HaPPy RaMaDhaN!

Hello again folks. I cannot believe it's the middle of Ramadhan already. Another 2 weeks to go until Aidilfitri! My two siblings are in UK at the moment, and they are not coming back for Raya, so the folks at home (meaning myself n my parents) decided that we would spend Hari Raya in Kuching. Just finished spring cleaning yesterday (I mean, supervising spring cleaning, since I am hypersensitive to dust. Perks of having asthma? No need to do dusting! Hehehe).

Nana and Hudini left for Manchester a week ago, but before that we hit the town big time at the Macam-macam Ada Buffet at Holiday Inn Kuching. Quoting Nana "That's the only place in town where I can eat and taste all Malaysian food before I go off". Costed the Earth (RM66 per person, macam nak telan emas idup idup) but heck, it was paid for by Dad. Hehe. But food was great, especially the Penang hawker foods. I really binge-ate! Luckily the next day I was on double shift so all the calories are spent.

Oh delicious food!


I was so sated but Nana kept on and on!

It was back to work as usual for me once the two brats left, and we had additional accessories to our uniforms in the ICU! CAPS! Supposed to make us look neater (it does) but my boyfriend say we look like penari from the Cultural Village. Pretty aren't they, with their colourful trimmings! Mines a yellow to light orange colour. Look!

So much about me now. Nothing much. I'd be busy organizing our Kolej Abdillah Batch of 1999 Raya Reunion, even with me working overtime. I really appreciate Awang, Adeq, Dzah and Aza for picking up any past, present and future slack from my part. See you at the reunion guys!

Birthdays in JULY!

JuLy is my favourite month, because the first week comes my birthday! And my mum's, and cousin Amir's, and ends with Dad's. Amir and I splurged and took our family up to Sematan for an overnight birthday trip in the first week. First trip was fun, we had beautiful chalets to stay in, great food, calm crystal blue seas, and even homemade birthday cake!

Who would not love a sea like that! I am the ultimate beach bum. I just love the seaside, even though I hate cleaning out sand from the car later. I would just ADORE staying by the sea.

Birthday dinner came with a homemade cake which the others were trying to hide from us the whole day! I was wondering why my boyfriend kept getting me to walk by the sea at 3pm when the sun is like SCORCHING!

Breakfast the next day before we headed out to sea for some calm kayaking.

That first trip was so much fun, my mum adored the place so we decided to come back for dad's birthday 2 weeks later and do a BBQ too! So everyone came back for the night and had a blast!

The cousins on BBQ night! Well, the unmarried ones la, hahahaha.

Daddy blowing...well trying to blow, all the candles out but they keep coming back on. Nana bought trick candles! Took him a FULL minute to blow them all out. I was scared he'd turn BLUE from the huffing and puffing. He's 60 now you know!

Ayap playing a little footie with his uncles at the lawn.

The sea was a wee bit rough but heck, they didn't care! The bigger the waves the better! Anyways, it was a fun month for me coz I gotta get a break from work for a whole bloody week! Even got to meet up with some old frens from school for a drink. August is next and I have no plans yet but to work for now, coz I need to scrunch up money for Raya. See you in my next blog!

Back To WorK!

I'm back at work and working my hours hard. Still the kilograms pile up, hahaha. Must be the stress of working. Bayangkanlah, kerja di ICU, anytime your patient boleh drop dead because they are so tenat. Well, not all of them la, but when one is allocated a patient who is in critical mode, sapa sik nervous, betol sik? I still prefer my stroke patients, but handling other cases is extra knowledge you know. Many of my friends, when I tell them that I work in ICU, cannot imagine how I work. Tapi kalau I say I am a nurse, the image that pops in their minds is this...

Nina as a nurse in the medical-surgical nurse early last year

Tapi sebenarnya Nina looks like this now...

Nina in ICU and with Dr Low, our ex resident medical officer. Yes he's married! *grin*

Getting the opportunity to sit down... which is seldom. Nina talking to Mummy Evia.

I got a break from the usual ICU hustle and bustle when I was sent to the Sarawak General Hospital for a 2 week attachment with the neuro-physiology unit. Belajar apa? Belajar pasang wayar rah kepala patient. Yes, I am now able to record EEG waves, in lay men's terms, record your brain wavesla. You know those thingy's that they pop on your chest to record your heart waves? Something similar, but a little bit more complicated. It was a relaxing and educational 2 week for me, and man those people working in the government setting are lucky. They get to relax more, it seems that their stress levels are lower.

The wires I stick on somebody's head. Part of the EEG (electroencephalogram) machine. Each single wire costs RM150+ and the whole set up of computers cost a mansion!

My first proper EEG recording!! Those waves are someone's brain waves. No zamer, I do not diagnose whether this person is a crazy freak murderer or not. Hehehehe...

I'm back in ICU now, and we are as busy as ever. So friends, please understand when I say I'm busy ya? hahahaha... Will post more pictures of my workplace soon!

SoRRy i'm LaTe

Hey guys. Sorry I couldn't get back to my blog early. My brother has been pestering me about my blog. Padah aku abu2, tang padah jak rindu nak nengar kabar berita mekorang hahaha....

The reason I have not been writing is that I've been run haggard working the past few months. The hospital's been making good business (not that I'm praying for people to get sick, but heck, if the management does not give us all a hefty bonus with all the profits they have been rolling in this year, I'd say that SOMEBODY's been eating the BuCKs!) February we had the Malaysian Society of Quality Health Accreditation and I have been helping with the most disgusting work of all.... PAPERWORK! Truthfully, I'd rather wash bedpans than get stuck in an office full of papers to sort out....

March flew by and I got to get a bit of a break during Maulud Nabi (even though it was a long weekend away from work, it WAS worth it). I hadn't gone back to my dad's village of Matu since my grandmum's funeral in 2006 and I was excited to go back. It was a chance to get some peace and quiet, and I tell you, tok baru peace and quiet. My handphone (Maxis that is) sik ada coverage here so the hospital could not get hold of me (hurrah!) and I did not even need to use my inhaler because the air is still clean here.

We drove up from Kuching on the 19th March, a long 10hour drive to Matu. But heck it was worth it! I was so excited to have seclusion from my daily life. When we got to the village, the river was swelling up (due to the rain) but the water reached out ankles only. Still you don't get that kind of simple life excitement in Kuching.Cousin Zul and I washing cars using water at our feet. God it was embarrassing, a cousin from the village passed by and offered us their electrical water spray jet to wash the car . Its like "Sheesh, orang bandar sik tauk reti nak pakey water hose kah?" -grin-

We were back in the village to hold a "makan hol" for our late grandfather who passed away on the Prophet's birthday. This was no ordinary catering project. It was interesting to see cousins and relatives in the kampung gathering to help with the event. The ladies grouped in our very large kitchen to cook (when I say large, the kitchen is exactly the size of my present house in Kuching. Its humoungous and can sit 3 - 4 families at once at one meal). Thats when the chatting, gossiping and joking are fun. 3 generations of ladies gathered to chop, dice, peel, pound, fry, boil, skin etc. whilst their mouth blabber on. For two whole days! They even included CiCi the "burung tiong" (mynah) in their conversation cos it keeps interrupting with rational comments. Yes, we have a mynah that can ask you whether you have eaten, whether you have taken your bath, where you mother is, and give all sorts of greetings. It even sneezes humanely when someone fries onions close to it.

Wa Cheot supervising the cooking.

Cooking in progress.

Cici si burung tiong yang bujat

The men, on the other hand, were busy clearing the front of the house. The children were so happy they had a big wide space to run through. My family home in the village was (and still is) grand and very big. Housed 4 families one time. And we don't need air-conditioning at night because it gets chilly when it gets dark.





The main sitting area after the furniture has been removed, extra space to skip and run!



Staying in the kampung for a short spell really recharged my batteries. Apatah lagi dengan udang, ikan, umai that is fresh from the sea. Mum buys prawns that are literally still jumping in the baskets. You can't get any fresher than that. Another week at kampung, I'd be piling on another 5kgs.
Anak-anak dara di kampung chilling out at the front door steps mengumpat orang yang lalu depan rumah. The water down the steps reached our knees by then, thats ya seloar semua berlipat.

Chilling out by the river. We used to jump into it from this very jetty and had fun swimming in its cool waters for hours on end. Now there's a croc lurking somewhere underneath. I'm waiting for Bindi Irwin to grow up and get rid of it for me.

Well that's the latest on me. A little chapter of my life that is so far different than city life. After that trip, I am back to work and really eating the hours. I don't even get to see my family; I wake up, they are still sleeping, I get home from work, they are already sleeping. When I'm asleep, they are up and about and vice versa. With a house full of people, it can get pretty lonely sumtimes. But hey, I'm not complaining. Sometimes a little solitude makes you think and appreciate whatever precious time you have with your loved ones. Ciao!

HaPPy New YeaR 2008!

Happy New Year one and all! With the new year comes new resolutions. As usual, Nina's resolution is to slim down and keep fit! So what I plan to do this year is do a lot of brisk walking (which is actually a great cardio workout and helps tone the body)... at the mall! Can't wait for the Spring to open. Boulevard was okay okay lah, at least ada juak new places to visit other than the Golden Triangle which is now fading to a pale yellow... Just last Sunday Faisal, Aza and I went out to watch I am Legend at Star Cineplex, jalan sunyi nak mampus. Very untypical for roads in Waterfront area to be quiet on Sundays. Kompom Kuchingites tengah raid Boulevard at Batu 3 coz discount sales cam gila. I even bought a pair of cropped khakis (on Monday when people semua gago register anak for school) that looked like Giordanos (tapi made in China) and it costed me RM15 only! Siney nak carik loar yang murah camya n comfy as if you're wearing Docker's.

Sunday watched I am Legend at Star Cineplex (which was also surprisingly almost empty). So-so lah ceta ya. Will Smith memanglah as usual pandey embak character, and he brings it to many layers. Tapi jalan cerita macam yaaaaa jak. Bak kata Aza, cerita tok bagus k baca lam novel jak...hehehe... effects were good la (biasalah Hollywood grade, kan cam Malaysia pun, gik nampak tali suspension haha)

New Year's Eve Nina sik celebrate, coz Nina had to work the graveyard shift (9pm to 7am). Tengok fireworks via TV ajak. Anak patient chia makan KFC, at least perut kenyang. Lucky patient in ICU only 3 orang, so relaxla sikit. Looking back, ever since I graduated from nursing school, memang every New Year's Eve is spent at the hospital working. Balit-balit rumah the next day merepuk tido. Dah terpaksa bangun at 10am ambik Nana from the airport. Balit kakya merepuk depan tv coz once I wake up from my beauty sleep I find it hard to sleep again. Nasib bait kerja second nite malam ya sik cranky kedak apa. Note to Nina's friends and colleagues (especially boss): Mun dah Nina kerja malam, jangan call before 3pm. Nanti malam tu Nina kerja cam zombie cos not enuf sleep. Patient yang rugi. Hehehe.

Another resolution: SAVE money! Since before I started work Mum has been pushing me to save for my future. Tapi yaaaalah,.. ada ajak agenda yang memerlukan duit come up. Cineplex, Guardian, Coffee Bean, Parkson, Starbucks, Bing semua sik bengkrap coz I'm there ahhahaha. 2 years working and I have not been able to save coz I am such a tempayan bocor! Money never stick with me one. Even Faisal cannot stop me mun urge nak meli barang ya datang. I guess I should have trained to be a personal shopper jak; dah beli kelak, sik pakey! Nyelut bilit ajak. So Start with January2008 I am aiming to open an account in a seperate bank and start dumping at LEAST 5 to 10 per cent of my wages there. Wish me luck u guys! I thank God everyday I do not work in Singapore because with all the temptations there, I would not be able to pay rent!

So how to keep slim doing something I love (window shopping and actual shopping = walking for hours on end) but still save money? Go to the mall with RM20 in hand pakey makan, and leave the ATM card and Credit Card at home! In my case, also get hubby to leave HIS cash and card at home as I can be verrrryyyy persuasive and manipulative if I see what I like... hee.... that's all for now!