2024 1st fight final leg part 1..

 

The stay in the Boleh land was a slow one for me. My primary duty was to serve as Ving’s driver. Ving had several errands to run; accompanied her parent and visiting her aunts and uncles.

I had used up the some of the time upgrading my bro in law’s wifi. The internet service provider and supplied him with an entry level router and the connection sucks! I had toured around the shopping mall nearby and bought a DECO MESH combo.

I had upgraded my house with similar system few months ago and the connection was excellent and easy to install. The ASUS router was actually my favorite as it provides great tunning capability for NAS and CCTV setting. However the ASUS’s MESH was something that one need to live with it….

The DECO had proven to be a more convenient system and cheaper to implement. I had acquired a WIFI6 2 pcs MESH system and started the installation. It was more than 20 hours later with many trials and errors before I get the green light permanently light up. There was no instruction with the setting of parameter regarding the TM and DECO combo.

The result was exceptionally satisfying as the connection was markedly improved after the installation.

During this period I had visited the book tunnel bookstore near Setia Alam. A great bookstore located in a visitor lacking shopping mall. I hoped that it would still be there during my next visit.

Xian and I had discussed a lot regarding his plan in the future and he had evolved and it would not be a problem for him to attend any graduate school. Every stage of his learning process was a struggle to us; we had hesitated to send him to a normal kindergarten initially. After that, we had discussed the option of delaying his entry to grade 1. After the first few years as an initiate we enjoyed a few smoothly going year until the stage college selection. With grace from the great one, he had gotten what his wished for. Finally the solo ride in the college begun and he is now staying alone in a hostel and being a valuable asset to his team in the college…. Every step was crossing the limit and boundary that beyond our imagination.

I had patroned a few food joints and most of them were not compatible with my tongue; 2 of them were chain BKT.

I sworn I would try my best to lay my hand on a decent taste BKT on my next visit.

It was raining season and I had met a few flash flood during my drive. Heart pumping session for me but it was norm for the locals according to my in law….

It was a satisfied journey for Ving though, we completed most of the errands and the seniors of the family were happy about the arrangement.

The cashless life was another gained during this trip. I had installed the TNG e-wallet app and started my scanning and paying life after seeing my bro in law using it to buy goreng pisang at the local afternoon bazaar. Well, it was a great experience and I did not increase my load of syiling after this trip.

The trip ended 6 days later; it was an afternoon flight where we enjoyed an afternoon tea break at the Ya Kun with my in law. Frankly said, KLIA1 is improving but KLIA2 was still top notch for travelers.

The flight with China airlines was smooth and we reached CKS late in the evening followed by a safe trip back to K city with some hiccup.

We reached home by 11 and I headed to work next day after a short nap.

Our next trip was scheduled 2 weeks later and it would be a complicated one for all of us….. It had haunted me for the next 10 days until I realized about what was waiting for me….

The 1st fight of 2024 - the start

 

The return of Dragoncat to the Great one’s embrace had alter our plan during January.

I had decided to join Ving and Xian for the trip returning to Bolehland during mid of January. My joining would lift the burden of travelling for them.

We had to settled with the flight departing up north as the double A flight departing from K city was fully booked.

I had booked an afternoon flight so that we could travel up north with the HSR early in the morning.

The journey preceded with a night shift in the ward; K had agreed to cover for me in the ward for 2hours so that I could leave by 6am.

I reached home and picked up Ving and Xian by 7and headed toward HSR station. We managed to park the car at the train station which situated next to the HSR station. The parking fee is 3 times cheaper than the HSR station parking. It was a simple journey as I had trailed down this route few months ago with Yun to Bangkok for an IDPA shooting event.

We reached TPE airport by 10+ and I was shocked when I saw the big screen at the departure hall. The MH367 would be delayed to 9pm. I scanned over my phone and found that an email was sent to my mailbox at 4am informing the delay and I had ignored it. While 3 of us was discussing where should we spend the 7 hours, the counter had however opened as scheduled allowing us to check in our luggage. The counter staff had also announced that they would arrange a hotel for us to rest while waiting for the departure. It was not the best news of the day though. We had checked in our baggage and headed for our lunch. I had to called up the car rental company informing my delay and rental company had however to me that they would be closing by 10pm and I could only pick up my car the next day. I instantly cancelled the booking but however I received another mail from HAWK stating that my booking for a BRV was approved and asking if I wish to proceed with the booking. I called up HAWK and told them my situation and they told me that they had tracked my flight and would wait for me with a surcharge. Definitely the best news of the day under such hazard situation. After our lunch, we had gathered back to the MH counter and were directed to a coach. We were ferried to the Hotel Orchard Park nearby the airport. A voucher of 500 for each person was provided for dinner. The hotel was 4 stars grade with great bed and facility. We take a good nap and awaking up by 5pm. The flight was however delayed again till 9:40pm when we arrived at the airport by 7pm. It was supposed to be relaxing path but the airport was packed. We were urged to hurry to the security check point and it took us 2 hours to complete the task. It was 9pm when we reached the gate just before last call of the flight was announced.

We had used the vouchers to buy cakes/gifts instead of buying any lunch/dinner.

The flight took off at 10:30pm with our empty stomach.

I swept through what I gathered from the net and found that the MH366 was delayed due to unknown reason. The original flight from Jeddah to KL had reached KL 3pm and its next flight under the flight MH366 was scheduled the next day at 9:20am. It did not take off though.

The red eye flight was uneventful and we reached KL by 5+am. The airport was emptied and the connecting train to the satellite building was still out of service(it had been more than 1 year and it would take 3 years for a replacement)

I picked up the BRV and headed to my in law’ house. The early morning drive was smooth and the feeling of driving to work from Klang to Tg Malim early in the morning had stormed me again. It sucks really driving a underpower car with poor maneuverability (yeh, I am spoiled by Fefe after all those years).

It was the first time I had met such delayed of flight; however MAS had provided an excellent service to arrange hotel for us to rest. If we had been flying with AA, we would be on our own during the delay.

HAWK rent a car was another great service provider; they were the only rental company who provide BRV. BRV is a great car even though with its poor control and noisy engine setting; it’s spacious luggage and 7 seaters capability was definitely a plus for traveler.

It was not an easy start but it was smooth thereafter…

The end and start of journey

 I had always been a pet lover; raising pets were like raising kids to our family. Losing each of them had been a big pain for us. The leaving of Fatty and Titi was two major event during our life. I knew that it would be intolerable when the Dragoncat’s day come.

For the past 3 years, Dragoncat condition had deteriorated slowly. Her spine problem had become worst and slowly she lost her ambulatory ability. We would bring her around in a cage initially and later as her back condition become worst, we would carry her in our arms whole day.

Ving had given up the chance of going back to Malaysia during CNY and we had tried our best of staying with her, comforting her. She could no longer feed herself and we had to spoon fed her. She was in no pain and no fear as her appetite was good. She had been tamed like a domestic pet instead of being a prey. I knew that the day would come sooner and later and Ving had hoped that she would returned to the land peacefully in her sleep.

As my in law condition was fluctuating, Ving had however decided to pay a visit back to Boleh land earlier this year. I had arranged a window of 1 weeks so that Ving could go back for a visit. I would look after Dragoncat with the assistance of Yun during the period while Ving is gone. 10 days before the departure, Dragoncat had started to show sign of shortness of breath. The visit to the Vet had confirmed my suspicion, she had probably pulmonary malignancy leading to her respiratory failure. I knew before the consultation but yet at the time the Vet broke the news, I was still unable to control my tears….. We had to put her to sleep as only in the ICU box, she could maintain her O2 saturation. There was no way we could carrying her in our arm while giving any oxygen supplement. The decision was simple and straight forward then…

On our way back, we bough a few oxygen can for use on the returning journey and rented an oxygen machine. We decided to keep her one more night and summoned the kids to share the last night with her. At the grace of the great one, it was the last day for the school final. We picked up Yun and Xian on our way home.

I held her in my arm with the oxygen tube beside her nose that whole night. She slept well with all of us gathering in the living room with her that night.

The next day, we had taken her to the Vet as scheduled. We gathered around her during the final journey. She slept peacefully after the intramuscular sedation was given. We bid farewell to her and completed the final prayer thanking the Great one for his Grace. The sadness was beyond description for all of us…

We headed to the crematorium and the ritual was completed later that evening.

We had been through many events with Dragoncat. I complete level 100 as sorcerer in D4 during the last season with her in my arm. Ving had been pampering her whole day for the last 1 year and we had treated her as our third child. We had traveled with her thousands of kilometer during the 2 years; we had taken her north and south visiting Yun in her university and other places. She would show a smile after she had a good meal and we shared her joyfulness with her. She had been the longest living rabbit with the most travelling mileage in the island….

She did not leave us as in the way we had hope for however the Great one had arranged everything to pacify ours grieve in another way.

We had the chance to gather around her for her last journey; if what had gone as we hope for, she would had left us suddenly and the pain would be much intolerable…..

Crow mouth....

 

 

After years of practice, most of the physician would have some instinct/experience guessing diagnosis with only a small piece of history of findings. Most of the time you would be happy that you have gotten the correct diagnosis….

K was sitting with me at the desk and a 10 years old girl had sent to his side by the local rescue service. The complaint was right thigh deformity after fall during a basket ball game.

While the patient being sent for imaging, I had chatted with K and told him that most probably it would be cancer(osteosarcoma most probably) as the impact during a basket ball game is not strong enough to break a 10 years child’s femur.
Well, I regretted what I had said instantly and loaded the film once it showed up at the imaging list… Crow mouth I had…

K notified the orthopedic surgeon and after reviewing the image, the surgeon had told K to refer the patient as she would need to be managed by a multidiscipline team in a tertiary medical facility.

No one wanted to break the bad news, K had to tell the mother that the fracture is complicated and need to be managed by orthopedic surgeon who is specialized in that field.

I had regretted sharing my spot diagnosis….10 years old girl with a total hip amputation and a long course of chemotherapy waiting for her; even with such aggressive treatment she is still facing a 30% 5 years survival rate….

The incident had haunted me and I had paid my price during the level 3 IDPA competition 2 days later....

Trust no one.....

 

The central line insertion was definitely a heart pounding procedure for a medical trainee during the first few years of their training. The localization of the central vein is the most challenging part especially for patient with thick adipose tissue.

The introduction of ultrasound into ED practice had eased the process and raised the successful rate of central line catheterization.

Most of my young colleagues practice the actual ultrasound guided method, but I usually used the ultrasound to confirmed the position of vein and proceed with the procedure using the traditional method. We got a small amount of incentive if we use ultrasound to guide our catheterization. I am more confident during the venous puncture part as the imaging had given me a rough idea of the position and size of the vein. 

The catheterization was always a one man show until recent few years, the head of department had wanted the surgical aide to assist in the procedure as someone would need to hold the probe during the puncture. Well, as I did not use the probe during the puncture, frankly said, I am not very particular about having an assistant. However with an assistant, the secure with stitches part would usually be done by the aide and I would left the scenario early after fully insertion of the catheter.

I did remember in the past that one of my senior had told me that when the catheter is inserted down the guide wire, we would need to make sure that the tail of the wire is visualized and properly grabbed hold on so that the wire is not fully inserted into the center vein which might need a vascular surgery to extract out the wire.

I had always being cautious and would teach my staff that the tail of the wire needed to be secured by the operator before the catheter is fully inserted.

All of our surgical aides knew the rules as I had always insisted that part is clearly done.

However, few months ago, one of our junior colleague had met the worst case scenario above mentioned.

It was an easy femoral puncture and our junior colleague had left the table prematurely after the guide wire was being inserted. The insertion of catheter was left alone to our senior surgical aide. The wire was not secured before the catheter was inserted. When the aide noted the wire is not seen at the tail of the catheter; he got panic and removed the catheter immediately; the act had left the wire fully inside the femoral vein. What he should have done is to clamp the catheter with a forceps and remove the catheter hoping the wire would be removed with the catheter.

When notified, our junior colleague however was bold enough to do a small cut down with the aid from the senior surgical aide. The wire was noted and removed from the femoral vein without complication.

It was a heart pumping scenario which was compensated without a scratch.

When my junior colleague told me about the incident, both of us sighed and agreed that it was an narrow escape.

The surgical aide was senior enough and capable enough to perform many procedures ….but yet accident do happens..

My conclusion -----“Trust no one”

urn run - final leg and the price

 

The sip of cask strength did not give us a hangover. We had awakened up early and enjoyed a good continental breakfast at the restaurant of the hotel. From nasi lemak to roti canai and fried egg; It was perfect for a good start.

We packed everything and headed to the thousand buddha temple with the help of the google map. The temple was situated around the largest cemetery in KL. The huge cemetery held over 10000+ of graves. The cemetery was separated into different part which were managed by different organizations. 

We arrived at the temple and I found out that the temple had expanded; a few more new building  were constructed around the main temple.

We found the office and was greeted by a female staff. After signing a few documents and paying up the relevant fee; she had directed us we to the old columbarium for the pickup process.

There was another young female and a foreign worker waiting for us at the praying desk with the urn. The detail on the urn was verified by us and I proceeded with the final prayer before the journey.

I had prepared 3 red packs just in case my parents wanted the prayer to be done by the monks. However my brother told me that it was not necessary. I left those red packs to the young female and asked her to share it with the foreign worker and the office lady staff.

I knew that both the female staff were orphans which was adopted by the temple as I heard the story about temple was running an orphanage and some of the orphan would stay back to serve the temple.

My brother had given me a surprise look when I placed the urn in the Ikea basket and fixed it securely with the safety belt around the backseat. I told him that I am not stupid enough to carry the urn on my lap for the whole journey. I had more than 20 years securing object on the backseat with safety belt…..

The drive was smooth and we had stopped over around the Pagoh R&R for lunch. The Malay mixed rice with the ayam masak merah was tasty and up to standard. After the brief stop we managed to arrive at Kulai around 1+pm.

We had met up with my sister in law who had arranged the cubical purchase at the P memorial park. A middle-aged male was assigned to us and we had headed to the columbarium for the relocation.

It was indeed a good spot with good view. There was this strange smell which was quite irritating during the drive from the office to the columbarium. I did not ask around but was aware that something was interfering the process, all I could do was prayed….

The position of the cubicle was just as promised, eye level and nicely located near the exit of the hall. I placed the urn and did the final ritual. The smell had gone away after the placement.

Everything was set and three of us had headed back home.

I enjoyed my dinner at a food court later that evening with my family; I discovered that nothing was below RM5; a decent meal with drinks would cost more than RM10. The price hike was steeper than I expected for the past few months.

The next day, I had driven my parents to the memorial park again after breakfast. It was time to let them see the effort we had put in for the past few months.

My parents expression told me that they were satisfied with our arrangement when they saw the final setting.

I waited for a while as they offered their chanting. I looked at the cloudy sky and flashed back what had happened many years ago. The final days of my grandfather, the funeral, the cremation….

Once, my dad had told me that he would like to move the urn to a better position if he could afford it; well, wish had come true finally…..

I had taken a flight that night from Senai airport to KLIA2 as my flight back to K city which operated by double A was scheduled at 8am the next day.

While passing the security check, the alarm rang and how careless I was to misplaced my Leatherman knife in my hand carry bag…..Worst of all, my parents had left the airport and only thing I could do was to surrender it to the Imigressen.

It had accompanied me for more than 10 years and travel with me thousands of miles across the continent. I got my final hit later when I reached KLIA2. The staff at  tune hotel at KLIA2 front desk had told me that I had wrongly booked the hotel at Aeropolis.

I mumbled the 4 letters word start with F and rebooked a room as I was too tired to move on….

While laying on bed after a refreshing hot bath, I had tried to think back what had happened; the pocket knife and room booking were the price that I had to pay for dealing with the dark side. The heavy smell was the final warning and I had ignored it and proceeded with the final ritual. There were so many obstacles during the tour; all of the tricks that aim to let my ancestor laying elsewhere was the work of the dark side.

I had fallen into Alam Bunian and awaken early after a few hours of deep sleep. I had done the final packing and headed toward KLIA2.

A smooth check in though but I did not lay my hand on the salted sesame pancake (Ham Jin Bang) as the stall was not open yet at that early hour (it had also closed early on the day of my arrival)

The rest of the journey was uneventful and I was greeted by Ving and Xian at the airport few hours later.

Apart from the money and time spent with a loss of precious belonging, I had never regret of taking a walk down the path….

urn run - the first leg

 

My anxiety had growth over the waiting period; my shifts were packed as usual as I need to do 20 shifts in 25 days before I hit the airport. I later found out that the window I had planned was within the  school holidays and it also collided with Hari Raya Haji. No wander the flight ticket was expensive and hard to book.

After reminder from my dad about the holiday matter 3 weeks before the journey. I had to discard my plan of doing a last minute hotel booking. The best choice was hotel around the Mid Valley Mega Mall. The drive should be 20 mins or less; I had wanted to get something nearer preferably breakfast not included but yet it was not a good area for some food apparently. I had to settle with the Cititel Hotel which came with breakfast. 

During the scarce off day Ving and I had gone to IKEA and bought a basket made with rotan. It would be my container to hold the urn during the drive. I had done some math and estimated that the basket could hold the urn properly and could be secured with the safety belt on the back seat without any difficulty.

I had packed a simple luggage and booked the connecting flight from JB to KL 2 weeks before the journey.

Ving, dragon cat and I left home at 10am. It was a smooth drive and we reached the airport by 11am. I kissed Ving good bye and headed to the double A counter. The queue was long even with the frequent flyer lane.

I managed to check in my luggage after 40 min of lining up at the counter. The security and immigration check was fast though. In no time, I was patronizing the free duty shop and trying to get a cask strength whiskey for my brother.

My brother was lucky as I had managed to land my hand on a Omar Shirley Cask Strength produced by Nantou Distillery which he had sourcing for sometimes.

The boarding was smooth and I had fallen into dreamland as usual before the flight take off.

The Pak Nasir nasi lemak was tasty as usual; it had been 4 years since I had it. Not surprisingly, the ‘not enuf’ sensation had emerged when I swallowed the last piece of it.

Peace was with me as I closed my eyes and flashing back of what had happened since the CNY trip…Everything was in order and yet I had prepared for the worst as anything could go wrong especially when one is dealing with the dark side…..

The flight had landed uneventfully and I was greeted by my brother at the exit. 

We had had dinner at the Nine dragon ice shop where we had noodle and red bean ice campur(HK style of course). Nice meal but expensive though(no the price only, but later both of us had suffered from diarrhea the next day).

We had arrived late at the hotel  and enjoyed a sip from the whiskey which I purchased few hours earlier....