Happy Birthday Old Boy

It was a hectic afternoon yesterday with stops in the ward, followed by a visit to my friend's birthday barbecue and picking up my sister at the airport on her return from Disneyland Hong Kong.

The birthday boy was Syahril, my roommate from Sheffield. Currently, he is a Neurosurgeon in UKM Medical Center. He was away in England on his last birthday and today, he invited us over for his barbecue. But since I was heading to airports straight after, I had to come alone.

No. He did not have wagyu beef for the barbecue. But the dessert was expertly prepared by his wife. A couple of items - cream caramel and Oreo cheesecake. Heaven!

A Talk with a Difference

I was invited to attend a lecture last Friday evening. it was organised by one of the Pharmaceutical company and it was a talk with a difference. The speaker was from France. And he was speaking from France. It was the first time which I attended a talk via Skype and it worked a treat. Not only that money was saved from having to fly the speaker over, it would also save everybody time.

The talk was held at KL Hilton and luckily, the hotel broadband system worked well. There were no delay, despite the audio and video of the speaker was transmitted in real time. Even more impressive, the slides were also controlled by the speaker, and it was also down the pipeline from there.

At the end, we also had the chance to ask him question, although due to a lack of a webcam - the organiser should have really used a Mac, the speaker was not able to see us. He heard us alright however.

The evening started with case presentations from three Senior Haematologists. Great cases, although it lacked balance since all three were from the private sector. In terms of geography, it was spot on however. The speakers were from Penang, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur. The French speaker were not hooked up to listen to those presentations however, as it would have interesting to hear his take on things.

So, who finished the snack?The talk came with a dinner. It was a Western affair. A three course meal, served on the table. As I arrived late, I was not able to enjoy much of the food. The talks got my attention however, and by the time I reached home, I was starving.

Kudos to the organiser for coming up with such arrangement. Personally, this was more economical in terms of time and money. Maybe they should try "Go To Meeting" next time around.

Hazy Days Looming?

Was that the haze again? Weather had been better in the last couple of days - I meant no thunderstorm in the late afternoons. That I guessed brought another problem, the haze.

I noticed it on the way to work this morning but by midday, it was much better. Much better in the sense I was able to enjoy the glorious sunshine on my drive home from work. I hope that the haze would stay away, not to trigger the boy's asthma, with the school holidays and all ....

More Decorations at Pavilion

I was so impressed with the Christmas decorations at Pavilion that on Friday evening, I returned there with Puan Anita. This time around, it was in the evening. We went there for dinner and while Anita was getting her shopping done, I ventured out into the fountain area by the main entrance.

The main entrance were full of this sticky stuff. Not real of course.Careful not to trip on them.The full vistaWhile sitting having a mocha at Dome. The coffee was rubbish however.Wondered if they had weight restrictions.Since it was still November, there were not much activities yet, but the place were packed. The carousel was opened to the public and the lights there were spectacular. It however paled to last year's. I meant, who could beat the snow there had by the entrance.

Now, outside by the main entrance. The lights seemed to fall down from the sky.Looking towards Bukit Bintang. Traffic was still full at this hour.

This time around, it was more about lights and Xmas tree and ornaments. I managed to take some video of the place and would be editing them in my spare time. I would upload them after that.

Invictus

Doing my call today, I decided to spend the afternoon on site. I ended up in front of the television in the lounge and flipped the TV channel all afternoon. I then came across "Invictus", the movie about the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. It was not just about the rugby, but about the relationship between Nelson Mandela and the Springbok Captain, Francois Pienaar.

The movie was directed by Clint Eastwood and the acting was superb, with Morgan Freeman playing Mandela and Matt Damon playing Pienaar. The plot however was rather slow. Invictus was the title of a famous poem which Mandela kept to keep his spirits up during the years being incarcerated in jail during the Apertheid era. Inspiring!