Back into the Groove

The traffic had built up to the usual size today, making my drive to Park City that bit longer. It looked like the holiday season was over despite the school opening being delayed until next Monday. I guessed parents who anticipated the first day of school being last week had used up their holidays and were back to the office.

After my Park City clinic, I took a bit of a detour to Sri Utama to settle the school fees. They were opened next week as well.

We would still be at the apartment until the weekend. Next week, I would be driving from Gombak again. Not looking forward to that ...

Jiro Found His Sushi?

I heard about this documentary for quite some time, but never actually got around to have a look at it. On New Year's Day, while recovering from the on call the evening before, I rented the documentary on my Apple TV. They were doing 99c rental at the time.

Fascinating insight into the commitment of these sushi chefs looking for perfection. Jiro must be approaching 90 today and he hosted Barack Obama and Prime Minister Abe in April 2014 at his modest restaurant - which only sat 10. Such was the regard held for him - not to mention the Three-Star Michelin award that he had.

After watching this, I appreciate the art a lot more. Now I remembered why the sushi bars in Kyoto were small and homely. With not too many items on the menu.

Sleep Over Weekend

With the starting of school delayed for an extra week, the boys asked to join their cousins in Kajang. So, that was what we did this weekend. With me heading for work from there.

Afternoon snackIdlan hardly slept last night, playing games with Imran. All we did was eat. Anita was worried that they would put on weight. My Mum joined us this morning as she had a prior engagement yesterday evening. And she was the one doing the cooking for lunch.

Idlan didn't want to go home. He wanted to stay another. While Irfan didn't stop asking about going back to the apartment. There would be drama tonight. Definitely.

Reflecting on 2014

2014 had been eventful to put it mildly. Both on a personal as well as professionally. And it had also been an eventful year for the nation.

The aviation accidents made the headline of course. The flooding in the last week, the glooming economy. All were the hot topics on the gossip table. 2015 doesn't look much better either.

GST would be the main issue I had. It would be a nightmare unless some planning and help from the hospital were coming.

Moving forward, it's very likely that I would be scaling down my clinic activity at Park City. I loved driving there but lately with the amount of work I had at Subang, the journey was just not worth the hassle. I planned to drop the number of clinics I do there, maybe having sessions only every other week. I would still come over if there are referrals of course. That would free a few of my mornings to concentrate on the patients I already had.

I am on call today and already the hospital was full. The beds would open up later in the day and I expect the admissions to line up later tonight. Better have some rest before the queue starts.

Happy New Year all. And my new year would only start later this week after I get some rest from today's call.

GST Fever

Although the deadline for GST registration was looming, there was no end to the confusion on the actual program. Almost every week, there were new amendment, and the uncertainly was really eating away on us Doctors. The rumours that GST would not be charged onto patients was going to be a myth, but the Customs were not doing a good job informing the public of this fact.

It looked like everybody would be in for a shock come April Fools Day. I could just imagine how my patients would act when they see their bill.

So, yesterday, I had another briefing given by a Tax agent on how to handle the incoming uncertainty. I left the room with more apprehension than I started. It would be a nightmare once the system is implemented, as the amount of paperwork and submission I had to do every quarter would be a headache. And apparently you must use the services of a certified tax agent for the auditing. This would cost extra money and frankly unnecessary. And the agent who gave us the briefing unashamedly asked us to use his service and buy his software to help us deal with the invoicing. And that was the point when I left the room ....

So, I'm bracing myself for a stuttering start when GST would be implemented. Not really saying that I was looking forward to it ...