House @ Dempsey

After church service today, SW and I decided to go to Dempsey since her parents are in town. Having a friend who can drive really improves my quality of life (of course, I think I should consider getting some wheels myself, but nonetheless, still waiting for prices of stuff to drop). She suggested House as PS cafe was packed to the brim.

It was a sunny and relaxing Sunday - having a few hours of rest while oncall helped my mood as well.

It is a pleasant cafe right next to a secondary jungle, which I heard belonged to a certain Malaysian royalty, therefore undeveloped.

We ordered different kinds of food - pasta, pizza, fish and burgers. I remembered that the food was quite good. I wasn't disappointed.

My pasta - which is the chef's favourite - called Bay Prawn Cappellini was gorgeous. I loved the fresh prawns, fresh taste of leek and also the birds eye chilli scattered sparingly. The other dish ordered by my friends were good too. I enjoyed the truffle-infused fries and also the thin-crust pizza (so thin, it was like pappadam!). SO will I come again? Definitely. Anyway, today's outing marked the first time I ventured out with a 'heritage' camera handed down to me. I kinda like the pictures compared to my usual digital camera. Can't wait to try it out in Sydney soon!



What happened to me?

Someone asked me: did you stop blogging completely? I think yes, for the past 6 months...because of various reasons. Mainly, lack of motivation and heavy inertia. Life on this island is so hectic and draining...to the point that I lost interest in most things I love, including running, church-related activities, studying and even relationships. I felt like I just couldn't go on as before. It was just humdrum daily grind of work and facing the four walls at my rented HDB room. Quite dismal eh?



Then recently, something clicked..I don't know whether my neurotransmitters began firing at full cylinders again, or I actually bounced back from 'adjustment' disorder...I began running and singing/playing guitar without stressing about it. I even regained my confidence in operating and taking charge in the theatre.




Although I am still as confused as ever about relationships, my optimism has returned and I hope one day I will find the 'one'..in the meantime, smile and c'est la vie! looking forward to a return to blogging and more posts & pictures ahead :-)

Happy New Year - a note on my only true vacation of 2010

Life's been crazy lately...with so much of things to settle at work and travelling to do, finally I have a day for myself here in Sg. As it's raining cats and dogs outside, I guess it's time to do some spring cleaning, hatch up some new year's resolutions and blog!

December was also the month I took a genuine break - my only real vacation this entire year packed with unusual events. Hopped on a short flight to Manila for a surgical conference, only to realize that we haven't registered and ended up doing everything else besides attending conference! One thing stood out : our previous fellows a.k.a Manila hosts - they are amazingly helpful, affable and hospitable.

Since my return from Manila and boracay, I've been heaping praises upon the beaches of the Visayas islands. It was an accidental vacation, squeezed in just because we wanted to visit the Philippines General Hospital smack in the middle of Ermita (apparently, a 'scarlet' district during the days of G.I Joes). Thus the highlight of the Manila segment of the trip was to visit the trauma unit in one of the busiest hospitals in Manila.

Conditions were harsh as we saw how the trauma patients were treated. I was simply amazed at how the doctors keep their spirits up. Emerging from the hospital, I was very glad that even the smaller hospitals that I have worked in back in Malaysia wasn't like that.

Stark contrasts abound in this metropolis - the differences between Makati or Bonifacio compared to Ermita, Manila City, etc astounded me at all levels. Its like two different countries. Traffic is of course locked in this ever-present congestion as it takes 1 hour to travel from one end of the city to the other. The least we could do is to visit the most historic part of the city - the Intramuros, Rizal Park, Manila Cathedral and San Augustin Cathedral. The whole area is very different from the rest of the urban crawl. It's actually quite charming and Spanish-looking.

Anyhow, it was of great relief that I landed in Boracay after the hustle and bustle of city life. Now Boracay is and remain to be the crown jewel of vacation islands in Visayas. Being only 50minutes away from Manila or Cebu City by flight, it's very accessible. I bumped into tourists from all over the world - mostly from Taiwan and Korea, though.

Favourite pastimes on the island with the longest stretch of beach imaginable (I couldn't reach the end of the beach on foot) include diving, snorkelling, sailing, fishing, lazing, people-gazing, eating, shopping, eating :-) Or just soaking in the warm shallow clear waters and admiring the brilliant sunset.

This is me during the island-hopping day - exploring the many sea caves on the crystal cove island. I enjoyed the day tremendously as we zipped from one island to another on a tiny catamaran powered by the strong sea-winds. Eco-friendly and very cool :-)

On the small island opposite Boracay island, there were interesting stony structures, reminiscent of those I saw in Ireland years ago.

Thats the 'best' sunset I could get out of the mostly cloudy days here. I guess rainy season ain't so kind to us after all. We had alternating good and bad weather on this island as compared to non-stop blazing sunshine during the dry season in the middle of the year.

We landed on the part of the island near Shangri-La Hotel, almost on the private beach owned by the hotel. It seemed very picturesque, but this part of the island is quite deserted.

One of the many restaurants on the white beach. It was totally packed with all sorts of business - mainly restaurants, massage services, manicure/pedicure/spa, souvenirs stalls, etc. Tourism is indeed alive and kicking on this island.

Will I come again? Yes, I will. With a much bigger group and during better weather of course. Boracay is beautiful!

Out of the middle of the jungle

Growing up and staying in a place your whole life doesn't mean you know all about it, esp since you've been away for the past 3 years. I found a little piece of rustic charm of Indochina in KL, situated in a place quietly and discreetly tucked away in the corner of Ampang, called Tamarind Springs.







I came here for my belated birthday celebration...thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was delicious (and do expect hefty price tags) but most importantly, the ambience was unique, befitting of special occassions.

Starters consist of a variety of fish cakes, rice-rolls (Vietnamese popiah), prawns and savoury little spoons of mixed vegetable. Cue the cameras flashing away on the big platter of aromatic & tasty delicacies. Quite a good start to the meal ahead.

We've decided on a meal of 'seafood'. My favourite is the soft-shell crab in coconut curry...it was neither spicy nor overpowering, just yummy & crunchy. How I wish portions were bigger as there were only 4 little crabs for the two of us (remember, this ain't Sri Lankan crabs)...at least we had more to come.

The next 2 dish were typical Thai fare - mixed vegetable in fish sauce and grilled salmon with spinach in savoury sauce. Nothing much to shout about, but at least these are healthy alternatives to typical fried and super-spicy Chinese food.

Dessert was different from the theme of the night, as we ordered from Il Tempio, the Italian restaurant on the floor below. When the tiramisu and durian cheesecake arrived, I would say that the tiramisu was forgettable although the durian cheesecake was quite unique.

The entire place was fully booked but you could see (from the pic below) that it's far from full. Ambience was perfect but I would say that it's pricey and the place was inaccessible to anyone without a car. Anyhow, this is still a pretty unforgettable and magical-looking place.

Gooood week

Wow…what an inspiring week! The whole week represent a series of events that threw big spanners in my descent towards mediocre spirit and lackluster, demotivated living. I’m back to my hype-whatever, motivated and optimistic self all thanks to the following events….



Since I begin to blog enthusiastically again, guess I am back to being CPD again. I always feel better towards the end of the year, especially as thanksgiving,my birthday, Christmas and new year approach. Maybe the end of the year bonus helps (HAHA, I wish)



So, started the week in a new posting – adult cardiac surgery work means a lot of excitement and long hours in the OT. ..some of the things I LURVE most in practicing medicine. The other perks are of course, numerous, i.e getting medicine whenever I want, knowing when to stop and also to start running, wearing the amorphous, monochromatic ‘pyjamas’ in the workplace (a.k.a scrubs) and the list goes on. But I digress.








Anyway, spent some time cutting up, uh, I mean operating on people and literally giving them a new life is really fascinating. When we put people on bypass machine, we are inducing death. Modern-Lazarus- work per se is not everyone’s cup of tea. Every case involves extremely long hours and super steep, unforgiving learning curve. Guess there are pros and cons to everything in life, ain’t it?

Other than spending time in the OT, of course I see patients in the clinic. For the first time since medical school, I actually learnt lots while sitting in with the chief himself. Never knew I could work and learn in a fun way before.

The biggest inspiration of the year came in the form of an emergency case that only the most courageous team will think of going in. I mean, the patient has already seen the light at the end of the tunnel once. That being said, we still bit the bullet, went ahead with a life-saving decision and with everyone’s full consent and knowledge, gave the family a final hope, with the only possible effort.

Although the patient has passed on a few days later, this experience left an indelible mark on my life – something clicked in the jigsaw puzzle and I rediscovered the meaning of why I am here. It’s to do our best under fire, even when all hope is gone. God gave us the skills and talents, it’s up to us whether we are good stewards, whether we leave a legacy behind, should we perish. Incredible enlightenment.

Then, I read this book called ‘BORN TO RUN’ by Christopher McDougall. I recommend it to any runners and anyone wanting to change their life. It was such an empowering and exciting tome. The Tarahumara people are downright wonderful that I felt like picking up a backpack and joining them for a year or two. I will no longer look at running the same way again. We are truly bio-designed to run…our feet are wonderful engineering feat that propels us at long distances….extremely long distances. So much so that I started running again the past few days 

If there is one book that any runner is born to read, its BORN TO RUN...the book that triggered the wildly-popular barefoot running craze nowadays and the extreme ultra-distance runners like my dear fren, AYPS. (Unsponsored Promotion, courtesy of the National Library Board of Singapore)

After feeling really inspired mentally, professionally and physically, the final icing on the cake is the spiritual blessing that I encountered today as we celebrated Thanksgiving – a massive gathering of a family of 5000 people at our Paya Lebar complex.

Pastor reminded us of our role and existence in Singapore – to be leaders, to go where no one has gone before, to create a model when there aren’t any. This is what we call strategic leadership. Other than a power-packed sermon, we had a performance and a free dinner for the massive crowd. Logistics were impeccable as everyone was stuffed, happy and comfortable.

The lesson of the week : Reading can be a dangerous activity - it can change the way you live, forever :-)

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