One after The Other

2018 began with some bad news for me. First of all, on the evening if the New Year, I received a call from one of my cousin Uncles about his mother being ill. I dropped by at his place later that evening to visit. Things wasn't looking good but my Grand Auntie still managed to muster a smile and asked Anita a couple of questions.

Apparently she didn't talk much after our visit. She passed away the next afternoon.

The morning after, while I was planning to attend her funeral after my morning round, my Mum called. This time one of Ba's good friend - one of Julia's witness during her akad nikah - had just passed away.

Plans was changed and I joined my Mum and Julia in Keramat to pay the family a visit.

So, two death in as many days. I wouldn't say that 2018 started with great news. But things happened. They were both suffering from cancer and their passing would've spared them from some suffering.

Alfatihah.

All Planned Out

I may have pulled out the short straw. But it was something which needed to be done. I was asked to organise the upcoming Malaysian Society of Haematologist Scientific Meeting for 2018 and I felt that one day I would be organising it like many other before me.

We do the meeting every year alternating between Kelang Valley and elsewhere. It was JB in 2017. I remember my first such meet in 2004. It was held at Marriott Putrajaya, which was secluded compared to how it is today where the IOI Mall sat next to it. It was barren back then.

The first order of business was to book the venue. Again, it would be the newly renovated Shangri-La KL, as it was a couple of years back. I surveyed a few other spots but none had the same facility as Shangri-La and it was at a right price.

Then came the team. And this would be a good one. My mates were helping out and now we were just waiting for the sponsors and registration to come in. Still plenty needed to be organised but I'm quietly confident that it would turn out OK. Although I am fully expecting more grey hairs by the time April comes.

New Year Day Activities

I decided to stay low this year as Anita was occupied with her Dad who is still in the hospital. He was just waiting for his tests to come back and hopefully he would be discharged tomorrow.

Not much fire on the works ....By the bed ...Started the day as usual later than usual. I was watching the fireworks last night after watching the two Trainspotting movies. Unfortunately we couldn't see much from the balcony. The looked lower on the horizon compared to before. I could only hear the sound and see a few of the taller ones.

I went for an early lunch in town after the ward round before joining Anita at UMMC to pick her up after she brought lunch for her Dad.

Morning round The afternoon was rather dull ...The rest of the afternoon was pretty slow though with the full weather. I ended up doing some paperworks and sorting out the website for the upcoming MSH meeting before again joining Anita for dinner. A night in tonight watching football. Can't guarantee if I would be awake when United kicks off after midnight later. Have a clinic tomorrow.

Reflecting on 2017

2017 had been a difficult year on a personal level. It was the year which I lost my father. Alfatihah.

The rest of the year went through like a blur. At least Mum had moved on somewhat with her recent trip to New Zealand. For me, I should've taken more time to digest what had gone on. My strategy to cope was to get on with work. It was alright for a while. And then when things get tough or I had a moment alone, the thought about my Dad came flooding again.

Rather tough being a Doctor and was not able to get any clue about how it happened. Could I have done things differently? But it was all in the past.

One of my plans for the end of the year was to slow down. Unfortunately, my father-in-law was taken ill this time. He had three separate hospital admissions in the last couple of months. It certainly was tough for him.

Both my boys were now on a same school. So, at least Anita need not worry about school runs and she should have more free time in the morning.

Work had been steady this year, which is good. And I didn't do many trips overseas. Just that the timing was never right.

On the photography front, I didn't invest in many new equipment. I added a new wife angle prime for my Sony and started to rediscover my Leica M again. Not much time for many outings lately.

The immediate plan for 2018 was the coming MSH Scientific Meeting which I would be chairing. I might be replacing my 4 year-old Mac Pro towards the end of the year. I wouldn't mind going to medium format at some point but they are not easy to come by and expensive at that.

Praying for more stability in 2018. In shaa Allah.

Merry Xmas

Or should I say "Mary Christmas" as the saying went.

I will be on call this Xmas Day - something that happened quite commonly. The Xmas Eve turned out to be a Sunday and many used the opportunity to do some last minute buys. The shopping complex was full and although I got some free time this afternoon, I didn't spent much time outside.

I took the MRT from KL Sentral to Bukit Bintang. The coaches were empty but despite that, the road were full clearly people prefer to drive in town although the traffic must have been a nightmare.

I decided to sort out my credit card payment - the main reason I had to be out - and after a quick lunch, carried on home. I ended up having a nice afternoon nap instead. So much for a free afternoon ...