The Mandarin Orchard

I must admit that I have a soft spot for old hotels. In Malaysia, we do not have many of those, and if there were, they were all still relatively new. That was why I was always keen on E&O, Smokehouse and similar colonial-like establishment.

In KL, there were not that many of those. So, I tended to gravitate toward hotels established since the 70s. Shangri-La in KL, Hilton PJ to name a few. The service tended to be more established although I was detecting a decline in the service at the PJ hotel mentioned.

The rather understated main lobby, located on the fifth floorAdorning the ceiling of the lobby was this rather unique detailWhen I was in Singapore recently, I stayed at Mandarin Orchard. Not exactly a new hotel, but certainly they offered modern amenities. The hotel was originally opened in 1971, and since then, they have added new wings. I stayed at one of the newer wing during my overnight stay and the service was excellent. Food was nice as well.

Only before I left that I realised that there was a boutique mall at the ground floor of the hotel, which included outlet from Tumi, Bell and Ross as well as a Leica. I asked for a grip for my Q, but they didn’t have it in stock ….

The hotel was located near a few of the major shopping outlets in Orchard Road, and an Apple outlet was only 5 minutes away. Managed to get a nice case for Anita’s phone during that trip. There was a couple of MRT stations right around the corner and a McDonald’s outlet behind my block. Certainly was a great location.

The Leica store at the hotel lobbyOne of the exit from my hotel. Straight from the lift from my floor.All the guests also had access to a mobile phone for them to take around from the room. It allowed me to make free phone calls to Malaysia in fact to 15 countries. A neat system and it had a free internet SIM at LTE speed. All free, unlimited internet. Shame that you couldn’t use it to tether!

The hotel also has free wifi, which is quite fast and all the things you would expect in a modern hotel ….

The hotel official website is here.

Overnight in Singapore

I was invited to attend a forum in Singapore. The problem was, the meeting was sandwiched in the middle of my week, with clinic being opened tomorrow. Flying in on the evening before the meeting then flying home right after. No real time to rest.

But I would prefer to do that rather than spend another day. It would interrupt my work flow otherwise, and considering I was off a couple of weeks back, may be it was time to sit down and work ....

Cosy chairNot much of a view from my roomAll packed upI had the chance to do a bit of walking around the hotel I stayed in right after I arrived. And the first order of business would be to get Anita her iPhone cover. Still tricky to get covers for iPhone 7 in KL at the moment, but there plenty of them here in Singapore.

After that was done, it was time get some rest. Early start tomorrow morning.

A Nice Start

I got a light Sunday morning this time around. Had my rounds sorted by 10.30, giving me time to have a quick drink - two in fact.

Next would be a quick meeting with a relative at Starbucks before heading into town. Might be able to catch the festivities at Lebuh Ampang.

A quick breakfast at MamakIt was early even Starbucks was emptyThe could have spelt my name the worse way. It was not too bad here!

For the past few days, there had been thunderstorm in the afternoon. Yesterday it got so bad that part of KL was flooded, gusting wind bringing down trees blocking some major roads. Gridlock happening all over town.

Hopefully it would be gentle this afternoon on my free Sunday afternoon. Hopefully I would be able to top things off with a quick dinner later tonight.

Off we go!

Extra Couple of Hours

Instead of heading straight for the ward round this morning, I had to attend to a meeting at my lab in town. The meeting was to start at 9.30, meaning that should I start with my morning rounds first, there would be no way that I would be able to make it across town in time. Ramadan morning traffic had been madness, and I decided to do the sensible thing - I thought - of going into town early, avoiding the massive jam and just enjoy the couple of hours of extra time by myself.

It worked out fine so far, at least until the phone calls from the ward start coming in. Since Thursday meant that there would be no clinic for me, I might as well just take my time. There would be a couple of procedures lined up by lunch however, so hopefully things would wrap up here pronto.

The Three Little Bird Cafe

From the lab entranceThe weather this morning was also right gorgeous. Since my lab is located at d7 in Sentul, once you get in, things were quiet and serene. d7 is one of those high concept construction which was different to most building in KL. Very green and shielded. They also housed a nice cafe downstairs but I would skip that for Ramadan.

The quiet me time would do me fine.

MSH Meeting 2015

Traditionally, the Malaysian Society of Haematology held their scientific meeting yearly, alternating between Kuala Lumpur and outside. It was held at Shangri-La last year and Penang the year before that. So, this time it was again time to venture outside of Kelang Valley. So, it was Kota Kinabalu.

It was the first time the meeting was held there, and the initial plan was to both do a small meet up with a very selected topic covered. Initially, we wanted to talk about bleeding in pregnancy. It soon turned into a two-day event, the first day being about bleeding and the second about clotting, both with emphasis in women. It turned out to be a great program, with the help of the International Society of Thrombosis and Homeostasis. We got speakers from abroad to chip in, plus have a nursing workshop the day after. It was great.

Le President, Dr Alan Teh with his welcoming speechOn top of that, we had 500 delegates and secretariats turning up. It was much better than expected. I must say that I learned plenty. On top of the of course, there were great food!

I chaired one of the session and live blogged the whole event - except during Friday Prayers of course.

The participation from the Pharmaceuticals were also strong, with the booths oversubscribed. All the symposium slot were also taken. The whole weekend was a resounding success. There are also write-ups from yesteryear's meeting here.