My 4th Coral Bay Visit

Every civil worker is required to attend an induction course in order to be confirmed into the government service. After waiting for so long, I finally had the chance to attend it. I’m already going into my third year of service. Before the day to depart comes, there was much worries and despair. The thought of spending 2 weeks in a resort that I’ve been for 3 times and listening hours and hours of lectures was…uuurrgghh… seems so hard to endure.

       It was all another story upon settling down in Pangkor. It wasn’t so hard to bear after all. True enough that some of the lectures were real agonising but some lecturers are real good in getting our attention. We had some good laughs in class and good team work as well. I still can’t believe that we could use one nail to hold another ten! If lectures were indeed boring, I will just take out my htc to chat and go Facebook as there is free wi-fi in the lecture hall. Everyday, we’ll be looking forward to the evening time. It’s our leisure time where we’re on our own.

     Most of the time, we’ll play by the beach. Sometimes we’ll play exciting water games like banana boat, or play volley ball or at times we’ll just walk around the beach. Evenings not spent on the beach will be spent on cycling, jogging, swimming in the resort pool or simply reading a good novel by the balcony.

     In those rare occasions that we have our class canceled, we can have more time to ourselves and we can venture out and try the foods outside. At one time that there were so many of us, we actually finished up the cafe’s stock of chicken. They took such a long time to cook up the meals that we danced and enjoyed ourselves while waiting.

     Towards the end of the course, we had to concentrate on our studies as there is an exam to take on the last day. There was a mixture of feelings after the exam as it meant that it’s time to go home. Feels glad that induction is finally over but at the same time also feels sad to leave all my new found friends. It was great to meet a bunch of lively people heading the same goal as I but away from working environment. Be sure to keep in touch my friends… Oh and last but not least, my best wishes to Wai Keng who hurt herself during the course. Get well soon my friend!

November at a glance

Last week has been a real busy for me. Particularly because my workings days were shorten due to the other functions that I have to/had attend, my colleagues in the same department with me were away as well as the super blur new PRPs that just reported not long ago. There are so many of them that they out numbered those permanent ones in the hospital. Now it seems like too many cooks spoils the broth and I feel like a babysitter taking care of them every step of the way. Hopefully, in time to come, they will ease my workload instead.

My daily work have to be put aside as I have to prepare for the side project which is due on Wednesday. I weren’t around last Wed to Fri so I have to rush to finish it by Tue. Then, I need rushed back to Ipoh to catch a bus the next day to KLIA. Not that I’m flying off to anywhere. Just that it so happened that the place to attend my course is nearby the airport. It’s about updating and upgrading myself on the documentation of my daily work.

Yep, so for 3 days I was stuck in a hotel listening, eating and sleeping (while US got a new president and our very own RPK is released). The food was good. The selection was far more varied compared to other governmental courses that I’ve been to. As for the accommodation… well… not the same as I imagine, but ‘boleh tahan la’. Hehe… I guess the most important is whether I learned something. Although I’ve been to a similar course with similar agenda but this one is actually far better. Haha…. most probably because the latter is actually national level.

Well, in government settings, going for such course meant more work. That’s because I have to relay the same message and information back to my fellow colleagues in my hospital. Sigh… But then again, this will not be possible in short time to come because I need to head to another course soon. This one is actually 2 weeks! Yes, so when I said my workings days were shorten, I meant like 5- 6 days of work for this whole month.

Sounds relaxing but its not. It translates to more work in the future, studying for exam as well as bringing work back home. So for now I need to switch my mind back to my side project (QAP) and prepare for presentation this coming Monday.

Bangkok Dangerous in Taiping, not Taiping Dangerous

There is a new hype in Taiping. It’s called a cinema. I recently had the opportunity to patronised the outlet though it’s already operational since Raya.

I was told that Taiping used to have a few cinemas but it has all been burnt down. (Not sure why there’s so many fire in the ever raining town). So now cinema is back in existence again under the management of Star Screen Cinemas (SSC).

The show I’ve chosen to watch was Bangkok Dangerous (as the title suggest) starring Nicholas Cage. There was a quite a  big crowd outside the cinema, so I thought maybe it’s hard to get tickets. But it’s not the case. The crowd was mainly consists of Indians, so I guess maybe their choice would be some Tamil movie on screen. (It’s Diwali after all) Due to some other circumstances, we went in 5 minutes late and the show has already started. Probably there’s not many advertisers.

I did not enjoy the movie much although the main female character is a pharmacist. Hehe… I find that the cinema is not very conducive for watching movies as the seats are very near the screen. From what I saw, there’s only 8 rows of seats. So even those sitting in the middle rows are very much in front. Hopefully this just applies to cinema no. 6 and not the other five as well.

Anyway, the fact that there IS a cinema in Taiping would be a reason enough to be jolly. So the rest is just… erm… of less importance.

My First Nail Art

Yesterday, I did something that I’ve never tried before. While walking in Ipoh Parade, I came across this small shop that offers nail art. They were doing a promotion so decided to go ahead. Since I can’t possibly have it done on my fingers, I had it done on my toes. I chose a conservative colour which I later regretted. The girl that did my nails were barely in their 20s. I guess they just finished their Form 5 and yet they have very good art skills. I can’t imagine myself doing the same thing. The whole process took only about 30 minutes. Will definitely give a go again but I’ll choose a more striking colour next time.

Update 29/10/08 : Barely 2 days and I’ve already chipped two of my nails… so ‘chou lou’. Hehe…

Critical Appraisal

It was a long weekend break and many would’ve spent holidaying or going back to their hometown. Mine was spent in a secluded resort learning how to critically appraise a journal. Yes, it’s a bombastic word which I myself had no idea how to define it.

The course is being conducted in a resort in Kamunting and therefore staying in is not a necessity since my rented place is nearby. Many of my colleagues opt to stay back at home but I chose to stay in the resort. Well, the room is already paid and since I’m one of the organizing committee, I might as well stay to ease my work.

The rooms there are actually very nice and spacious but mine was a big let down. The first time I open the door room, the first thing that greeted me was the awful smell of cigarettes. So I opened up the windows and put the fan and air con to max to chase away the smell. It didn’t help. Finally 10.30pm at night, I call up the reception to request for a new room. The new room not only got no such smell, it also has a balcony overlooking the swimming pool, the golf terrace as well as hillside view.

We’ve invited a lecturer specializing in pharmacoepidemiology from UM to enlighten us on this subject. She was a lady with her own principles. A quality which I find in most successful academicians and which I lacked (regretfully to say…). She taught us well and we’ve learned a lot from her.

Being a pharmacist, we have to face with the challenge to interpret journals everyday. We need to know how to differentiate between useful information or otherwise so that we can provide unbiased information to our other health care colleagues. It’s a big task when some irresponsible representatives tried to blind us or mislead us into believing something else.

I’m glad to say that, at the end of this course, I’m able to tell what those different terms are all about and be able to look for quality and well written papers. I aspire to be able to pinpoint the weaknesses of the information provided by pharmaceutical companies so as not to give blinded information to patients. This course would be stepping stone for me towards that goal. I’m glad to be given the opportunity to attend it.

Strong Medicine

It’s the name of a book that I’ve just finished reading. Written by Arthur Hailey, the book is considered old… first published in 1984. I first came to know about this book when I was a student doing an elective course. It was recommended to us by the guest lecturer. I jotted down the title and author but never got around to reading it until early this year. I chanced upon the book on a website and that’s when I obtained online.

Though its old, it was a good read…no matter how long ago the book has been written. The book is related to my profession, pharmacy. It describes how the pharmaceutical industry works. Though their sole purpose is profit, there’s still some people like the main character who inspired us to do right thing. Yes, I’d recommend it to all my fellow pharmacist as well as others involved in pharmaceutical industry.

Hmmm… the book I bought was a second hand. May be I should buy a new one for keepsake.

Weddings, Weddings & Weddings

I have been busy lately with weddings. Yeah, but it’s not mine. As I’ve predicted early in the year (http://jesse-wong.blog.friendster.com/2008/01/end-of-year-2007/), I’ll be busy attending wedding dinner which is quite true now that end of the year is approaching.

So far I’ve gone to 3 weddings (2 from Ipoh and another in Johor) and just last week, I’ve received a total of 3 wedding invitations where 2 is from Ipoh and another in Johor as well. I also will be expected to attend another one in 2 weeks time.

The most recent wedding that I’ve been to, have really opened my eyes. I have not expected much since the place I went is Segamat which is suppose to be quite ‘ulu’ (Sorry YL). I guess it’s worth traveling all the way down south at the end.

The ‘fried mee’ session was actually the grandest by far. It seemed like almost the whole Segamat is there to attend the fully served buffet (rows & rows of dishes to choose from). When it’s time to ‘pick up’ the bride the next morning, the ‘sisters (ji mui)’ games were so enjoyable. They really took their time and made sure the groom and ‘brothers’ doesn’t have good time. Made us feel like we didn’t do enough for Lee Chen’s wedding when we played as ‘sisters’.

Even the main event of dining is beyond my expectation. First, it’s done in daytime. Yup, so it’s lunch instead of dinner. The venue is so new and so much more sophisticated than any restaurants in Ipoh that I’ve been to. The food? Scrumptious! What can say… I’m served with abalone, individually prepared (in ‘dan chung’) shark fin soup with dried scallops as well as hasma for dessert.

All in all, I had an enjoyable time there in Johor. So, it has made my day and did not regret going all the way down south. It’s really worth it. Thanks a bunch to the groom for his great hospitality and WT & PT for the great photography (though I have yet to see it… but I’m sure it will turn out beautifully)

Half Way Down the Road

Today is a historical day for me. It marks the date that I have already worked exactly two years in Taiping. So there’ll be another two more years down this road before there’ll be another crossroad for me. Looking back… I can’t believe that I’ve survived so long here. I’ve survived…

… the times when there’s only The Store to buy things I need. But now there’s already a Tesco, Starbucks, OldTown Kopitiam and a cinema on the way.

…being a PRP. Now that I’m FRP, I’m struggling to make a difference to the medical ward as a clinical pharmacist.

… the mundane life in Taiping by taking up yoga, line dancing, going up Maxwell Hill and Poncho Poncho (only tried once). Ooops, currently not doing any of those at all. Only went up Maxwell yesterday.

… the edible but not so great food of Taiping. Really can’t figure out what’s so tasty about Taiping food. I guessed being a resident in Ipoh have set my standards ultra high.

… my ex-next door neighbour’s strange behaviours and now staying happily in a new place that’s nearer to work, bigger, cheaper and more privacy.

So now I need to look ahead. I wonder what’s next….

A Week Under the Weather

I meant to write this quite some time ago but I didn’t have time. I had no idea what happened to me as I fell sick all of a sudden. It started during bedtime on thursday night. I suddenly felt very cold and was shivering all the way. Covering myself in blanket also did not help. I’m not sure how long it last but at last I dozed off.. at least for little while. Woke up at 2 smtg in the wee hours of the morning and realised that I’m having fever. Thinking that I still have to work the next morning, I crawled out of bed and look for paracetamol (aka Panadols) but couldn’t find any ( what kinda pharmacist is this?!). So I went to knock my housemate’s room in the middle of the night to ask for some. Took 2 pills and went back to sleep.

       I actually went to work as usual the next morning but I felt myself getting sicker. By afternoon, I got myself a thermometer to check my temperature… 38.5 degree celsius. I took more pcms and head back Ipoh. Luckily I got a friend to fetch me back so i don’t have to struggle to drive myself. After dinner, i just slept all the way to the next morning. Over the weekend, my fever didn’t really settle. It came on and off. Finally, I took MC on Monday and went to a GP for consultation. “Viral fever,” the doctor said but he’s still giving me antibiotics. He gave me MC for a day but my fever didn’t settle eventhough I took the meds he gave. Rashes started to appear on my right arm as well as my chest and possibility of dengue looms into my mind.

      The next day, I head back to Taiping and went straight to casualty. The doctor took some blood to check for dengue fever. Had to wait an hour to the result and it turns out to be negative… Oh what a relieve. Anyway, she advised me to continue the meds that the GP gave and gave me another 2 days MC.

      After 6 days of on and off fever, and exhausted my stock of pcm, I finally gone back to work on Friday. It was the longest time I had been sick (apart from chicken pox). Normal flu will just be 3 days max. I wondered if it’s because I’m working in a hospital now and caught some super bugs there. Until now, I still don’t what actually happened. Just hope that there wouldn’t be another episode like this for a long long time… no, better be NEVER.

A Trip To Pangkor Island

From traveling to another continent then to another Asian country and now downgraded to taking ferry. It was actually a long awaited trip… much much longer than my US vacation. Something happened the last time we planned to go to that place and the trip wasn’t realised. So this trip is considered to be postponed for 5 years! (if not mistaken)

We’re driving 3 separate cars and suppose to meet up at the Lumut Jetty at 1230pm. One car was on time, another nearly got lost and arrive half hour late while the last one really got lost! Anyway, we reached the island safely albeit being 2-3 hours later than scheduled. The minute we arrived, we headed straight to the beach after checking into our apartment. Water splashing, sand throwing, tossing people into sea water, beach games, napping on the beach etc… Real fun! Exhaustion set in and we went back to our apartment to clean up & bath. Everyone was super hungry so Bun got us some snacks. After that we took dinner at a nearby restaurant… Seafood of course =)

So what are the night activities we did after dinner? We boozed! We play cards, do gossips and drink lots of booze. ( Except for Ian.. cari grandpa chow…) Ivy had the most liquor in her system but Callie is the winner for being the reddest ( Ow also but I think Callie is redder). Did a lot of bullshitting and had a lot of laughters. Nothing beats the Ramly burger when you’re hungry in the middle of night in middle of nowhere.

The next morning, we had nasi lemak as breakfast. Then we took more wine to finish it up while watching Olympics. After that we packed up, checked out and head to Pangkor town for some shopping and food. Then we on our way back to mainland and went on our separate ways.

It was such a fun trip but short lived. The proposed next destination would be Cherating. Anyone who’s interested can contact Ow. Haha… Go to http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/cchivy/PulauPangkorTrip2324August2008 or facebook for photos. Thanks to Ivy, all my bikini clad photos are exposed for public view!!