I am yet to go to Switzerland.

The promise, even though I don't really remember the faces and don't know the exact names, still, I hope it can be realised.

Our partings were and still are bitter facts.

On the contrary to the yummy things that coloured our days together, and for that I smile and feel glad to have such moments =)

A Handsome Young Man

wasted.

We already started our internal medicine practical and I got the same group with the same doctor.

The patient that we reviewed on Thursday is a young 23 year old and he got the look.

And multiple problems.

He got infective endocarditis where the bacterial overgrowth on the heart vessel is clearly visible on the echocardiogram

The skin is dotted with multiple flat, red lesion and splinters under the nail~typical signs of infective endocarditis.

He took intrevenous drug and that costs him his liver and his current condition.

I learned from before not to make assumptions and think good of others.

This young man must have his own reasons, for what that led him to be on that particular bed.

His pain teaches me to be grateful of my health.

His delusion teaches me to take care of my sanity.

I went to hospital with intention to learn internal medicine, I came out with more than that.

I came out feeling grateful that whatever that happened these past 21+ years, I am what I am now.

Better off than many other people and I have healthy circles of individuals around me who are not doing alright, instead they prosper and so I say, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah.