My Indon Maid

After a long wait, finally today my Indon maid arrived. So this morning went to settle all the final bills with the agency, and then brought her back home. This is her 2nd time to Malaysia working as a maid, and she was lucky to work in Singapore for a year before this - but lucky for me, coz with her experience in Singapore, now she could speak very fluent English! I was surprised too, as I think her English is as good as my relative's Filipino maid!

I hope she could adapt well working in my family, and that she enjoys her stay in Malaysia.

My New Nuvi 200W

During the Chinese New Year break, I gave my ol' trusty Nuvi 200 GPSr to my father-in-law, because he was just too impressed what the gadget could do to save time and patrol while driving in Johor and Singapore. And he was astonished how accurate the map (from Malsingmaps) was, despite it being slightly outdated (unlocked public map - June 2007). Initially I thought of coming back to KL first before buying a new unit for him, but his gesture at that time showed that he wanted that unit, even though not a new one, very eagerly! And so that gave me a good reason to hunt for another new GPSr after I came back to KL.

At first I was thinking of the more expensive range, like Nuvi 310, 660 or the latest 710. But after consulting a few GPS "sifu" and Google around; my conclusion was that I don't need the Bluetooth, FM transmitter, TTS etc. functions -- all i need is just a simple straight forward GPSr! I thought the previous Nuvi 200 had a tad small screen, and that I hope the new unit I am gonna buy will have a bigger and wider screen.

So I came across the Nuvi 200w, and it has a 480x272 pixel WQVGA TFT screen. I bought it from the previous eBay seller I purchased my Nuvi 200, and he was kind enough to give me another RM50 off.

With this new Nuvi 200w, I personally feel that the cold startup time is very much faster than my previous Nuvi 200. And now with the new unit, the wide screen is so much nicer to look at, and so much clearer. Driving in KL is very much comfortable with a GPS on board! ;)

Plastic Surgeon As Psychiatrist?

Spotted another amusing typo error (I hope!) at the Putra Medical Centre's website. According to their site, the Consultant Psychiatrist Dr A. Brito is apparently holding a Diploma in Plastic Surgery (UK), instead of a postgraduate degree in psychiatry! ;)

Witch Yoo Hee

Recently I just finished watching the Korean Drama "Witch Yoo Hee" 《魔女幼熙》. And I must admit that it is really a nice and touching love drama (and who said guys don't like Korean Love Dramas?!) i am particularly attracted to one of its soundtrack. Thought of sharing with you guys here. If you have watched the series, the song is even more meaningful!

Malaysian English?

This is probably the best English standard you will get from our MMC.

Bomoh

With the recent shocking news of the missing girl Sharlinie, I really feel that our society's safety is at stake. Today, I read in the Star paper with the headlines "Sharlinie alive and will be found, predicts bomohs".

One thing really makes me ponder a lot: as far as I know, Islam discourages (or is it prohibits?) its followers to believe in bomoh and all those ilmu sihir. Then how come bomohs can come into picture amongst these muslims in our country?

Thaipusam

Glad that this year's Thaipusam is declared a public holiday for KL and Putrajaya, and not only for Selangor and the other 3 states. This means that my wife has holiday as well. So early in the morning today, my wife and I woke up pretty early and brought our 5 month old daugther to Kota Damansara for breakfast. My brother and sis in law joined in as well. My daughter usually wakes up around 10-11am, but whenever it is a weekend or public holiday, she will automatically wake up between 7 and 8am; without needing us to tell her (as if she could understand us even if we'd told her?!) This is something quite consistent over the past 2-3 months, without fail; even my nanny also realises this fact too! ;)

I really enjoy weekends or public holidays nowadays, not so much like in the past when I enjoyed going for movies or makan; but now I enjoy taking out my wife and daughter for sightseeing, as well as breakfast at places like Jom Bali cafe, Burger King etc...

Relaxing Time

This is how I relax in between study time. :) How about you?

8GB SDHC

I bought an A-data 8GB SDHC few days ago, and happy to know that my "new" x50v with WM6 ROM is able to recognise it. And with Softick Card Export installed, I don't need to purchase a SDHC-compatible card reader for the moment. It is really great to now have a total of 10GB in my x50v (8GB SDHC and my old 2GB CF card)! ;)

My Ol' Faithful Axim

Recently I flashed my ol' Dell Axim x50v with the unofficial A03 WM6 ROM (courtesy of XDA developers), and revived the "brick" into a whole-new gadget!

With the new ROM, I have so far been very satisfied with the speed improvement and attractive GUI - more so with the VGA display of the x50v. The only worry initially was whether the Thinkoutside Bluetooth keyboard driver was compatible with the WM6 ROM - but luckily after installing the driver, the bluetooth keyboard works like a charm - so much so it is better and more stable than during the WM2003SE era! But you must remember to turn off the built-in HID option.

I even tried out the RealVGA for WM6 - although the display is greatly enhanced, especially during surfing net with PIE (or Opera 8.65), the speed is tremendously slowed down. I did a hard reset because I was unable to tweak the setting back to the original one.

The Treo 680 is indeed a great PDA phone, and when we compliment it with the x50v (WM6) - they are the best companions a gadget-freak-doctor can have! ;)

Braun Oxyjet

Last Christmas, my wife got a gift from her mom - the Braun Oxyjet - it's essentially a powered device utilising high pressure water jet tooth cleaner! It's not any ordinary electric toothbrush, but a fine piece of equipment, to really clean your teeth right to their base!

All this while, I thought I am really satisfied with my rechargable electric toothbrush plus the dental floss, but after I tried on the Oxyjet, I am just overwhelmed by the result it gives! My teeth look so much cleaner than before, and the best of all, you could clearly see food particles dropping out from your oral cavity, as the water jet is in progress - sounds gross, but the after-effect is just marvellous! This is especially useful for those people with malaligned teeth, giving rise to deep seated cavities which could potentially hide food particles which are impossible to be removed during normal toothbrushing.

It has a container to place water in it before you activate the waterjet system; if you like, you could even add a cupful of mouth rinse (eg. Oral B, Listerine etc.) in it -- it feels so much better!

The price could be a little steep for most of us, but if you care much for your teeth, it is a worthwhile investment! You have to try it to believe it! :)

Fall Sick

This morning I woke up feeling very dizzy and throbbing headache; to make it worse, I even had diarrheoa. I was so lethargic that I couldn't even go to work - gotta sms my consultant to spare me from work today.

Towards the night, I am feeling slightly better, but still feverish. I hope I can get back to work by tomorrow.

Chua Soi Lek In Sex DVD

What a way to start in 2008. I was utterly shocked to read this in The Star today, in my on call room.

I am the one in the sex DVD, says Chua
LABIS: Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek admitted he is the politician in the sex DVDs
circulating in Johor.
In a press conference here Tuesday, Dr Chua said the girl is his “personal friend”.
He apologised to the Malaysian public, his supporters and colleagues.
He said he did not make the tape himself.
More...

He is quite an out-spoken health minister, and has fought for quite a few benefits for the doctors and paramedics. I wish him all the best, and may luck be with him.

Goodbye 2007

OMG, time flies. I have not been regularly updating my blog lately, coz ever since I am back here in KL, it's been busy every day working or doing calls; and if weekends come, there are just so many programs queing up in my diary!

2007 has come to an end. Before I wave goodbye to the piggy year 2007, it's nice to recap what I have achieved or done so far:

1. Moved in to my new house
2. Arrival of my cute lil' baby girl
3. My wife entering Master program
4. I am trasferred back from Sarawak to KL
5. My new HOD in Selayang passed away
6. Adjustment disorder in the new working environment
7. Got my new car
8. Hired a nanny who is so caring for my baby
9. Booked an Indon maid but still yet to arrive
10. Meet up with so many old friends, whom I have not seen for years
11. Attended so many wedding receptions in these few months
12. Bought a new Treo680 and still liking it so far
13. Bought a new XPS laptop for my wife - she loves it!
14. Best of all - enjoying all the delicious food in KL, which I didn't have the chance in Sibu! ;)

So, consider it a fruitful year - though in life, there are always ups and downs. Looking at the bright side, I am now near my parents, my siblings, and with a beautiful family I have now, what's more can I ask for.

Wish for 2008 - pass my exam (I dont care how many attempts or years it takes!), and venture into some business to earn more money! ;)

Till then, it's a Goodbye to 2007!

Taxi and Visit Malaysia Year

I came across the news in The Star today, where traders and taxi drivers lamented their losses due to the mass peace parade on 10 Nov.

The most striking paragraph was this:

Taxi operator Leong Aw said taxi drivers lost much business because of the illegal gathering, saying it drove tourists away when they saw thousands of demonstrators in the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

“The Government is promoting Visit Malaysia 2007 which will help us make money, especially during this festive season. Such a gathering is not part of the Malaysian culture,” he said.

Well, the other day after attending the Annual Metabolic and IEM course in Grand Season hotel, KL, a few of us decided to go from GS hotel to Petaling street. It was a little heavy traffice that day (well, tell me what day KL is not having traffic jam, anyway), and 4 taxis refused to take us there -- then there was finally one taxi driver who offered to take us there, but we gotta pay RM30!!

After boarding his taxi, we told him that taxis should use meter instead of acting like illegal cabs, and furthermore it's Visit Malaysia Year 2007, taxis should lead good examples to abide by the laws and regulations of the country. And to our shock, the taxi driver replied," Well, the officers are lazy and they won't come and catch us taxi drivers, coz we are united. Furthermore, even if we get caught, our boss will settle it."

He paused a while, and then added," And looking at you few guys, (I) don't think you are from those agencies, so why should I be worried. It's jam here, and if you don't want me to take you there, you can always get off the cab and walk there yourself!"

WTF, damn bloody cocky and arrogant.

That's why when I read about the mass parade which caused losses to those taxi drivers -- I have two words for those (not all of them though) taxi drivers who have been so arrogant -- "padan muka"!