Aidilfitri 2018

It was a quiet one this time around as we were just staying at home during the break. The initial plan to travel to Penang was shelved as the travel would be too much as the boys would be back to school on Monday - Raya was on Friday.

My father-in-law was also in not the best of health and my Sister was in Melaka with her husband’s family this time around. Just a few trips here and there but most of the time, my Mother had visitors coming. The house was never empty.

And then there was the small matter of the World Cup kicking off the night before Raya which meant sleepless nights and naps in front of the TV after plenty of food ....

My Father-in-law was a bit worse for wear when on one of the evening he was dehydrated and nearly fainted. A slight change of medications saw to that. Food was plenty though and I was sure I must have put on at least a couple of kilos, despite losing some during the fasting month.

I had a few days off after the festivities just to chill out - and do plenty of photography. For those travelling, drive safe and enjoy the time on the road ...

Final Week of Ramadhan

Another week to go before Raya and I started to miss it already. In fact, things had been rather quiet with the school holidays staring today, lasting for 2 weeks. I am on call today with an invitation for berbuka in town later.

Hopefully there won’t be much problem for me to get there and back in time. I have cancelled my clinic tomorrow morning and looking at my schedule, the clinics were pretty light next week.

The expected Raya traffic when people were out shoppingI will be away for one whole week during Raya. And with another colleague going on a conference in Europe during the time, we were down to one Haematologist during the Raya weekend.

We will be staying at Bukit Antarabangsa this time around, and of course a short trip to Gombak. Julia will be in Melaka. My Mum will be going to Penang the weekend after Raya to attend my cousin’s wedding, but I would be back to work already by then.

Hopefully the call today would be a quiet one, and I can enjoy a quiet few days before Raya ...

Four Years

I had been a Member of the Hospital Medical Advisory Board for the past two sessions - four years. I was the secretary for the last couple, and yesterday we held a fresh election which I did not stand for.

It was not too taxing but I had to spend a few afternoons a month attending meetings and other duties. Time to take a break. During that period, I was involved in Doctor's Agreement negotiations, implementation of GST - and now the removal of it - and also the introduction of the computer system at the hospital that was still a bone of contention at work.

So, the job was concluded with the minutes of the Staff Meeting held today. Time to sign off!

Long Queue

I was not sure why but the traffic had been crazy this morning. As I took a peak out the window while having my shower, I was surprised. The traffic led all the way down Bukit Pantai, and the start of the queue was way up the hill.

There may have been an accident somewhere further down and it did not look good. I waited for half an hour and it did not get any better. So, I decided to get some work done while waiting. Luckily I don’t have any clinics this morning. It was all ward stuff.

Fingers crossed, hopefully things would improve soon ...

Season's Trend

Earlier this month, for a kenduri at a friend’s place, I donned a batik given to me by one of my Indonesian patients. It fitted me well and the stripes were more traditional than the local ones. It looked smart but during this Raya shopping I noticed that this more traditional Batik patterns are becoming a trend.

And it was not just for mens, even the ladies this season seemed to wear these more traditional stripes with a more loosen cutting, back to the 70s fashion sense. I guess trends come in cycles.

Anita got me another pair of Batik shirt for Raya to match hers. This one also looked traditional with simple cutting. The colours also tended to be subdued, usually keeping to a single shade. For the ladies, the motif tended to be flowers.

This became really obvious when we were at #RiuhRaya recently as most of the stalls carry these themes. Anita happened to wear something similar when we was at Riuh - a loose flowery Kebaya top - not at all looking out of place. And she had a few on booking, guessing that she was ahead of the trend ...

I now realised why at the said wedding, I was invited to sit at the VIP table. I certainly dressed the part that day ....