Odysseys of George

Ha ha! Lately, I have been having a number of quickie escapades and this time it was Langkawi. I flew business class and stayed at Sheraton, Langkawi and was treated to a fulfilling barbeque dinner at one of their outlets called Spice Trader Restaurant with superb view of the sea.

As I checked into my room,

I wished I did not come alone!

Then a walk, a lot of walking actually, gave me a layout of these place….

After all that walk, the small pool did not look inviting and I decided to mimic this chap thereafter!

As I walked out onto the beach, to enjoy some beautiful rock formations….

I realize there is more to life that just work and money!

Lately, we managed to meet up, Paga,Kunalan and I. It has been ages, well actually just about 4 years ago since our last meet when we, the three of us had dinner at Victoria’s Station. Again, another individual, Basheer, in this friendship of four was absent. Then again, being a cardiothoracic surgeon in the far northern Pearl of the Orient, it isn’t easy for him to come down.

The meet was planned and as usual, I had to choose the dinner venue. In Petaling Jaya, well after cracking the already knotted brains of mine, it was decided that we meet at Unique Seafood at Section 13, PJ.

Paga

Paga, hmmm……. is that your drink!?

Kunalan, enjoying the meal.

The four of us met when we joined University Malaya for our undergraduate studies. There we were somehow brought together by the orientation week or rather month that was ongoing at that time. We bonded almost immediately despite I having some teething problems to the friendship initially. We eventually made our way to India together for a 2 month holiday well actually medical attachment where our friendship was sealed forever. After graduation, we went our separate ways but always in contact and formed our own life dramas in the process.

A few days later, I was informed that a good friend and a colleague was going to be transferred to another hospital. We are good friends, and were able to work quite well together despite various disagreements. We were each others confidante and now it would be different coming to work.

Ooi See En

I was again depressed and felt alone all of a sudden. Some of us decided to get together and throw her a dinner at El Nafourah, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur. We ate and drank, laughed and gossiped, but I was still feeling upset somehow.

The hotel and its attraction

Ridwan, the dinner organisers

Anitha and Irina confusing the waiter over the orders.

That led to slapping – a common incident among doctors on recent times maybe even in those days

And more arguments

while we watched in anticipation of more female duel, till….

This guy, Poh who looks like he’s twisting his wife’s left ear, decided to calm the girls…

It was only after that, the orders were made and dinner was served….. and by the looks on our faces, .. it was good, wasn’t it?

When all was over, we parted ways keeping silent of our own feelings. So would I miss her? Of course, but our paths will cross and this is the best move for her, I think and hope.

Well, it was all planned months before. The MUW ( Malaysian Underwater) decided to have its yearly official dive trip.

The day arrived and we gathered, all rushing to leave the office quickly as we had to reach Mersing by 11.30pm. Our destination , Aur Islands, the southern most islands on the our east coast.

We reached Mersing relatively early and was divided to two groups. Each group had to be taken by a small boat from the Mersing jetty to the boat that was anchored at the mouth of the river as the sea level were too low for the boats to come into the jetty area. It was 0030hours and we were hoping our to the bigger boat with the waves getting stronger. The boat ride there was ok for me as I slept off despite the swells of the sea. We reached Pantai Sebukang, Aur Island at 4am and the boat had difficulty docking as the sea level was low and the waves were strong. My boat managed to dock and we had to quickly climb the wooden ladder onto the jetty leaving our heavier luggage behind. The other group had to anchor out in the sea for another 3 hours before being able to dock at the jetty, which by then I had my sleep! The rest I will let the pictures do the talking.

A little about Aur Island.
Pulau Aur is located around around 70 kilometers off the coast of Mersing, south of Tioman Island. The five kilometer long island is blessed with larger, pristine coral formations due to its greater distance from the mainland. It is also often visited by some big pelagics such as mantas and whale sharks. There are several surrounding islands and the deep water channels between them attract all manner of marine life. (from AsiaDive)

Aur was once a war hub. In 1803, whilst the Napoleonic War was raging in Europe, a sea battle was brewing in the South China Sea. The Emperor of France and his advisors decided that it was time to infiltrate and dislodge the British from their trade stronghold with the Chinese. With this, France sent a fleet of 5 warships under the command of Admiral Linois to Pulau Aur. By early January 1804, Admiral Linois’ fleet had safely parked themselves at Aur. Admiral Linois laid in wait for the fleet from China to arrive in hope of a surprise attack which would put the French in a favourable position to confiscate the lucrative cargo. When the China-British fleet sailed into Aur on February 14th, Admiral Linois was himself taken by surprise by the three ‘warships’ accompanying the fleet. Uncertain of the strength of the British warships, the Admiral went ahead with couple of disastrous attacks and eventually retreated to Batavia (Jakarta) in defeat. Captain Nathaniel Dance sailed back to England and was showered with rewards especially from the insurers of the fleet and rightly so as the cargoes had at that time an estimated value of 8 million pounds! Emperor Bonaparte suffered an embarrassing defeat and just to add salt to his wound, it was his British sources that first broke the news to him. ( Excerpts from JourneyMalaysia)

Enjoy!

PS: if cannot view the pictures, please let me know.

It was 1992, goodness, a good 16 years ago, I took my first steps emulating all my sisters walking into the halls of fame in this prestigious or maybe once prestigious university in the country and perhaps once upon a time, in South East Asia, University Malaya.

As I walk these steps, a mental slide show begins to reel. It starts with me in Standard Three, when I remember my teacher, asked the class who wants to be a doctor and why. Strangely, 5 of us lifted our arms and out of that 3 of us have somehow manage to achieve it. A smile arched across my face as I vividly remember telling my teacher I love blood! Goodness she must have thought I was mental!

Life wasn’t a bed of roses. I wasn’t the best in class only getting the idea of studying in Form 4, I trailed and toiled and somehow rolled together with the best in my school till I somehow manage to breathe the air of this prestigious hall. Must be my mom’s prayers, I believe. She used to pray for us before we sat for our exams but for me it was different – whenever she prays and tells me all will be well, it would not be. Thus she stopped saying anything but continued praying — I must say I believed in that more than what I studied.

From a prestigious school to a prestigious university, all I could feel was of pride. It was not too long afterwards, that I realized that medical school was a total different ball game. As i stepped into the Dean’s office for the interview, I was asked why choose medicine and I was silent as if to question why not. I looked at the aging professor, and said, ” I always felt like doing it, no second thoughts, but perhaps the most obvious reason was that I would love to help people.” I smiled as I exited the room.

Now 16 years forward, I find myself in constant asking of that very same question. Somehow, this simple question does not seem to be the easiest to answer truthfully. With changing times, more financial strain, difficulties in progressing in the profession, this question truthfully is difficult.

Then, a few days ago, I saw my patient and I realized something. She was a young lady in her 40s with young kids, suffering from Oesophageal cancer. Oesophagectomy (removal of the oesophagus) is a surgical procedure with high morbidity and mortality and thus many shrug away at doing this. The surgery was done 10 days ago. A few days ago, she was already walking about and having soft diet with no major complaints. As I walked towards her, the first thing I realized was the smile she presented to me. That was the biggest present any patient can give their doctor, a smile in return. I was flushed with enthusiasm and I realized that the answer to that very question has never changed. Nothing could be above that smile she gave me, not even the powers above that deprive me of going further for I have already gone a little further. After working for 11 years, still a young doctor and surgeon in comparison, I have learnt to many things and yet has still much too learn. Medicine is a of progressive learning and the best teachers are your patients and not the textbook.

Wah! It has been a long time! The last dive I did was in May. There was 5 of us and the destination was Fisherman’s Dive Center at Pantai Salang, Tioman. It was a good break with good friends but my underwater pictures did not turn out well — I have been having problems since I started using the strobes. Need more practice, I gather. I have decided to display my pictures as slide show – a better difference I think, do you?

Well, I have been waiting for this and now I manage to go for the 26th July performance. That would be the only day I would be free to catch and of course the highlight for me was to catch Mia Palencia.

The venue was at Plaza Mont Kiara. The layout was acceptable. It was packed when I reached there with the center area just in front of the stage being left empty. Many photographers took this to their advantage as I grow in jealousy to see them aiming their delicious gadgets (DSLR) and having the time of their life taking shots .

The music I felt was too loud at its bases. The crowd was there quite obviously for Mia Palencia because by the end of Phunk Mob performance which was for me was a little lack of the jazz soul, most had left and the audience picked up again just before Mia Palencia came back on stage at 11.15 pm. Bassgroove 100 played just before Mia came on stage and they were good but with the anticipation and the warm and humid environment, the audience was geting restless a little. Things were not the same the day before as many reviews said that the 25th performance was fantastic and so was the turnout. It was also too hot and humid for the musicians who were drenched in sweat just about 10 minutes into their performance.

Mia Palencia

I did my share for the local jazz industries by buying Mia’s and Karen Nunis’s albums. No matter what, personally I think this was of good effort and should be done regularly. Jazz awareness is still quite infantile in Malaysia but that is also because jazz is a lot about the feelings and moods of the musicians and harmony between them, which is also why not many people take to jazz easily. Even for me, there are some forms of jazz that is difficult to like. Hmmm….. maybe I should do some research on jazz then…..hmmm.