The Flu, The Whole Flu and Nothing But The Flu

There is no end to the flow running from my nose. You would look like this too if you have fluid running out of your nose and down your throat which causes a cough which keeps you awake at night. What started as a sore throat now a full blown flu.....minus the fever. Sniff,sniff....hack, hack...darn it! I wish I could just jam my suction up my nose and get all that stuff out!
The worse part of it is I still have to get to work tomorrow. Patients are not as patient with their dentist. Oh well, thank goodness for cross infection control. Unable to go to the gym either...sigh.....sniff, sniff, hack,hack.

I wonder what it would be like to be a stewardess?

Ok, said question popped into my head recently because of late two young ladies came by to have dental exams and x-rays for their applications to a middle eastern airline. The airline itself just started flying to KL and boy, were their dental requirements strict. That of course is good la, since you wouldn't want an air steward/stewardess with a toothache serving you right? Anyway, though my height/age/weight probably disqualifies me ( I have to add I'd pass the dental exam with flying colours...hehehe), I wonder what it would be like to fly on a jet plane and serve people up in the air?

I've been on a few flights, have heard of SG airlines and eva air's beautiful stewardesses...but its beauty really important? Take BA for example, they don't discriminate age or looks. I flew 13 hours to London and had a lovely experience being served by a bald man, who was very kind and always ensured we had drinking water. Also on board were plump and middle aged stewardesses...but they were so nice and friendly. Someone once told me that the SIA interview involved a swimsuit catwalk session...I mean come on, who's gonna see the cellulite on them lar? Unless they serve first class passengers in bikini's?.

Last year I flew MAS home from LA and I must say I was very disappointed. Well, I was sick the entire 23 hour plus journey and got no sympathy from the stewardesses at all. I couldn't eat anything solid and they didn't offer me any other alternative. I would have settled for some bread rolls and juice, but nope. Plus I was sick, and had to throw up a few times. Well, I used the air sickness bag la and didn't know where to throw it. I had the window seat on this flight, with two other people next to me. On top of that, I could hardly walk straight. The stewardesses did not want to help me dispose of said bag at all...they said I had to do it myself in the loo. Bear in mind, the bag was clean, as I used double bags and I was sick as a dog,ok. I wish for a little bit more sympathy la...but well, they sure look pretty and unsympathetic.

Maybe I'm asking for too much compassion from pretty well made up and groomed ladies on a flight. But heck, my assistants and I ( not so pretty, not so groomed and not so made up) deal with a whole lot more disgusting stuff everyday. Its part of being human, isn't it? To be disgusting. No one vomits roses, especially so when sick. So I really wonder, what a stewardess's job is other than look pretty and ask "Coffee or tea?". Compassion lacking on MAS.
speaking of tea, ever hear the one where the stewardess blew bubbles in someones tea just cos she was cheesed off that he asked for teh tarik? I heard it from the horses mouth herself, a former MAS employee. Ooh, and what about them having pornographic moments caught on tape?Hmmm.....

On the other hand, though beauty isn't important to me at all, the stewardesses should at least look presentable lar. Sad to say Air Asia punya...haiyo, some make up like drag queens, foundation colour too white, blue eyeshadow and pink cheeks. Plus with some of their long hair all over the place, I wonder what would happen in an emergency when the hair obscures their sight or worse, gets caught on rolling parts or even catches fire? Not quite smart right? Also, when serving food, I hope never to see stray hair or any one's hair touching my meal. i also had the misfortune of a stewardess on an Air Asia flight to KK, flirting with my then BF (he also gatal lah, hence become EX already). So where is the professionalism?

I truly wonder what a stewardess's job is like? I know many would complain ( and I've heard such complaints on board) about fussy passengers...but heck, thats what the service industry is all about,right? Even I have to deal with quack patients with loads of patience.

I hope most airlines become more like BA and train their "Flight Crew" to be courteous, professional and above all competent in any emergency situation. That after all should be what the job is about right?

Pristine@Gasing

Okla, have to blog about new practice right? Well, we opened up a new branch in PJ, after years of hearing our patients complain about the traffic and parking in MV.


So here it is, 52,Jalan Gasing, Section5, PJ. 03-77816289. And we are open from 10-6.



Well, parking here is very easy and there definitely is NO JAM. And its a nice relaxing environment...

The front of the bungalow, a side view



Nice large windows



Reception

and, our waiting area....well, just one pretty corner lah.

Cantik, kan?

The 11-teefirst Anniversary of the Wookie's 29th Birthday

Favourite Wookie celebrated a birthday recently at FCI's apartment...many thanks to FCI for sponsoring the venue and the lovely harem for the the food.The birthday boy himself, carrying his balloons, curtesy of June to the venue. Doesn't he look dashing?



The girls checking out FCI's room...hmmm, tak pakai blue light pun?

The entertainment of the night...FCI dancing...no lar, horror movie recycle. Can you see the look of suspense on the girls?
Birthday Boy cutting cake...fuahh hold knife like samurai sword, a true combater!


The Birthday Boy and his Harem...

Favourite shot of the night...the two sole males ( discounting Chris who left early) at said party with Birthday Boy. Check out the cutey pie peeking from behind the balloons..wakakaka.

Wookie, you can say you'll never be older than 29 if you use the above to describe your birthdays! This one's for you....my favourite shots of the night and then some. Though you say you don't like the hooha, we all hope you enjoyed that hooha and have a great one ahead.

Much ado about combat

Didn't make it to class on Monday, so headed to class yesterday at MML. I was expecting a huge crowd, especially since FCI announced his single status, but was surprise to see the class barely full.

Anyways, these days I can't make it there since from now on on Tuesday I finish at 6. Time to put in a minor advert into blog about my new practice, i.e Pristine@Gasing, very cosy, very quiet and parking is so freaking easy....Do visit, am bored outta my head right now since the practice is new and patient flow isn't there yet. Luckily I'm only there Tuesdays and Thursdays. So far have had a lot of practice in Geriatric Dentistry, my three patients of the day were all over 80! Will put up pics later today kwa.

Back to combat. Class on Tuesday was fun, maybe because I had skipped the past few classes. It was nice to see a few familiar faces, Sunshine ( sorry dear, I'm really bad with names, I now know 4 people with your name) , Pickles, whom as I guessed, couldn't not make it to Mondays class after a looooooong weekend in Sg and tall half-white boy. This fler always stands in front, so where I was standing, with FCI being vertically challenged and there being no stage, had to make do with verbal ques. Also noted that his coordination has improved slightly, as there was less space around him now. People not so afraid of getting kicked by lanky legs. Its nice to see people enjoying themselves in class especially so when they shout. The floor boards were shaking lasst night, thats for sure. Was missing the usual suspect in Tuesday's class, i.e FB, who has a FINGER infection...hmmm. It doesn't matter if you can't bend the thing, FB and end up making lewd gestures. BH does it all the time, with his perfectly healthy digits.

Heard about the problems FCI had on Monday and the heightened security. Perhaps people have been kicked one time too many, hence the strict regulations on class numbers. In any case, apparently other instructors were not affected. Does this mean FCI is super popular? For someone of his stature, he sure gets a lot of attention.

Flu now has progressed to the persistent cough phase which is super annoying. Will skip the gym today to rest, yet again.

Delusional Idol

This will be a short one as the flu is currently making me wanna fly away to sleep. The above title is in reference to the delusional people who audition for American idol. You know lah, the flers who can't sing a note but insist "I'm the next American Idol"!

Maybe in their heads they sound really good. I mean when I sing I sound pretty good to myself as well. But when I hear my recorded voice, I sound like Minnie Mouse. So, Surely these people must have recorded themselves, and therefore heard how the rest of the world hears them before auditioning, right? But NO.... they insist the judges are tone deaf AND THAT THEY ARE THE REAL TALENT. Right.

I have always liked that Cowell fler, cos' he's honest...he's mean and doesn't sugar coat his comments, but at least he's honest. I mean if you sound like a kodok, he'll call you a kodok la, what else? I seriously think these people know they can't sing, but were paid by the show to appear on tv, for our entertainment. How else can you explain it? Either that or they all memang delusional giler. Anyhoo, its all good for us, laughing at their expense and hoping that another William Hung is NOT born out of the latest fiasco. She Bangs will never sound the same to me ever again.

On a good note, one contestant who is of rather curvy proportions came up with the word fluffy to describe her derriere....maybe the next time someone says I've put on weight, I'll just retort that I've gotten "fluffier"...makes it sound nicer, no?

Meenachi-na

Anneh, i.e favourite wookie, always calls me meenachi...I suppose its because I'm Indian. But BH on the other hand, calls me.....meenachi-NA. Which he thinks is more appropiate as I'm more chin-ak than indi-ah. A fact he keeps reminding me of everytime we venture into an Indian restaurant and I am flabbergasted when he asks me what each food on the menu is. In my defense, my mum is after all CHINESE.... and so I speak my MOTHER tongue, literally, i.e CANTONESE.

Then of course there are those who think of me as plain Minah. My kopi susu skin deluding them into mistaking me for Malay or Indon. I wonder what a Filipino girl is called in Tagalog?

I on the other hand, consider myself this



Masala mix ( what I'm munching on as I type this) ... a little bit of this, a little bit of that and a whole lot of "masalah" too....hehehehe.

Most of the masalah coming from people trying to place me as "Indian" or "Chinese" or "Whatever". You should see the faces of people when they hear me speak Cantonese or when they find out my name and I can't speak any Indian dialect. The confusion can be entertaining. The rest of the masalah comes from me, trying not to be confused myself.

The curse of the super push up bra

For the super blur...I am referring to the movie, the curse of the golden flower, which in my opinion, should be retitled as above. Why? Cos every one of those women who's breasts were pushed up way up defying all laws of gravity were cursed. The Empress? Huge assets,her husband poisoning her, all her sons killed...The doctors daughter? Amazing push up, slept with half brother,killed by a sword...oooh, her mother, no push up... but also cursed, ended up dead in a hail of javelins.

There were only two things that caught my eye in this movie....Jay Chou and the fact that not one of these women actually ended up censored. Well, in all fairness, there was only cleavage lah, no actual nipples showing...but boy...could those things bounce. And in every scene, the bustier girls would be in front....I guess sex sells. I doubt that the clothes in China at that time were designed that way and if they were, they failed to pass down to us the art of the super push up bra. I've yet to see a Qipao with this added feature.

All in all, the fighting scene's were so so only lah, the normal Chinese fly here fly there kung fu lah. Seen many times before type? But I reckon the producers borrowed a lot of scenes from different cultures. One army looked and fought like ninjas and one army had shields the kind the Trojans/ Alexander the Great would have used. Somehow I didn't like the lack of originality in this movie. The story line was also so so lah, I suppose the visual stimulation the movie provided is enough to get people to watch. But I still think defying gravity like that, must have hurt.

Bread, dogs and cheese...hold the olive oil

Apparently many people seem to have their knickers up in a bunch at the recent blog posts of FB
( mostly), Wookie and in some part, me. But I guess when it comes to people of celebrity status, i.e FCI, its understandable. I just hope it doesn't get the circus attention the likes of Mawi and Diana....hmmm..... is our FCI that famous?

On to more mundane and hence safe topic...bread. To be more exact, Gion bread, from Kyoto, Japan. Cuurently its being sold in Jusco MV for 18 bcuks a loaf. You read right...18 bucks! A loaf also weighs a good kilogram and my mum did the math...it costs a ringgit a slice. Taste wise, it has a buttery flavour and actually is quite nice to munch on. Once toasted, its pretty good. It claims not to have any butter in it though and apparently a lot more nutritious from your local Gardenia. But then again, they can claim anything right?



Now on to dogs...well, one dog, mine. My darling Jackie girl....just wanted to put up this cute ( definitely not ugly ) pic of Jackie and BH....don't they both just make you go "awwww"

Too much information: a story of cheese and olive oil

FB had a news breaking story recently: FCI is currently single and looking...Wah! Expect to see women tripping over each other to get his attention? I hope not, because all the tripping is likely to occur in combat class and that would be bad. As it is, he already has a band of devotees...I mean "regulars" with the odd stalker or two thrown in. All happily combating away, eyes fixed on him instead of where they are supposed to be kicking and kicking the person next to them...normally a very annoyed ME! So this newsworthy piece of information to me, is not good.

Favourite Wookie decided to add flavour to the story by putting up a picture of EXTRA virgin olive oil....in reference to FB's pic of Kraft SINGLES cheese. I get the SINGLES bit, should I spell out the EXTRA VIRGIN bit? Hmmm....A simpler method of finding out would be to figure out if BH's housewarming gift was utilised by FCI...but then again, those could be mistaken for highly burst resistant balloons and hence used as such.

Don't think I can stomach ( literally as the gastritis is acting up again) the sight of doe eyed, heavily made up, attention seeking women who insists on throwing themselves at him. Shor...I mean vertically challenged that he is, they would be throwing themselves right in front, for fear he cannot see them. Thus blocking his visual ques and getting in my way. Think I'll skip FCI's classes for a bit, at least until someone else puts up another food picture on a blog declaring him...no longer SINGLE.

Penang Trip Part3 : Jerejak Island

Pic taken by BH, trying an "art-sy" shot of my bu...I mean back

So, after a mad dash to the ferry, we make it on time to get to that darn island, the one FCI says you can swim to from the main island.Yea right, I'd like to see him TRY. Anyways, upon landing at the jetty on said island, we are greeted by the sounds of Balinese music...k'ting-ing away softly. Not a musical instrument in sight, so it must have been piped in kwa. The outdoor decor was also Balinese and we were greeted by....an indonesian guest officer, whom I hope was not from Bali.The resort itself is very isolated, its good for people who plan outdoor-sy stuff for small groups and for a quiet getaway.We stayed at the spa village, in a chalet built on stilts at the side of the hill. The chalet was nice, very Balinese too.

Dinner that night was not worthy of mention. We did however have an uninvited guest...a cat decided we were just the right people to give it a foot massage...BH of all people, hater of all things cat...hmm...By morning, I was feeling bad...after an hour of trying to cycle on the prison route, I gave up and crashed on the bed. We passed a cemetery, unmarked on that trail, which was right at the side of the trail and this added to my misery...I was creeped out. So poor BH was left to his own devices...but apparently whatever got to me, got to him too, as he was sick by evening.

We managed to drag ourselves to the mainland for food and ended up eating Teochew porridge, which actually was quite good. It was an early evening for us, with both of us falling asleep trying to watch Buli Balik on VCD.

In the morning, we both felt better. So off we went for our massages at the spa. It was cool, Balinese style ( what else) and very nice. The rooms were built on stilts and had open walls, with only curtains for privacy. Oh, and there was an en-suite outdoor bath, very Balinese. We actually had our massages together...hehehehe...and I had my lulur. But, it was soon time to leave...a long drive ahead...for BH anyway.

We left Penang the way we came, with no jam or traffic. Ironically, the jam was on the opposite side of the road, as KL-ites were headed north for the long Raya-New Year break. We planned the trip well! Coming home was great, we stopped in Ipoh at Onn Kee's....yummy and after 5 days, I finally got to see my doggie Jackie again.Gosh, she missed us, she couldn't stop whining. But she was still very much missing her boss, my mum as they hadn't come back from India yet. Pickled them up the next day and so the dog was happily wagging her tail again!.
Penang was fun, but still prefer KL lah...must save up money for trip Down Under next....Koala land beckons man!

Many thanks to Crazy Attack Fella, Karryn, Ben Scully, Tamiya and Kelly for making this trip a wonderful gastronomic experience.

Penang trip part 2

Day two in Penang was a bit gloomy....it rained the night before and the sun didn't come up, which is just the way BH likes it...perfect weather to explore.Met up with Crazy Attack Fella and GF ...first thing we did was scrap the hiking plan and go look for food. Crazy Attack Fella had planned a hike from some beach or other but I guess they were too tired and we just too lazy. So,we ended up eating CKT and Laksa. After that, must makan cendol at the stall where PCK and Rosie also makan...then off to another place for ice kacang and rojak.

Quite a lunch right? But apparently we weren't impressed la by the prawn mee, so met up with Ben, an old friend of mine for a jejak mee udang, after a brief tour of Kek Lok Si.

Crouching rabbit....................

.................hidden dragon?

Jejak mee udang brought us to Lorong Selamat, 4-ish in the afternoon, as everything else everywhere else already closed or hasn't opened up for dinner yet...found ok HM and CKT. Still unimpressed with that HM, had supper, 10-ish at 3rd lane with BH's friends who came all the way from Seberang Jaya...makan apa? HM and Wan Than Mee...bolehla, better than Lorong Selamat. See the obvious main agenda in our tour itinerary? We ended the night with me taking way too many drinks too quickly at Slippery Senoritas. Needless to say this senorita ended up pretty slippery herself. Thank goodness for Penang hospitality. BH's friends were kind enough to walk us back to the hotel to make sure we were ok...they then returned to SS for more drinks.

When day 3 dawned, we knew we had to look for that elusive HM....in McAllister, this stall that only opens in the morning, Toptaste HM. This stall had got newspaper review and Ben also said it was good so we just had to try la.This guy can rent the whole stall the whole day, but only operate in the morning...terror leh? The HM was good la, with crab meat and such. Definitely worth the 3.50 I think it was. Tried the CKT here as well...boleh tahan, but the night one better.

After that, we decided to drive around the island. It's Penang, not that big right? So there we were, in town, stumbling about to find our way to Ferringhi and Teluk Bahang. We found the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion instead and decided we'd see what the hoo-ha was about. Ben had told us there were only 2 tours a day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. We reached at 10.55, went in and saw that the next tour was 11 am...must have been birthday luck So we caught the tour and it really is a cool house, built 108 years ago, with a 300 year old design, feng shui perfect at the time. A very unique house and a very unique man who built it...a man who had 8 wives, in many countries, from China to Indonesia, with the 7th, his favourite staying in this mansion. Go look this place up the next time you're in Penang, its very unique and worth the 12 bucks for the tour...only downside is no photo's in the mansion allowed.

Here's one of us outside the mansion. Originally white in colour, somehow it ended up indigo...apparently cos Cheong Fatt Tze did a lot of trade with India, where the colour comes from...love the man's taste in colour....hehehe
Above is BH, looking very much like a professional trishawman..just love the contrast of his shorts and that indigo wall.

Finally we ventured round the island and found the famous Laksa Penang, all the way in Balik Pulau....good stuff it was! Ben had tried to drag us at 9 in the aye-am to Balik Pulau for CKT but there was no way in hell we were gonna get our well proportioned behinds up THAT early. Especially after the night we had. Anyway, this stall is pretty famous for its Laksa and BH caught a Mat Salleh trying the stuff with his hands. He just couldn't get the hang of the chopsticks...but he enjoyed it!

That day we also moved from Cititel to Jerejak for a spa retreat...so on the way to the jetty, we stopped at Queensbay Mall to check out the Jusco there and shop for some groceries. I felt like I was back home in MV, until it was time to pay at the cashier. He was soooooo slow. And the que was soooooo long. After almost missing the ferry, we finally made it to the island which used to house prisoners..but that's another story.

Christmas and New Years

Before I blog about Penang, which would either be a miniseries or a trilogy, cos there's just so much to tell, I thought I'd whet your appetites with this little tid-bit of happenings. My break, as I've said in the previous blog began on December 23rd at 5 pm and will end tomorrow at 10 when I see my first patient.

Christmas eve was spent with BH lah, of course, as was Christmas. But this year, he took me to church. I've never been to one, the thought of walking into one was daunting...but cos BH wanted to go, I just follow lar. Had fun, went to a small little church near my place and they had this guy Patrick Leong come in to sing. That guy has one heck of a voice. When he talks, he sounds like any other typical chinese guy, a soft spoken one. But when he sings, wow....amazing. People were brought to tears.. Well, we basically spent Christmas together, and this was the first Christmas I'd spent with anyone other than Wendy, so it was special. Especially so since I got to see how important Christmas was to BH.

So, on to New Years'...this year also extra special flavour. Countdown was over at VJ / Gobi Huangs'....which always promises entertainment in the form of young people getting drunk. Sure enough, with their deadly but yet fantastic punch, the kudikarans were at home. Though the fireworks had started before we counted down, we did it anyway! Please see BH's blog for story.

Jan 1, 2007: I wasn't here for my birthday this year, neither were my folks so...small celebration with BH only la on the actual day. So today, parents decided to cut cake in the morning la. Gotta admit, for someone who is 30, I still get a kick outta blowing candles on my birthday cake...call me a kid, I don't care. Plus of course my darling Jackie joined in the excitement. Jackie is my dog...who is often mistaken by my mum as my younger sister. In all fairness, it was a Happy Birthday / Happy New Year cake...so...it worked. Then of course, to start the New Year, BH and I decided to get our bums ( which have indeed increased in width) down to the Curve for FCI's combat....worked out a bit, even ate healthy. We had sandwiches for lunch. Then decided to spent day at BH's...which is where I am blogging right now lar. But lost all effort spent at gym, cos BH's parents decided to take me out for dinner as well....hehehehe, so TWO birthday celebrations in ONE day!!!! Hehehehe...just told BH this has been the best New Year's ever. He is at the moment cropping images of food we took on our Penang trip.....will post blog once the pics are done