Bus Ride from H---ll

I had a good-bad sort of week. The good thing is that I really studied despite a lot of other options available (like watch a movie, hang out with frens, run, swim) making me the dullest conversationist for the moment. My two calls were brilliantly busy and tiring. Thus I was quite glad when I realized that I am given the 'GET OUT OF JAIL' card...yup, I was released from oncalls until I sit for exams in view of good number of medical officers in my department now.

Yet to me it's a Catch-22 situation. I love some of my oncalls because every call provides good cutting opportunity......but I am so exhausted after most of the 36-hours stretch that I cannot realistically and efficiently study. Now that I am exclusively studying, I love the fresh feeling of enough zzzz but miss the adrenaline of OT. Gosh, it's really hard to please a girl isn't it?

When I got home, I sat down and grappled with Last's Anatomy (sort of modern day Gray's Anatomy but much more relevant to clinical practice) which is excellent surgical trainees. At one point (around 3 pm on a drowsy, warm Saturday), I fell asleep with specs on and with my face on the book. I am lucky I didn't wake up with ink imprints on my face!!

That's when I reached for my back-up 'Power' shoes and went to Kiara Park for a quick run. When a group of friends came for chit-chat at night, I felt a bit guilty as I left them after a while and became the most antisocial person ever..I returned to Last's Anatomy while the group was busy with Final Fantasy X, etc on the Playstation.

The icing on the cake was the bus ride today : the hottest journey I have ever taken in my life. I vowed not to take Roadways again. I felt like being slowly roasted in an oven as the air-cond broke down and the 2.5 hour journey felt like an eternity. Imagine my deliverance as I escaped from the bus in Ipoh and went home. Phew...please remind me not to get on a bus without air-cond in Malaysia ever again!!!

P.S. : This post is without photo all thanks to my ever 'reliable' Maxis mobile broadband. All credits go to them for brilliantly functioning when I do NOT need it and refusing to act when I ACTUALLY need to go online. Therefore, posted from the hospital

The morning after

My posts' titles are beginning to sound like some cheap Mills and Boons romance novels! Nothing romantic about the morning after a long run. In fact, it can be downright excruciating.









Isn't the view from my hospital pretty? On the other hand, I wasn't a pretty sight when people are asking me why I am walking around like an old lady with a fractured ankle! I have to admit that I need to push up my training (and be fitter!) when everyone asked me today “ Eh, Dr L…why are you walking around with a limp?”




I know, you are all mouthing a big “SERVE YOU RIGHT” to my face. I mean, who on earth would go run a 10 km, spent the Sunday reading/surfing/taking pics/facebooking (and not resting) and then go on-call on Monday? Not to mention that Monday was the day that I saw 80 plus patients in the wards from 7th floor all the way to 2nd floor (covering almost 10 wards). Mostly without the lifts (as the 'runner' apparently is too tough for lifts!!) and then go into the OT until wee hours of Tuesday morning!










The right solution is staring at me right now..my sweet old bed with the comforter and quilt. After all, it’s a rainy night right? WRONG!




Resting is good after races, but if I need to aim for something else later this year, I should be running again by tomorrow. I think I am infected with PS diseases and it’s highly contagious. I miss my 'playground', especially when it's raining and deserted. Hints of eccentricity spreading in my house isn't it?










Somehow, putting Polo Ground right next to the cemetery adds some form of character to this almost-flat route ain't it? I do adore rays of sunset peeking from amongst the stately trees but don't really fancy the big crowd of people and vans of food vendors parked along one corner of the park.








Anyway,I think I strained my Achilles’ tendon (meaning gastronecmius and soleus included) because of the oncall rather than the run. Or is it I rather go moaning and whining about the fact that we have patients in more than 10 wards in the hospital, all in different floors instead of admitting to the fact that we have to rest BECAUSE there is a time for everything.



There is still this nagging feeling in me that if I run more, I will definitely improve on the stamina part and not complain so much of visiting so many wards right? I guess I should count it a blessing that I could actually help so many people (angelic, beatific smile...)

1 year later...

"You change ur mind, like a girl change her clothes"...as katy perry sing on masquerading as my alarm, I groaned and woke up in excitement. It's the Ipoh International Run 2009! And I'm running in it with my housemate and colleagues!








And why am I so excited? Because it's the anniversary of my first road-race ever. Not that I've ran that many races (can count with the fingers on both my hands) but I am eager to exorcise my angst and ghosts of the past. I didn't even get a cert in Ipoh race last year and was very disappointed at that time....

And boy, was it a good race or what? i'm probably still on endorphines high but who cares..I did my personal best. Its not that fast compared to CS, PS, CY, Wendy,et al, but its tough balancing my thousands of oncalls, studying for exams and training for races. Excuses, excuses,excuses...blah,blah

Anyway, woke up to torrential tropical downpour and was seriously considering NOT getting into PS' car. I was imagining myself getting reali sick and missing oncall tomoro (thats not too bad!). Took me a tremendous amount of willpower to get into the car with extremely heavy rain at 530am in the morning.

And the reward was...superb good condition for fast-running. Cool weather makes it less likely for dehydration and tiredness, but higher chances of cramps and hypothermia and hypoglycaemia. I was running with a jacket for the first time in Malaysia and it wasn't too bad at all. The first few km was crappy as I was still warming up to the condition but once our muscles started warming up, it was all system go.

And I didn't need a power gel along the way. I mean, who needs a power gel for a short run like 10 km rite? But I bought it as a reminder of the 21km that I really wanna aim for. So it was sitting nicely in my pocket throughout the race as I brought it back home, unopened. Hehehe...

Of course I didn't wear the official shirt. It looks like what I wear when I was still a teenager and that was a looooong time ago. Thus, no way I am wearing this. I love the Sundown adidas shirt which dried really fast after the run. Way to go, adidas!

The following pictures are part of the route in Ipoh. We ran a different route from last year and I feel its shorter than 10 km. Still, I shaved 15 mins off my previous run's finishing time. Very happy about it and all gunned up for another race soon!

Shorter or colder race, I just salute the 19000 plus people who came for the run. Although the organization could be a lot better (we waited 30 mins in front of the starting rain in the gut-wrenching rain), the human spirit was awesome

Not only that, I met a lot of new friends along the way and learnt that I could probably go faster the next time (too reserved in this run d, was darn hyperactive after the race). We also got warung-ikan-bakar and DNC interested in running more races too. Thats more running gang from the doc community!

So, the moral of the story is : Don't give up before trying..we might end up surprising ourselves with unexpectedly good results!

P.S: For the first time, I got a medal in the women's 10km category. But only in the top 120 position lar. How's that for someone who runs EOD or less!! Kekekeke..thank u God for the rain (really giving us a much smaller participating field, I guess)

It is really a FULL HOUSE

I am probably on the verge of converting this into a food blog.



I mean, 75% of the time I write about food because not really backpacking that often nowadays and food in moderation and balance is good. Of course I do complain about my job as well, but no one wanna hear an overworked MO whining all the time right? So, lets brighten up your life with more scrumptious food!!






I went to this place in town (KL) near Kelana Jaya and there was a cute little restaurant called Full House. Its at this place called 'Ngau Cheh Sui'...uhm the literal translation will be bullock-cart water? Apparently, the place was very happening until some months ago....and now there are empty shops all over the place with barely enough shoppers to keep the place alive. So sad...






It was full house when we arrived and its literally a full house. An actual house. We dined in the lawn and walked around in the 'house'...

There are little paraphernalia for sale scattered all over the shop. For example, you can buy an apple peeler, lamps, key chains, pillows, etc.

Theres a fireplace, a bicycle, a quaint four-poster bed and even a porcelain bathtub for sale!

Food is quite good as its in big portion and with the usual KL prices. I think I will probably go again as it has a nice ambience and yummy food displayed in a cute menu.

I Love Pancakes :-)

This is not a sponsored promo article :-).







I am beginning to love pancakes. Especially at PHOP. Now that PHOP is almost everywhere (except for Ipoh), you can easily find your friendly pancake shop in the nearest mall.








Anyway, had a Honolulu set and loved the tomato-based toppings. BK had a dory set, which looked and tasted delicious too. Most importantly, it came with free drinks and very nice dollar-pancake dessert (with ice-cream).












Anyway, talking about Transformers 2. The movie event of the year coincided with the social event of the ‘decade’. The long-awaited, much-anticipated sequel to the cartoon series so beloved to us who grew up in the 80s was released to the general public last week. Of course I couldn’t resist watching the show ASAP. Not only that, the same weekend also coincided with K & M’s wedding at the opulent Palace of the Golden Horse and this pair of lovebirds have been together since the 90s, thus my Form 6 friends and I welcomed the BIG date eagerly.










In case you have not seen T2..you must,you must, you must watch the show. Of course some of the critics dissed the show, but the rest of us mere mortals (especially those born in the 80s) absolutely adored T2. The fighting scenes (Autobots vs Decepticons) are awesome and surprisingly emotional.










Ooops...before I go on spoiling the show for those of you, just get out of your seat, go to your car, drive to the nearest cinema and get yourself some movie tickets k?