More Exams

Finally heading home after such a long but fruitful day. Disappointed that some of the candidates did not fare as well as expected, but I suppose in any exams, there will be some party left with bad news.

So, the part II MMed Exam was wrapped up. Off to HUKM tomorrow for the MMed I clinicals. Will have to be there early to beat the traffic and calibrate the cases. Hopefully it won't be as long a day as today was.

The candidates will only learn their fate on Friday morning after individual marks were tabulated and discussed. Since it will be on a Friday, I will not be able to attend the meeting but will be present when the news about the results were broken. I shall just leave it at that for the time being.

During the deliberation at the end, the External Examiners did remark abou the long day and the element of examiner fatique creeping in. It will not be fair if that were to affect the assessments of the candidates. However there will never be a totally fair exams although some exams were fairer than others. In terms of organisation, yes, there were a few hairy moments with patients not turning up. One of the patient was drowsy with a drug he has taken and was snoring away while another had a weak bladder and we had to call the cleaners in to mop up the floor! There was also this classic picture of one of my invigilating colleague using a cow bell to alert the candidates that time was up. It was a sight!

Dinner at Thistle

Strolling around the poolWe got ready to leave Port Dickson just after Maghrib. As Mother’s Day will be the day after, and with my Mum and wife on tow, I decided to treat them for dinner. We took off to Thistle.

Leaving our apartmentNormally, we visit Thistle for either lunch or afternoon tea. This was the first time we turned up for dinner there - the last time being a Ramadhan Buffet does not count! The boys wanted the children’s menu that they do there - fish and chips called ‘Little Mermaid, and chicken nuggets which I forgotten what it was called. While waiting for the food, it being a long day, the boys were expectedly grumpy. Usually, we get to sit by the children area where there things to get them occupied. Unfortunately those seats were taken because we were late. I took Irfan for a stroll around the swimming pool instead.

Checking into the restaurantFish + alphabet chips = 'Little Mermaid'We were fortunately served by this kind young gentleman called Stephen for the evening. He got the children’s food ready in double quick time and offered us to take the desserts from the buffet even though we ordered a la cart. It turned out that he was the outlet manager, hence the prompt friendly service. Even without him, as far as I can remember, the service there was never that bad. However, since we never really spent a night here, I really can’t comment about the service. Looking through the review, it has been a mixed bag. There were more negatives and positives since the new owner took over - it used to be called Guomon, but lately that has changed.

Irfan reaching for his nuggetWhat I liked about the place is the family-orientated service. They have a separate kids area - called Kid’s Zone - where you can take your child to play in a padded ball room. There were also video shows and games for children. There was of course the separate menu for children I mentioned before. The usual gripe I have about the place is the lack of lifts. There was only a single lift taking us from the lobby to the restaurants, which during peak times can be an issue. The lobby however was really nice and roomy. I was hoping for a conference to be held here for a long time in order to sample the services first-hand.

Margherita

For the evening, I had some salad and pizza. The children were thrilled with their food and finished them. The local menu was not that bad either, with my Mum having some fried rice. I had steak there before - which I remembered being on the dry side, but with really nice salad and accompaniment. Price? A little steep for PD standard, but very reasonable if you regularly eat out in KL. Very affordable. This being Mother’s Day weekend, why not have a treat. After all, my credit card offered a 'Mother's Day' discount ….

Exams Ahoy!

A big week this for the MMed students in Internal Medicine. Those who were successful in their written paper will be sitting for their clinical this week. The Final Years also were involved. They defended their thesis this morning and all five of them from my program made it through. Alhamdulillah. Some of them came up with pretty dicey statements however during the presentation, but were able to defend them when pressed. Well done.

I was as usual heavily involved in the exams either coordinating, invigilating or examining. I can only be specific after the exams were completed however - it was Monday today. The big issue we had today was the shift of venue. Over the years, we used the Department Conference Room for the thesis presentation. However, there were construction going on, around the department and the noise level can at times drown the conversation. We thought it would not be fair to the candidate. Therefore, we moved the venue to the Faculty, in one of their makeshift room. The room was still under construction with the furnitures and fittings were still being installed but it got the job done.

Our external examiner is a gentleman from London. A very nice chap and has been here a few times in the past either visiting or examining. He was in general happy with the presentation, but made a comment which struck a chord with me. He made it clear that there are abundance of research to be made here, especially in Tropical Medicine, putting dengue as an obvious example. Made me blush, as at the moment, even to set aside time for myself during working hours were never easy, such was the demand of my job.

I took a few photographs with my phone during the day, which I will eventually post. The candidates will have more exams in the next few days, the important ones being the long and short cases on Wednesday and Thursday. Wishing them the best of luck

PD Day Trip

Given a scolding from Idlan for not taking him straight to the apartmentAs mentioned before, we were planning a quite weekend in with Anita having cough and all. Everybody woke up extra early on the Saturday morning and by breakfast time we were wondering what to do. Unfortunately I have firstly the weekend ward round to do, then the Calibration Exercise for the upcoming Masters Exam. A day rip was therefore all that was possible. Tiring, but if we plan well, it will be worth it. 

The nasi daun pisang really hit the spotIdlan helping to carry stuffs up to the apartmentIdlan decided that we should have a quick trip to Port Dickson for an afternoon dip, and then travel back the evening. When we were packing - traveling light was never in Puan Anita’s vocabulary, I got a phonecall from my sister. She was moving to a new house in Kajang and will be leaving my Mum all alone for the weekend. My Dad was in Penang for a business trip and will only be back later on the Saturday afternoon. We thought, why not bring her along. Went to pick her up, and before we know it, we were already in PD by lunchtime. We headed straight for the Golf Club and had the traditional ‘Nasi Daun Pisang’. The PDGCC does a good lunch set every weekend. They have recently changed their menu, but the ‘nasi daun pisang’ lunch stays. Good stuff, and way cheaper than the one from Jalan Gasing, unless you count the cost of fuel and toll of course. They also do a nice breakfast selection - nasi lemak and roti canai with teh tarik, which we normally order all three.

At the pasar malam - ordering my laksaStraight to the apartment next. I had a nice afternoon snooze, with the fan on, listening the sound of the waves. Irfan woke me an hour after. Anita wanted to hit the Pasar Malam to get some tea. Every Saturday afternoon, about 5 minutes drive from our apartment at Bayu Beach, there was an night market at Si Rusa. Compared to KL, the food there were both cheap and much better quality-wise. I always had the laksa, kebab and apam balik from the same stalls. Should any of you happen to be in PD on Saturdays, drop me a line and I will guide you to which stall serve the best food.

By the beach - but the rain was comingAfter tea, it was time to hit the beach. Complete with spades and other assorted tools, the boys got to work on the sand, before hitting the water. Unfortunately, we only managed about half an hour this time as the rain was coming our way. We got back into the apartment just in time. A quick shower, then we ate some more while waiting for Maghrib before taking both Anita and my Mum for a nice Mother’s Day Dinner. I’ll blog about that one later! The photos from the trip can be seen here.

Sunset before Maghrib

Hung Parliament

I was quietly following the election in the UK in the last few weeks. I guest, my interest in politics have not diminished over the years. I hate to be political. I believe that the best philosophy in blogging is to write your best and connect the rest. It is best to write about things you are familiar or passionate with and browse the internet and link the rest that you don’t know much about. Therefore I am not going to talk much about election here - you can get plenty of them kind of talks from the mass media - after all, you know who owns them.

When I was in the UK, I had the opportunity to cast vote a couple of times, including the time when Labour and Tony Blair came into power. In the UK, once you are a PR, you get to vote, so I did. The voting there was more civilised. The debate on the television were more mature in civilised. Not of this mud slinging, and certainly, the government got not much say on what the BBC publish. In fact, BBC tended to be vehemently honest, exposing the flaw of the government. None of this cover-up. Another very obvious difference was the print media. There were at least three main broadsheet newspaper in the UK, and they were open in their support of certain political parties. They were openly biased, but at the same time, the articles were very succinct and well-research. I know a few newspaper people locally, some of them being my patients, they were not allowed to be opened unfortunately. They can’t really write what they wanted, or at least their editor will not allow certain things being printed for fear of phone calls later pushing them for resignation. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean … and this was coming from a Government supporter ….. Sad isn’t it.

The campaign in the UK were also more subdued but more personal. The actual candidate will go to the doorsteps of their constituents. Something that only happen here during by-elections. Look at the focus the MIC candidate got during his campaign in Hulu Selangor. I was sure he will cringe thinking about it looking back 20 years!

It turned out that the Conservatives did not quite get the ⅔ majority they wanter. They got the simple majority and will have to broker a government somehow in the next few days. The obvious loser was the Lib Dem. I was expecting Nick Clegg to gain more seat compared to the last. That would have eaten the Labour votes and allow for a clearer result. Shall wait, see and hear the debate. Fascinating. Wishing that one day, this will happen in Malaysia.