A Royal Brunch

Last Monday morning, the Sultan of Selangor officially opened the new MediPlex building at SJMC and I attended the ceremony and was invited to be present for the brunch as well.

The ceremony was a late morning affair, meaning that I was able to do a bit of my ward round before attending the event, returning to complete it later after the ceremony before the afternoon clinic. It spelt for a hectic day at the office but nonetheless I was honoured to be invited.

The ceremony started sharply at 10, with the new Permaisuri in attendance which also became the focus of attention. Tight security meant that there were no selfie but truth be told, the whole ordeal was not as boring as I thought. While waiting for the Sultan, I had the chance to mingle and bumped into Zul, a photography buddy who worked for one of the big Insurance firm. My seat for the ceremony was on the second row offering a good view of the whole event.

The CEO doing a great job with his speechThe new Permaisuri appeared to be a hitOur CEO - an Australian - did a good job in pronouncing the Sultan's name and his was the only speech of the morning. Next came a short video of SJMC - which was rather slick! - followed by the Officiation by the Sultan. He then left the hall to visit the new Physio Department next door while I was ushered to the first floor to wait for the brunch later. More mingling.

The meal was excellent. And it was prepared in house by our Hospital Chef. That guy could cook! I only wished that our canteen food was just as good ....

And now to the serious businessThe startersAnd the mainsThe food went down well and the company was good. I didn't take the cue from Anita to bring along my business card though ... Silly me! The whole event ended at noon. Off I went to complete my rounds after that ....

A great experience none the less .... and great food!

Not a Happy Ending

The MediPlex right next to the Outpatient building at SJMC had been open for the past year. And today I learned that one of the main shop was going to be closed. It was a restaurant called MediCafe which was located on the first floor of the complex along the adjoining walkway bridge with the North Tower. Truth be told, the location was idealistic.

Even then, business had been slow and they had decided to close shop. I knew my colleague loved to go there and since it was really convenient, if I had an invitation for lunch from the Pharma reps, this was definitely one of the place I would suggest.

The utensils were being stackedThe food was a bit different, claiming to use healthy ingredients. So, you would not get the usual nasi campur affair. Apparently they had a breakfast spread, but I was always too occupied with other things to drop by.

Well, that was not a good omen. I could see more shops closing as the only busy outlet there were Starbucks and Chicken Rice Shop. And both were on the ground floor. So, adios MediCafe!

Congested

It looked like business was picking up at our MediPlex building next door. The drawback to that was the number of advertisement and bunting to entice us timers as they enter the carpark.

It looked that it was getting rather out of hand. The lift lobby looked congested with all those signs. We are slowly turning into a shopping centre at this rate...

Wierd Signage

I noticed that rather wierd signage at our new MediPlex building. It was meant to indicate the toilet. And from the looks of things the patron was rather desperate to get to the toilet to do their business, even putting their hands to the groin..... Not sure I've seen this before.

Work Has Started

It looked like I would be negotiating an obstacle course in the coming weeks on my route from the car park to my ward.

The work on the first floor of the MediPlex had already started rolling. They were putting up the dividers and before long, there would be drilling and dust. At least they had started after quite a long delay.

I wonder what would come up there later?