At the Apartment

Since it was more convenient to get to the hospital from our apartment, we decided to stay there until Irfan's infection and pain settle down completely. That would also mean extra long commute for Idlan to school. The driver would have to get to us extra early, but in his motorcycle, that should not be a big problem. We would probably stay there for another few days.

We like staying at the apartment. Things tended to be simpler here, and especially during weekends, going out was great. Getting to work was also would be a breeze .....

Irfan needs an Op

Irfan woke up this morning screaming in pain. He had problem doing his number one. Pain he said. He tried, and managed to pass some urine, but stopped halfway due to pain. It was burning. He had this problem last year, but it settled pretty quickly. This time it was different. Anita rushed him to meet me at the hospital, and a quick examinations at the Emergency Room explained where the pain was coming from.

He had an infection on his foreskin, and there was a bit of pus coming out. Painful stuff. I brought him up to see one of the surgeon, and it was pretty clear that he would need circumcision. Poor boy.

The date had been set for Wednesday week. I was slowly dropping hints to him about what was going to happen. Hopefully he would not freak out come the big day .....

For the meantime, he needs a salt bath, some antiseptic cream, and some antibiotics syrups. The pain was much better this afternoon. Hopefully it won't return tomorrow morning ....

Party Time

It came a day early, but I didn't think Puan Anita was complaining. Farha, and gang had sprung a surprise for her, a birthday cake on their Aidilfitri open house. She was not expecting that, especially my less than enthusiastic response to her request to pick her up from home. I asked her to get the driver out instead.

I had to endure a 45 minute ham from my clinic to get to Farha's even though it was on the other side of Subang Jaya. Unbelievable. And my friends manage to keep their mouth shut about the cake until I turned up!

She was surprised. The cake was gorgeous, but the highlight for me was the tiramisu prepared by Azida. Gleefully I took some home for afters!

We hung around for a bit, mainly embarrassing ourselves with tales of the old times in the UK. Surprised at the collection of photos that Farha had kept, it was rather strange to look at how different but the same we were. Great stuff!

Thanks again Farha, Azi, Yatt, Itul, Syahril and Debby plus the others for making it an afternoon for Puan Anita.

It has been a While

The past week hasn't been great - apart from van Persie grabbing a late hat trick to deny Southampton a famous win. It started off with food poisoning in my part, then a small accident and my in-laws maid running away from the house. Puan Anita seemed to be under a lot o stress.

This week also also going to be a busy one for me with my colleagues going away to conference. I had to man the shop. No biggie, but I could do without those outside stresses.

To add to things, we were also in the middle of apartment hunting and sorting out the loans and mortgages was energy-sapping. A few other things at the office - medical insurance updates, medical license and the rest was adding to my crops of grey hair.

Things were simmering down nicely now, and I was more or less back to normal routine. More updates and photos should be coming more regularly very soon .....

Welcome Back

After 22 years in England, Itul finally returned to Malaysia for good, and would be reporting to work next week at my old place, UMMC. She had been back since before Raya but we only get to meet her last week, and again during Syahril's open house in Bangi last Sunday. It was the last for the day for us after having food earlier at another friend's house. No wonder I put on a few kgs.

She was understandably apprehensive, which reminded me when I reported for duty at Universiti Malaya some time ago now. It seemed like ages ago. I was not really sure what to expect, how my new colleagues would be like and in the first six months, it was certainly a shock to the system - both good and bad - from time to time. There were bad habits which I picked up since, but it was part of assimilating into a new work culture.

I made the transition - with some pain and headache, but I was glad that I did. I certainly returned to Malaysia at the right time, with starting a family as well as my Dad-in-law's heart condition. I was sure things would pan out just as well for Itul.

All the very best!