Odysseys of George

Hi, Welcome!

As I try to search something to fit this theme, I came across this first. Though it is not my photoshot, it was kind-of-cute. I know the many cat lovers out there would agree.

I did blog about this picture and its follow-up pictures in an article called A Kitty Test

Well, then next I saw this and this is my own shot! My nephew swepping away under his mom’s shoes, the mess he made with his fetish, tissues.

Well, at last after months of wanting to get a pair of crocs for my use in OT, a friend dropped by my clinic and presented me with a similar footwear. Thanks.

They say one can read a person by the shoes he wears. Also, a retired army officer once told me, that the first impressions are first made by looking at the shoes one wears – I suppose he meant how well the shoes is taken care off! So here comes my favourite type of shoes — rather boots,– the old and the new! I always had a passion for boots and this passion was sealed when two of my consultants I used to work with wore boots.

The Old

The New

Then, to complete my self imposed underwater theme on all photo hunters theme,hmmm…. what would it be…….. a small challenge from jmb….. ta da…

my underwater booties!

Hope you enjoyed this. Thank you!

Set in the tropical Malaysian island paradise of Pulau Tenggol, this beautiful resort is only 60 minutes from the coastal quiet fishing town of Kuala Dungun, Terengganu. The island, small and compact (less than 3 kilometres long and 2 kilometres wide) is one of the most beautiful and serene islands flanking the famous East Coast of Malaysia, known for its pristine waters warmed by the South China Sea.

The Tenggol group of islands is the most southerly of Terengganu’s Marine Parks. It consists of Pulau Tenggol, Pulau Nyireh (Nyireh Island), Tokong Timur, Tokong Talang, Tokong Burung and Tokong Kemudi.

The deep waters surrounding the island offer good visibility especially during the months of April until June.

Pulau Tenggol is gazetted as a marine sanctuary and offers the avid diver over 20 diving spots which include – Batu Cancang noted for its clear waters and good visibility, the southern end of Telok Ayer Tawar famous for resident white tips, Napoleons and and Batu Tokong Kamudi, home to large pelagics, turtles and whale sharks. Also present for divers to explore are pinnacle and caves, many table top corals and even a shipwreck.

Pulau Tenggol is 40 minutes by speedboat from Kuala Dungun, a fishing village about one and a half hours north of Kuantan, midway between Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu.

Now doesn’t that look too inviting? How could one not dive? I’ll be there from the 9th to the 11th of June

(Photos, Courtesy of virtualmalaysia)

Related article:
My Trip to Paradise Part 1

Terengganu Hotels

Well these two are really twins! I refused to believe so not until this week was over, well at least for me!

Well, so much happened and I really feel of mixed emotions that I can’t display any one of them significantly! Sounds familiar or is it just me!?

The good news:

1. I attended the Good Clinical Practice Workshop about two weeks ago which was held at Mandarin Oriental,Kuala Lumpur. The course was good and informative but was packed with lectures. At the end of this dry course, (I must say the organisers tried to make it as interesting as possible) there was an exam and one could only make 8 mistakes out of 40 questions. Guess what? I did it – hooray! I received my certificate today! Thanks to Jody and Dr Muruga.

2. My row of on calls are over! Well this is really my doing as I have requested many days to be not on call as so that I can go for my diving!

3. I am going for a series of serious diving – there will be one every forthnight! Yipee!

4. My patients – so understanding and nice!

5. A good friend of mine has passed her open water diving license and another 2 more friends of mine are doing it this weekend!

6. I have many friends

The bad news:

1. Well, my application for upper GI training (subspeciality) was rejected after the comittee felt that it should be given to somebody older! My 2 cents: A lame excuse! For a speciality with very scarce specialist, why train only one and there are only 2 applicants! Furthermore, older does not mean more experienced not in the modern setting. Why do I say this? Well mainly because unlike those days, many seniors are not keen to bear the responsibility of mistakes of their juniors and therefore, rather than assisting and correcting them, they place a gag-like conditon which paralyse the development of junior surgeons. Those who have worked with me can definitely vouch that I have a good variety of exposure and experience compared to the gentleman they picked. Mind you, I applied for the training post much earlier! During the interview, a point was highlighted which I took a particular note – does being young means lack of maturity or does it just mean lack of exposure. Well I suppose they felt that since my exposure was better than the other, the former most likely suited me! Never in my life has anyone manage to severe my interest in anything, but this made its impact! Perhaps it is because I feel I deserve it more and perhaps I have great plans for the future of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery! Should I bother now or just bow out of government service and go private? A friend told me once, being in government service in Malaysia, one has to expect such decisions. Another good friend of mine, spent almost an hour on the phone shifting my depressed self to a topic close to his heart, Anthony Robbins! I wonder how many bloggers have attended his talks? I haven’t but many have and swear by it!

2. My car is giving me problems again – so much for proton! It starts to jerk when the air conditioning is swiched on. And this is not always. When the AAM staffs arrive, the problem cease to exist!

3. There are suddenly an efflux of cancer cases for which I need to settle as soon as possible.

4. Many unsolved issues in life!

Would you like to guess the diagnosis? Well, I am awaiting the pathology report too.

A gentleman was admitted with abdominal pain and distension. He was vomiting persistently and had no appetite for the last 3 days prior to admission. He was a man in his mid 40s and was not cachetic. He was pale and presented with a slightly lowish blood counts. His abdomen was very guarded and tensed, peritonitis. However, there was a palpable mass arising from the lower abdomen.

Laparotomy was performed. He was found to have a growth arising from the small intestine which have ruptured and bled into his abdomen. There was approximately a liter of blood within the abdomen.

Any guesses?

“Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel” or “SMART Tunnel”, was opened to public on the 14th May 2007. It is a 4km long tunnel with dual purpose of reducing traffic congestion and also to avoid flash floods. It is free for a month.

The making of the SMART tunnel was featured on National Geographic about a month ago. It is also well written in Wikipedia

As for me, I enjoyed the 4km long free ride. The tunnel is divided into three compartments by two partitions which forms the road. The upper deck is for vehicles travelling out of Kuala Lumpur and the middle deck, for vehicles travelling into Kuala Lumpur. Below this is the water irrigation channel. In the event of a heavy downpour and flooding, the middle deck would be closed to traffic and water will fill it up to be diverted faster. If conditions gets worse, then even the upper deck will be closed to traffic to enable the whole tunnel to be filled with flood water and diverted quickly elsewhere.

It is the longest stormwater tunnel in South East Asia and second longest in Asia.

Worried, yah! reminds me of the movie where Sly Stallone is trapped within a tunnel — what was the name of that movie – I forget? The other is, I wonder how much would the toll for this tunnel cost? RM5.00 one way maybe!

Well, this takes me to a recent visit I did to a neighbouring country. I was attending a course on Nutrition, a topic that fascinates me.

In the hotel where I stayed, I could not stop to ponder and appreciate this art piece that was so large and brilliantly displayed at the entrance. So awed I was, that I decided to take a picture of it, which actually did not turn out so great!

Then again art encompasses more than just paintings. I was able to see art in the form of dances when I was there too. They had their traditional dances which were elegantly performed.

The hotel was also promoting tea from Sri Lanka and as part of the promotion, they had a dance which flowed with meaning and artistry.

Then again, in this country, even their decorations are beautifully crafted – an art by itself!

As promised, I the host, would like to invite you my friends to this lovely dessert – strawberry chocolate and fruit punch!

Hope you have enjoyed yourself!