KL Hilton Talk

You can tell I was hardly concentrating. I can assure you that the Windows computer was not mine. God forbid!Full day yesterday, but not as full as my colleagues from USM, Kubang Kerian, Abu Dzarr and Azlan. We had a round table discussion followed by a lecture and dinner by Prof Antonio Palumbo, a prominent Haematologist from Turin, Italy. He talked about multiple myeloma, and it was excellent. I summerised his lecture on my hematologiPPUM.com site. It was certainly great to be able to hear doyen speaking about their work, and Prof Palumbo was certainly up there. Azlan and Abu Dzarr actually took a 4pm flight from Kota Baharu, listened to the talk and had dinner, before flying home at 10.30 pm! Now, that was hectic!

Dato' Chang chairing the round table discussionFor the round table discussion, I was asked to prepare and discuss a case, which I duly obliged. I must say that I could have put more effort, but since the offer was at the last minute, I concentrated on getting the message right, without even using a powerpoint slide. Now that was bold, but it through OK. Stirred up some discussion. After about half an hour break, we proceeded on with the main lecture. The talk was held at the new level 7 convention floor at KL Hilton. I was more used to the level 6 facilities, and it looked like the suite there were just refurnished, with plush seatings and state of the art equipment. Well, close. It can’t be state of the art if they were still using Vista! The room used for the lecture was rather small though, too small for the crowd, which was bigger than expected. Even the venue for the dinner was too small. Luckily it was buffet. The majority of the crowd actually lingered in the foyer.

The actually dinner was an eclectic mix of Japanese and Western. The dish was nicer than the previous buffet I experience at the hotel. I still prefer the buffet at the main eatery there, which I think was on the fifth floor, New Recipe. The buffet there I would readily recommend. A bit dear, but you get what you paid for.

Another surprise on the night was the fact that it did not cost me a thing on exiting the car park. Usually at KL Sentral, the parking for conventions and meetings will set me back RM8, despite endorsement. Well done Mr Sponsor!

Garden @ The Curve

It was a barmy Sunday afternoon. I had to review a patient in the ward this morning, and by the time I got home, the boys were already settled in for their homework and was having lunch. Puan Anita asked if I can take her to The Curve. She was eyeing some dress last weekend and wanted to sneak out and buy it. Of course I said fine, so off we went.

The welcoming sign to the Sunday MarketThe stalls from the second floor of The Curve. Too warm for my liking!Waiting for Puan Anita to finish her shoppingBreakdance anyone?

Due to the heat, there were not that many punters doing the shopping. So at least navigating was simple. Even the vendors were finding it hard to cope choosing nearby shades rather than incubating in their tiny little stalls. While Puan Anita was doing her shopping, I went to browse around the shops in The Curve. There was a breakdance show at the main foyer courtesy of one of the local gym. Too 80s for me those dances. So I went over to IKANO. Nothing much going around either. But for Anita, she was having a blast. She did more shopping indoors after she was done with the market. At the end, to cool things off, we decided to try a new restaurant at the Curve, right at the end of the row towards cinemas, called the Gardens. We only noticed it a few week back and reckoned they must be new in town.

The menuThe elaborate ceiling decorations It was basically themed after the English Garden and the menu was pretty much fusion. Since we were still full, we decided to have snacks instead. I ordered Caesar Salads and iced coffee, while Anita had some sandwiches. To finish things off we ordered mango sorbet.

Our table - number 12 - Check please!Hail Caesar!The ambiance was really neat with pretty lightings and elaborate ceiling decorations, as you can see from the pictures. No, they were not live plants, although I wished they were. The restaurant was quite busy when we took our table, but the order zoomed in really fast. From what I can see, the chef during the shift was a tubby Malay guy who spoke in Perak dialect, which got Anita interested. The caesar was fresh with delightful dressing, although they overdid it a bit on the crouton and mozzarella side. Not much complaints really. Anita’s sandwich was really rich and tasty. It was so rich that she could not finish them off. The iced coffee was nice, and the sorbet was something else. The mango ice-cream was placed in an orange peel, topped with fresh cream. You can smell the orange while tasting the sweetness of the mango. It finished in double quick time!

Anita's sandwichesAnd finally the sorbetThe price was also really reasonable. The whole meal was under RM50, enough for the change to tip the waitress. She was nice and polite although a couple of male colleagues on duty were a bit much on the camp side …. If you know what I mean. I will certainly swing by again and apparently they also have a promotion going where kids eat free. I was not able to read the terms though. I will see what the deal was about next time I drop by. We chose a table indoors because of the warm weather, but the seats outside were just as welcoming. There was even a grand piano parked at the shade by the entrance. Shame that there was nobody playing then. Will I recommend the restaurant to friends? Definitely for snack as it would not be fair to say otherwise as I think I really need to come again to give a final verdict.

GARDEN LIFESTYLE STORE AND CAFE Lot G41, Ground Floor, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara

Outing and a Half - Taman Tasik Perdana

Let's do it!We had enough of going to shopping malls ending up spending money. We decided to go for strolls instead. To get the boys some fresh air - if you can have any in Kuala Lumpur. We were lucky since it was not raining yesterday afternoon nor was it too sunny. It was overcast and we decided to go to Tasik Perdana. Puan Anita has been reading about the parks and hidden perks there from the magazines but we never got around to explore them. I was very familiar with the area, frequenting the Orchid Gardens, Butterfly and Bird Parks, but never actually stop by the public park at Tasik Perdana.

Rangers on their horsesThe playground area - Dino Park!Irfan bouncingAnd now it was Idlan's turn

We reached there just after 4 pm, driving past Panggung Aniversari which was being renovated and modernised. From what it looked from the outside, it was certainly awesome what they were constructing. We got some to some space to ark just outside the Lake Club and quickly made our way to the playground. After about 30 minutes of running around, we decided to walk by the water fountains and herbal gardens just round the corner. There were, I counted four couples having their picture taken for their wedding albums. It was certainly a popular spot and the backdrop were actually not bad at all. We then noticed, a shuttle service taking visitors round the parks. We took one and then we discovered the other lakes and parks in the surrounding area that we did not know about. One can enjoy paddle boat at one of the lakes, there was also a dear park, a small little lake which they called ‘the Oasis’ and a Dear Park. For 50 sens per head, the ride took us up the hill to the planetarium, around the bird and butterfly parks, which we can stop at if so we wished. We decided to take a round trip back to the playground and walk around to a cafe for a quick drink.

Taking a breatherA quick cool downDaddy refuelingAfter some snacks, the boys did some more running. We strolled around a bit more, let the boys do more climbing. We finally called it a day at around 6.30. It was a really nice outing. Guess what? When we first arrived there, I heard somebody familiar calling my name. It was my Boss. She was having a quick walk - she was heavily pregnant - with her maid and son Ee Wan. That was certainly a surprise!

More runningNewlyweds having their pics takenTime to leaveAll in all, the park was very clean by Malaysian standard. Bins were available everywhere. There were always cleaners and rangers nearby to lend a hand. The public toilets and facilities were very well kept and clean. The paddle boats sure looked aged, but the safety equipment were intact and there were supervisors overseeing things all the time. The food served to public were reasonable at the stalls. My boys enjoyed running on the grass going up and down the hills. The public park area were closed to cars, so one should not worry about kids running around and being hit by traffic. The sidewalks were wide enough for joggers and parents taking strollers around. The playground equipment were also old but appeared well maintained with all the swings and ropes in working order. The lake next to the playground were not really cleaned up and was rather too close for comfort to the benches and some of the slides. Maybe it more attention given to this particular stretch of water, maybe developing it into an area for fishing or boating. Some of the gardens and pagola needed a make over, but as the park was free to the public, maybe funding was an issue. A highly recommended place to take a young family. I found this to be more appealing than Tasik Titiwangsa as a place to jog.

Slideshow for the outing was posted here.

Party

Just finished my morning weekend round and then a tutorial for the Anaesthesia MO. They have an exam coming up in 3 weeks and I did a session on haemostasis with them. Rather complicated but hopefully they can pick something useful up from the discussion.

Arriving for the ward round this morning, I was surprised to look at the effort made by the Paediatrics Department this morning to cheer up their Oncology patients. Something that should be commended. I wish that similar thing can be done for my adult patients but that would be highly inappropriate really. Every few month, they organised a variety show for the patients, inviting celebrities and singers with games and shows. It was very well received despite the heavy rain in Kuala Lumpur this morning. I only managed to catch a glimpse of the whole party. By the time I settle to start my tutorial, I kept being distracted by Lady Gaga playing in the background. The venue was almost full and the catering was provided by Hotel Istana which I thought was cool - our wedding was held there, mind you 13 years ago!

I was now about to leave for home. Puan Anita just called an she was planning an outing. Will wait and see what she has in mind!

Results

I had the pleasure and displeasure earlier today to be present during the announcement of the results for the MMed Part I and II written exams taking place earlier this week. The majority of the candidates passed, and were looking forward to the Clinical Paper next months. Unfortunately there were casualties. A number of them I really did not expect to fail and I really was disappointed.

My colleague and I will be mulling through their marks and will try to make an objective recommendation when I meet them again next week for a post-mortem discussions. The implication of failing such exam was quite big, in the sense that, it forms a delay in their graduation by six months. It can result loss of seniority and income, not to mention denting one’s confidence. I hope those who did not make it this time to be objective, take the weekend off to chill. We shall meet again next week to see how we can assist them to pass in the very next seating. For those who have passed, you may still chill, but remember, the clinicals will be around soon. Before start working for that!