Running on Yesterday's Fumes

Please click the photo above to play the daily videoThursday's late finish was still making itself known this morning. The alarm did its job, but my body filed a formal objection. There's a particular kind of tiredness that sits behind the eyes — not dramatic, not debilitating, just present enough to remind you that sleep is not a suggestion. Coffee helped, as it always does, though I suspect coffee gets more credit than it deserves on mornings like these.

Once I was in and moving, rounds went smoothly. The body has a way of overriding the mind's complaints when there's work to be done, a kind of professional autopilot that kicks in and carries you through until you forget you were tired in the first place. The list cooperated, the team was sharp, and everything moved with that quiet competence that makes the early hours worthwhile.

Clinic brought a couple of new patients, which always shifts the texture of a session. There's a different energy to a first meeting — more ground to cover, more listening required, the careful business of building a picture from scratch. You're assembling a person from fragments: their history, their concerns, the things they say and the things they leave out. It takes a particular kind of attention, and today I had just enough of it left in the tank.

After lunch the pace picked up properly. The kind of busy that doesn't leave room for clock-watching, which is either a blessing or a conspiracy depending on your perspective. Tasks stacked up, decisions needed making, and the afternoon compressed itself into something that felt both endless and surprisingly quick. That's the paradox of a full day — you can't believe how long it's been and yet somehow it's already time to leave.

I made it home for dinner, which after Thursday's late return felt like a minor restoration of order. Anita and I sat down together, the meal unhurried, the conversation easy. There's a particular comfort in a Friday evening meal — the week's weight beginning to lift, the weekend not yet requiring any plans or decisions. Just food and talk and the gentle unwinding of five days' worth of accumulated tension.

Afterwards, we settled in for another episode of For All Mankind. The season is building towards its finale next week, and the writers are doing that thing where every scene feels loaded with consequence. Characters you've spent years watching are being moved into positions that feel increasingly precarious. It's the kind of television that makes you sit forward slightly without realising you've done it. Next week will either be magnificent or devastating, possibly both.

An early night, then, because tomorrow demands an early start. The kind of Friday where you're already thinking about Saturday's alarm even as you're brushing your teeth. But that's fine. The week delivered what it needed to, and now it's stepping aside. Gratefully received.

Long Queue

I was not sure why but the traffic had been crazy this morning. As I took a peak out the window while having my shower, I was surprised. The traffic led all the way down Bukit Pantai, and the start of the queue was way up the hill.

There may have been an accident somewhere further down and it did not look good. I waited for half an hour and it did not get any better. So, I decided to get some work done while waiting. Luckily I don’t have any clinics this morning. It was all ward stuff.

Fingers crossed, hopefully things would improve soon ...

The Ramadhan Traffic

One thing I had always worried during Ramadhan was making the trip back home in time.

After a long day, the last thing you wanted to see was heavy traffic. And during Ramadhan, more often than not, this had been the case. A journey which normally took 20 minutes could end up an hour.

From the start of Ramadhan, I could see the problem right from my own balcony. Only on weekdays. But the traffic would start from the bottom of Jalan Lembah Pantai/NPE junction right up Bukit Pantai. Coming home from work, I could easily spend half an hour inching towards my apartment from the NPE exit. Excruciating!

So, on the days where I would be late, I would have to return close to berbuka time. Usually the traffic eased off by 6.45 and became non-existant by 7.15. Not fun though ....

Windy Start

It had been cold in the house all night despite the air conditioning being on the low setting. It turned out that the weather was gloomy outside. When I walked out onto my balcony I thought that a huge storm was coming.

The problem with early morning deluge in town was the traffic. You could tell that the traffic was going to be bad from looking out your window. True enough, traffic was crawling .... Good Morning KL!

The Drive Home

I was dreading the drive home for the past few days. When the day finally arrived, I decided the route to take with the help of one of my cousins. It would be through the new Lebuhraya Pantai Timur via Kuala Terengganu.

The drive was smooth once we entered the highway, but getting to the highway entrance was another story all together. We set off from Kota Bharu after dropping my father-in-law at the airport. We left at around 11, but only entered the highway just before 4 pm. The drive was horrendous. It seemed that there was traffic lights every half a kilometer and getting though the lights easily took 20 minutes each.

The powerbank was charged!We stopped for lunch at Jerteh as we were starving. Traffic was heavy both ways but luckily the boys were behaving themselves. It was just the sheer number of cars, there were no accidents and to be honest, they could do with less traffic lights.

Once we entered the highway, it was smooth going until we entered the Karak toll just after Bentong. The traffic piled up again and we decided to take the Janda Baik road, again reentering the highway at Genting Sempah. We finally arrived at Gombak at 8.30 pm.

I slept as soon as I unpacked at the apartment. It was blissful sleep until I woke up thie morning to send Idlan to school.