Craving asam pedas in Muar

Posted in Food and Drinks, Places to Eat by

I was not a fan of asam pedas. Until I had my MIL’s asam pedas. The visuals of her dish are mouth-watering with its bright red colour, but it is not spicy at all. Since then, I have discovered asam pedas tetel and other proteins in asam pedas. I tried making asam pedas, but the balance seems to be off. You need a good mix of chilli and tamarind paste.

Before Ramadan, my father was craving for a particular asam pedas in MUAR. It was Asam Pedas Kak Yah, located near Masjid Jamek Nurul Iman Parit Bakar. The journey was an hour’s drive from our house. We ordered 2 portions of mayong, 2 portions of pari, 1 portion of vegetable, 2 portions of telur dadar, 4 plates of rice and 4 drinks. The total amounted to a reasonable RM80.

We reached there just after 11am. The crowd had not arrived, so we were able to have our meals peacefully. Overall, it was a great lunch.

The morning before KKOM-ing

Posted in Everyday Life, Food and Drinks by

I had to substitute a colleague at Klinik Komuniti the other day. Klinik Komuniti (KKOM) has odd working hours of 12noon till 9pm. There is no lunch break, but there is an hour break during Maghrib at 645pm-745pm. It is usually manned by a medical doctor, a medical assistant, a registered nurse, a pharmacy assistant and a health assistant. KKOM was established as a means to provide services for minor ailments, wound dressing and emergency situations outside office hours for areas at the periphery of the main town.

I honestly think that KKOM is already out of touch.

We have plenty of GP services sprouting in these areas, providing care out of office hours. Some clinics even open 23 hours. The government should look into providing incentives for shared care between the GP and KK. Of course, cost is an issue, which is why patients still prefer going to KKOM. However, this is where the thinkers need to reconsider the said options. Furthermore, people are treating KKOM as a retail pharmacist. Some would straight up request paracetamol or mmt as standby meds at home.

Enough of that.

I am usually prepared on days I have to go to KKOM. Meaning I would arrange for certain errands to be done in the morning, like going for longer brisk walks or to the bank. This time I wasn’t. I have quite forgotten my own schedule. Hence, I find myself undecided on whether to go for a walk or stay inside with my kettlebell. Then, should I go for mamak or just have toast at home? Should I watch a TV series or do online CPD? Brunch with asam laksa maggi or go for a bite at Aeon. My decisions led to this.

  • kettlebell at home
  • toast and hot coffee at home
  • online CPD to collect enough points for my APC renewal
  • a bite at AEON

I had a lovely brunch of Beef Stroganoff Pasta and GIGI Coffee. Lucky me, GIGI was having a promotion. All drinks were priced at RM6.90. I ordered an Iced Pecan Latte. It tasted awesome.

Losing a colleague to functional medicine

Posted in All in a days work, Just For Fun by

Do not get me wrong. Functional medicine is good. Especially when it is practised ethically. I hope my colleague will be able to integrate his passion for functional medicine with the current practice well. What is more important is to do no harm to the patient. When a colleague like him, who is a senior and in a permanent position with relatively good wages, decides to leave, that’s when we know he is going for Self- Actualisation. Good for him.

We wish him all the best.

And like any badak ceremony, we saw him off with a farewell party. This time the theme is Oriental. So there’s a hotpot with an Oden-ish broth, siew mai, pau and many others.

Reproaching as an adult

Posted in All in a days work, Everyday Life, Ponderings & Personal Development by

One of the most difficult things in adulting is to reproach a family member, a friend or a colleague. It is not even scolding. Far from criticising. All this was done out of the public eye. Apparently, it is also a difficult matter among adults to accept advice and criticism in an open manner.

I reproached an individual I consider a friend a few days ago through a trusted third party. Also a friend. I made a decision to do so because I felt she did something wrong, which consequently stirred uneasy feelings among other colleagues at our workplace. Like any other occasion, these ill feelings are not conveyed to her at point-blank. Instead, they are discussed and circulated among a few people. To me, this is unhealthy. Because that was how this wrongdoing reached my knowledge in the first place.

Knowing that the workplace walls have ears, I thought I was right in my approach to make this poorly thought-out behaviour known to the person of interest. Through a middle person, the best friend. For reasons that these actions could be reflected upon and avoided. It is because I feel that in the future, if the same behaviour is carried out, it will bring negative consequences to this individual.

I expressed my points clearly in the WhatsApp message with the hope that the receiving end would understand my point of view and respond appropriately to the message.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. I don’t really know how it played out between them, but suddenly, I am the bad guy. The body language was so obvious that tension filled the air whenever the person of interest and I were in the same room.

This incident made me question my approach. What I thought was an act to ‘save this friend’ backfired instead. I did ponder it for a few days.

I mean, I had this person’s best interest in mind, as she is up for evaluation any time. The supervisor’s input might be influenced by certain people, and that’s quite dangerous if it is motivated by ill-harboured feelings.

I wanted to solve the problem. I thought I went to the correct person for assistance to cushion the aftermath of my advice. Despite the thoughtful measures (or so I thought), it did not turn out well. Consequently, we are just not on speaking terms at the moment. I could sense it. Ha ha.

As an empath, this is quite a hurtful experience. However, this is a learning curve for me. I should have known that I could not help everybody. Or more of, not everybody wants to be helped. And that maybe in certain situations, the best way would just be to turn a blind eye and let the person learn their own lesson.

January slump

Posted in Everyday Life by

For the past few weeks, I experienced a major slump in my routine. I was feeling exhausted and unmotivated all the time. I was dragging my ass and breasts to work daily. I could not really pinpoint the exact reason why. Maybe because it was January. The longest month of the year. Depression? Neh.

I usually bring a packed lunch to work as part of hashtagmincibmi25 effort. However, during the slump, I decided to buy lunch from our clinic WhatsApp group called ‘Jual Beli’. I bought ayam penyet, nasi kak wok and nasi pattaya. I was nearly tempted to buy sardine sandwiches for breakfast, even though I have sardines and bread at home. That was how bad I needed to reduce the number of decisions I made about eating. Of course, I could just fast, but that requires a different type of willpower.

Stepping into February, the mood has brightened up a bit. Still buying cheap lunch options.

Insya-Allah with the upcoming Ramadan, I will become more stable in terms of mood and willpower.

Nasi Kak WOK