Where are Seremban folks heading tonite?

The question is easy... "Where are the whole Seremban population concentrated at tonight?" If you're an alert driver in Seremban, you would have noticed banners by the roadside around town announcing something great that's gonna happen today, and nope it's not the premiere of Spiderman 3!

It's the grand opening of Tesco Seremban! It's so happening it causes traffic standstill.

People are dying to get there as though it's a valley of gold, platinum, and diamonds, they ditch their cars by the roadside. The scene was chaotic, small children were left crying alone. Aunties and uncles were shouting at each others coz everyone were annoyed at everybody.

And no I wasn't part of it! I was just passing by on my Orange Beast, on my way back from Jusco trying to buy tickets for SpideyMan3 premiere for tomorrow. I've no idea why TGV Jusco don't allow us kiasu ppl to buy the tickets for tomorrow's viewing. Why Seremban so special meh?

All photos seen in this post are taken with W880i, with night-mode on. Not bad lah, can tahan lah...

Unboxing W880i

Say Hi to the latest addition to my gadgetry armament... the cachectic and malnourished gracile and slender Sony Ericsson W880i!

Yea yea I know I bitched about the infamous "auto-off" function I read from review sites, but reliable sources confirmed that they have no such experience with their W880i. After an hour of hands-on experience with a myriad of makes and models from the market's latest phone lineup Friday, my mind's fixed on this svelte beauty.

The specs are unbelievable which include: 3G (Maxis has no 3G in Seremban, that sucks!), a 2.0 mega-pixel back-facing camera plus one front-facing video-calling camera, good speakers in relative to the willowy thickness thinness, 1Gb M2 memory stick, and a boatload of good softwares. The camera isn't the best but gets the job done, and if I need better pics there's always my Sony T30 (why must everything be "It's A Sony"? I have 5 Sony-ses, which include a Sony Clie PDA, Sony MP3 player, Sony Digital Camera, Sony car audio's headunit, and the latest lean & mean W880i. Must be the JapTech that makes it all wantable!).

Don't be perturbed by the meagre buttons - they are quite usable although my fingers are by no mean sissy in size. You can take my words for it! But that said, you wouldn't want to compose long SMSes and E-mails on it the whole day. 'Nuff sed.

One thing that's apparent with the OS is its SPEEEEED! This nifty gadget is loaded with an afterburner, and if you compare it to Nokia's N-series, it's as though the latter came installed with reverse thrusters.

Nice OS features include a built-in RSS reader, good web browser, a pretty good selection of themes, and of course Sony's Walkman software. Call quality was good, and earpiece volume was good too.

Call me suaku or jakun, but I was a hyperactive excited monkey when I see my blog loading on a HANDPHONE via 3G! Repeat after me, "On-A-Handphone!". Canggihnya... now how do I moblog?

It won't do if you don't accessorise such a snazzy piece of art with a high-tech looking piece of bluetooth! Anyway, it comes free with the phone courtesy of my cousin who introduced the phone seller from Sg. Wang Plaza! Would like one that's black in colour though (I'm not complaining ok).

All in all, not a bad experience! Never been so happy with a mobile phone since my great late Nokia 8210. Oh, I never want to see a 3G phone that's more than double this size ever again! Simi Razr, simi N-series, simi Samsung Slim Edition, limpek boh-chap, all so ulu and obiang. Limpek's W880i sibeh solid. Limpek's gonna make le sibeh paiseh with your tualiap mobile nehhh!

Nokia N76

Was quite impressed with the slim Sony Ericsson W880i a while ago, and hell was I relieved I didn't buy it on impulse! Turned out it lacks the features as it lacks the bulk! And worse, reviewers had it that it has an "auto-off function" which turns the phone off up to 5 times a day! How smart! The auto-off function can also be executed by slightly tapping the back of the phone at strategic locations. How impressive! Then, news about the upcoming Nokia N76 caught my attention.

I've not seen a N-series from Nokia so sexily and nicely built! I'm craving for another phone, yet again, and this time it's a black Nokia N76! The Nokia website said it's going to be released in the 1st quater of 2007, but we're already in 2nd quarter of the year and no sign of it in market yet! Be mesmerised by the pictures and a promo video that follows... Motorazr V3 cannot even come close... :)

Post Gynae Long Case Exam

My patient is a 54 year-old widow of parity 1, who presented with cyclical menorrhagia of 2 years duration with mild symptoms of anaemia. I wouldn't say it's a postmenopausal bleeding despite her age (mean age of menopause for Malaysian women is 50.7 years), as her menses were regular cycles of 40 days with duration of 7 days for the past 2 years. She's recently diagnosed to be hypertensive and on medication.

Dr. S: Are you ready?
Me: (Give it to me baybehh...) Err, yes...
Dr. S: Say you are the one who saw this patient for the first time, how would you investigate her?
Me: FBC to assess anaemia, PT/APTT to see if there's any coagulation defects, blood grouping and crossmatch in case she needs transfusion. Thyroid function test for hypothyroidism as she appeared sluggish. Then, a transabdominal or transvaginal ultrasound to look for uterine and pelvic mass. Followed by cervical smear, Pipelle sampling, and hysteroscopy for direct visualisation and directed biopsy.
Dr. S: What can be done during ultrasound examination to improve ultrasonographic view?
Me: ... ... ...
Dr. S: Distend the uterus with normal saline la. Do you think a renal profile is justified in her case?
Me: No?... err Yes, actually... given her age she may have diabetes...
Dr. S: Yes! And don't forget she has hypertension too! Now, they are going to insert a Mirena into her. What's Mirena?
Me: It's a levonorgestrel intrauterine system used to treat menorrhagia and dysmenorrhoea, and is also used as contraception. It releases the hormone levonorgestrel locally in the uterus in small doses for up to 5 years, making menstruation lighter, shorter, and less painful (lucky I curi the Mirena booklet from the clinic!).
Dr. S: Other than Mirena, how would you manage the patient, medically?
Me: I would prescribe her haematinics for her anaemia. Then, mefenamic acid and tranexamic acid to reduce her menstruation. Also, hormonal preparations such as Danazol, Gestrinone, GnRH analogues, and combined oral contraceptive pills (COCs). (Was basically regurgitating facts from textbook)
Dr. S: Do you think she needs COCs at her age?
Me: Oops, sorry, no COC for her.
Dr. S: And due to her age, we don't normally prescribe Danazol, Gestrinone, and GnRH analogues. What other management options would you give her?
Me: Surgical options, and these are divided into fertility sparing and non-fertility sparing procedures...
Dr. S: Why do you want to preserve fertility in this patient?
Me: Oh yeah, 54 year-old, suppose to be menopause edy... (sh!t... again!). Then the surgical option would be more radical, such as vaginal hysterectomy, transabdominal hysterectomy, and laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy.
Dr. S: Riiiiggght... ok tell me the physical findings.
Me: On general inspection, she's overweight with BMI of 25. She has pallor of the conjunctivae but no jaundice, clubbing, oedema, or cyanosis. Blood pressure 160/90, pulse 60, respiratory rate 16 breaths per min, afebrile. Her lungs are clear. On heart exam, apex beat is not deviated, dual rythmn heard and no murmur detected. On abdomen exam, it's soft, non-tender, no organomegaly, no uterine enlargement and no mass palpable. If given enough time, I would proceed to pelvic examination.
Dr. S: What would you look for in pelvic exam?
Me: Starting with inspection of external genitalia, I'd look for any bleeding or discharge. On speculum exam, I'd look for any ulceration or exophytic growth on the cervix, and if there's any active bleeding. I'd do a bimanual palpation to assess mobility of pelvic organs, feel if the uterus is retroverted, if there's any adnexal pathology and palpate for pelvic masses.
Dr. S: Do you expect to find anything in this patient?
Me: Not likely.
Dr. S: What's your provisional diagnosis?
Me: Given her history, I would like to entertain the diagnosis of benign growth of the endometrium, such as endometrial polyps.
Dr. S: You're not wrong, but do you think she would be given Mirena if it's a polyp?
Me: No,... no Mirena if it's polyp.
Dr. S: What's your differential diagnosis?
Me: Malignancy, such as endometrial carcinoma.
Dr. S: Yes, don't forget about malignancy. Why do you think her cycles are getting prolonged?
Me: ... err... hormonal imbalance... the ovaries are failing...
Dr. S: What do you call that?... failing ovaries and cycles getting longer?
Me: ... anovulatory cycles?
Dr. S: Yea lah, why you so scared to say that? So what's your diagnosis for this lady now?
Me: (heh heh, actually I tembak oni...) Dysfunctional uterine bleeding!
Dr. S: (polyphonic ring tone blasting loudly) Ok la, thanks.
Me: (yeahh... balik tidorrr... Oh no... Dato' S. is still in the ward...)

Biskut Tambun Cappuccino

When I opened my room door 10 minutes ago, I caught a glimpse of an unidentified foreign object planted to it! At first glance it looked like a compact rectangular-shaped grenade with a piece of death note taped to it. I suddenly remembered Daniel's girlfriend, Su Lin, is in the house... are they trying to murder the only witness to their secret mushy blogpost which they had deleted?!?!

Upon closer inspection, the note has a drawing of a rooster with bilateral, grossly enlarged upper limb haematoma, which might have resulted from severe inhumane torture (shudders)! The note is addressed to "KAI", meaning chicken in Chinese.

The grenade box is littered with multiple Chinese characters. I don't read Chinese! Made in China grenades?...

Wait a minute... 100% VEGETABLE OIL??? I then turn the grenade sideways, and read: CAPPUCCINO TAMBUN BISCUIT. Sigh of relieve...

It's a gift from the couple next door (Daniel & Su Lin, that is!) Biskut tambun (known as tau sar pneah or mungbean cookie) from Penang! One of my favourite cookies/biscuits! Ahh therapeutic...

Su Lin used to buy huge boxes of biskut tambun for each of us, each box containing at least 20 bijik of biskut tambun. After so long, the supply is dwindling...

As I stare at the note attached, I can't help thinking they would have wanted to write something that look like...

Looks like I have to break my promise to Kok Fang. He requested that I reproduce the comic strip that depicts Daniel and Su Lin's courtship and post it to our teamblog. How can I resist the bribe of biskut tambun from Penang? Heh heh heh... thanks Penguin!

The biskut tambun is from Sheng Hiang - click on the image above to link to their website.

Seremban Seafood Village

Rachel is in Seremban today on her one-day assignment auditing Philip-Morris, the international tobacco company situated next to Tesco Hypermarket (previously Makro) in Seremban 2. We decided to go for crab for dinner. Our regular devillicious salted-egg crab place was closed, and our second option was naturally the Seremban Seafood Village which is a few metres down the road.

Seremban Seafood Village is located in Seremban Town, behind the Seremban Wet Market. If you drive along the road from Terminal One, you will notice a stretch of seafood restaurant on your left once you pass the wet market on your right. We normally go to the first seafood restaurant called Choy Kee Food Stall for their delicious salted-egg crab but it's closed. Seremban Seafood Village is one of those restaurants along the stretch, but their salted-egg variety sucks.

We ordered four dishes. Veggie came first, this is the fu-yue yao mak (lettuce with pickled tofu and garlic). This is my all time favourite veggie. If anyone ask me to order veggie in a chinese restaurant, it's sure a fu-yue yao mak!

Next came the pai kuat wong (King's Spareribs, abosolutely non-halal). This dish is essentially pork loin rib chop cooked in sticky sweet and sour sauce. Very tasty, succulent daging babi! One of the best pai kuat wong I've ever tasted. Kuat kuat lari!

We didn't feel like having rice, so we ordered their house specialty fried sang meen (fried wantan noodles). So much for house specialty! It didn't taste good at all and it took forever to come, and there's nothing much other than noodles and shredded cabbage.

And the maincourse - kam heong style crab (crab cooked in chillies, dried shrimps, curry leaves, and spices). The crabs are fresh and succulent. Crabs of this freshness should be ordered grilled (ketam bakar) or baked. The kam heong is too overpowering. But nevertheless, it's still good crab! I rate this dish 7 out of 10.

We ordered 1kg of the crab - there's 2 bijik of crabs on the plate. 500g each? Look at the crab's brain! Tasted like oyster! It goes well with the provided special chilli sauce dip. Syiok!

The veggie and fried noodles cost RM6.00 each. Pork ribs was RM10.00, while the crabs cost RM40.00 (RM40/kg). I'm surprised restaurant like this also charge 5% government tax. The bill came at a total RM66.78 inclusive of 2 glasses of plain water and a plate of ground nuts.

Proton "Sand-Scooper" Wira

Why would anyone turn an innocent looking Proton Wira into something so horrendous-looking, such as these...???




And I thought I was being a bit "over" with my front bumper. This clinched it! The all new Proton "Sand-Scooper" Wira 1.5GLi-xxx. Available at every Ah Beng Car Modify Shop near you.

Bumper tajam: +10bhp.

The Wrath of God

The article was on yesterday's Sunday Star. The fallen tree was shot in Section 14, the housing area near the Jaya Supermarket. I was in the vicinity too, in SS1 driving towards Jalan 222 (off Federal Highway) after picking Rachel up. It really was a freak storm!

The wind was very strong, my lowered suspension and race-specced Wira wobbled as it cruised along the street at a slow 40km/h! The torrential rain blurred visibility, it was a cloudy white in front of my windscreen.

Tree branches were flying across the street. There were fallen road signs too! Some stretches of the road were swollen with rainwater.

It didn't look deep until you were in the middle, deepest section of the flooded road. I had to yank the throttle at 1st gear to boat my Wira through. Mighty Wira nearly died on me! Crossed two shallow rivers (literally)! Lowered Wiras are not good amphibians.

Rachel was scared shitless speechless. Then, my brakes felt rubbery. Floor the brake pedal and the car glides forward as if it's still in water. By that time I was already on the Federal Highway, and there was only a slight drizzle.

I had to floor the brake pedal a few times and do some wheel locking (of course after checking there's no Mat Tailing and Mat Rempits behind), to wake the made-in-Malaysia a.k.a. BolehLand brakes up.

My Wira survived the ordeal! Caught loads of rubbish with the fish-net installed on my front bumper.

Am sure disappointed. Ikan bilis (anchovies) also don't have!

Oh, and the cracks on my front bumper had widened! Going to install back my original bumper soon. Sigh... lesson of the day - never install a fibre-made aftermarket bumper! Go for the soft PU type!