Smiling at Lions

I am going to Singapore tomorrow. It's been something like eight years since I went to Singapore proper (transits do not count). The last time I was in Singapore I was there on scholarship to study secondary school. Contrary to popular belief, I do possess some brains; Left brain and right brain and they work occasionally. So I went off to Singapore to study in a girls' school and lived in a girls' boarding school attached to yet another girls' school. Needless to say, I didn't take too well to have no one to whine to. So when I eventually decided to call it a day and go back to study in rural Sarawak, I learnt to appreciate the finer points of male muscle. I have never taken my guy friends for granted since. The things Singapore teaches you! :)

I am off to visit Nithia, the smartest medical student in Singapore, JB and some say Batam. Ra my love is hopefully going to join us. We live in hope, but I rather she manages to sort stuff out and come to Hong Kong. I am sure everything would go swellingly and we will have a whale of a time. Nithia is going to give me the grand tour of JB including the homes of the KTJians of our year. I shall try to be on my best behaviour.

I will also check out the lion thing and take a photo, being the kiasu tourist that I am. The family I used to stay with when I was studying here is busy this week and I while I would love to meet up with them again, I know it is not possible to do that in the little time that I have. I am just going to have a nice relaxing trip and see some sights, eat some local food and chill with friends. It shall be a nice end to the break. The weekend will see me hanging out with my dad and hopefully conning stuff off him hehe...

The last few hours that the family is together before we head back is all the more precious and bittersweet. I am never going to be able to take over the world at this rate!

PS: This is a lovely pick me up from Discovery Channel.

Kolo Mee Count

The top shelf of my freezer is loaded up with my favourite kuching kolo mee. The dude who makes it is making a killing from my family. So far, we have bought something like 100 packets since Fat Eagle came back.

I would be stretching the truth to say I am looking forward to going back to work. I have just started to feel a little bit more relaxed and now have to pack my bags. The eldest brother is heading to our home state on Thursday with the mother and the other siblings joining him on an extended tour on Friday. I will be heading to Singapore to check out some places. While I enjoy doing what I do now, one must not be too comfortable and must always look for alternatives *nods sagely*. I am tempted to try something new and different, yet when faced with the issue of continued development and training in a profession that is in shortage and the choice of trying something different that does not guarantee a similarly successful outcome, most people would balk and stay where there are. I don't like staying in one place for too long as I would feel restless and bored.

Plan of Action: I need to rethink my long term plan.

The Crux of the Matter

Only your loved ones are able to stop you from destroying yourself. Those who know you truly are able to discern plain tiredness from something deeper and care enough to tell you to 'draw back', 'hold the horses', 'take more care!'... STOP! Before things spiral out of control and you loose all sense of self.

I am making a firm resolution to protect myself. The loss of self-preservation due to a sense of righteousness and moral and professional obligation is no way a trade-off I wish to consider. At the end of the day, the loss is mine and I will be discarded when I am no longer useful with nothing to compensate. Sorry doesn't make the noodles.

I must learn to breathe.deeply. And stop to smell the flowers along the way.

Honey I am Homeeeee!!

I am finally home to annoy the family. As of today I have had:

1. One bowl of kolo mee
2. One bowl of yung tau fu.
3. One meal of seafood *yum*
4. One plate of wah-tan-ho

5. Two pieces of kaya on toast.
6. Three pieces of durian.

Which is not bad huh? It is nowhere near the amount of food I consumed when I came back at Chinese New Year and had a 24-hour food tour. I have great plans to eat my way through twenty packets of kolo mee while I am back So far I have negotiated eight packets for my personal consumption from my siblings. I will just have to steal the rest.

The friends who will be around this time are all pretty busy so I will have to entertain myself by reading books and spring cleaning my house. I have done one bathroom so far and will move along to different rooms as the week progresses. Decluttering is very therapeutic. My mother has told me to put all the stuff I want to give away in a big box so that she can dispose of it. I know I have a lot of many things and I guess I have reached a stage of life where I don't want too many bits and pieces. Just one pair of diamond studs, one diamond ring, one purple cocktail ring, one pink bag, one blue bag, one single box of cookies... You know... The cousins are eyeing my shoe collection but I doubt many would move past my sister who has the same size feet as I have *shock horror*. When the baby of the family started to grow I have no idea but I do not like the idea that she may one day tower over me.

It is great to be home. Nothing beats the feeling of being accepted just as you are, warts and all. The endless food supply, free laundry, brilliant punchbags siblings who come back to be entertained again. Home is where your lamest jokes are belly-aching funny, where your sarcasm is known to be harmless and your whining actually gets someone's attention. The moment you arrive home, the tension in your shoulders fade away, the headache you have been nursing somehow disappears and the abdominal pain that has been bugging you the past few weeks magically resolves.

The next two weeks will be heaven sent. I will hopefully be able to rest and reassess my priorities in life and try not to get myself married off.

48 Hours

In 48 hours I will be able to tell you the plot of The Dark Knight. We all know that its about this guy in a black tight jumpsuit with a cape that likes to shine lights up on top of buildings who is fighting this dude in a purple suit with eternal happiness plastered onto his face. I am looking forward to Heath Ledger's last movie because I admire him as an actor and also because we were young once, and drooled over him in 10 Things I Hate About You. Christian Bale is also extremely hot and will provide eye candy. I also happen to know that this movie was shot on location in Hong Rockin' Kong and they filmed it at the Batman building where the banker works. Well, it has an official name but is also known as the Mehul / Batman building. I have a dare with the American: We are going in matching Batman t-shirts. =D For someone as serious as him, it would be funny. I had to compromise the full costume complete with cape to be worn the whole day at the bank for a cute t-shirt *shesh*. I think I am too accommodating!

Work has been fun with the interns around. It has also been brilliant to have someone to have meals with every night. This just disproved my theory that I am an anti-social being. I enjoy the company of my nearest and dearest but I don't like the awkwardness of getting to know people. I have completed the family shopping and my bag looks to be full of presents for the family. It is not everyday I get to go home and I realise how people who live far away from each other would use monetary and material bribes to relieve the guilt they have for not being there in person. I wonder if the sister would feel that I am over-showering her with presents? I doubt so, she seems intent on getting more out of me.

I got my China Visa sorted before I am going back. The mother called to tell me that they are not issuing any more after this week. Thank goodness I had the foresight to plan ahead!

Moral of the story: Planning ahead is good for peace of mind. It is also a sign of OCD.

I am going to get some Peking Duck for Friday and watch the light show at Victoria Harbour with the intern. It is a very relaxing way to spend the night before heading for Batman. One of my friends is quitting his job to go woo this girl he likes who lives in another part of the country. While I am pissed that he broke his promise to meet up this time, I am also fascinated that there are guys as reckless as him who would do such drastic things for a thing called love. Maybe love is not so fickle after all. Maybe, just maybe, someone may love me enough to do the same one day?

When the Cat is Away...The Mice Come Out to Play!

The boss is away on holiday this week. This leaves me with one visiting podiatrist, one student podiatrist, one volunteer and two assistants to entertain. My party tricks are pretty limited. However, it would also be interesting to make them do useful things like staple pieces of paper together, x-ray kid's jokes and buy me coffee and cake.

I will also have to sort out my stuff to bring back home as I will be going home in six days. Six more days till I get to eat kolo mee and bask in the airconditioned comfort of home! I plan to be more sociable and meet and greet those I have avoided not seen in a long time. I am hardly the mostjobless person in the country and therefore did not meet up with many people whenever I go back. However, seeing that this is the longest trip I have ever been back since I left for Hong Kong I promise I will make an effort to attempt to contact people I have not seen in a long time. There is no definition of 'a long time' so that will just be a general post on this blog and on my Facebook and Friendster profile hoping people will not see it. I would be spending time with the usual crowd anyway.

The plan for this week when the cat a.k.a the boss is away? Easy!

Sunday: Shopping as the sales are on in Hong Kong.

Monday: Clinic, go to Vietnamese for dinner and Hui Lau Shan mango pudding for dessert.

Tuesday: Other clinic, triage all 23 patients and why to split myself in half as my two interns struggle to treat them and write up all my notes. Go to Temple Street Night Market.

Wednesday: Pick up passport from Visa office with hopefully a new Chinese Visa inside. Simply Thai for dinner. Book Batman tickets.
Thursday: Do laundry before I leave for Malaysia.
Friday: Last day of clinic for two weeks. Go to pick up a Peking duck from the best Peking duck restaurant in Hong Kong. Batman at IFC where it was filmed.
Saturday: Fly for home. Screw Hong Kong!

Why We Have HR

I was cruising through FaceBook when I saw this:

When a panel of doctors was asked to vote on adding a new wing to their hospital, the Allergists voted to scratch it and the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the administration had a lot of nerve, and the Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

The Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted; the Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body", while the Pediatricians said, "Oh, Grow up!"

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, the Radiologists could see right through it, and the Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists though that it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists felt the scheme wouldn't hold water. The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists left the decision up to some asshole in administration.

On a more sober note, I was reading my magazine and chanced upon this thing called a Demotivator. So for those who spend a whole lot of money on frivolous items, and can't seem to stop please feel free to use this tool to guilt-trip you!

And then there was one

First there were three..

The Oxford kids have gone back to Oxford. The Power Puff Girls are also gone, with the medic back in Aussie and the ophthalmologist heading to China tomorrow for field work. This leaves me on my own. It's been a long time I was last alone like this and it doesn't feel too good. That's why I did not want to rent outside as I would be going back to an empty house and have no one to talk to (bar the cat but I don't have a cat). However, I must not be reliant on others to provide the entertainment. While it is nice to have people to talk to, to confine and to send stupid bar jokes, it is also important to spend time alone in reflection of the things we do. It is crucial that we are not swept away in a tide of activity and forget the goals we set out to achieve in the first place. I told myself that this place was a place to learn about myself and what I really wanted in life. The social whirl is a great distraction from boredom and loneliness but it can also be in the way of achieving our goals. This time of solitude is godsent to allow me to re-evaluate my decisions as to whether they are the right ones at this point of time.

Food Snobbery

Mini Bun Towers.

The high cost of fuel has resulted in the average Joe reconsidering their options on where to spend the pennies. While some people may have no qualms and preference on where they shop for food, there are a surprising number of people who are food snobs and refuse point blank to be seen in the local frozen food store. I personally don't have a preference on where I buy my food unless it's chocolate cake where Sainsburys and M&S would top the list.

Hong Kong has the same dilemma as the UK as the cost of living increases. The locals enjoy eating fresh food and refuse to buy food that has been dead more than 2 hour prior to being served at the dinner table. Yes, they are that fussy. Therefore with the higher fuel prices and a more affluent China this has undoubtedly resulted in people having to reconsider the options available. I buy my food where and when it is convenient for me. I don't cook enough but eat out most of the time and as I am one person, the cost of feeding me is the same when I cook or eat out.

Nonetheless, it would be interesting to watch how things pan out. I just hope that the elderly and the very young will not suffer.