Specialist Clinics at Putrajaya Hospital
The sign sticking out of the wall above the entrance depicting a stylised male figure was unmistakable. It is clear as broad daylight to the general public that the room behind the door and the signage is the male toilet. It is my habit before entering a toilet to always double check so that I don't enter a female toilet by mistake.
After stepping inside I was surprised to see wash basins and four toilet cubicles arranged side by side, but no urinals. How is it possible that urinals are not provided in a male toilet?
Thinking that I might have stepped into a female toilet by mistake I exited the room to check out the toilet sign for the third time. The signage shows clearly a male figure. Not satisfied I zoomed my vision in on the toilet sign of the adjacent room. That sign which depicts a stylised human figure wearing a dress tells me that that particular room is a female toilet and I was indeed in the men's toilet and not trespassing into a women's toilet.
What can I say? It seems to me that in the haste to draw up and complete the plans for construction of the hospital the architect and his team inncluding the hospital administrators have forgotten about the provision of urinals in the toilets for men. Hence except for the signage the male toilets are of the same design as the female toilets.
INTI Dojo Wed 24/9/2014 class
Even though I already knew the answer I asked the student members nevertheless. "Do you want to lay out the mats for the practice?"
As for me since I and the senior students here have been working out on the hard tiled concrete floor for years we have gotten used to it and even come to enjoy the experience.
Anyway the jig-saw mats are past their useful life spans. All of them are broken, hardened, dirty and smelly due to abuse, neglect, and wear and tear. Hence as the old, hardened, smelly and broken mats have lost their useful function it makes little difference between bouncing on mats or on bare tiled concrete.
At the start of each new semester when regular Aikido practice resumes I let the students decide and go along with their decision whether to use the mats or not as the junior trainees who sign up for their first class may feel extremely uncomfortable or even intimidated working out on a hard surface.
Since the latest renovation of the Student Center the college management had relocated the store to the back of the building. The store is where all the martial arts equipment, including the mats are stored. The new store is so remote from the training hall that we have to walk 15 minutes to get there, and another 15 minutes carrying the jig-saw mats for the return trip.
Last semester prior to the renovation when the old store was located next to the students affairs department, it was just a only short walk from the store to the dojo. And because of the ideal location of the old store all the martial arts clubs eg Aikido, Karate, TKD, Chinese Kick Boxing were using the mats whether they needed them or not.
However starting from this semester I notice that Karate, TKD and Chinese Kick Boxing have stopped using the mats probably for the same reason as Aikido; the hassle of the long distance walk and time to the store to take out the mats and later to return them for storage.
Silence. Nobody said any thing or expressed an opinion, including the new trainees. So looking at the smiling faces and the knowing looks all round I took it as a collective agreement to work out on what we have been accustomed to doing and come to enjoy for years, the hard ceramic tiled concrete floor.
One day you will just be a memory for some people no matter what good you have done. Just do your best to be a good one so that they can keep you in memory for the longest time.
While helping to pack the vegetarian meals together with the other volunteers at the KSK kitchen a lady dressed in the NGO's trademark red T-shirt caught my attention as she stood beside the counter after coming down from the upstairs administration office.
I recognised her immediately, having worked with her only once on 9/9/2014.
On that day I went with her in the food delivery van to another food distribution center in downtown KL. This place called Anjung Singgah, is located along Jalan Hang Lekiu. Set up by National Welfare Foundation (YKN or Yayasan Kebajikan Malaysia) the center is a temporary lodging and intervention center for the homeless. Other than temporary lodging Anjung Singgah also provides free meals for the homeless.
My involvement with Anjung Singgah was more incidental rather than planned. That morning when I stepped into the kitchen I bumped into the Project Director who was desperately looking for hands to help out at Anjung Singgah because one of the regular volunteers there could not come. At his request I assured him that I had no objection going there at all. So together with a lady volunteer the driver packed us together with the food into the van for the ride to Anjung Singgah. I believe that on that day this particular lady volunteer who works in the admin section upstairs was also roped in to help out at the last minute.
If not for a memorable incident I would consider that day's work at Anjung Singgah as just another ordinary and mundane day for me.
On the way to our destination, somewhere along busy Jalan Raja Chulan as we waited for the traffic in front to move on we heard a loud bang coming from the back of the van. The driver of a 4-wheel car belonging to a government agency had crashed into the back of the van. All of us alighted from the van and it was the lady who took some shots of the dent in the van with her phone camera and noted down the particulars of the driver of the 4-wheel. Fortunately as everyone was driving slowly due to the traffic congestion the collision was minor, only a dent and a broken tail light.
"Hi Mimi!" I greeted the lady flashing a smile and a hand wave.
I knew she recognised me but had some problem registering where or when she had seen me before. Here in KSK volunteers of all sorts come and go and unless you interact with the individual for some time each volunteer is just a nameless face that you see from time to time.
"High Mimi do you remember the traffic accident on 9/9/2014?" I asked her. The question instantly rang a bell in her memory when before it was just a hazy recollection of some one that she had met in the past.
When she asked if I was available to help out again at Anjung Singgah on Tuesdays, I said sure I would come in on next Tuesday to give a helping hand.
Salmon fish cut into steaks laid out neatly on a tray for sale. These frozen salmon steaks look appetizing. Bought two of these for a little over RM10.00 at the local Giant store.
My wife and I like to eat steamed or baked fish and these frozen salmon steaks are easy to prepare and cook. After defrosting and cleaning you can wrap it in aluminum foil and bake it in an electric oven. Alternatively you can steam it in a wok over water and high heat.
Steamed or aluminum baked salmon is one of our favorite one-dish meal which goes well with rice porridge. For lunch at home when there are only two persons eating, rice porridge with steamed fish as the only dish is what we eat on days when we have fish available in the fridge. Occasionally when sweet potatoes are available wifey will add some baked Japanese sweet potatoes into the porridge for additional flavour and also nutrition.
We are partial to these two types of cooking fish is because the benefits are obvious:
1. Valuable nutrients, vitamins and minerals of the food are preserved
2. Maintain food moisture and freshness
3. Preserves food colours and moisture
4. Soften food fibers making them tender and easily digestible
5. No need to use cooking oil or fat
6. Fast and easy. Can cook a complete meal in minutes
Yes! Laughter is definitely the best medicine.
I don't mind taking it everyday and I would surely add that to the top of my medicine prescription. However the big problem is that as you have to manufacture it yourself you can't buy the prescription any where off the shelf.
Due to the early morning shower shoppers had to negotiate and wade through pools of water to go about their groceries shopping chores. Apart from the water you have to be careful where you step, otherwise you might get your feet wet after stepping on a pool of water.
Even on dry days it is difficult to walk about in the market because the large crowd of shoppers and the narrow aisles hinder you from moving freely from one stall to another. And you are further restricted in your movements when you bring along a shopping cart to load and transport your purchases.
This is the Seri Petaling morning market where my wife and I go there to buy groceries. Although both of us have retired from work we go there every Saturday because it is on this day and Sunday where there are the most number of vendors operating their businesses there. And it is on these two days when the most number of working people who are off work come out to do their weekly groceries shopping as well.
The picture shown is that of a sundry stall where my wife patronises for the purchase of eggs and other dry sundry produces. My wife is waiting for the vendor to return her change after paying for the purchase of a box of eggs.
