my first social do...

Its the end of my 3 month in Kuala Belait... and i have recieved many social invitations... but due to other commitments, i was unable to attend all of them... but, I made my first appearance tonight. One of the muslim doctor (Haji Ansahari) celebrated his daughter's marriage in Brunei... and all the hospital staff were invited.. plus indian doctors from Bandar... as well as administrators going to the Ministry level...

We were served indian food and it was delicious - buffet style... and its safe to say.. melayu will be melayu, no matter where we are... berabut kan makan...

the wedding reception was held in KB, BSRC or something... anyways... i took some picturess... so enjoy...



The bride and groom


Label of the club


The bush in the shape of a bunny

some pictures of kapal belia..

more ppictures on a later date...

Trip to the dentist!

There are several things i hate in life, and one of them is visiting the dentist. I have this vivid memory of a child ushered to the dentist's room to pull my teeth! I wasn't sure what was wrong with it, but, yup, it was pulled out.

I distinctively remember i was giving everyone a hard time. Who blame me, I was SACRED! (May i add, i must have been 4 or less) I was kicking and screaming. The doctor (Male) had to pull me down into the dentist chair! and the assistant had to extract my teeth out, while my mum was at the side watching it happen. (She just got back from UK)

Since then, i only go to see them if I have to, like when i was in Primary six (1988), i had one teeth extracted - decay. Again, when i got my scholarship (1996), in 2000 i had a medical check up, and then in 2003 my monthly paid check up, last year when Jackie graciously offered the family a check up, and few months ago when my teeth were sensitive to chew food on.

Since the last time, I was given an appointment, and it happened to be today. I was to have my last molar on the upper left side specifically cleaned and filled permanently (I was to have a filling!). (I had to call jackie for this word - mental block!)

The doctor happens to be a nice man... I was really scared... Of course, I pretended not to be and brought along a funny book to de-stress me, breathe heavily and such, but we both know that i was stressed in the chair, and was very tense. I also forgotten to breathe until he told me to! which was embarrassing since he knew that i was staff!

Anyways, he told me long ago that i needed a filling and since it was sensitive, i might need a little 'injection' to make it numb and less painful. I didn't think much after the temporary filling - so i went along...

As i was waiting for my turn, i didn't think much as well... it was only when he brought and talked as he almost did the procedure, and i saw the metal injection near my face, i panicked...

i struggled in my seat, attempted to sit up, jiggled and moved... catch my breath and then slip back into the chair... as if nothing happened... this time, with my eyes closed... not totally... both the dentist and his assistant was shocked to see what i did... i gave them a 'harsh' laugh... OH MY GOD! I really can crawl under my bed now from embarrassment!

The injection didn't hurt... he was really gentle... that was very nice... and no matter how hard he push or dig, it didn't hurt... so i was quite happy... then... as i lying in the chair, I saw my reflection on the dentist's plastic face protector!

and guess what i did... yup! I started at it... it was only when he stopped briefly that i realised that i was staring into his eyes! Ha ha ha.... I looked away!!!

ha ha ha... Maybe i should stick to family dentist only!! And this time, i shall try to make it a point to see them twice a year! i shall put it in my diary!

that is my dentist trip- i have to say i was very brave... the last time i went to see a dentist, to make a mould for an EPG equipment, i was pushed and pulled into the dentist's room! ha ha ha... and was sweating like a pig!

and so... family members, come forward with your horror stories and experiences while in the dentist's chair!

TESTING...

If you like this style of presenting pictures, please leave comments!

New picture upload...

single-dom!

I attended this free course organized by the mental health unit of RIPAS – its main topic is Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). And the invited speaker is Dr. Aili from Malaysia whom also happens to be an associate professor in one of the leading Universities in Malaysia…

Anyways… We were about to talk about children and families with ADHD when the opening speech given by the head of the organizing team asked the public to show hands – singles, raise your hands. I didn’t of course, thinking they would want us singles to do something the married ones refused to do… HOW TYPICAL! And I wasn’t surprised when a lot of us didn’t raise hands… anyways… He said… “for those of you who are single, don’t get married. And to those, whom have made the mistake of marrying, don’t have kids!”

A lot of us laughed… but I kept thinking on the above statement… Truths are every where… and some truth is present in this vague sentence.

A lot of us get married because we are “IN LOVE”, and as result of that, we bear children – but MOST of us are unprepared financially, mentally, socially, physically, emotionally to have kids, but it doesn’t stop us! BUT married people often give a lot of thought about what car to buy, or where to build their personal haven but not kids. To them, having kids is just NORMAL PROGRESSION, a milestone to achieve… And yet, the singlesss think of the above more, and probably made the right move for themselves by not getting married or having kids because they know they may be unable to provide wholly to the child..

Yet, it is always the singlesss that get attacked! Like they are immature enough for an adult relationship, or unable to keep or find a partner and more… its time we look at the mentality of the married ones… are they mature enough to BE married and LEGAL in the full sense to have and raise KIDS?

new picture update

Below are pictures of Aunty Nor and Azra. These were taken the same night Bungsu had her open house. I picked them up on the way there. More family pictures for all to enjoy...

and, feel free to comment. I thought, the picture of Azra alone reminded me of Baby, my youngest sister when she was of younger of similar age. What do you all think?

Update...

I hope people are much happier now that some pictures of the family is up on the blog.
Though, I was too lazy, not to mention sleepy to make comments for each picture.

During my absence from writing in the blog, lots of little things come across my mind to blog. But somehow, after a few days of not writing down the creative juice, it dried up… and now I am left to wonder and thinking hard what it was I was excited to write about… and the harder I try to write, the drier my thoughts become…

So instead to disappoint you all, I shall do something I usually do not do, UPDATE rather than write about something!

So what had happened? I want to write down all the juicy stuff, but since, this is a public blog, I do not want undesired ‘readers’ to know more than they should… so interested people should really email or call, if you think there is a point that feels or needs elaboration. So here goes:

1. I have moved to Kuala Belait and have been living with my uncle; Selina’s dad. Initially I thought it was an arrangement that would get bad, but I was overtly pessimistic. The living condition is CALM, though the interior design can do better, but I will not complaint! I also have the comforts of my own room, my own toilet, my own kitchen, espeed newly installed and TV to myself most of the time!

2. I am looking after 2 clinics, namely one in Kuala Belait and one in Tutong. Its difficult to be working on your own, in the sense that you have to be everything. All the work has to be done by yourself, from writing minutes, to photocopying and arranging transport matters. It would be nice to have a hand in some matters, but this is yet to come following a discussion. However, how long I have to wait is a game we all play…

3. Fasting month came and went like a breeze. It was nice to have shorter working time. I was cooking almost everyday except when I was around the comforts of my own home, where someone else is cooking! Or eating out! I even managed to get my uncle, the fussy eater, to eat some of the suff that I was cooking  and amazingly enough, he eats them… it’s a compliment really. Now that fasting month is over, I shall try again… maybe it won’t work!

4. I have lost some weight... not much… but am trying to keep it up. I am not quite sure what contributes to this, but it has to be the housework, and most importantly, being lonely! And eating alone. I lost weight the first year of Uni as well, because I wasn’t in the mood to eat by myself, or eat my own cooking!

5. Family day. As suggested by Wina, one of the cousins, we had our family day out. We went to Red Canapy, Batu Bersurat. I have only been there twice with one same person, so it was nice to add memories to a nice place. We were using the internet. Fooling around and more. The second family outing was eating ambuyat as sungkai at Aminah Arief, Kiulap. The next family outing is to be scheduled, as a lot of us are busy with our own plans during this festive month. More updates on that…

6. Kak Neza hurt her ‘bum’ during puasa, making her teary even to sit down. But with nenek’s magic hands, the pain subsided… however, hearing a heavily pregnant woman howling in pain is not a nice memory to keep!

7. Bungsu’s hari raya party is this weekend… so you all will know more about that part of the story much later… I hinted that I may avoid the place, since it would be crowded with people whom are virus carrier, and myself just recovering from it,… I was reprimanded! Ha ha ha ha…

8. I was invited by a patient of mine to his house for hari raya personally. The parents had to call me several times to confirm this… I finally consented last night… I was a model in the house… pictures every few seconds… and food was nice… mum is an excellent cook  I tried to bring my uncle to the open house, but was rejected..

9. Kak Nana and Aunty Nor went to Sabarin’s open house… *wink* Anyone interested to know what daddy said to me?

10. I, somehow, managed to hurt my hand. The orthopaedics said I have golfer’s elbows. The Physiotherapist said I had acute soft tissue damage… and John said my hands bengkak-muscle stress… I am on strong pain killer which I stopped myself as it was giving me severe gastric pain +++. I still go to see the physiotherapist to continue with treatment… and I also go to see John as I trust him to be my miracle angle – he fixed my hand 3 years ago, when I had the same complaint!

11. I have been driving up and down from KB-BSB on a daily basis for 3 weeks now. I stopped this activity. Initially daddy is with me… he drives me… but occasionally, I drive on my own! Driving seems to make my hands worst! I can’t even stitch now… Its not painful, but its uncomfortable and feels stiff! Not to mention, painful to the briefest of touch!

12. I have not been to the movies, but I have been watching KOREAN DRAMS courtesy of Kak Meng2, resulting in sleepless nights and puffy, swollen eyes to work!

13. The Youth Ship is here to come,… and Mummy Rose is the new National Leader. She recently updated me and is in Indonesia… Next stop would be Malaysia, then Brunei and Philippines and Japan.

14. I am going to look after 2 youths, one Malaysian and the other Japanese… both girls.

15. There is going to be a party on board the ship, and its theme is Masquerade or the 70’s. This is on the 21st Nov, and I have asked BURT to help me baby sit the youths while I party for a few hours! And will join them soon after. Anyone have any idea what we should do during the time the youths are here? Please let me know…

16. The promised budget for my clinic (paper work done since June 2006) has not been approved yet! I am fed up! If I can QUIT! I would really… what a way to work!

Hmmm… it went on longer that I anticipated… so, okay… I shall stop here… and will try to keep updating the blog… but the thing is… if you live alone, with no one to talk to… and only do your work and work research and sometimes have no time to even read, the only thing I can blog about is WORK… so give me some ideas on what to write.

I can write about ‘some’ things but its too political… and one really have to watch one’s back… its not like we are democratic or have the freedom of speech/say…

Funny Picture of Aunty Nor



Kak Nana posing for the camera

This is Kak Meng-meng trying to look ayu :)

This ia a picture of the the sisters and some aunts. Others were unable to attend ...