End of one generation

MY real grandfather passed away today, Atuk Salleh. He was 80.He has had few close calls before this and i guess its his time now.Due to the complicated nature of his past , we don't really know who he is. I guess only Papa knows but I seldom seen any close communication between them. I guess both do realize that they have a biological connection and unfortunately left at that.
I wanted to go back to Kuala Terengganu , however as wifey is oncall it can be quite tricky to make a daytrip with the kids under my nose. Papa n Mama left for KT earlier today. The reason why I wanted to go was , I was keen on meeting up with the "lost" family members as thismaybe the last time I would actually be introduced to them. With his demise , I don't think Papa will go to Batu 6 anymore ; neither of us will as we don't know who's who.
Alfatihah..

Merak Kayangan reception.. the reason why I'm not on V2 Reverse..

It was our turn yesterday. This reception is long due as Mutee got married before Christmas. It was a good event with most of my relatives came .It was a good get together ! Papa had Kohilan Pillai as our VIP .. i guess he was happy to be invited as I rarely see him .. hahahaha The kids were running wild being in an open space that it was difficult for me and Haniza to look after THEM !!

Uncle Hasni was the MC and as usual the excellent perfect job ! There was De-Smenggos live band playing and they were good.Meng sang Pagi ayng Gelap but unfortunately it was a little bit too sumbang !! Hahahaha Lain kali sound check dulu bro !!
And of course , I was the obvious choice to represent the family to give the thank you speech. Initially i refused as it has always been me and i thought of giving Elly or Meng the honour. Mama was however keen for me to do it . This time I did it a bit different , more relaxed and jokes in it !! Hahaha.. I pulled it off and glad that it was ok..

my speech.. thanx Jojo for the pic !!

Thank you everybody for all your help ! As for Dzaeff and Qaisya , they truly enjoyed themselves as when they were put on their seats ; dozed off immediately until now.. ( 9.30am Sunday !! )

UMMC ACLS

I must thank you the Emergency Department and the ACLS ( Advanced Cardiac Life Support ) organizers for inviting me to their pride and joy ; the UMMC-ACLS course. In UM , its the Emergency Dept who handles ACLS instead of the traditional role by Anaesthetists.. which make people wonder , how come I'm invited ? hahahaha It was a good opportunity for me to experience organizing a certified critical course which is of in need in Malaysia. I've always been interested in training ; and this was a golden opportunity !


It was not easy to teach people what you know by the way ! I guess , that is the best way to know whether you have a good grasp of your own knowledge ; is by making others understand what you know.I was asked to man the airway station which IS our specialty but then again , its not as easy as doing it yourself !
I had fun and it was a good team effort ! Cayalah.. Hopefully , they'll still consider me next time.. hek hek

Its lonely accepting death

Ady's dad passed away earlier today.
He was 63. Alfatihah..
*************************************************
Sama called me from ICU while i was doing locum in A&E last night . Ady's dad was deteriorating fast , eventhough he managed to fight off the sepsis ( unbelievably of MRSA ) ; his vital organs paid dearly as they were near to irreversibility of function. I managed to get Ady at 3am and he rushed to the hospital.
When I was done with my shift ( which was hectic but interesting cases at the same time ! ) I quickly went up to ICU . Managed to caught Ady's sister ( a blogger !! ) and she told me about the immediate denial crisis with their step mother. I guess it must have been hard for Ady as he was himself in a dilemma between being a son and a clinician. The differences of practice is obvious and I guess caused a bit of discomfort with my ICU Lecturer. Ady's dad was deteriorating at the same time .Paradoxically , he was alright the day before ; extubated and breathing spontaneously , able to obey command. I was in fact communicating with him ! I guess this strengthens the urban legend about how immediately before death , one would be well and alive ; as if to say the last goodbye.

Ironically, the Shrewsbury lot were in there (except Husin la who got married last Saturday and tak jemput..hahahah ) during Ady's dads last moment ; me , Izzat and Ady. We recited verses from Quran and urged the syahadah as his heart rate became slower and slower. It was very sad with all the family members who never got along well during his lifetime doing the opposite thing now. Everybody was crying.
And who would have thought , I would be the person , a friend and ex schoolmate pulling the plug off and pronounce the time of death. It was a very emotional moment.
It was again another new experience when we were in mortuary ; cleaning Ady's dad. At this time , only his body left , remained soulless. Having to see your own dad at this stage can be frightening to some l but i guess one needs to go over this to accept and move on from deniality. Nothing beats cleaning with your own bare hands and it is encouraged in Islam. Who else kan..who else should do it if not your offsprings ? During the process , images of mikhail came into mind especially when we did Ady's dad's ablution.

NEVER MISS A MOMENT....

Never miss a moment ,
From womb to birth ,
To appreciate their cry ,
To see them smile ,
To gaze their lovely eyes.

Its a joy to watch them learn ,
To teach them iman ,
To yearn their taqwa ,
Tawadda' to the Almighty.

Never miss a moment ,
Because the hands you caress ,
Will bathe your body upon your death ,
and pray for your soul in the life here after..,

Daripada Allah dia datang , dan kepada Allah dia kembali... Alfatihah..

Great Eastern 30K ( we did only the 20 though)

After getting over the dissapointment from Adidas , ( remember the running shoes promotion .. tak dilayan.. takpe..takpe..mentang mentanglah kami pelari overweight.. hahahaha ) we were all eager to start 2009 with the GE 20K run. We registered for the 20K instead of the 30K because it was a step up from our previous runs. First time for Azad , Edrin and Mafiz. Kamal joined us but he registered for the 30K. We aim to improve and promoting ourselves to a longer distance is the first step ! I was also trying out my new Brooks.. ( nak promote untuk Brooks la !! hahaha ) I decided to be a part of the history because this will be my second competitive 20K ; My first 21K was last years KLIM. My time then ( officially ) was 3 hr 13 minutes.. lousy huh.. hahaha
I picked up the number and bibs on Saturday.. maakk aii..Tapak A was no joke to walk to ! I guess everybody was surprised that they had to walk the distance before collecting. Hmm.. should have gone to their Jugra office !

Mafiz unfortunately could not make it as he was having a bad gastritis. This time around the run will be longer and more taxing , therefore to know our limits is more important than belasah and suffer later ! I picked up Edrin at 530am and we were off ! Azad arrived earlier and parked at the Tugu Negara. Luckily there was a surau there ; therefore the earlier plan to pray at the starting point was abandoned. We were only to begin at 630 am but the distance from where we parked our car and the starting point was seriously far !
As expected by any pacesetters standard , the route was hilly. Never would I imagine them giving us the luxury of a flat track ! The Bukit Tunku hills is always their favourite and I am glad we did the NB 15K last year.. so the surprise was not unexpected.

I saw Stupe along the way as he was going opposite , and when he was done with his loop he was beside me ! I guess he was training for his IM and he was doing the usual TTDI - HArtamas- Bukit Aman route. We managed to run and talk together for a while , me puffing on trying to catch him ! Hahahaha He was already on his 15K and he was going strong.. Maakk aii.. hahaha.. sorry bro..kena bagi you lari dulu la !
I was pacing myself to my speed and not bad i thought ! The hills was OK and I was not tired. Good old Kiara Hills !! Hahahaha We were reaching MITI when i passed the 10KM board and i looked at my watch.. waahh...56 minutes best 10K lah since forever !! but then.. ALAMAK !!!! I was carried away with the crowd and probably too fast for my pace and muscles !!
I spoke too soon as after the MITI loop when we turned back my legs started cramping. I consumed my powergel but the muscle fatigue went from bad to worse. At the 13K point , I had to stop and walk ; and the pain..was PAIN !!! maakk aiii... I just walked slowly because I wanted to avoid major cramp that would just floor me down !! They say , you must stop before you know you're getting injured .


I managed to recover about 2km later after the agonizing walk. I was trying to use my physiological knowledge to assist the anaerobic activity in my muscles. IT was trying to use your mind controlling the pain which is the hardest. I guess , as we were running downhill , i paced myself slowly because i wanna finish this race running and not walking. The pain slowly dissapeared but I controlled myself not to over do it. I was pacing slowly and the motivation became stronger upon seeing the 28K point !
And Yes !! Crossing the finishing line was an achievement and all the adrenaline threw the pain away immediately ! I looked at my hp and woohooo.. not bad ! My time ? well , not as great as the seasoned runners but a definite improvement as compared to my KLIM 21K last year ! Almost 1 hour better.. hehehe 2hr 17 minutes.. ok la tu ! I was a happy boy ! I am happier though seeing both Edrin and Azad arriving within 3 hours ! Impressive ! Nothing is Impossible lah ... :) We waited for Kamal but he was nowhere to be seen until we were walking back to our car . Congratulations to all ! A definitely good start for this new season .. :) Carpe Diem !!

Tough choice.. tough reaction..

I happened to be involved in a dear friend's father's care at the hospital. He is very ill ; a grave prognosis is in sight if he does not recover from the current sepsis. He is in bad shape and by statistics , it is almost impossible for him to recover to who he was before. My friend will arrive late tonight from overseas and most likely I will bring him to ICU tonight.
I know that the family had a difficult time when the father left them donkey years ago. The hurt is deep and the scar never healed. Ady was close to me when we were overseas ; in fact my mum treated him as family when he came to Leicester during the holidays. His life story is heartbreaking and sad but I guess he made his peace along the way. I remembered the tears in his eyes when we talked about the past then. His dad became really sick and was in ICU 15 years ago ; I guess it was difficult for him to just ignore and erase him from his life. Ady became the remained connection between the abandoned and the current . If he had not done so ; maybe both sides would deny each other's existence. The experience was very traumatising and I guess I can see why it can be difficult to just forgive and forget.
True stories like this are real and I guess every action we do has its own equal reaction. Maybe not immediate but is due and will happen as we lead on. Its easy to just give in to temptation ; but the consequenses will remain till the end of day.
***********************************
Azad was itchy to get on his ride again and the "receipt" was just an excuse to let the wild roam ! It was good fun being the pillion rider on his mighty Zephyr !!

This pic was taken literally seconds before it went off at midnite !! Lucky me !!

Pictures you don't want your children to see

Having your wife heavily pregnant and with no maid means that as the husband , you have to do the bigger bulk of the house chores. I have no qualms about doing it because I don't feel it as a burden. However , there is a big difference doing laundry now with two kids when compared to when there were only the two of us.
1) The amount of clothes the children wear.. mak aii.. baru 2-3 hari dah penuh satu load !
2) Shoving it into the washing machine is not the problem , but it becomes tedious when hanging them. They are small and banyaknyaa !!!
3) NAk lipat... lagi la..MAAAKKK AAIII... Their attire comes in a pair and the first task is to look for the partner before assembling it together !
It can be physically and mentally ( to find the pair ) challenging !!
******************************************

Downloaded this pic from one of the Gunung Hitam climbers a fortnight ago! ( thanx shiken)For everybody's information, I am not a cross dresser ; but i find putting the head scarf on is very practical when it is damn hot or damn wet in the rain..especially in the jungle !! Hahahahaha

Adidas Running Shoes Seeding Program Q1 2009

Hello Guys,Good news for runners who blog or having their own webpage.

Adidas had once again brought in more highly innovative running shoes to be given away FREE to runners to wear-test them & to post in their blog a very frank & unprejudiced opinion about the shoes after 30 days ofusage.One of the shoe that is included in this program is adiZero Adois that Haile Gebrselassie used at the 2008 Berlin Marathon setting a world record in the Marathon at 2hr 03 mins 58 sec.

The sizes are limited and I have them in size UK 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5 & 10.5.

Those wishing to possess these shoes will have to comply with the following terms & condition :

1 ) Come to the adidas office to fit the shoes.

2 ) Undertake to post a comment in their blog

a ) about the Technical features of the Shoes upon receiving them

b ) about the performance of the shoes after 30 days of usage.

3 ) Must be a blogger or has his/her own website.

This offer expires on 15th January 2009 & the shoes will be given out on a first-come-first-serve basis. The program this year is only open to those who had NOT participated or missed out in this program previously.

If you are interested pls call to make an appointment as appended below

Office address:

adidas Malaysia Sdn BhdBlock B , Level 4,

Plaza Damansara45 Media Setia 1

Bukit DamanasaraKuala Lumpur

Tel Office : 03 - 20804843Mobile No : 012 - 3503668E-

Mail : krishnan.karuppan @adidas.com

Bersyukur

I guess its human nature that we take things for granted. Its a norm for us not to be satisfied with what he have ; hungry for achievements and expectations. I'm not saying that we should not aim high but at times we just need to sit back and muhasabbah.. looking back at things around and beyond us. The new year 1430 and 2009 has brought me back down on my knees ; looking at how lucky I am here.
The Israeli - Palestinian issue is not something new. As long as i can remember watching the news on tv ( mm.. maybe I was3-4 at that time ? ) the horrible images of death and innocent children being sacrificed has always been the main selling pictures . Was there any improvement after all these years.. hmm.. i don't think so. People die as how they should but unfortunately , the process was fastenened. We all let it happen and go by us , hoping to forget it by time. I guesswhen its not really happening to us or our closest family ; we'll just like.. nod..and ok , my sympathies.
I'm posted in Paeds ICU for this month and for the past week , I have been reviewing the unfortunate babies with chronic problems.. few in there for months ie since birth ! Its sad to see what they had to go through and seeing them smile at you eventhough they can;t breath very well .. hmm..sayu.. Its just not about them but about those who love them too.. parents.. family members , guardian; all going through the test of their life. Seeing all this make me realize and I guess , thankful for what god had given me.
I'm blessed with a wife , two healthy children , healthy living family members and I am in a country where the chances of my family being bombed or shot at very minute in probability. How lucky can one be ? but again.. how often do we say grace and thankful for that ? Memang insaf la... hahahaha seriously...

The most practical protest one can do..

Gunung Hitam 1220

I am glad I made the trip. It was my first climb of 2009 and what a start. Gunung Hitam is a relatively unknown hill ; situated in Hulu Langat which is rich with its outdoor stations such as the famous recreational areas of Tekala , Gabai etc.It is a peak which people rarely climb because the trek can be tricky and one can easily get lost ! ( Me and Kamal went out of the way totally on our way back..nasib baik patah balik !! hahahaha )
We started the day in Teratai , Dayabumi ; the traditional meeting up place for OGKL. I had Kamal with me this time ; after a year of exodus due to his achilles tendon injury. Azad can't make it because he is sending Lyana to school. After our carbo load of roti telur and roti canai we proceeded to Batu 18 Hulu Langat , where half of the gang is already there. We then moved together to Sg Leweng where that is the starting point for the climb. Unfortunately , reaching that point can be hazardous for >1800cc cars ! Luckily i brought my Kelisa. Kalau tak memang hancur la keretaku !! Hahahaha

I was worried while driving that it would rain ; as it was gloomy from the start. Our wishes were granted and as we arrive at the carpark ; it was a downpour !! Memang basah !! Hahaha.. I thought it would only be for a bit ; but I was wrong ! The whole group was led by Pak Sheikh and Ahad. After our prayers ( I guess was not so convincing to god ) we departed.
Fuiiyyooo... memang hujan all the way !! Hahahaahaha The trek was nice but most of the time I can't really properly see where we were going. There was no way for me to smap any pics as my camera is not waterproof.( time to buy a new one ah.. hehe ) We had to retrack twice as we went the wrong way. According to our guide , it had been quite some time since any people went up .They had to "tebas" their way up and it was not an easy job I must say.. Memang hebat la lu brother.. hehehe Most of the jungle trek was clouded by the flora as it was rarely used.
I enjoyed the trek ;iat times it was really uphill but OK la. not so bad. Its been graded as B anyway by the OGKL group. I slipped many times because of the slippery soil ; fairly similar to the Genting trailblazer conditions ; but this time carrying a heavy haversack !! I was stung by a bee and I thought it was just me. Apparently when we reached a level higher , most of the trip members were attacked by this vicious being !
Unfortunately , one of our head trekker had a bad reaction to the bee sting.When we caught up with him , he was almost unconscious ; his GCS 12-13. He was swollen up , angioedema and confused. I thought , alamak.. takkan anaphylactic shock kot ? I was damn worried when i felt his pulse very thready and super tachycardic. The next thing , he threw up. I guess that his BP must be low then. If he goes into full blown shock , then honestly , I dont have any adrenaline with me ( whoever thought of bringing one ampule during camping huh ? hehe ) I had some piriton with me and that is the next best thing ; antihistamine to stop the allergy reaction. We stayed by him as he was shivering .. realy really shivering. He was wet and the weather was cold especially when the wind blew. He was in hypothermic state now that his sympathetic has been cut off. We changed his clothes and warmed him up as much as we can. At the same time , we were monitoring his GCS and breathing. Any signs of stridor means gulp... His oedema came down , he was able to open his eyes and talk to us. However he was still very cold and the severe shivering showed how his sympathetics are not really functioning well. It was nearly dawn and bringing him down now would only be more catastrophic. I guess we had to stabilize him first and see what stage he is in before deciding. I've seen people in such shock before but never before in a non hospital setting with minimum backup. Its just me and clinical signs with the oral medications that we have ! Simply challenging and decisions are vital. Here i thought was a getaway from my oncalls ; hek.. again oncall at 800m above sea level !

that rock is the peak !!
Alhamdulillah he did not go into a crisis which can be really topsy turvy. He was in a bad shape however , because he was also dehydrated and exhausted. His recovery was slow but of course he was stable. We had to camp there an then as it was impossible to transport him anywhere at that time. We were about 5 hours from the starting point.He needed to be stabilized and officially , the "new" campsite is named after him !! Hahahahaha The next morning , the lads brought him down and straight to the hospital and alhamdulillah , he is recovering surely.

The wind really blew hard that night as we were looking up at the stars. It was a clear night as the rain stopped when we arrived at this place. We prayed for it not to rain for the night as if we are all wet tomorrow , then the climb up and back down will be a nightmare !! Since we camped here we went up the peak the next morning without our backpack. In a way , it was a blessing becuase bringing up all the stuff canbe hazardous and slow us down.We reached the peak at about 11am the next morning ; a good 2 hours from Kem Ahad. The view was dissapointing though being the highest peak ! Nevertheless ,Alhamdulillah it was a good feeling again to reach the top !
I really enjoyed the trip ; again with OGKL which i reckon a climbing club which is suitable for me. The gang was excellent ;especially antics by the twin terrors of Amy and Wak.Their wits are simply amazing and you could not help to at least smile if not laugh all the way ! Thank you and Congratulations to all for a wonderful trip !

MAfeitz Mamat

Hello 2009

I can't believe its 2009 already. Wow , everything is really in fastforward now. It'll be 2010 next and I am getting older by the day...hehehehe
I always feel that we should do what we want as soon as we think about it. Life is short and we should avoid regretting about it later in life. It can be really frustrating ! I gained weight when I contemplated on things that i really wanna do over the years. Alhamdulillah , I've managed to maintain a healthy lifestyle now and it pays when nowadays people ask..
" Eh.. dah kurus la sekarang ?"
" Diet ke ... "
" You are one size down.. what happened ? "
"You look like a school boy ! You must tell me your secret... "
and the best of it..
" Lama cuti tak nampak dr Mafeit , cuti kahwin ke ? "
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!
HAPPY 2009 FOLKS !! Jadilah hamba-hamba Allah yang lebih beriman..