Made It In Time

We just made it to the Pasar Ramadhan at Melawati just before it started pouring down. It has been threatening to rain all afternoon, and when it finally did, it was real heavy.

I wonder how the traffic going to be like with the rain? I was glad that I was not at work today as usually it would mean arriving home late. There were times when I had to have iftar in the car, but since DUKE was built, getting home in time was never a big issue.

I know, I initially wanted to be adventurous and try other Ramadhan bazaar, but with the rain, I had to settle for the usual.

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman

I just returned from taking Puan Anita out to Jalan Taunku Abdul Rahman. She wanted to get some tudung and 'telekung' for Terawikh, so we thought we give the place a visit with the day was still early.

The last time I went here was last year, but that was just to drop by at the bookstore. This time around, we actually ventured into the stalls and market. We parked at Semua House, the spiraling carpark up to the top. The place has hardly changed in the last 10 years or so. Still the small colourful shops and vendors selling their wares on the corridors. But the parking fare has certainly kept pace. It was RM4 per hour.

It was just past 2 pm when we arrived, so the traffic was only just building up. The stalls were also just being opened, and they would stay open till midnight. Anita basically got what she wanted at the first shop we entered, and within 20 minutes, we were all set to return home.

The place definitely brought back memories as when I was in school, I tended to come here with my Mum, to shop and buy books at the famous Pustaka Minerva. I also remembered that Semua House had the biggest Habib Jewel Shop before they were famous and had branches everywhere. There was Globe Slik Store of course, and a number of carpet shops - I thought Udani Carpets was one of them - which my parents frequented to. There was also the famous KFC and A&W outlet sitting next to each other - as they still did today. Doubling back, you'd venture into Wisma Yakin and Masjid India. Now, that would be a different entry all together!

There were bargains everywhereThe famous Pustaka MinervaCheck out the KFC and A&W next to each otherMore bargains

Even at this hour, the Police had been keeping an eye on the traffic, making sure that everything ran smoothy. I cringe at the thought of how it would be like just before Aidilfitri.

Getting out of the place was easy with the one-way system being employed. We were back in Gombak within 20 minutes. Should I come here again, I would probably park at CapSquare, located just 5 minutes away. Traffic flow going in and out there would be a lot smoother, not to mention plenty of parking slot - and a trip to the movies there should you wish to. More of the photos I took from the walk here.

A Talk on a Sunday

Having a Medical Meeting a day before Ramadhan starts was never ideal. However, since I prepared for the initially planned meet before, it was hard to say no. The invitation was initially for the 10th July, but the venue being in KL Sentral - Le Meridien - having a meet a day after the then unpredictable Bersih rally, it appeared to be a bad idea. It was then postponed to the 31th July.

My talk was in the morning and the turn-out was a lot better than I expected. The topic covered was also pretty diverse, but ran the risk of being too varied. The crowd mainly consisted of the more junior doctors in training, so it was rather too specialized for most of them.

My topic was myeloma, and constraining the talk proved a challenge as I was not keen to dwell on things which were standard knowledge. I tried to introduce the new announcements and controversies, and sticking to 20 minutes and 40 slides was not easy. I therefore made the talk more focused around three main points, for clarity and economy of time.

I would have another meeting in the afternoon before calling it a day. Comparing the talk to the one I organized in UMMC last weekend was definitely an eye opener. We did not have the resources but I believe that if you concentrate on content, the meeting would be a success. And that was what apparent from the two meets, with a clearly different financial muscle backup. I also spent time discussing avenues of securing funding for my future talks as we had the capacity to identify relevant and interesting topics. I believe that clinician-lead meeting rather than one driven by the Pharmaceuticals is the way forward. 

Biometric Confusion

It has been a hectic morning in the household with the commotion created by mother-in-law concerning the foreign maid biometric registration. She had been raving about it since last night, short of ordering us to head out to the Immigration Office to clarify things. She actually did it a couple of weeks back at the Immigration office at Setapak but got a confusing reply from the Officer there and was told to take her query up at the Damansara Immigration Office.

We renewed our maid's current permit about two months ago, and during that particular visit to Putrajaya was not clued into the fact that this current ruling was either coming or would effect our maid. So, when the biometric plan was first announced, we thought that it would not apply to them, or they should just do it during renewal. So, who did I turn to for answers? Twitter of course.

Greatful for @ervanj for providing us with this snippet above. It was a great help. I was sure I was not the only one needing clarification or reassurance. The snippet was taken from the Immigration Office website.

Staying In

Well, we decided against going out today. With the boys having their Ustazah dropping by for lessons in the afternoon, and Anita and I spent the whole morning out and about, we decided to cook. Anita prepared nasi ayam. So, there won't be any complaints from me! It was my favourite when there were just the two of us living in the UK.

We might take the boys out later on after iftar, as they have been kind of restless. Maybe just a drive after prayers. They would be back to school next week, and to be fair, they deserve another outing or two before then. We shall see where we got to ….