Around Us

Snapped outside my rented house in Seremban.

A friend of my sister's called me recently to ask regarding nutrition for his terminally ill father. The conversation goes...

Him: Doc said my dad is in late stage of liver cancer. His tummy is bloated. Testicles swollen. He is yellow! But we are still hopeful that he can get better!
Me: I'm so sorry to hear that... well...
Him: Actually I called to ask if he can eat prawns, beef, chicken, fish (etc. etc.). I'm concerned that these food might nourish the cancerous cells, making his condition worse!
Me: If he has the appetite, shouldn't be any problem. No food restriction unless specified by the doctor.
Him: Yeah, that's what I thought too! The normal cells also need to eat right?!
Me: (know still ask!) Yep, that's right!
Him: What bout soup or beverages? Anything that is poisonous to his body, considering he has liver cancer now?
Me: Err... anything should be okay... (provided you don't feed him alcohol).
Him: Anything we can do?
Me: Make him feel comfortable, ease his pain and let him eat whatever he wishes. You can actually check out the hospice in Cheras that deal with palliative care.
Him: Palliative?
Me: Oh, it's a place that make patients like your dad cope better with his illness.
Him: Oh...

And I later found out from my sis that his dad passed away a few weeks after our conversation. I hope I'd given him the correct advice.

Actually, all I wanted to say was that I didn't know the tree outside my porch could look that nice. Till I turned the porch light on last nite. It's always been there, for the past 2 years, and none of us had noticed it!

Happy Father's Day

None of you can ever be proud enough of being the child of SUCH a Father who has not his equal in this world - so great, so good, so faultless. Try, all of you, to follow in his footsteps and don't be discouraged, for to be really in everything like him none of you, I am sure, will ever be. Try, therefore, to be like him in some points, and you will have acquired a great deal.

- Victoria, Queen of England -

Windmill Station @ Seremban 2

We had dinner at this newly opened Windmill Station at Seremban 2 yesterday night. Looking for good western food in Seremban is a chore! The best we had was at the Cowboy Station at Lobak but it'd wind up business long ago.

Having had good dining experience at their other outlet in Ampangan, we had high expectations from this new branch. Was craving for good food too as I ran 14.0km earlier as final preparation for my coming Sunday's Penang Bridge Marathon.

The pictorial menu was nicely designed, showing you exactly what you gonna get with each order. I had no problem ordering my food while talking on my handphone - just look, point, and nod. No fret there.

Dining ambience was okay, although not as classy as the one in Ampangan. No feel of fine-dining here.

Drinks that we ordered - Mango Smoothie, Iced Lemon Tea, and Fresh Apple Juice. The drinks are generally good. No let down here.

Grilled Chicken and Fish - RM15.80

I ordered the Grilled Chicken & Fish with black pepper sauce. Comes with some shredded cabbage, potato salad, tomato and cucumber slices, and some fruit salad. Fish was ok, but the chicken was a bit anorexic don't you think? Health freaks beware, if you order this be sure to turn the chicken over. A fat slab of chicken skin comes hidden underneath!

Hot and Spicy Fish Set - RM12.80

Ah Duan ordered this Hot and Spicy fish, which he said wasn't spicy at all. Looks like any other ordinary Fish & Chips to me!

Chicken Soup - (comes with set meals)

Most of the guys ordered the set meal, which comes with a bowl of soup, and looks like topped with overnite Gardenia bread crumbs. Haha, looks cheap to me. Now is that chicken or mushroom soup?

Nasi Goreng Kebab Set - RM7.50

Quek complaint that their Nasi Goreng Kebab not nice. Looks appetising to me. And for RM7.50 with a bowl of soup and iced lemon tea, I think it's a pretty good deal too. (I think he purposely say it's not nice to get back at us for criticising his Malay food recommendations. I think he'll be back with his girlfriend at Windmill soon. LOL!)

Mixed Grill Set - RM19.90

Daniel's Mixed Grill came 20mins after the rest of us finished gobbling our food. We were already asking for the bill, when the waiter came non-chalantly and shoved the plate to Daniel. Haha, he was pretty pissed. He wanted to head to Jusco for KFC already... but the temptation of piping hot grilled food got him whacking the food all the way!

Sirloin Steak - RM10.90

Siu Min's steak looks pathetic, I'm not sure if he's full after downing all those stuff. At least he's happy with his apple juice - authentic taste he said. Haha.

The dinner summed up to RM79.80, including a 5% tax. Surprisingly no 10% service charge here. Would I come again? Maybe. Maybe not!

The address:
40 G/F, Jalan S2,
B18 Biz Avenue,
Seremban Two.

My Middle Finger

This is actually a picture of my left middle finger. Notice the pinkish lesion? I've been having it for about 4 months now. It's mildly itchy at times, otherwise I don't feel a thing. I was hoping it would go away with time but it didn't! Let's have a closer look...

Can you guess what's that nasty-looking thingy that I'm having on my left middle finger? And no, I don't have a fetish for fingering stuffs.

Nerd Energy Drink

MED STUDENTS, READ THIS: Fancy an energy drink that enhances brain focus and memory retention? Looking for something that's gonna keep you going all night long? Fret not then, here comes the NERD Energy Drink!

Formulated by a Medical Student (how appropriate!) from Virginia, this brain juice contains ginkgo biloba, among other weird things, as a memory enhancer.

Other ingredients that the maker claimed to enhance brain power are Vinpocetine, Huperzine A, and DMAE. Since this is an energy drink, it also comes with the stuff you'd expect in a can of Red Bull or Livita, i.e. Taurine, Caffeine, Vit B2, B3, B6, and B12, as well as the not so expected L-carnitine (wah can burn fat too while you're at it!), Carnitine, Glucuronolactone, Ginseng extract, and Guarana seed extract.

If this brain juice does what the Nerd maker claims, it'd probably cost RM200 a can! Ginkgo biloba, Ginseng, and L-carnitine don't come cheap! Was thinking a few cups of quad-shot espressos at Coffee Bean would do the trick! Am sticking to my coffee for now. God knows what this kryptonite-tinged juice does to your brain in the long run. Check this Nerd Juice out by clicking the brain image on the right!

[update!]
This nerdy drink is shipped in cartons of 24 cans (12 oz./can) for $48.00 USD. One can is about the price of a can of Heineken! Affordable eh?!

Surgery Posting

I'm currently in my first week of Surgery posting. Previous batchmates warned this posting is much more stressful than the Gynaecology posting I had earlier, but so far so good for me. Here's a comic strip I found relevant to my current posting, so enjoy!

Sourced from: theunderweardrawer

Face Recognition

Discovered this site with Face Recognition software from Grace Lau's blog. Tried with a picture of Andy Lau initially, and the result came out with a picture of Andy Lau of 100% resemblance. I decided to give it a try, too!

Urghh, the result - yours truly look like Eddie Murphy, a young Clint Eastwood, Roshan(?), and can you believe it, Benazir Bhutto?!!

And also tried with some other random pictures of my friends too. The software says Daniel resembles Monica Belucci when he's asleep and snoring...

Kok Fang, with his home-cut hairstyle (this photo is taken in his prepuberty years, so stop laughing) looks like Wang Li Hom and Nicholas Tze Ting Fung... wtf???

Quek's slumberland face earned him a 68% resemblance of Bae Yong Joon, the Korean aunty-killer. Look alike meh?...

Siu Min pulak looked like the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. Can lah, this one quite similar. But the son of Bruce Lee, Brandon, and Terence Gao the Singaporean Mediacorp artiste? This is blasphemy! Hahaha...

And lastly, Keng Tat. The face recognition software said he resemble Stephan Chow, the HK comedy king. And is that a young Sean Connery?...


Interesting eh?!

Motorcycle Sales Centre

Since there's a recent revised salary hike on government doctor's payroll, my dream toy is a step closer to reality. It's always been my dream to have a cross-country motorbiking trip with a buddy or two, aka Long Way Round style. So I decided to check on the available new toys at Motorcycle Sales Center (MSC) at Section 16, P.J.

It was closed when I got there. Too early I guess. This is my second time to this shop, and the first I came it was closed too! But hell, ogling thru the glass panel already made me high. Saw two Harley Davidson V-Rods! A fair amount of superbikes like the Yamaha R1 and CBR1000RR.
But on the top of my toy list would be the street-fighter styled naked bikes! Like the green and orange Kawasaki ER6N in the photos below!
There's a fair amount of other naked bikes too, like the ever famous Honda CB900 Hornet, and the very cool Yamaha FZ6. But the ultimate machine I'm dreaming of, which may bring me as far as Nepal by land, would still be the BMW R1200GS Adventure! Imagine this, riding from KL to Nepal, then climb the Kala Patthar and back! Oh I digress...

They of course don't have the Beemer here in MSC, but no point going to BMW Motorrad showroom to ogle at the GS (not that I've never done that before!). Must practise on a naked bike first before attempting on the mean machine! Hello government, any possibility of new salary hike next year?

Syarikat Motorcycle Sales Center Sdn. Bhd.
No.1.3.5 Lorong University C,
Section 16,
46350 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia.

Related posts:
• Naked Bikes
• Naza Blade
• Ducati Monsters
• RM105,100.00!
• BMW R1200GS Adventure

@ California Fitness

Working out with Daniel at Mid Valley. Gonna have a relaxing dip at the jacuzzi pool now. Hope nobody see us as gay partners. Haha!
1730hrs @ California Fitness via W880i.

Secularism

The Federal Court refused to recognise Lina Joy's conversion from Muslim to Christianity, to the thunderous applause of the sea of Muslim Youth Movement members outside Palace of Justice, Putrajaya yesterday.

Isn't that a defeat for secularism and constitutionalism in this country? The Federal Court, being the highest court in the country should make decisions based on evidence and fact rather by religious influence (ie. being secular) and respect an individual's fundamental freedom to practice the religion of his/her choice (ie. being constitutional).

Why subject Lina Joy to the Syariah Court when she's not a Muslim (she was baptised in 1998)? It now seems they want syariah to apply to non-Muslims, or at least former Muslims in their midst, too!

The Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim said in his ruling, "She cannot at her own whim simply enter or leave her religion." And I thought the verse "Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan" in the Rukunegara was the freedom to practice religion of one's choice.

The court ruled 2-1 against the defendant: Both judges in the majority were Muslim, while the only non-Muslim in the court (Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Richard Malanjum) argued passionately that Malaysia's highest law should be constitutional and secular, and criticising the NRD’s act as “unconstitutional and discriminatory”. Bravo Justice Richard. We heart you!

Watch the news coverage here (Windows Media Player required)

[UPDATE 01.06.07]
Just to make things clear, since there's a hot debate going on in my spit-back section. What I meant to say was,

NO court or authority (be it Syariah Court or politicians dan yg. lain-lain) should be easily allowed to have implied powers to curtail rights that are constitutionally granted. The Federal Constitution is and must remain in law, supreme. In an event of any inconsistency or conflict between the provisions of State Enactments and of the Federal Constitution, the latter must prevail.

This I quote from the Bar Council's say on the decision made by the High Court.

Read more on Lina's case here:
• The Star
• International Herald Tribune