Groggy

I am so knackered . Mentally and physically.HAd a busy 24h call - Luckily wifey called me up before coming to UMMC. I was still sleeping.. Susbh pun burn !! hahaha.. Its wifey's first day at work and I don't want to make her wait in the car for me. I'm taking back the car and will have to fetch her later in the afternoon.

The call was punishing because of the stress - having the adrenaline rush gushing throughout the anaesthesia for the operation we provide. It did not help that upon arrival in OT - Laparotomy for an 18 month old baby - for intusseption. Doing paediatrics anaesthesia is a bummer because of all the precautions one has to take in ensuring smooth running of the operation. So many things to consider , from those small tiny cannnulation to the risk of hypothermia. Very-very calculative proceedings which needs a lot of anticipation rather than resuscitation. In the middle of that , the surgeon received a call... ANOTHER LAPAROTOMY for a 3 year old child - sepsis 2o peritonitis. God !! hahaha... It was a struggle inserting invasive monitoring lines for him !!

I had a Mexican next.. yes . from Mexico.. Arriibaaa !!! He was involved in a brawl the night before ; resulting his hand tendons cut - Obviously giving a brachial plexus block was my preference !!! It was tricky though , he was muscular and had a big frame ; therefore his anatomical landmark was altered.I do pity him as i did take quite some time before successfully injecting my local anaesthetics. He was cool about it though.. macho man la katakan.. Having electrical current stimulating your forearm and hand muscles can be quite distressing if you keep repeating it !! Thank you Jose !!


Next was a 61 year old man , who suffered from an infected disc on his spine , that caused him to have severe leg pain and weakness. We had to insert a double lumen tube , as the surgeons requested us to collapse one lung so that they can reach the infected area.YES , We anaesthetists are good in manipulating your body during operations !! To top it up , he had features of difficult intubation and my .. did we struggle...


After 5 hours , somehow we manage to extubate the patient . Funnily , i expected him to have a lot of pain after the operation but he was so comfortable. I suppose , by removing the compression ; he must have felt so relieved after having the excruciating pain for the past 6 months ! Hady laughed at me before the Op actually , as i probed into his "sexual" activities during history taking !!

After that , a laparotomy for an 82 year old lady - she was bleeding like mad because she over warfarinised herself.. INR: 9 !!!! Gilller... Dahlah she had cardiomegaly with a metallic valve! Sakit kepala woo.. nak fikir the safest anaesthesia technique !! It was constant movement during the op for me , resuscitating the old lady who had a very loving husband.

Ooh.. typing this out makes me tired again... aahhh... tidur kejapla...

To infinity and beyond

Wahh.. I've not blogged for more than a week ! Just dunno why i did not bother to type it down on the PC ; maybe the current nomad lifestyle which is affecting me. I'm still staying in my inlaws for now because of Qaisya - and not being in your own home is a real turn off for being in front of the PC. Being in the OT for the whole day does not help as well ; as the gases exerting their side effect to your conciousness at about 10pm ..every night !!

Qaisya is doing fine. She's one month today and certainly growing. Taking care of her is certainly different from Dzaeffran ; more demanding for wifey. Qaisya wakes up at night.. all night in fact ; when her eyes are really opened up wide ! She has nice eyes .. Honestly , i'm freaking out if she turns out to be a babe when she's older. Pening nak fikir ni... hahahaha..

I'm going to Gunung Gap and Ulu Semangkok early April with Azad and Mafiz. That would be a good break climbing another mountain. Dunno whether i can try out my new LAFUMA haversack. According to the organizers , there is a big possibility that it will be a day climb and we'll camp near Sg Chilling instead of on top of the hill. Haks.. Well , i can't wait for that. Its just great to be outdoors. I know Azad is as excited as I am....

P/S I've been added in the medicine.com.my portal !! hahaha.. more readers perhaps ..

Blogroll Update
Thursday, March 22, 2007, 11:32:29 AM dobbs

Congratulations to our bloggers Cyanide, Jel, Izah and Adeline Wong on passing their Final MBBS exams. I have moved their blogs to the Doctor Blogroll. If I have missed out anyone that has graduated recently, please let me know. I have also added 2 more doctor bloggers — Mafeitz and Docyana. A warm welcome to both [...]

Meeting wira negara

After a 3 year lapse , I managed to complete my 10km run in the AMBANK KL international marathon today. Another certificate for another year !!Congratulations to Azad and Edrin too for completing the race !! The three of us will be running again next month in the BHP run at the Curve.. wanna join us ??

I am glad i managed to finish the race and not getting myself injured with my usual crampy legs . I did not force myself so much today as i did not train for this event. It was a very leisurely jog. I was quite alright and the thought of if i had run harder - i might be able to rab one of those medals..! Hahaha... But i guess ; if i had pushed myself i might have ended up in the massaging tent !

* Check out my NOMBER !!! hahahaha... ( those who collected their number tags would understand this joke )



*********************************

I was at the OGKL AGM later that day. Felt a bit tired but it was a boring Sunday afternoon. There I was at 3pm ; off to Bukit Jalil to meet my fellow club members. It was a very hillarious session ! I really do admire the individuals running the club as well as the members . Most of them are really down to earth with lots of humour ! I enjoyed the meeting i must say ! Gua caya sama lu Deeno world !! ( the president )

It was an honour as well to have both Malaysia heroes ; Ravi and Muqarrabin ( Everest climbers) with us. Both of them were friendly and I enjoyed listening to their experience sharing session . Climbing Everest is one real tough cookie to tackle as was evident by Ravi's two amputated fingers due to frost bite. They mentioned that the chances for one to have morbidities or even mortality is high during this climb.Gulp..scary isn't it ? I do salute them for their courage , effort and determination . Good luck Ravi for your plan to conquer Everest from the south as well as K2 next year !!

*p/s Always remember to off the camera function after using your mobile ! Battery habis siut masa nak amik gambar with the two national heroes !! Isy..isy.. isy..... geram !!!


he brought his gadgets to show us..


kewl boots eih..


Internet pic of Ravi near everest

Ghost rider

To all diabetics and borderline candidates out there..
Please ensure good sugar control , healthy lifestyle eih..
You don't want to end up having your foot being debrided like the pics i took during my on call last night !!!

******************************************

"MAfeitz... please don't proceed with your case as we have a mediastinal mass case for intubation coming in... "

Alamak.. I was about to begin the first of my 6 diabetic food debridement , and it was 5 pm. I've promised the Orthopods man to start early !! However , you don't want to piss off your lecturer cum specialist on call by doing what you want. How bad can it be ?

There he was , 19 year old boy who has been unwell for the past one month came in today witha history of severe shortness of breath for the past 3 days. It was getting worse during work in McDonalds and was brought in by his friends to the Emergency department.

You could see him puffing away , with all his accessory respiratory muscles used up excessively. He was on high flow oxygen but his saturation only touched 88 - 90%. He was bending himself so much , looking for the best position to breath. His cough was very wet and not able to speak a single word without being very breathless.



Obviously , being presented to medical carers for the first time , there was no exact plan for him by anybody. He was referred to us for intubation ; airway protection by the primary team ; a typical referral to anaesthetist when one does not know what else to do. When we ask what will be the plan.. everybody just shrugged their heads.




A quick look... followed by a long sigh of the chest xray took our breaths away.We looked at each other , even Prof who was involved in the discussion was a bit puzzled wondering what to do now. Even the consultant Cardiothoracic surgeon was not able to offer anything . It is up to us now the anaesthetist to save the day.
"Mak ai... bloody big mass !! "

Thats one hell of a mass compressing the lungs and airways. You wonder how long has it been there as it is definitely not a 3 day story. He has enlarged lymph nodes all over his body ; making the provisional diagnosis of lymphoma being the most likely reason.

We prepared everything - all possible ways to intubate.The plan was to gas him down and have a look but he desaturated so fast as we begin to "sevo" him down. With this condition , fibre optic intubation was impossible because sedation causes him to not use his accessory muscles hence the direct obstruction to his airway.The trick is to maintain his airway while he is spontaneously breathing . Muscle relaxants are a no - no here ! We had to restrain him hard as he was struggling so much - being so exasperated for breath. At this stage he was very restless - being in a very severe hypoxic state. ABG showed PaO2 45 mmHg PCO2 122 mmHg ( normal 35 - 45 mmHg) .

"Lets just intubate him awake... " said Prof.
Wah.. tak pernah buat ni.. shoving in the tube with the patient awake ??

We sprayed some local anaesthetics into his mouth and gave him 100% Oxygen. His saturation maintained the same though. 20mg of propofol was pushed in to settle him down and the rush began . He was in a 45o position and that makes it difficult to laryngoscope .. not an optimum position.

Mak... tolong.. mak... toloonng.... he cried so hard. He was not ready to die.. not in this way.
His saturation just went crashing .. 70%... 50%....

" I can;t see the cords... He is fighting me.. " said my specialist. Damn..It must be so traumatic and uncomfortable for that boy having a laryngoscope shoved in . He was coughing and struggling violently.

40%.... 38%... 34%...

OK... got it !!

Prof ... I cannot bag him.!! Its too tight.. .
I can't hear any air entry here !
His lips are blue !!

Put him on lateral position.. now !!! I can sense that panic is taking over !

On my count... One.. two... turn.
ETT suction please... get the secretions out ..he is so chesty !!

OK better... better....

I swear to you , everybody was looking so anxiously at the monitor , watching his SPO2 and ECG , praying very hard that we will not lose him to hypoxia...

38%... 50%.... 65%..... 80 %.... 92%...
YESS !!!! There was an air of relief in OT 16 at that moment. Wow.. adrenaline was certainly pumped up really hard amongst us then...

After stabilization , we pushed him to the Cardiac ICU ; and there he was - so fragile and gullible. I really dont know what will happen to him.

The reason to go home early..

MDQs together


i just love the cup cakes


victory


sayang..or tanduk ??

Back to work

Its back to OT after a week's break and boy.. what a time to be back. I've been handling OTs on my own for the past 3 days - Most of my colleagues were either on study leave or in Genting for our Annual Anaesthesia conference. I wanted to go but I have to consider my presence here which is important to wifey; hence my delay in blogging ..

It was permanent fixture in OT13 fir three days doing ENT , Plastic and Maxillofacial . I reckon doing the 10hours breast reconstruction on Thursday was very interesting ; not of Nip and Tuck drama but of the anaesthesia technique showed to me. It was a relief to wake up and extubate the patient when the operation finishes which is very rare when one does a marathon.Keeping the MAC low with minimal muscle relaxation infusion ; at the same time on close monitoring of her awareness using "BIS"- a technique which helps to save ICU or PASCA bed for the really needful. I was amazed as well by the result of the op - the breast which was reconstructed looked "normal" and nice. I suppose doing one for a heart broken 29 year old lady with a bad breast cancer would really help to lift up her szest for life.

Doing the dental case alone yesterday was kewl as well. I was the only male in that theatre so I 'm not sure if that was a factor as well !! Surrounded by attractive doctors and nurses hhmm... macam best je tak ? hahahahahaha...

" Oh.. my favourite anaesthetist is back.. "

Wakey..wakey..

Alhamdulillah , Qaisya is 6 days old today. She went a little bit jaundice on the 2nd day but the traditional "jemur" by the window was effective ! Hahaha.. Initially I was tempted to prick her blood and send it for bilirubin level but then , hmm.. maybe i should not be overly concern. Let nature take its course.With her getting full breastfeeds ; I should be more positive. And it turned out well.

Qaisya is definitely the opposite from Dzaeffran when he was at this age. We're having sleepless nights ! She will take smaller feeds compared to Dzaeff but of increased frequency !! She will be awake after 12 am and will demand for her feeds every hour ! Hahaha.. Wifey is a little bit stressed but i guess not every baby is the same. We try to wake her up during the day but she would not be bothered by the noise or distraction !The 7 day leave is actually very useful as I am happily enjoying my break at home with the baby.

Dzaeffran is still confused wondering why his umi is not as free to "layan" him as before ! Mak has been very supportive in ensuring both her grandchildren well taken care off. Luckily Dzaeff goes to the nursery during the day so that everybody was able to catch some sleep. The massaging session for wifey certainly helps and I wish for one soon !!

On another note , I've managed to teach dzaeff kicking the ball ; the first of many training sessions to make him a gifted footballer !! ( this maybe due to the frustration of the "i knew it last minute" Liverpool loss to United during the weekend )

MDQ legacy

MYFTZAL DZAEFFRAN QAYYUM
( The Nobleman of success eternally )

MYRA DURRATUN QAISYA
( The Queen of pearls and affirmity )

Bundle of Joy

Alhamdulillah... All praises for Allah..

My baby girl came into this world on the 27 February 2007 at 7.52pm. ( not 7.48 as I've sms'ed earlier ). The delivery was smooth and baby's Apgar score was full at birth.

Alhamdulillah...

************************************************
( RETROSPECTIVE ENTRY ) 27/2/07

Wifey informed me before we went of to work that she had a bit of "show" ( the blood stained mucous to signal labour ) in the morning. Of course , she refused me doing VE ( vaginal examination ) because her contractions were still weak and irregular then. I did ask her whether she would like to stay at home ; but being her , she wanted to continue work to settle all her unfinished business. Imagine - she actually went to the Bank and Bukit Jelutong that afternoon to do some chores regarding our future home !!

We came back home from the work at 5 pm - then she was already having regular contractions. She was in pain but it was still tolerable. We picked up Dzaeffran from the nursery and quickly packed our stuff for the hospital. Suddenly she told me she can't move as it exagerrates her pain. During this time she still refused VE as she was sure that she needs to go to the hospital soon. I did it anyway because I needed to estimate which stage of labour was she..

Os : 5 cm. very thin. Membrane buldging. station : + 1 !!!!

Daammnnn !! Only now.. I started to panic !!


the distressed mother.. ( just had to post this pic !! She was not amused by my antiques then.. )

We rushed to the hospital and called Patrick ( her Obstetrician ) on the way. Obviously the traffic was bad as it was about 6++ pm. Wifey was by then so much in pain that she was hyperventilating.. puffing away. No communication was established but suddenyl she grabbed my arm.

" Abang... SROM... " *Spontaneous rupture of membrane

I was.. alamak... habis keretaku !! Hahahahaha... ( As Mafiz said.. luckily leather seat eih ?? )
We arrived at the doorstep and the staff there was very helpful. Wifwey was so weak at this time that I had to carry her out of the car to the wheelchair . ( The last time I carried her like that was during our wedding day - walking down the stairs !!! ) It was so efficient that when Iclosed my car boot she was nowhere to be seen. The staff had carted her to the SECOND floor within seconds !!



She was ushered to the labour room and the staff nurses there prepared her very well. Dr PAtrick was not around yet but Wifey was pushing hard. Of course , no epidural was necessary at this time and she was puffing away on the Nitric Oxide. The nurses told me her OS was 8 cm but I don't think so as they needed to wait for Patrick to come.

When PAtrick arrived and was she was being positioned lithotomically ; with just one push we could already see the baby's head. Haks.. And with another gentle push.. my little baby girl was delivered smoothly with a loud cry ..

Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar. Lailahaillallah...


first look on umi's tummy

We were discharged home within 24 hours of birth. The process was so fast and I could not believe that I now have another baby at home. Alhamdulillah...

Sometimes

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.

Kahlil Gibran

Learning from the past

I'm an avid fan of Malaysian biographies and autobiographies. It is fun and interesting reading for me. Some would find this weird but I just love them. I can hardly go through my physiology and pharmacology but I can religiously go through page by page in one night on these type of books. Going through the lives of our forefathers gave me the insight of how their mind works and most importantly ethics of integrity.

The latest book that i bought and managed to finish it within 24 hours would be the Tun Dr Ismail story ; the reluctant politician. I've always been intrigued by the mystery of being the "Prime Minister" who never was. He was remembered fondly by the elder politicians as an example on what people politics is all about. I was brought up in Taman Tun Dr Ismail , studied in SM Taman Tun Dr Ismail but i never knew who he really was - except as the Deputy Prime MInister who died in office and the first to be buried as a national hero.

Tun was a shrewd no nonsense leader - very nationalistic but fair at the same time. He was seen as pro malay but at the same time realizes the need for unification of races to achieve a true Malaysia. He was liberal in his daily practice ( as how most malay leaders in that era ) that i doubt the book will be translated to malay as many "religious" issues may be questioned. The current crop of university's student leadership that sways towards "real- islam" will definitely question personal habits of gambling and drinking and not focusing on his true contribution towards what we have today.

His contribution was immense - justified by Tunku and Tun Razak's trust on him. He was always viewed as the "third" man of the country after those two figures. Many feared him for his straightforwardness and respected him for his principles. I've been told by his grand nephew how his family continued the tradition on being firm with one's principal - a legacy of famous doctors in Malaysia ( Tan Sri Yahya Awang , TAn Sri Abu Bakar etc ) who stayed in the service till their retirement in order to fulfill "serve the country above self" policy.

Tun was reluctant on being the typical politician - taking all the advantage at helm ( logically who wouldn't ? ). He was a true nationalist and i believe that our history books should highlight him more than what is available in the syllabus at the moment.

I've been tagged : Confessions

LAma tak buat kerja camni. Thanx shah for tagging.

6 weird things you don't know about me:

1. I will always ask wifey everytime after dressing up , do i look fat? My BMi is on the overweight side but somehow my mind keeps denying that fact !!

2. I love listening to X-JApan's songs ( Japanese rock band). I don't understand a word but I listen to it everyday to work in the morning.

3. I still have my eyes caught in action with "amoi-looking" girls... ( kalau wifey baca ni sure... What do you mean abang ?? HAhahahaha !! )

4. I can eat KFC anytime. breakfast , lunch , dinner , supper - continuously. Certainly my favourite dish without fail in any occasion.

5. The only game I've ever played on my PS2 is the Pro Evolution / Winning Eleven series. I have > 50 games of various titles but for the past 3 years.. I've only played the footie game without fail.

6. I still have a favourite bantal ... :)

The rule of the game:
In this game, each person who is tagged starts out by telling 6 weird things about themselves on their own blog, as well as state the rules clearly. At the end, you will need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list out their names. After that, leave them a comment on their blogs letting them know you tagged them and get them to read your blog.

So here are my victims who are among some of my favourite bloggers.

Dil : The main man... dato'...
Nor: Real time blogger..
Suriana : an old friend up in the east coast confusion..
Ee Van : a macho friend who's done the marathon before..
drfrappucino : a colleague somewhere in the valley
KJ : I'll be surprised if there is a reply !! hahahaha..

Hope all you guys will keep this chain going ! One for the boar new year... oink..oink..

Holiday dilemma

Its the first day of the Chinese Lunar calendar - the year of the boar promises good outcome for those who work for it. To my chinese friends ; a very happy new year and may the year brings you prosperity !!!

*****************************

Obviously , I am on call today. It'll be my last call for the month as I've requested to finish it by this week. It had been a busy 2 and a half week. My mind is a bit tired ; drained by "thinking" while doing my ICU call. Wifey is 37++ weeks now which means that the baby may come out any time now. Dzaeff was delivered spontaneously at 38 weeks therefore I;m predicting my second to be around in the very near future. We haven't decided on any name for her as yet - thanks to wifey's "fickle"ness - not to be helped by her busy working hours and on call. Her department is not as kind as mine - She's still doing calls till term and if she takes the whole 2 months maternity leave ; she would be extended for another year !! A bit cruel i reckon considering us doctors having to work like a dog day by day.

My ICU is still full - I'm stuck with certain patients who are not going anywhere.True enough we are giving full support to ascertain stabilization ; unfortunately things have to move fast as sepsis with multiresistant bugs are just waiting to strike. Tracheostomy for few patients are delayed due to the long holiday. We don't do percutaneous traceheostomy here in UMMC - which certainly slows down all plans and further management.

Managing ICU during a public holiday alone is a challenge. I am sure my colleagues all over the country would agree with the statement. If things are Ok it is OK - but when "drama"s happen all at the same time - it is very frightening as one has to make decisions swiftly. No matter how one calls for help , but life is at stake. Decisions made at that split second will determine whether the patients continue living or die. Sometimes , we wonder , are we just prolonging death or saving lives ?

Talking to patient's relatives is a big challenge. It is not an easy job and I have to do it everyday. Keeping them updated is one thing - informing deterioration is another. Helping families to cope with such critical illness at times can be disheartening. Discussing with families who cannot accept their family member dying is a skill which I am certainly hoping to gain. When things go wrong - denial is difficult to encounter. I believe that strong communication will help to ease the acceptance - but I mean if you are in their shoes - would you be rational as you think you might be ?

Waahh.. philosophical ! I'm thinking too much eih ? Well , its time for my maghrib prayers and night rounds will continue..

************************************

Bed 1 : Day 32 - iatrogenic perforated CBD. abdomen still distended - ileus . Unable to wean off to CPAP because of diaphragm splinting !! Now having gross haematuria !!!

Bed 2 : Day 5 - form 2 boy MVA - hit and run with subdural and subarachnoid bleed with conservative management. splenectomy done and i just extubated him this morning.Not really awake.

Bed 3 : Day 6 - fit foreigner paralysed neck downwards ; C5-C6 fracture corrected. Trachy delayed till Wednesday - no relatives around. very depressed.

Bed 4 : Day 22 - young lady with stage 4 SLE. Needs continous dialysis - lungs not looking good. Just spoke to the family regarding tracheostomy.

Bed 5 : Day 7 - an elderly who recuperated from Perforated Gastric ulcer but now in spesis - nosocomial pneumonia in a chronic COAD patient.

Bed 6 : Day 1 - readmitted to ICU for BIPAP. An elderly lady with a chronic urology problem - pain causes her tachypnoea ; currently comfortable on BIPAP but if the main problem is not adressed - we are not going anywhere.

Bed 7 : Day 38 - a middle aged lady who underwent a simple operation which went wrong .. MAJOR ! Not doing well in every department.

Bed 8 : Day 14 - A middle aged man with ESRF on continuous dialysis , IHD recurrent APO - not doing well at all. reintubated x3 last night.

Bed 9 : Day 10 - an elderly lady whose primary teams were fighting over the proper diagnosis. Still in sepsis with acidosis - not looking good. CVVHD stopped because not going anywhere.

Bed 10 : Day 5 - a referred case from a private setting. Bad pneumonia on a chronic restrictive lung disease - Post tracheostomy looks convincing as She's more awake now. Unfortunately , all breaths are mandatory and none of her own effort despite full GCS !!

Bed 11 : Day 2 - a depressed mother who just lost her child two weeks ago - went overdose with her medication. Not awake yet.

Fuiyooo.. mcm buat round online pulak...

Generations

The young and old..


in between - always in denial...

Kinkin'

I had a full ICU last night. It was managable however - no major disasters , and somehow this week - We had a geriatric ICU on board. Most of our patients are above 70 years of age ! How it came to that , I am not sure - but the person on call during the weekend certainly filled it agely !!

I was called by Cardiac ICU near midnight , telling me they were not able to insert their suction catheter through the endotracheal tube. I went down to have a look because there must be something mechanical that should be corrected easily.

The patient was 1 16 year old girl who just had her op earlier - debulking of nurofibroma. She has this disease called neurofibromatosis
Currently , she has this large tumour encroaching her left lung - effectively she is breathing on only one side of the lung. The surgeons initially wanted to resect most of it but they only managed to take out 10% of the initial 90% planned.

She was on a flexo-metallic tube which is very mobile and flexible. I reckon my colleagues used this in view of her distorted airway - She also had severe kyphoscoliosis which was corrected but still , the trachea was deviated because of the mass.

Hmmmm... i tried it myself and i could not pass through even the smallest catheter through the tube. I looked at the ventilator and it did not show any sign of blockage. It is of common knowledge that flexometallic tubes can be very" flexible" that if the patient bites on it , it will be disfigured.

Called my lecturer and Senior MO on call to have a look. They were quite worried as well , as her physique looks challenging for intubation. Of course , the first thought was to railroad a new tube but unfortunately we were not able to track through either using the bougie or Cook's catheter. Called Prof M up to ask her how was the intubation condition and convincingly she said it was not difficult - Cormack Lehane 1 but of course one has to manipulate one's tube.

We sedated her with propofol and then had a look with the laryngoscope. The cords were visible and we just did it ! Exchanged it tube for tube. And luckily , it was alright. Success !! Hahaha.. Indra laughed at me when i brought the WHOLE DIFFICULT INTUBATION trolley into Cardiac ICU. Well.. better be ready then scrambling in panic isn't it ??


the kinked site..

I left my heart..

I;ve been disturbed by the itch...
Not the 7 year itch !!!!
but the back to nature and outdoor itch.

It was only last week that I tortured my self ,
the pain is still felt ,
but the endorphin euphoria remains..
and the urge for more is increasing...

Trans Titiwangsa perhaps ?? the G7 dream is definitely on for now...

*G7 - 7 highest peak in Malaysia - all above 7000 feet.


*********************************************

Me , wifey , Mal , Azad and Yanti went to the former Mimaland - Gombak area this morning. We left Dzaeffran at home because of Mak's objection. Apparently , Mal recently bought a land there and invited us to visit . Well , it is still "hutan" but Mal is trying to clear the land slowly. The pathway to the place was bad and I did not expect such access !! Imagine - My Perdana tortured and scratched ! Arrgghh.. I was cursing and cursing as we followed the road which used to be the pathway for logging lorries.

Initially wifey had to stay in the car as we had to climb quite a distance - 200m away . Being nearly term is definitely not suitable for such activities ! Luckily , one of Mal's "neighbour" there had a 4 Terrano so he was kind enough to pick wifey up. Pak Rodzi brought us to his piece of land and he certainly made it comfortable for him !

It was good to be back among the greens. I certainly felt the endorphin rush as we walked through the woods this morning. Hmmm.. looks like I'll be looking for similar activities to fulfill my addiction !

Things you don't normally see

They call it the cu-cu train...

I was appauled to find this happening in my ICU ! Menjatuhkan maruah !!!

Sendiri mau ingat

I survived the weekend ! It was tiring but definitely worthwhile climbing Pine Tree Hill ( 4,771" ) and Twin Peak in Frasers Hill. Kudos to OGKL for organizing a very enjoyable and SANTAI event for us. By mantics ; it is indeed stupid to spend one's weekend outdoors - being cold and wet off from the potato couch comfort zone. And somehow , doing this is actually a satisfaction of what one really wants from life..



Azad picked me up early Saturday morning to join other OGKL participants in Teratai Dayabumi. In a typical Malaysian time , we started off late ! haks.. We were supposed to be off from KL by 9 am but unfortunately we only moved out of the restaurant at 11 am !! However , it was an opportunity for me to know most of the other 23 members joining this trip ; in the very true spirit of OGKL ukhwah.I felt a bit "amateurish" when comparing my backpack to their haversack. Malu weeihh.. I managed to buy my first hiking stick though - which proved to be very useful during this trip.




We arrived in Frasers Hill at 1pm - and surprisingly it was very cold up there ! The fog was so thick that we can barely see the road during our journey to the starting point.To make it worse , it was drizzling and the temperature was low. I cannot recall Fraser's Hill being cold and windy. Unfortunately , that was the weather for us to start our journey to the highest peak in that area.

The journey to Pine Tree Hills on the map was 5 km , sounds short eih ? haks.. Obviously not. Seeing the organizers being so laid back , I would have thought the track there would be easy and within 2 hours since we only started walking at 3pm. I was SOOO WRONG ! It was wet and very slippery. I fell a few times walking through the thick forest. The climb was not easy as we had to cross 4 other lower hills before arriving on top of Pine Tree Hill ! It took us 5 hours for the gruelling 5 km track. We arrived there at about 6.30 pm.




It was so cold and windy when we arrived that the leader of the trip - decided we should camp there instead of Twin Peak which was just about 1 kilometer away. I was freezing and a friend recorded the temperature to be about 12oC. I did not expect the weather to be so cold hence my pathetic thin clothes. I noticed most of the other climbers brought thin clothings too , so I was not alone in this issue !! I only had one long sleeve t-shirt with my windbreaker.. and I suffered that night !

Pine Tree Hill was certainly not suitable for big group campings - and we had to break the basic rule in camping. Camping on a bare area - on top of the hill ! haks.. literally , we were sleeping on top of the peak which was very-very freezing especially when the wind blows. We did attempt to start a fire - it was difficult at first because most of the woods were wet. Azad was very skillful that he managed to start the small campfire for the team to gather around - keeping oneself warm !

It was so breezy that everytime the wind blew we became unstable ! I can't imagine if it rained heavily that night . Something funny happened to us as well ; the area on top of the peak was not that great - thus when we set our tent it was quite slopy. There were 4 of us in that tent - very small space i can tell you ! However when we woke up at about 5 am , our tent moved more than a meter away from where we set it up ! Luckily there were small trees blocking the movement otherwise we could have just fallen off the cliff ! Scary isn't it !!


We woke up in the morning feeling tired - but we had to continue our journey to reach the Twin peak ! The trip was definitely less challenging and we arrived there at about 10 am in the morning ! It was so satisfying to be up there on top of the world... Looking how vast the Titiwangsa higher ground were. Beautiful view and very soothing. I was so proud to be up there - having to survive the challenging trail. Thank you OGKL..

more pictures in : http://picasaweb.google.com/mafeitz

Achievement

Mystery XI ASEAN 101

I just realized yesterday - after my 12th month of car installment ; my car road tax expired like 1 week ago ! To think that I traveled to Putrajaya and so forth during the last week. Gosh.. malu nya kalau kena tahan.

I called my cousin in law to sort my insurance and road tax , its his business anyway. Then today , at about 3 pm he called me up. Apparently , they cannot renew my road tax because my car number has an unsettled summon with JPJ.

JPJ ? Bila lak kena saman dgn JPJ ?

As I'm not sure whether JPJ does their saman ekor or not , I searched through the net to look for that info.Its very useful huh - rileks.com.my / eservices.com.my / myeg.com.my . i went thorugh the details.. and

I don't have any records of summons with JPJ. None at all. With the police - yups , I have one unsettled summon regarding seatbelt. According to Abang Fathul - that is not the culprit but the JPJ summon. Hmmm.. I don't have any ? Not recorded ? hmmm... really annoying.I can't check my car number online and I have to go directly to JPJ to check.

The most annoying thing is its holiday tomorrow - 1st February - Federal Territory Day cum Thaipusam ; therefore Public Holiday. uuurrgghhh... I have to wait till Friday before I can investigate the problem.

hmmm.. and I am the type of person who will continuously think about this till it is settled... tak boleh tidur laa malam ni...