An established author once said that he always start his book with a good catchy title. For me..my biggest problem is always the Title. I'd normally write what I have in mind and will think of a title later. Sometimes I ended up without a Title.





Anyway, in this post, I intend to write about my experience at the UMSC yesterday evening. UMSC stands for University Malaya Specialist Centre. Sounds great right? It is actually a great facility. Idea is right..execution..as the chinese would have said 'ma ma dei'.





It is a great facility in the sense that it's specialists are all very experienced doctors and professors from the University Hospital. And, the charges are probably less than a quarter of a private specialist centre. Most importantly they operate in the evening from 5pm onwards...patients do not have to waste their precious day time.





Yesterday I was suppose to meet my aunt at the UMSC to accompany her to see a specialist. I drove straight into the University Hospital aided by ONE sign that says UMSC and followed some signs that says PARKING. The moment I entered the multi level parking, I understood immediately ..the question i always wondered out loud - "why is it that the main road outside this hospital is perpetually parked with private vehicles?" It is because the parking system provided in the hospital area SUCKS! The hospital is probably the second largest medical centre in the country, but it is a mystery why there are insufficient parking facilities, never before and and still so currently.





Well, there is this multi level car park right infront of the main building - but it is so badly designed!

• There aren't enough parking lots



• The passages are confusing and not friendly at all....it's just like a maze in there



• The entry exit rams are narrow and some are located in unstrategic corners - a huge 4WD vehicle in front of me had such difficulties squezzing into and out of the rams

I don't think I can put into words..how it's like. It's just .... mind boggling ..how is it that such infrastructure can be approved and exists in a supposedly established system.

Hint: I am not sure when I will finish complaining. I will carry on until I run out of words.

So..I successfully entered the 3rd level of the carpark..after much amazement and amusement manouvering in the 'maze'. Next - I had to locate a 'lobby'. You know..it's a common form of action right? That one automatically looks for a lift lobby or exit lobby to get out of a carpark? But..in this case..there seems to be none. No signages..nothing. Just doors.

So..I exited at the nearest door and was happy to see a Lift No. 5. A sign on the wall says..that I should head to the Ground Floor - that will supposedly lead me to the main hospital building. When I stepped out of the lift on the Ground level, I freaked out when I saw a sign that says "Kawasan Pengurusan Jenazah (directly translated as Corpse Managing Area"

It took me a full minute to decide if I should go through that Corpse Area or head back into the lift. Of course I chose the latter option.

I came back up to the 3rd level and headed to the other end of the building. I saw a tiny exit that looks like a staircase leading to the main building but a dodgy looking worker told me that it is currently under repair. Again, there wasn't any notice / signage. I entered through another door nearby and found Lift No.3. A sign there says that I should go to level 2 to enter the main building and I followed suit. By the way, the lifts here are those very huge type that can fit a whole hospital bed and they are not very well lighted. Scary??

At level 2, I was relieved to see a bridge that is accessible but as expected it is not a very impressive bridge. Kind of scary actually..one would be quite worried walking here alone expecially at night.

The bridge lead me to another scary area of the hospital. There isn't any proper signage to indicate where i should go. It seemed like a very old part of the hospital with lot's of dark room. There were some very old signs that says x-ray area. In some of the dark rooms, I saw doctors (or technicians) looking through x-ray films, computers. etc. Along the way, I also came across nurses pushing an sick old patient in a bed. Scary?

After some time wandering aimlessly, I decided to ask the next person I came across. Surprise surprise..UMSC has moved to another building near the University Malaya ..and he went on giving me all sorts of directions. My first question to him was..can I drive there..and is there any car park? Answer was..'NOT LIKELY" Doink! My next question was - how far is this building from here? Anwers was .."NOT VERY FAR LA"

(Note: I can't believe this is my 3rd day into this post..hope I can finish it today 28 March)

I decided to ask another staff again at the main lobby. This time I was told that there is actually a shuttle bus service to ferry staff and patients to the new UMSC centre. It is not advisable to drive there because there are insufficient parkling lots - only about 40 lots (*rolling my eyes*)

Slightly happier but stil annoyed - I proceed to the main entrance expecting to see shuttle buses or at least some sort of signages. As usual , there are none. I had to ask for a third time. Of course, there are no designated time table or stop - they will come as and when. Sigh..anyway, I was lucky a Kembara with the UMSC logo arrived as I was talking to the security guard.

I arrived safely...despite experiecing a mild F1 like driving from the UMSC driver.

The building is brand new..may be re-furbished. Do not think it is IT ready yet though..as i don't see many computers. No starbucks neither.

The wait for the doctor is no diffrent from other popular hospitals - 3 hours! The doc visit was less than 15 mins. Charge is RM20. Surgery was scheduled and estimated fee is RM2,000 for a 20 mins surgery with 2D1N stay. Ward type - yet to know. Service quality - yet to know.

Verdict - Value for money. After all the attending doctor is a Professor!

Oh ya..suttle service was still available at 8.45pm. The driver was very accomodating by sending straight to the 'doorstep' of the carpark. As he doesn't know any proper entrance to enter by foot...he stopped me at the entrance for vehicles - meaning - we had to walk up the steep Ramp!

The End of a story of First Class Facility, Third Class Infrastructure.

Installing a Husband

Dear Tech Support,
Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance -- particularly in the flower and jewellery applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as F.A.CUP 5.0, Wimbledon 3.0, and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and House-cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.
I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate

…………………………………………………………………………………

Dear Desperate,

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.

Please enter the command: 'http: I Thought You Loved Me.html' and try to download Tears 6.2
and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.

If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.

Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).

Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.

You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance.
We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,
Tech Support

Don't Worry Be Happy

Was going to write something about my current state of mind 'career-wise' but..this forwarded mail caught my attention :


For those of you who watch what you eat... Here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies.

• The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
• The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
• The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
• The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
• The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
  
  

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

What was not mentioned was to be merry so that even if you have heart
attack or heart problems, at least you are happy.

My two cents worth of thought :

• Eat and drink in moderation. A little bit of everything. I was told by an experienced TCM expert that too much of vege or fruits will also cause harm to the body.
• Exercise regularly as it helps to generate endorphins which was said to have effects of a general boost in mood and happiness.
• Have sufficient rest & sleep - allow your body and mind to rest.

I think I have Dyslexia

Embarassing ler ..reading my last post. Never seen so many grammar and spelling errors in my life.

• 'to' became 'ot'
• 'snatch' became 'snatc'
• 'in a bright day light' instead of 'on a bright day light' - in fact the phrasing is completely wrong
• 'house' became 'hosue'
• 'incidents' became 'incidence'
• 'emotionless' became 'emotionlees'

I have same problems when I am at work too. Apart from grammar problems (which i think is a result of our neither Malay nor English education), my mind doesn't seem to be in sync with my fingers. I will either jumble up all the letters or I will tend to skip one two words in a sentence.

I think I have devlopled dyslexia! --- see? I didn' mistype that on purpose.

Or are these signs of aging? Stress? senile?

Never Ending Robberies

It seems ot be never ending. Do you hear about or receive emails about so and so being robbed while driving, while shopping, while eating, etc? Being robbed..I have experienced it at least twice..once when I was a college student when 2 idiots on a motorcycle snatc my SCHOOL BAG - can you believe it..SCHOOL BAG! The second time was about 2 years back , when I arrived home from work in a bright day light around 6pm..another 2 idoits stopped in front of my hosue pretending to ask for directions - and then forcefully snatched my handbag from me. I am leaving out other relatively small cases i.e pick pocket incidence, necklace snatched incidence, missing car etc.

Despite all these experiences, I've remained rather 'emotion-lees' when I receive emails or when I hear about so and so being robbed etc. Just like the police..it's BIASA la. This morning we receive an email from our insurance agent who shared her shocking experience. She was driving in her LOCKED CAR but her handbag was visible on the passenger seat. Out of nowhere..2 idiots appeared smashed her car window and took her handbag - left her bleeding on her left arms and legs. Read more on her blog

So ..ladies..do not leave anything on your carseats. I have this habit but..I have been trying hard to kick it. Will have to try harder now..

Still Bumming in Cyber

When I logged off at 6pm yesterday (with loads of incomplete work) I promised myself that I will not be surfing today. But..as you can see..I am still blogging and surfing away. It's become a daily habit for me to have a quick look into Malaysia Today and Malaysia Kini to check on latest Post Elections developments. The Star online and NST online are as good as redundant these days. And do you know that almost all our new MPs are bloggers? I've discovered a few and they are pretty impressive. I've changed my blog elements a little bit to include their links here. Notice any changes?

Well, I doubt they will have time blogging now..as they have to dive into their new responsibilities and new challenges to prove and re-assure voters that we have made the right choices.

I had an argument with a friend..who thought that we have probably voted too emotionally without thinking of the consequences. As a result, the government has lost quite a few good ministers (Chinese in particular). In other words, we have sacrificed 'a few good men/ women' who had contributed alot to the society. Well, I do agree to some extend BUT...that's the micro picture. For obvious reasons, the rakyat has almost unanimously decided to forego the micro benefits and opted to take a macro stand instead.

Well, to be honest none (from any sides) expected such a huge impact though. Well..instead of dwelling on...we just gotta move forward and see what the future has for us.

And..I've to get back to work..before I lose my job too!

Exciting Weekend

Well..with all said and reported..there really isn't much more to say. The results had very clearly indicated the Malaysians' SAY. However, this is just the beginning..it will be a long learning process from now on..whether or not things will improve..only time will tell.

Since this is such a memorable season..I guess it is only right that I pen down at least something relevant to mark this historical event :D

The day March 8th 2008 started very late for me. I was in bed until 11.25am because I only went to bed at 2am that morning. My father came home in the afternoon and told me that he voted for 'Anwar's daughter. He went back to Titiwangsa(constituency of our old house)..so I was wondering how come Nurul Izzah ended in Titiwangsa? So I asked..which logo he ticked..rocket, 2 moons or 1 moon. He said.."Green color la..1 moon only..ai yaa...as long as not the Dacing la"

Later..I went with my brother to cast our vote. We were out within 30 mins..very fast no queue at all.

By dinner time..we received rumours saying that the ruling party is losing quite badly. That's when the excitment begins. We were advised not to stay out late and stock up some food - just in case! After dinner..we stopped by a grocery store to to see what we can buy. All the bread were almost gone! One of my friend reacted - "ok..i will go and count my maggie mee" :D

There were live coverage on 8 TV stations and some radio stations. The situation became a little bit worrisome when reports confirmed the defeat of several key ministers in their respective constituency followed by the falling of Penang to the Opposition. With so many channels to choose from..I had a difficult time..choosing the best channel to stay tune to. On top of that I was also keeping track on the All Englan Badminton Open - I missed watching Lee Ching Wei bite dust wor.

Things got out of hand for me when my Astro remote control konked out. I had to get up and about to mannualy switch channels..how frustrating can that be..can you imagine?

I gave up at about 2am. Went to bed..but left my tiny alarm clock radio on. Not that I was awake to keep track of the results. BUt..I did somehow wake up around dawn..when I heard that the Opppsition captured FIVE states in the Peninsular..Selangor inclusive! I exclaimed in my sleeep..and drifted back to sleep.

By 9am..I realised that it is impossible to sleep on. I had to get up to verify the results...to confirm that..it is true ...that the Malaysians especially those in the cities...had unanimously decided to act!

Kennysia.com Who to Vote This Elction Decision Generator

This guy never disappoint me. Every time I visit his blog, I will find something hilarious. He deserves to be the most popular (probably riches) blogger in Malaysia.

I just tried his "Who to Vote This Election Decision Generator" and here's my result:

According to the 100% accurate kennysia.com Who-To-Vote-This-Election Decision Generator™, I am voting for...

DEMOCRATIC ACTION PARTY!

Who Should You Vote For This Election?

Elections 2008 in Malaysia

Malaysia is being hit by the election fever bug. Malaysians will be casting their votes for the 12th term this Saturday, 8th March. Only a few more days to go as candidates race against time campaigning walking the streets, giving talks, handing out souveniers, etc etc

While all these are happening, certain businesses like the advertising agencies, printing agencies, hawker centres , etc are cashing in additional revenue.

Some voters enjoy going ceramah hopping instead of pub hopping even though the weather has been pretty wet...but I was told that these people come prepared with umbrellas!

3/4 of the newspaper pages are filled with election related news and articles ..mostly about what the ruling party has to say about the opposition.

At the same time, the opposition makes full use of the internet and electronic mails to reach their target audience.

I receive an average of 5 emails a day on anti government issues. I only read selectively when it's really interesting....like this >> COMEDY COURT - you must click into this...it's hilarious. Especially the one about elections - ENJOY!

For some reasons, this election seems to be getting into everyone, everywhere and everything. Now..I have to decide what to vote for dinner ('eat' I mean):