Welcome 2015

Third day of 2015. I'm in the room, practicing my ukulele. Yeah. I got myself a new toy in Alor Star. Time to pick up with my instrument skills. 

So far, 3 days of 2015, I've spent most of the time working and sleeping, and of course eating. Oh! Not to forget my cough. So my body has been very busy from top to toes. 

I'm grateful that I have kind people around me that gave me helping hands whenever I need one. In just 3 days, I received a lot of help from people around me. I don't know how to tell how grateful I am. I don't know how to show how much I appreciate their help. Billion thanks!! Good start for 2015. Thank you. THANK YOU. THANK YOU!!!

I hope 2015 would be a good year for everyone. Everyone, please be healthy, safe and happy. =D 

More importantly, DO GOOD. Be good to your family and friends, your colleagues, your customers, your neighbours, your pets, strangers on the street, people who need help.......... Only when we do good, the world can be filled with love and hope. 

On the other side, I would like myself to be good to myself too in this brand new year. =D 

Learn Ukulele properly.
Hopefully I can play a lot of songs by the end of the year, with good techniques =)

Be healthy and do more exercise.

Must be hardworking to attend zumba classes or go workout in gym. 

Take a break from work after PRP.

Honestly, putting such hobby aside is really painful. My food & travel blog is all about food nowadays. Travel part has been missing for ages already. 

Smile to everyone.

I wish everyone I meet with a smile. Even a stranger. 

A smile can make someone's day. I believe. Spread the positive energy and the joyfulness. =D

**Note: Only ukulele photo is taken by myself. other photos are taken from Google images

This Christmas is Different!

 

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family members, and to you (who are reading this blog post). =D

My Christmas wish for you is that you feel the glow and sparkle of the holiday season throughout the year to come. And may 2015 be a good year to you, fill with lots of lucks, happiness and joy.

25th December 2014. Christmas Day. Today, is a special day. It is different from my other Christmas days for the past 22 years. I am working. I am on-call for toxic cases (TDM). I am all alone at home playing ukulele and suddenly I received a call from HO. And so, my Christmas day becomes different.  

I am here typing this blog post in TDM room while waiting for results. Feeling..... erm...... neutral. Just being a little annoyed because I have to work due to other's forgetfulness. Oh well, since I have nothing to do at home (apart from learning ukulele), I feel alright. =) Holiday is suppose to be fun and filled with smiles. So I am not gonna have any negative feelings. Shooo!

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This is my first blog update in December. Getting lazier since I started working. Oopss! My life has been very busy and time passed really really fast. I can't believe that I've worked for 6 months and 9 days! Oh-Emm-Gee.. Life is good in Alor Star and I am working in a comfortable environment. Sad thing is, I have to see good friends leaving me after they finished their PRP. I hang out with them almost 24/7 and now they left and some are leaving soon. ='( I MISS THEM.

Appreciate every moment you spent with everyone around you. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

PRP Life: My TDM Journal (Part 1)

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) is a part of pharmacy service in hospital, which many people aren't aware of. TDM provides service to measure the medication concentrations in blood, mainly focus on drugs with narrow therapeutic index (which means the drugs can be easily under- or overdosed; and may have serious adverse effects if the level is out of range). Hence, TDM is important to help the healthcare team to individually adjust the dose according to patient's latest condition. 

Being a provisionally registered pharmacist (PRP), I have the chance to attach to TDM department in my hospital for a month. I was quite happy to attach to this department as it is something different. We need to deal with machines, blood samples, calculations, etc...... Unlike outpatient and inpatient department, we did not directly supply medication to the patients. TDM department provide results of current drug concentration in the blood and provide recommendation to the healthcare team. Doctors will then decide to follow our recommendation or not, to provide the ultimate care to the patients. 

Sounds interesting isn't it? But let me share with you my first 3 days of attachment in TDM. Most happening rotation ever! 
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TDM Day 1 (Monday):
My first day in the new department and I felt a little stressed up. I've deal with patients in Outpatient Department (OPD) for a month and now I'm in the room, full with machines. Machines aren't my kind of thing because I'm literally a technology noob. Oh well, I'm glad that I have an awesome friend entering this department together. With her around, I feel calmer. 

So the first day was HECTIC. I'm new and yet there are many samples flooding in. Oh no, why during my first day?! Well, I have to run samples from antibiotics, anti-epileptics, to immunosuppressants (which normally run every Tuesdays).

We were so busy until we have to skip lunch to finish our work. And yet, we still finish our work late, around 6.30pm. What a day. But I'm grateful that I've given the chance to learn so many things in a day. Challenging. =)

Serum Serum! My buddy for a month!

TDM Day 2 (Tuesday):
Second day in TDM and I was quite tense since 7.30am. First day experience was quite a shock to me and hence I was hoping that Day 2 will be less hectic. BUT, our TDM boss took off. Hence, left 2 of us and we'll need to find other senior pharmacists to consult when we have problems. 

Things went quite smoothly in the morning. We centrifuged blood samples, send them into the machine, record result, etc etc.... *phewwwww......* We still manage to go for lunch, which was quite a great relief.

After lunch time, we had a surprise waiting for us! @_@ There's a serum sample from other hospital, which looks like urine. It was kept in a urine sample tube and there's a ball of unknown bugs in it. Fungi? Bugs? We had no idea what is it and it looks really disgusting. *just feel like vomiting* We called that hospital and confirmed with the pharmacist what is in the tube. They insisted that they sent us serum sample in urine tube. But well, with that disgusting bugs, we can't run that sample anyway. Grrrrrr....... 在TDM的日子，真的是度日如年。

P/S: That ball of bugs grew bigger at the end of the day. I really wonder what was that. Disgusting bugs. Tsk tsk....

An Experience on Merdeka Day

NOTE: This is not gonna be a fancy story. 

Have you ever feel super exhausted on a public holiday?

It's Merdeka Day Long weekend and I felt exhausted, everyday.

It was suppose to be an entertaining weekend.

I have thought to enjoy my long weekend in KL.

I have thought to enjoy my long weekend in Langkawi.

I have thought to enjoy my long weekend in Redang.

I have thought to enjoy my long weekend in Ipoh. 

Because I was reluctant

Because I have a reason to stay home

So that's it

My long weekend has no beach, no shopping mall, no nice cafe, no nice resort.

I have to work and drive and spent some time with family.

The story begins........

I was driving back to Alor Star from Taiping.

I was extremely not in good condition.

I was sleepy but I have no choice.

On the way to Alor Star, I broke down because my eyes and body couldn't take it anymore

I was on the highway and I have no choice but to shed my tears and continue my journey to the north.

I never knew my body will react such when it is exhausted

A different experience

On my last day of holiday

Hari Merdeka

A day to remember

马来西亚查某 の 特色篇

最近有一首在网络爆红的歌曲 "Malaysia Chabor"（马来西亚查某), 点击人数近2百万次，真的是所谓的红得不明不白。歌曲曲风可爱，朗朗上口，再加上有美女当演唱人，不红，很难。

Chabor (查某)，其实是福建人称女孩、女人的名词。马来西亚是多元种族的国家，当然我们会说几种语言和方言，不稀奇，所以不要被歌词吓到 -- 福建+华语+马来文+韩语 （太多元化了吧！）

歌词里形容的是演唱人四叶草的心声。当然，马来西亚查某大致上来说也是很有特色的--怎么说？让我一一列下来。

1) 爱吃 - 马来西亚美食摆在眼前，能不吃吗？沙爹，煎蕊，椰浆饭，Roti canai, etc etc... 数不尽的美食，意志力要多坚定啊！吃饭前帮食物来张 #fotd (food of the day) 上传Facebook, Instagram的女孩，我身边还蛮多的。

2) 美丽 - 马来西亚有很多美女代表。更有人说”山城美女多”（怡保）。就连个州首府都有着那么吸引人的封号，证明我不是乱掰的。代表人物包括明星杨紫琼，梁静茹，Amber Chia, 李心洁, Siti Nurhaliza, ；部落格名人 Jane chuck, 模特儿 Venice Min 等等。。。等等。。。当然不可以少了最近很红的四叶草Joyce Chu。

3) 语文能力强 - 马来西亚查某至少会两种语言（英文，Melayu)。会三种以上的其实也很多。华语，当然少不了。淡米尔文、方言、日语、韩语也很普遍。

4) 热情 - 身在热带国家，能不热情吗？三大种族和平共处的国度，国民很难不热情，不友善。

列下来的，大家还认同吗？