Ramadah

I'm not really qualified to write about Ramadah, but I thought I would write what I have learnt and seen in Malaysia during this month of fasting.

Over the last 3 weeks, the hospital cafeteria has been quite empty, for once there are always still plenty of food left if I get there late for lunch, and there are always seats available - a plus for me. The doctors going through Ramadah (~1/3) look exhuasted by lunch time and take naps while we go for lunch. The rest of us have to be careful not to tempt them with questions such as "let's go for coffee" or "want to come for lunch? oops I forgot you can't!" Just the other day, I bought cake to share with the house officers as Im leaving this week. I felt bad for the doctors on Ramadah so I packed slices of cake into cute cardboard boxes (that were sold with moon cakes) so they can have a "take away " - I thought I was very religion sensitive :p

In the mall food area yesterday, I watched the Islamic people sitting there around the tables with empty plates in front of them and their ordered food in the centre of the table. They all sit there patiently, some checking their watches every minute to see if it's 7 o'clock yet - the time they can eat. What a sight!

But Im seriously so impressed with how these people all day without food or drink.. It's so hot here as well. Not only do they not eat or drink during the daytime "During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam as well as refraining from lying, stealing, anger, envy, greed, lust, sarcastic retorts, backbiting, and gossip. Obscene and irreligious sights and sounds are to be avoided; sexual activities during fasting hours is also forbidden." mmm.. I will find the lying and gossiping part hard to refrain from.

Just for a few laughs

My friend Jane forward me the following...

The Why's of Men

1. WHY DO MEN BECOME SMARTER DURING SEX?
because they are plugged into a genius

2. WHY DON'T WOMEN BLINK DURING SEX?
they don't have enough time

3. WHY DOES IT TAKE 1 MILLION SPERM TO FERTILIZE ONE EGG?
they don't stop to ask directions

(By this time, Im laughing)

4. WHY DO MEN SNORE WHEN THEY LIE ON THEIR BACKS?
because their balls fall over their butt-hole and they vapor lock

5. WHY WERE MEN GIVEN LARGER BRAINS THAN DOGS?
so they won't hump women's legs at cocktails parties

(You're laughing, aren't you?!?!)

6. WHY DID GOD MAKE MEN BEFORE WOMEN?
you need a rough draft before you make a final copy

7. HOW MANY MEN DOES IT TAKE TO PUT A TOILET SEAT DOWN?
don't know.....it never happened

And the personal favorite:
8. WHY DID GOD PUT MEN ON EARTH?
because a vibrator can't mow the lawn

I hope I haven't offended anyone. If so,
too bad..cos at least you would be laughing.
P.S. I know my parents read my blogs.. so dad, please dont take this seriously.. read it light heartedly.

Truency

This is the last week of my elective in Malaysia.. and I have no more motivation to stay in the hospital. After only attending the clinic for one hour this morning, I received a text from Robert who was still battling the "registration war". "Malaysians!" -- said with such frustration. One of his major issues was the university (yes THE university) does not accept credit card as form of payment. Anyways, after I lend him some cash, the registration was finally over by noon. By then, Robert was sweating so much from the sun and the heat, his tie was drenched and stuck to his shirt. After a shower and some lunch, I decided to not go back to hospital for the rest of the afternoon, and go shopping instead! For you guys out there reading this and feeling sorry for Robert who would be dragged out by me.. DONT! Shopping in Malaysia is a heaven for guys too.

We went to the mall next to his house which is of NZ mall size, and then went to a much larger one after that (Mid Valley). Bangsar Shopping Centre had guards carrying real loaded riffles on each floor! This started since a young lady was abducted, raped and murdered when she went to the mall car park alone.

In the evening, we picked up Christine and Karen (Malaysians who live in Christchurch who are having a holiday in Malaysia). Robert's mum cooked Indian dinner for us tonight. It was delicious meal, slightly hot for me but I love it anyways.

Here are some photos from the day.

Robert was very proud of his perfect reverse parking and would like me to show it off to his special girl who hopefully will be reading this.


This is a car I spotted in the car park.. both front tyres are flat.. dont know how long it has been there.. just thought its interesting.. but that's move on....
At Robert's place for some home cooked Indian food. From the left is Trish (a.k.a baby - robert's youngest sister), Tania (Robert's other sister), Karen, Robert, and Christine.
Photo with Robert's Maid Kaka.. (I think that's how you spell her name, but the point is he has a maid! how luxurious).
Robert eating Indian food in the traditional way.. I was impressed.

While I was waiting at Robert's house, I took some photos of his beautiful home. Below is a little pond inside the house by the entrance.

This is the British styled living room.
Robert took me to a the Chili's restaurant, where he used to work 6 years ago!
Robert digging into his chocolate brownie with ice cream at Chili's Restaurant.

Power cut

Today is Sunday, and while I was having breakfast the lights and the fan went out.
"Ah. Power cut." said my host mother. "Probably just last 1 hour. It's quite usual"

After 5 mins, I had sweat dripping down my face as I tried to enjoy my coffee.

It was hot. yes.. it was probably in the early 30s.

I tried to read, but I couldnt. So I suggested cleaning. (There is something wrong with how I think.)

My host mother swept and I mopped. The cooling water under my feet kept me content.

After a very much needed cool shower (the second one of the day), I sat downstairs (as hot air rises to upstairs). The air was hot and humid.. and it was still! no breeze.. inside or out.

I tried reading again this time holding a battery-operated fan.. it was tiny but I had no other option. More sweat accumulated.

Ah! I feel so helpless. I looked around for a solution.. and saw the marble floor.

"Ding" a light bulk lit up above my head (well, not literally as there was no electricity)

I spent the next hour lying on the cool marble floor in the living room in the shape of a starfish holding the tiny fan in my left hand, and a magazine on my right.

I realised I looked at bit funny lying in the middle of the living room. My host mother sat beside me sweating and looked at how desperate I was to stay cool (I think she was laughing inside).

After a quick lunch ( I absolutely had no appetite), my host sister who came back from Japanese lesson, took me to the mall for movies..

I was soo happy... Air-con! Here I come!

Robert is here!

Robert - the Malaysian in my class - has finally arrived in KL to do his elective at the same hospital. ABOUT TIME! Initially the plan is for me to be in KL when he is here.. but you know how it goes - plans never work out. (Cindy shakes her head from side to side and sighs)

Today, he arrived at the hospital so I can give him an orientation, help him register and settle down (what irony as he is the local and Im the foreigner). He would have been so lost without me just like my first week here as I wonder aimlessly up and down corridors and then stairs asking for directions every 50 steps because all the signs are in Malay.

It was funny to watch Robert sweat excessively (he was not yet adjusted to the hot weather) and express frustration in the numerous barriers in place throughout the registration process. "Malaysians..." he muttered. We only managed to complete 20% of the registration process, the rest is waiting till Monday for people's signatures.

Robert lived in Bangsar, we grabbed some food there, including cindol - Indian dessert made of shaved ice with coconut milk and brown sugar for lunch (very cooling) before heading back to his place. And then after he freshened up (yeah! He really needed a shower after walking in 36 degrees for 30 mins) we went to Bangsar Village (a mall).

I went into Zara again - after I went shopping there for the first time in the weekend, I didnt know what the fuss is all about Soraya! so that I thought I should give it another chance. I tried to demonstrate to Robert my point of "Zara-clothing-is-NOT-really-that-great". I randomly picked up a coat beside me and said "Look! this is RM449 which is about NZ$170 - and it's made in Vietnam" I shaked my head in dismay (I like shaking my head.. haha). I put it on to proof to him its not worth RM449. However, as soon as I put on the coat in front of the nearby mirror - I didnt want to take it off --- it was sooo beautiful. ohhh I loved it so much! "Why did I put this on Robert!? It's such a beautiful coat!" I stood there with my pouting lips. I reluctantly hang it back on its hanger and walked away.. and now I am thinking about it constantly.. I want to own it!

To distract me from this new found amazing costly coat, we drove to 1Utama - near where I live, because the mall is much larger (I have been there 5 times, and yet not anywhere near completing it). Robert made sure I ate Rotiboy bread which was heavenly good - hot straight out of the oven, coated with the butter coconut icing layer, with butter melted inside, I indulged in my food while I followed him around buying more food he wanted to take-away.

It took us an effort to find which car parking lot his car was parked at.
"You dont know where to go either Robert?"
"You have been here many times, you should be the 1U pro!... (nervous giggle) Just testing you Cindy.. (more nervous giggle as he looks around a bit more)"
And once we arrived in the correct parking lot..
"You passed Cindy." (he said with relief.. haha)
But then we realised we have forgotten where we have parked the car in this parking lot.
"Cindy, dont panic"
"Who said I was panicking?"
"I always forget where I park when Im with others" (Cindy does more shaking of her head).
Anyways, thank goodness he was driving a 4WD which stood out in the parking lot.

KLCC

I went to the famous KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre) where the twin towers are located. It is a mall filled with labelled stores like Zara, LV, Chanel, Gucci, FCUK and many which I didnt step into.
Here is the twin towers rising above the mall.. the story is that the bridge was built at the end to hold the two towers steady.
That's the man-made lake in front of KLCC. Not only were the shops expensive, so were the toilets. Hahah.. I wonder what service I would be paying for.

A Satisfying Saturday

Its just past midnight and I had a great Saturday...
The day started with mum calling me, waking me up at 9am. .. my goodness.


Then after showering, my host parents came back from their morning walk with Indian breakfast.. we have this every Saturday morning - I love it, I always order Roti Canai, it only costs 90sen (which is like NZD0.40). It's soft Indian bread dipped in the two sauces in the bowls.. mm.. i can't stand the hotness of Malay food, but Indian sauce tastes so much better with its spices.

Jen-Mei, I and the parents then left for a day of shopping! They dropped us off at Sunway Pyramid Mall (where young kids hang out) and they went off to another mall nearby to do their own shopping. The mall entrance is under a plaster statue of the sphinx (mmm, doesnt look like the real one at all) and a pyramid-looking structure behind the sphinx. Here is me at the entrace of the mall, ready to do some serious shopping (ahhh.. so exciting!)



There is a ice skating rink on the lower ground floor of the mall. Quite a nice atmosphere. This is the first time seeing people wearing T-shirts skating.. it's quite warm despite being near the ice. Jei-Mei and I had a blast looking through pretty (and some NOT so pretty) clothes and accessories.. there were many stands selling cheap accessories, such as earrings/bracelets/anklets 3 for RM10 (which is NZD3.80).

I tried on over 10 dresses, most of them I cant fit into despite being labelled "FREE SIZE" which means one size for all. I felt pretty lousy after a while - feel so fat. But I finally found a simple dress I could fit into.. it's purple, halter, down to my knee, and simple... but yet pretty. It was at its original price but after just converting it over to NZ dollars I realised how cheap it still was.. haha.. SCORE!

After 6 hours of shopping we went home to drop off lots of bags and went to The Curve (another mall nearby) - it was not my idea. Jen-Mei is a shoppoholic - Im NO WAY near her standards.. haha. On Saturdays, the outdoor mall area has a Bazaar - which I think means stalls full of cheaper goods.

There were lots of people, we didnt buy much but sat to listen to a live quartet of 4 elderly man singing and playing acustic guitar/violin/double bass to old love songs.
This is a cow.. and I thought it would look funny if I pretended to milk it..

In the evening, Jei-Mei had dinner plans with her friends (all accountants), so she took me with her. We had Pasta and Pizza at an Italian restaurant.. Food was pretty good.. I was impressed. Then we went to a cafe.
Her friends were all very chatty and loud.. (if these friends read this - this comment is a complement) and made me feel very welcomed.. and a little pale (as indicated by the photos .. haha)
I had the best rum coffee with cream..

Day of Shopping

On Wednesday, Jen-Mei had a day off work and so we went on shopping at KL Chinatown - mainly Kotaraya mall and Petaling Street. We went into town by the Light Rail Train (LRT) - it's fast (20mins) cos it avoids traffic jam and car parking problems.

Here is a view from the LRT station beside the city centre mosque.

View from the LRT, looking down at traffic on our way to town. This is the reason why it is easier to travel by train to town instead of driving. This is Nasi Lemak - a popular Malay meal. Dont ask me why it's served on paper.. but somehow it always is.
I mainly bought gifts for friends and family and so had lots of fun looking around. There was one shop I loved being in.. it was a big shop of soft toys and cute animation accessories like Mashimoro, Winnie the Pooh, etc. There were sets of car decorations - mirror cover, steering wheel covers, neck supports, and seatbelt covers.. I was sooo tempted to buy one of the sets of white and black pigglets - which is the hotest design in Malaysia recently. But the image of you guys falling to the ground laughing and be too embarrassed to be in the car with me stopped me from making such a mistake.

A photo of me in front of Petaling Street.
I forgot to show you the fake Adidas bag I bought from the night market on Monday.. doesn't it look real? hehehe. Now you know it's fake, shshhhhh..

My PDA phone

In the first week of my trip in Penang, I bought a PDA phone. I have forgotten to show it off to you guys.

My previous sliding cell phone was dying.. the battery constantly popped out. So this gave me a great excuse to spend money and upgrade. Note: Im now selling my PalmOne Tungsten T5 PDA (hint hint - subtle advertising :p)

This is HTC Touch - it's slim and has all the functions I could ask for. The only complaint I have is the processor is slow (201MHz - this number is meaningless to me) - there is usually a 1 sec delay in every function.

I bought it for ~NZD770 - not bad aye? The other brands of PDA phones available here are O2, and Dopod - their prices and functions are pretty similar to HTC touch, but much thicker but I think their processor is faster. Apparently Dopod has bad sound quality.

It operates on Windows Mobile, came with a 1GB SD card. Dimensions are only 10cmx5.8cmx1.4cm. Weighing only 112g.

The coolest thing is the HTC TouchFLO™ function which reminds me of iPhone.

And I can go on internet anytime anywhere with GPRS.. In Malaysia I think it only costs me 1 Sen (which is about 0.4cents) per minute to be connected to the internet.. obviously NZ wouldnt be that cheap. But I guess it still has Wi-Fi I can use.

If you want to see more, go to http://www.htctouch.com/

Clueless

This entry is better understood by those who have watched the movie "Clueless" released in the 1990s, staring Alicia Silverstone.

After work on Tuesday, I went shopping with Jen-Yin, the youngest sister. Jen-Yin is flying back to UK to continue her studies on Wednesday, and had to do last minute shopping to get "make-up" for the ball she is attending when she gets there.

I followed her to the make-up store thinking she was only just buying a few items to top up her collection. I was wrong.. she was CLUELESS about make-up. Apparently she never worn any before and doesnt even wear lip balm!

I recognised this as a BEAUTY EMERGENCY! My goodness.. 20 year old girl who doesnt have a clue about make-up - she needs to be educated! I took my role seriously - mocking the character Alicia Silverstone played in Clueless. She transformed her new friend who looked like a boy into one of her sexy friends.

I gave her a lesson on "Make-up 101" - the basic necessities of make-up while we were in the shop and then spending the next 45 minutes selecting the "must-haves". She was very fascinated and slightly puzzled.

After dinner, we set up the mirrors and the make-up she bought for the lesson and the make-over! I love make-overs... hehe.. The two older sisters and the parents watched with fascination as I taught Jen-Yin how to use an eyelash curler, mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow, etc. Her sisters apparently dont have a clue either.

Then I did her hair - a simple but elegant hairstyle for the ball. She loved it! And woke up her parents who dosed off in the living room while waiting for the work of completion.

I felt a sense of success as I transformed a Tom-boy into a sexy diva!

Pasar Malam

I love Malaysia's Pasar Malam.

The 3 sisters took me to the nearby famous Monday night Pasar Malam (Night market) at Section SS2. I have been waiting to go there for the past 3 weeks, but for the past 2 Mondays the weather has been poor.

We were greeted with traffic jam as everyone tried to turn into the area, and then stayed in the jam as we followed the rest of the cars looking for a car park - all part of the fun of course.

The market was huge! Lots of people.. lots of heat.. and lots of cheap imitations.

There were many bag stores, where there were Guess, LV, Adidas, Nike, etc bags. All fake of course.. but you cant tell unless you study it carefully. I bought a rectangular off-shoulder sports adidas bag for only NZD 7.70 - Wohooo.. what a bargin! One of the sisters have a fetish for bags and shoes. She was in great dilemma to whether buy more and unnecessarily add onto her existing large collection, OR to overcome her urge and walk past these cheap goods. It was great fun watching her puzzle over such dilemma.

There were also several shoe stores which has Nike and Addidas imitation sneakers. I bought a pair of purple Addidas sneakers. It was one of those bulky flat sole ones - do you call them skateshoes? I dont know.. I never bought one like this before.. I just thought since it's only NZD17.70 I should try owning something I have never owned before. It made me looked slightly punked.. cute really - I look 16.

What else did I buy? mmm.. there were also cheap court shoes - with bows, laces, etc. I tried to look for the most plain pair - I dont think NZ fashion will accept me back with Japanese style footwear. It was only NZD10.70.

The two sisters got bored and wanted to go home after 1.5 hours of shopping so we had to go home without finishing the market.. I dont know how long the goods I have bought would last.. but I guess I will wait and see..

Second delivery

I conducted my second delivery today.. this time, they let me do everything myself.
I initially thought once you can do one, you can do them all.. I was so wrong.

This time the woman was giving birth for the first time, so it certainly didnt "pop" out like the other ones. For about one hour, I stood in between her open legs watching the small tuft of baby's black hair peeping through the labia when she pushes, and escaping back in when she relaxes, as if the baby was too shy to come out into the world.

Finally, the head had descended far enough for some progress to be made. The mother's opening was narrow and so i made a cut of about 5cm with scissors (episiotomy) and the head immediately advanced forward with every push. I held a cotton pad and placed pressure against the cut I made as it bled furiously, while the whole head emerges above my hand.

The umbilical hord was wrapped tightly around this baby's neck.. I clamped and then cut the chord as calmly as I could pretend to be (my heart was beating so fast - dont die! dont die!).

I lifted the rest of the baby out, and nearly dropping it.. it was so slippery and limp. Quickly, my left hand supported the little bottom and pushed the baby onto mummy's tummy - loud cries were heard. There! I thought proudly to myself.. another ..ee.. I cant see.. ahhh.. a baby GIRL!

The nurses took over the care of the baby. I stood there patiently waiting for the placenta to deliver.. with a first time mother, it usually takes 15 minutes.

SPLASH! A gush of ~300ml of blood and blood clots landed on my ankles and shoes. YUCK!
I did put a bucket under her bottom to catch the blood!! But for some reason, it shoot out past the bucket onto my legs. For medical professionals --> that was the first sign of placenta separation..

After the placenta was delivered,.. i had to start suturing with my blood sticky legs.

Man it was hard.. her tissue down there was all swollen, there was blood everywhere.. it just looked like a disaster zone..

Somehow I managed to suture up all the layers, aiming to give her a pretty vagina and perineum with the guidance for fellow doctors.. They sat there watching me and wiping sweat of my face (I was wearing sterile gowns, masks and gloves).

My weekend

On Saturday night, the host family and I queued up outside the KING CRAB RESTAURANT.. it was hot, humid and i was wearing jeans. We had 6 groups of people ahead of us, so we waited for 45 minutes. I was thinking "there better be good food waiting for us to make this worthwhile!"

And there was!
We ordered 1.5kg of crab covered with cheese sauce.. aaahhhh.. delicious!

That is Jen-Lee cracking the crab pincer, there are photos of me.. but not on my camera.. will load them later.
I picked the salted duck egg york with tofu, mushrooms and green vegetables.. ahhh.. my favourite.. the family didnt eat the salted duck egg yorks and I ate them alllllll.. hahaha.. Usually I have to fight over them with my sisters!

Autumn moon festival is coming soon, and I have already eaten at least 8 moon cakes.. mm.. they are so yummy, but yet very fatty. I dont know how to control myself!! And moon festival is not over till another couple of weeks - I would look like a mini moon after it's over. In the mall, there is decorations celebrating the festival.

I can't remember much about the origin of this festival, except it has something to do with a Chinese woman and a white hare sitting on the moon making cakes... which sounds awfully odd.
So I googled (I do have a whole Sunday evening here to spare)..

There are many variations to the legend, but the main story is set in 2170BC, involving a woman called Chang'e and her husband Houyi, an archer. At that time, there were apparently 10 suns that took turns to circle the earth - one every 10 days. (See, this is how you know it's NOT a real story). One day, all 10 of the suns circled together, scorching the earth. The Emperor of China commanded Houyi to shoot down 9 suns. On completion of this task, the Emperor rewarded Houyi with a pill, the elixir of life.

Houyi took the the pill home and hid it. Chang'e found it, ate it for some reason (each version of the story had a different reason). And after she took the pill, she flew to the moon.

Now, how does a hare get involved in all this? Some stories say there was already a hare on the moon. And part of the pill fell out of Chang'e s mouth. Chang'e commanded the hare to make a pill from it so that she could return to earth to her husband. As of today, the hare is still pounding (as often illustrated on moon cake advertisements).

As for Houyi, he built himself a palace in the sun (this story just gets better) as "YANG" while Chang'e is "YIN". Once a year, on the 15th day of the full moon, Houyi visits his wife. That is why the moon is full and beautiful on that night.

Obviously, I dont believe in the story.. and probably dont see the point of telling the story to the next generation.. the important message to this festival is: mooncakes are so delicious and should be shared amongst your friends and family. I will try to bring some back to NZ if I have more space in my luggage.

Today, it was 37 degrees at 9:30am. We went to the produce market.. it was outdoors, hot and crowded. I stood as still as I can in the shaded areas while I watched my host family pick produce in the crowd. This was the only way I could think of to minimise heat production.. Still, I could feel sweat dripping down my face..
When they finished and were ready to go, they said "oh! your face is all red!" yeah.. hyperthermia!

We went into a fish aquarium for a peep. And my host family decided they wanted to buy a few more Japanese Koi fish to add into their existing fiosh collection. They chose a black and white spotty one with a red round dot on its forehead (like an Indian woman), a gold one, and I chose a silver one (well, it looked silver, but when we took it home and looked it under proper light, it was mouldy looking! So Im going to call it Mouldy. Hopefully it will grown up very pretty like Ugly Duckling).

They got me to catch the fish we want from the pond.. haha.. it was kinda fun. In the aquarium, I saw tiny baby turtles. I have decided Im going to buy two turtles (preferrably one male and one female) and set up an aquarium in Hamilton, if turtles are allowed in my flat.. They are such adorable animals.

After we got home, Jen-Yin (the youngest daughter) and I scrubbed the two outdoor fish pots clean before we put the new fish together with the old fish. There was a thick layer of moss and scrubbing them off took a hour in 37 degree temperature! I got carried away with the scrubbing, so decided the scrub off the moss growing on the shells of the two big turtles they own.. HA! that was fun! The turtles were strong and tried to get away.. but they were held against the ground with my strong hands! After giving them the bath, I held them in mid-air admiring my work.. and they waved their legs and arms in the air trying to get away--- hehehe.. so cute.

On Saurday morning, the sisters and I were woken up to go for a brisk hill walk in the park. There were lots of people - as always. But the tracks were nice. Although it was hot.. I fast walked hoping to loose some of the weight I gained over the past 4 weeks. I really should weigh myself - but I rather NOT know.

Jen-Lee took me to Petaling Street in Chinatown.. lots of stalls with fake branded products and copied DVDs.. I approached one of the stalls and asked

"How much is the LV bag?"

"140"

"WHAT!?" with my BIG eye expression

"How much do you want" he handed me the calculator.

"That price is WAY too high!"

"How much you want?"

I typed down 40 on the calculator

He waved his hand and said "no no no - la" and typed down 110 as his offer.

I said "nah!" and turned away.

He followed me for 5 metres and said "it's cheap!"

I yelled back "IT'S FAKE!"

Bra sizes

This really doesnt have much to do with my elective. But I received this funny email from Jane today and thought I would like to share with my friends.

And then, I googled for world's largest boobs and found this:
Maxi Mounds is an American nude model, stripper and pornographic actress. She is known for her extremely large breast implants. The interesting things about this impants are that it's polypropylene string breast implants, which irritate the breast tissue, causing them to grow continuously as they fill with fluid. Mounds' breasts each weigh twenty pounds. Mounds holds the Guinness World Record for the "World's Largest Augmented Breasts". Her breast measurement of 91.44 cm (36 in) and an around chest-over-nipple measurement of 153.67 cm (60.5 in). She currently wears a US size 42M bra (UK 42J).

SCARY!

Now, let's talk about something more relevant to Malaysia.. buying pretty bras of sizes C and above is a nightmare here.. The ladies are here have tiny bossoms (yes, I have checked them out!) and they all think woman with saggy boobs should wear full cup boring ugly bras!