this is emie. she's a doctor.

there are different ways we get introduced to people.

it almost always start with your name, followed by maybe a little bit more information about you.

like, this is emie. she was my friend in college.

or she was my neighbour.

or she works in JB now.

or she's so and so's daughter/sister/cousin etc.

you get the picture.

a small polite conversation then usually follows this introduction.

but what happens after you get introduced to people and they mention your occupation instead?

like, this is emie, she's a doctor.

well, when you get introduced as a doctor, most times you get these raised, often questionable eyebrows first as a response.

at least i do. as if to say, really? she doesnt look like a doctor. 

or really? i thought she's a teacher (refer to another previous blog entry. this i take as flattery) .

or she sure isnt dressed like one. (this will make my aruah mama go i told you so. she told me so soooo many times).
or really? she's too cute to be a doctor. (okay, i made that one up).

then other questions usually follow. 

if you're a doctor, some people may ask you where you work, which hospital, is it a busy/nice place, even maybe which medical school you went to etc.

or some people will just straight up ask you a medical question, more often than not, pertaining to their own health or worries about a certain ailment that they have, rather than a general question like, how about that zika,huh?

itu okay lagi. you still try your best to answer their questions.

but it's a little awkward when this is at a funeral, or you're visiting someone ill at the hospital, and you get introduced to the person's relatives who are also visiting, like what happened to me recently. a friend's close one was critically ill and admitted to the icu, so i went to visit. the atmosphere was sombre, the person was on a ventilator, with tubes and wires running to and from his body, the machines were beeping. there was another relative there so i was introduced by my friend as emie, old friend. she's a doctor. the relative then proceeded to asking me what i initially thought was going to be with regards of the ill person that we were visiting. understandably. may be she's hoping i could help explain certain things further.

but no. she actually went on to tell me about how she was also hospitalized in the same hospital a few times already for multiple surgeries, the last one on her uterus, just last year. i just listened politely and nodded a few times, i see, i see.

she then went on to tell me she is still having some symptoms which she wasn’t sure if it was related to the surgery or the underlying condition that she had, or whether there is a new diagnosis or if it was all part of the aging process, and asked if i knew what they were.

errrrrrrkk…

so i said, well i'm not a gynae so maybe you can ask your gynae next time you see him/her. i looked over at my friend and saw that HE looked real apologetic.

seriously.

that's not the worst scenario though.

imagine a kenduri kawin. you are really hungry, and boy does that nasi minyak look yummy & inviting, let's quickly find a seat. a relative sees you and calls you to sit near him/her. you gladly walk over, that plate of warm nasi minyak + rendang daging + ayam masak merah also calling you to quickly grab a seat so you can quickly eat (hey that rhymes!)

another introduction of ini emie, anak so & so, dia doktor kanak-kanak by the relative to a pakcik you dont know and his family.

this pakcik you were introduced to then briefly looks at you, washes his hands (he was eating) and lifts up his shirt to show you that rash/mole/growth/something-that-looks-like-a-map-of-somewhere on his belly/chest/armpit (!), and asks you if you know what it was, he's had it for awhile now, so can it be cancer?

the nasi minyak suddenly turns cold and no longer look appetizing.

why i still haven't quit my job

i find work to be increasingly stressful and tiring recently. it isn't anything more than the ordinary of course, working as a doctor in a government hospital, it's all part of the job. but there are times when you feel really tired, both physically and mentally, to a point that, for me, i start to think about the possibility of quitting. this also isn't surprising or new, you can talk to any doctor, almost all if not everyone of us have thought of quitting more than once in our medical career. the worst for me was probably when i was doing my masters program. the pressure to perform well, pass your exams, finish your thesis, all while still providing service to the patients in the hospital and being oncall, at the same time trying to balance your personal needs and the needs of your family, was more than enough for you to think of quitting at a daily basis! it's definitely not as bad now, but from time to time, the feeling does creep up again.
so i decided to take a day off today just to unwind and "recharge" myself. i went to the bank, did a bit of groceries and some shopping and then went back home, cooked a bit and then started reading a new book-iban journey by golda mowe. by the way, i went to the bookstore just now only to buy a pen and a whatchamacallit the whiteout-liquid-paper-correction thingy, but of course i cant help from browsing the book section too, so i ended up paying about rm100 for 3 books, 3 pens and whatchamacallit the whiteout-liquid-paper-correction thingy,  . sigh. i really should have bought the pen at the grocery store.
anyway, suddenly there was a whatsapp message from the sister in my palliative care team, sharing with me a message she received from a patient of ours today. just yesterday, the patient came to the hospital for her cardiology clinic follow-up and went looking for me in the ward. she wanted to show me the tablet she got from the children's wish society (cws). she was referred to our team about one and a half year ago, because she has a congenital heart condition that is now worsening and is limiting her daily activities and eventually her lifespan too. she is a very shy and quiet girl and it took me quite an effort to get her to warm up to us, and some coaxing to get her to tell me if there was anything that she wished to have. in the end she wrote me a 2-lined letter stating that she would like a tablet.

so i referred her to the cws team who then got her the tablet she wished for just about a month ago. and so she came to the ward yesterday to show it to me, and then asked to take a photo together. and so we did, i chatted with her a bit and that was it.
who knew, after that she sent a message to the sister, sharing the photo that was taken, and inviting us to visit her at home for raya. but what blew me away was that she also said that she misses me and that she loves me like her own mother!

so what am i supposed to do, (other than cried like a baby) after reading that?

well i cant quit my job yet, that's for sure!

trip to turkiye

turki.
turkey.
turkiye.

anyways, i was very fortunate to be able to visit this beautiful country back in November last year.
went with a couple of girlfriends.
hubby didnt come with.
he's still not fond of flying.
plus, by going with my girlfriends, it's easier to save on money, because we could divide everything equaly between us including our accommodation.

we took emirates to fly to istanbul via dubai.
spent overnight in dubai so we can see the city. arrived at dubai airport around 9pm and took a cab for a drive around the city. our cab driver was a filipino woman who could speak english well, (most of the people there can speak english fairly well) and she took us around the city, and then to the architectural wonders like the burj khalifa and burj al-arab, drove past the famous palm jumeirah resort, and then dropped us off at jumeirah beach. this beach was described to be THE place to hangout and stay for tourists, because it is lined with many hotels and restaurants. so we did. stay at the beach. literally. like, on the beach. we slept on the beach that night. after a long stroll looking at other people hanging out at the cafes and restaurants, we had falafel at a place called operation:falafel and around 3 am were just too tired to do anything else and so we parked ourselves on the beach and slept.
the next morning we had a simple breakfast at one of the many cafes, walked along the dubai canal (i think that's what it's called) and wandered some more (and got lost for awhile) before taking the train back to the airport.

and then we reached istanbul.
we stayed at a small family-owned hotel near the sultanahmet square called the piport hotel. stayed for 4 nights there. visited the blue mosque, the hagia sofia, the topkapi museum and a couple other museums by the square. visited the grand bazar as well. went on the bosphorus cruise.
tasted and experienced the turkish ice-cream, you know, there the ice-cream vendors not only sell the ice-cream but they also tease and joke with you when they are handing you the ice-cream. the ice-cream themselves are yummy too, kinda "chewy". my only regret was not having more of them.
the highlight of the istanbul, for my friends at least, was the istanbul marathon. they ran the 10k, and although i didnt run, i was extremely proud of them. it was their 1st run outside of malaysia too.


after istanbul we travelled to cappadocia by bus. it was a 12-hour ride at night, which helped save money on accomodation. the bus was comfortable too..they give you light snacks with coffee/tea soon after you get on and later as the day breaks and you approach your destination.
cappadocia has amazing one-of-a-kind landscapes. we took guided tours there, went hiking and up a hot air balloon at sunrise. we also went for a turkish bath or hamam, just to see what it was like. it was fun, you sit in a sauna and then have someone lather you up with soap and scrub your whole body. sounds like something you'd find in a nice spa here right? well, not really. 'cause all this are done in groups and you sit in a circle, while other people sit on the side waiting for their turn. we then opted for a massage afterwards. i think the hamams in cappadocia cost cheaper than those in istanbul, but there are not that many to choose from especially if you want one that separates the men from the women.

we stayed for only 1 night in cappadocia, but the hotel was the best one out of the 3 that we stayed in in turkey. that's because it was a cave hotel, which is one of the attractions in cappadocia too.
next we travelled to kusadasi and pamukkale. again, we travelled by bus, and again it was a 12-hour ride at night. we stayed for 2 nights in kusadasi at a hotel called akman hotel, and took guided tours around kusadasi and pamukkale. main attractions include the ancient greek city ephesus and roman ruins hierapolis where you can also bathe in the ancient pool and walk at the beautiful and scenic travertines. we also went to a carpet factory, and totally fell in love with the silky hand woven carpets, and i was almost taken aback as to how very expensive these carpets can be!

finally on the last day, we went to izmir airport, which was about 1-hour away from kusadasi, to fly back to istanbul. we flew on turkish airways, and just like on emirates, we totally liked the food they served us. speaking of food, before going for the trip i read on many people's blogs that seem to say that many people got bored with their "dry" kebabs and missed malaysian foods instead. well i'm glad we managed to try so many different types of food there, and have to disagree on that. i totally love turkish dishes, and i'm sure my friends did too, because every time we eat we would google the dish up to find the recipe and see if we can recreate it when we are back home. hahaha. who am i kidding? i know i'd better google up where i can find good turkish restaurants in kl/jb if i ever want to taste turkish foods again. that or travel back to turkey. ooo, that sounds awesome!

it was in turkey too that i got to taste fresh figs for the first time, and after telling hubby about it and how much i love it much more than the dried ones, he actually planted a few fig samplings behind my mom-in-law's house in muar, so soon i can have as much fresh figs as i want. yay!

so all in all it was a great trip. there are still a lot more places we didnt get to see. we also didnt get to see the whirling dervish dance which we planned to. it's unfortunate that right after we left there were news about the bombings in istanbul and ankara. ugh..why do people want to bomb other people? why cant we just respect each other and live peacefully ever after?? i want world peeaaceee! *read in whining tone*.  my thoughts and prayers to the people in turkey and everywhere else in the world. may we get world peace. and more travels.

baby news

no. i'm not pregnant or having a baby.
i don't mean MY baby news.

eva & ryan. on their 2nd.
blake & ryan. on their 2nd.
megan & brian. on their 3rd. and they are supposedly divorced!
chrissy & john just got one.
and to top it all off, E news was also showing awesome celebrities who got preggers after they turned 40.

so yeah, their baby news.

i put this up as my FB status after i saw the E!news show.
hastagged it maybe i should stop following E news and watch real news instead.
and that maybe i'm jelly. u know, the slang for jealous? (just learned it).

so on to local news.

the maid we hired to help my mom-in-law can't come back to work for us anymore because she is now pregnant.
with twins.

bah!

forget the news.

ps: bah? who says bah anymore? that's like from the days of reading Archie.


GAH! I want!!