I am really hoping that the upcoming Ramadan will give me that extra boost in motivation to be a better human being. I have to admit this new year started off with a suffocating vibe. What kind of person starts off their year with threatening words like, “I am going to be a mean person this year”
Yes, people like that exist.
Anyway, I am not looking for Raya this year for personal reasons. Hence, I have put myself on call for that Eid week. Just so I can say “No, I’m not going. I am on call”. I might even volunteer to cover for outside events if any need a medical team on standby.
This is just a thought at the beginning of February. I’ll see how it goes later on.
The convenience is out there. All I had to do was take that one step to try it. On my Facebook feed, teachers and PTD officers were the first group of people who used it. They were conveying serious information through infographics generated with NotebookLM.
I had to check it out.
I wanted to see if it was possible to use it to make my PowerPoint slides for an upcoming event at the clinic. It was easy. I uploaded the pdf file,>> click slide deck >> choose language Melayu >> wrote a few prompts, and in less than 10 minutes, a series of slides were produced.
It is important to double-check the information. After downloading the file, I uploaded it to Canva to edit. Since my Canva account is not the PRO version, I had to use the shape and text type of editing instead of the AI services. The slides still came out great on PPT. I am going to learn how to use multiple resources after this and perhaps try to generate audio or video from them.
We had a fruitful meeting 2 weeks ago between the medical officers and our Family Medicine Specialist (FMS).
Work processes were clarified. Problems were highlighted. Solutions were offered. Having said that, it doesn’t mean that we would have a smooth year. Hiccups are bound to happen, and unique dilemmas are likely to surface. Thus, continuous effort to harness creativity in managing workplace expectations is deemed necessary.
There are a few things I am personally excited about;
New leadership under a female medical officer with a surgical background. Without allowing my personal bias to seep in, it would be interesting to uncover the impact of her reign towards the organisation. This is also the year when we have another three medical officers to check and balance the leadership.
My championship projects. Our FMS wants something hands-on as opposed to just simple lectures. It’s a great idea that needs some serious thinking on our team’s part.
Mini projects. For example, setting up a counselling service for both diabetic and HIV patients. This would need participation from my Medical Assistants.
Time management. I am taking on the roster making on full gear this year. I am trying my best to not get distracted by wanting to pursue my studies in Psychology (Master’s level). I do not think I can juggle both responsibilities well. At the same time, I am still on my side quest of losing weight. I hope I lose just a little bit more KG for Eid.
That is to name a few. I’ve also got a few personal development projects of my own. I hope to succeed in 2026.
I rarely bake. I am not a good cook either. My first exposure to Earl Grey flavoured cake was from the Japanese Konbini (コンビニ) FamilyMart. What I had back then was a really good Earl Grey rolled cake.
I tried to find local bakers who could recreate the cake, but to no avail. Hence, I have been scrolling through Instagram, searching for easy-to-follow recipes for the cake. I found and saved a few reels. I managed to bake one today. The taste was OK. Perhaps I should find a recipe that infuses the tea flavour into the cake rather than just incorporating the tea leaves. It is because after the lemon glaze, it felt more like a lemon cake instead of a tea cake. Nevertheless, it was still delicious. I hope to send some to my MIL next week. She seems to like lemon-flavoured cake.
I am hoping to try making some cinnamon rolls or a chocolate cake in the many months to come. Maybe something in purple since BTS is coming to Kuala Lumpur in December. Baking is about precision. If you follow the steps to the dots, it is fail-proof. Sometimes, I lack patience. Which is why, for amateurs, it is best done when you have the time. It calms you down as you go through the recipe meticulously, and just let your thoughts sink into the process. As a bonus, if it turns out fine, you get to feed your family with delicious home-baked goods, which would probably cost me RM30 if I decide to buy them from a baker.
I did my baking just after I did my laundry and cleaning of one particular windowsill. The latter was on my to-do list since my last birthday. While waiting for another load to finish in the dryer, I decided to bake this cake. It took me at least a good 30 minutes for me to assemble the ingredients and go through the process. I was slightly frantic when the recipe asked for the oven to be preheated to 370. My oven only had numbers till 280. I then realised that it was in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. Silly me.
The cake was finally done just after I had my lunch of rice with chicken curry.
I felt guilty that our kids did not go anywhere special during the 3-week school holidays. Healthcare professionals do not get leave easily. In any situation, it is always ‘perkhidmatan diutamakan’ in government service. I know the kids don’t really mind because they are spending time at their grandmother’s house anyway. And like all wonderful grandmothers around the world, the kids were fed and cared for with a lot of love. Even then, as a parent, I still felt like doing something nice for them.
So during the last weekend of the holidays, I made a booking at Klana Resort Seremban. My son preferred a place near his school because he wanted to be early for registration day. He wanted to get the bottom bunk of the bed in his dormitory.
I booked a Triple Family Room with a garden view. The total price was RM 464.70 for a 3D2N stay. The room has a 1 King bed and 1 single bed. Hence, the rooms are located near the pool, not facing the pool. Still, the pool is within walking distance. It took less than 1 minute walk. I like that the pool facilities are mom and kid-friendly. It’s like the Amverton Hotel in Melaka. There is no specific dress code. Thus, I could happily jump in with a comfortable T-shirt and leggings. There is no lifeguard, so do be mindful of your own family members. Clean towels and a place to change are available at the pool. Interestingly, they also serve pool snacks.
I did not include breakfast services because we wanted to buy them from the nearby stalls. We had roti canai on the first morning and nasi lemak with fried chicken on the second morning. The room was spacious and super clean. I loved the bathroom. Most importantly, it has a dryer and a balcony where we can hang our swimming attire to dry. There’s Netflix, and so we watched a few good movies on it.
The area does look a bit eerie at night, but since we spent most of the time indoors, it was not a bother. It felt a bit quiet and dark as we checked in earlier. It is because we arrived near 8PM. Putting that part aside, we had a really great stay. The kids loved the pool eventhough the trip was a short one. Alhamdulilah.
Minci Moss 