Hospitalism

Dad is doing better now, a big thanks to all the wellwishers. Took 2 days of Emergency Leave so that I was able to help my mom out with either stuff at home or stuff at the hospital.

My family could probably qualify for a medical frequent flyer miles or something. My dad has been hospitalized several times for his heart condition, including a valve replacement surgery in 2003. Mom was hospitalized when she was preggers with Anis back in 2000/2001 due to complications. Anis herself was kept at the hospital after birth because she was born prematurely (due to the previous complication). Iffah was hospitalized due to pneumonia when she was a baby. Kimi had his stay when he went for tonsil removal surgery. I had mine for dengue fever in 2007. Pija? She's studying to be a doctor, she BELONGS in a hospital.

My hospital stay was not really unpleasant actually. I got dengue fever, but detected early enough so I wasn't kept for long. Only three days, though I wish I can stay for a few days more since I was lethargic for a further 2 weeks. But of course, the bank would be crazy to pay the bill as I was staying in a private room at Gleneagles. Yeah, we do have good medical benefits here :)

It was unpleasant mainly for the fact that I was woken up every morning at 5am for the vampires nurses to suck take my blood. But they are nice and was good at it though, I only feel a slight sting each time. And of course the thingy where they connect your hand to the IV drip. That thing is a nuisance, especially when I wanna shower or go to the toilet. It's either I have to take the whole IV stand along or call a nurse to unhook me for a while.

The food was alright, considering that it costs a bomb to stay at the private rooms there I wasn't surprised. I mean I had nasi lemak, pancakes and fruits for breakfast and then chicken chop, salad and some other stuff for lunch and things like that. And I get to choose what I want to eat the next day from a menu. Doesn't sound much like a hospital stay, does it? Of course, the food was very much tasteless as hospital food are wont to be. I would've wolfed it down anyway if not for the lack of appetite and a bitter taste in my throat.

Though indirectly, I have experienced the condition of our public hospitals many times. The wards look ok enough but the toilets are not fit for a hospital I feel. I did not see any handrails nor anti slip mats. There's only like 3-4 toilets and same number of showers per ward which can hold around 30 people or so, and they have to share it with relatives who are taking care of the patients too. Plus you'll get people haning their laundry in the toilets too, isn't there anyway to better handle this?. Cleanliness is alright, thank God.

My mom told me about how hard it is to go through all the red tape just to get discharged from the hospital. The different offices that she needed to go to are all located in different places, and sometimes waiting for hours only to be told she was at the wrong place. I'm sure something can be done about this, process improvement anyone?

Still, I am thankful for all the good these hospitals have given my family and myself. Just perhaps some improvement will make the experience easier to bear for the patients and family.

Living On A Prayer

Dad is hospitalized, internal bleeding. I just arrived home from KL. Do pray for him, thanks.

Reinvention

I'm a man with a plan.

It's been over a year since I've moved into my house and it has always been in a state of 'work in progress' to me, though I haven't really changed much over the course of the year.

Last week, I decided it's time to really think about finishing what has been in progress for ages. Unfortunately since this transition period took so long, I'm no longer thinking in the same frame of mind. I'm gonna make changes. Serious changes.

The bedroom will be repainted, and perhaps change the furnishings too. The guest room will be turned into a multipurpose room, I'm gonna move the PC, all 4 guitars and 2 amps, and other assorted stuff in there. I'm letting go of the queen bed and the dresser and the wardrobe, if anyone wants 'em just arrange for transport to pick them up. It's FOC. I'm putting in a single bed instead to free up more space. The current PC/guitar/ironing room will be turned into a walk in wardrobe. Yeap, one whole room for my clothes. Oh and I'll prolly move my shoes in there too.

The kitchen is in it's original sickly off white tone, I wanna paint it something more vibrant. The hallway is a terrible shade of green now since the sales assistant gave me the wrong colour instead of what I asked, it's gonna change. Dining area might not see much change, but who knows? The living area might also see some changes, though not yet finalized. Perhaps only the toilets will remain unchanged.

Today as I was going though my routine spring cleaning, I realized that I really need to change the way the house is now. I mean, if I don't do it now I might not have the chance later on. You know, with marriage and all I can't really just do whatever I like - need mutual consent dah!

So, I'm really hoping to get this done by end of March. When (or if =P) it's finally finished I'll prolly throw a second housewarming party, who knows? My timeline for the project starts next weekend, wish me luck!

Home

Early morning in Kuala Lipis.

After driving 1167km in 3 days, I'm back home. Sweet.

Drifting

Sometimes I'm troubled by thoughts of her. She hasn't been back, physically yes but not in spirit. She said it was a mistake, I did not try to correct her. She said things will only get more complicated, and I did not disagree. She said we're better off like what we were before, before that Sunday.

She hasn't called as often either, last time it was last week to ask me how Mama was doing. Once in a fortnight is a far cry from the daily calls she would make just to share a story or two. These days she would just tell me that she's too busy and tired to talk that much. I know it's an excuse. I told her Mama was doing great, recuperating well. She said she might drop by Bangsar to see her one of these days, and I said Mama would love that. I know damn well it's an excuse because Mama calls her more than she calls me.

Mama loves Reen like her own daughter, sometimes I think she loves her more than me. It's a fact I've grown to accept. She even told Reen to call her Mama instead of Auntie, for Pete's sakes.

But I digress. Yes, I miss her terribly. These days she would still answer whenever I call, but something is missing in her voice. There always was a sparkling, youthful zest in her sweet voice but now the note is a little flat. Not noticeable unless you've been listening to it almost every day for the past 9 years. Something sounded off tune, like an old piano in need of a little tweaking. Sometimes I find her distant, even through the phone I can feel the growing distance. It's like she boarded a boat that day and is slowly floating away, pulled ever so slowly by the soft waves that's lapping at the sides. And no matter how hard I try, my rope never quite got to her. So she keeps drifting.

I miss you, don't drift too far.

Wrote this for my other blog, which serves as my writing pad for stories. 4 parts and I lost the plot. Muse, where art thou?

Fine Dining?

Forgive me for praying to the altars of practicalism, there are so many things I don't get here in Malaysia (boleh-land is so overused, enough already).

My gripe for today is the pretentiousness of restaurants and their patrons.

There's so many restaurants around branding themselves as fine dining, I somehow feel the title is diluted now. If you're expecting the kind of service par excellence, you'll be disappointed. If you are expecting food that will delight your senses, you'll be even more disappointed. The service is supposed to be quick, attentive, yet non-intrusive while the food is expected to look nice, taste good and just enough to sate your hunger but not filling you up. At least that what I learnt from hours of watching and reading about Gordon Ramsay, Ferran Adria, Alain Ducasse and Michel Roux.

I've tried several and they ultimately let me down on both counts. Try asking a recommendation from the waiter, they'll randomly point to something on the menu (which is probably printed as Chef's recommendation in the first place). See, if I wanted the Chef's recommendation, I wouldn't have asked you innit? And try asking them which main course would complement the aforementioned starter, and a sheepish smile would just be followed by another random finger pointing. I expect a reasoning why it's your recommendation, and I expect you to show me confidence even if you know shit about what you are saying. If I drink wine, I'm sure the waiter would mumble their way through the list too. Perhaps, you can recommend a nice cheese to go along with that '77 Cabernet? You wish.

And the food, it's a tragedy. It's a travesty! Now is it any wonder they restaurants are always dimly lighted (atmospheric my ass), if you can see clearly you'll be put off. The portions are always ridiculously small, definitely not adhering to the sating-not-filling thingy. Perhaps somewhere along the way, fine-dining was translated to the-smaller-the-better. The garnishing often looks out of place and redundant, the taste is usually bland with a sprinkle of boring on top.

The decor are always generic, with the same furniture, theme and look-feel as the next one. Given, some places actually does excel in the decor section, but give it a few months then other copycats will emerge. Ohh don't trust the pictures on their websites too, a good photographer can make any dumpster look that nice given the right angle and lighting.

The patrons are somewhat a sad sight too. The yuppies in their expensive shirts and the flavour-of-the-week in tow decked in a pretty dress and a million dollar smile to boot, it would be nice if it's not so generic yet again. Everyone would try hard to look as rich and snobbish as they can, swing that Birkin, smoke that Cuban if you can. In the dim, I mean atmospheric, lighting even SPGs can look pretty. Oh I forgot to mention the SPGs! They can be found by the bucketloads, hanging on to their mat salleh boyfriends as though he might vanish in thin air should she let go. Kutuk SPG kena bukak post lain lah I think, hehe.

Despite all this I do still go to these places once in a while, just to try something new and perhaps I might stumble on to a gem of a place that won't disappoint for once. I have some recommendations too if you're looking for a nice place, ask me personally and I shall share. Better still, share with me if you have a recommendation. Otherwise, I'd rather save the money and go to casual dining places like Italiannies in One Utama where the food is always good and the service never disappoints. Or better still head down to your nearest mamak, for fast service at relatively cheap prices (not so cheap now wor these mamak places, no wonder they're making so much money).

Hrmm, teringat ayam madu and telur ikan goreng Pelita...

Saying My Farewell

Hectic week, glad that it's over.

I only have a few days left being 25. Since my Streamyx at home is having problems, and I'm taking the day off on my birthday, this is the last chance I have to reflect on being 25 while I'm still one. Gibberish la pulak, lantak lah.

It's been a great year (by year I mean being 25, not the Roman year) for me, honestly. Of course there were some shit that I'd rather not think about ever again, but the good parts far outweight the bad ones. Or it could just be that with time it doesn't feel as bad anymore. The mind does that funny trick sometimes, you know.

It's the age where I managed to fulfill my lifelong dream, to travel the world. This year saw me walking the streets of Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, London, Paris, Barcelona, Venice and Amsterdam. Some of those places I never even dreamt of going, I still wonder with amazement when I look at the pictures. For people who travel the world on a consistent basis for work or holiday, it might not mean so much. I had to work my ass off for this, it made the experience all the more sweeter.

It's the age where worldly possessions are attained and I actually can't ask for me for once. After buying my own house before turning 25, I followed that up with Renée, my little black car. Despite the initial problems, she's been a loyal friend til now (cue 'awwwww' all around). Then finally I got a new smart phone a few months back and since then I'm actually contented with what I have. I admit I have given thought to buying new expensive lenses, and battery grips and remote triggers and an endless array of gadgets, but the thought of not having it doesn't bother me. I can live with it :)

It's the age where I'm starting to get more active with other things in life. I initiated the Wednesgay lunches, and it has since become a weekly event where we'll convene and talk cock (erh, pun unintended!). Yes it's a deliberate misnomer the Wednesgay thing, we aren't exactly the most serious people around. Then I participated in a CSR project at an orphanage for HIV positive kids. That was an eye opener, and gave me a better realisation of how lucky I am really. Now I'm also volunteering to help organise my batch's 10th year reunion in 2010. It's gonna be hard work, and likely to be underappreciated, but I did it in the name of love (haha, I am getting a bit cornier by the paragraph =P). Hey jokes aside, I am enjoying this alternative side of life, the non-financial yet satisfying side of it you know.

It's the age where hearts were broken and mended, and dreams die and reborn. It's the age swiftly passing by with every breath I take. It's the age where priorities are examined and plans are made. It's a good age, and I will miss it. Goodbye 25, though in a few days you'll be nothing more than a memory, be sure that some memories are there for life.

Hello 26, I believe we haven't met.