A doctor's gotta eat what a doctor's gotta eat

Off to India with my new handbag ..hehe

Travelled to India for lunch today. Actually, I took the bus and then hopped on the LRT. Seems that getting to India isn't as easy as I thought.

Last train to Mumbai?

My good friend Alya called me up last week and arranged everything. She decided that we should have a lunch club (name still pending..hehe). Since everybody else (her included) was unimaginably busy saving lives all over the Klang Valley, we'd probably only be able to meet once or twice a year.

"At least we'd know that our friends are having a proper lunch." Once a year! Hehe. But then somehow our lives had become as hectic as that.

I managed to arrive embarrassingly late at the LRT station (India is so far from Chow Kit) and the traffic to the restaurant was atrocious. By now, I've figured out that I wouldn't be needing my passport anytime soon because lunch would take place at Passages thru India, Damansara.

Managed to catch up on my reading on the LRT

We were just in time to see my friend Azlean leave. She had to get back to PPUM Emergency Department. Lives to save and all that jazz. So we just shook hands through the car window.

Everybody else had managed to delegate their duties to other people. Let somebody else save the world, just for today. We wanted to have lunch!

Maryam & Ruhi: A very pregnant paeds MO & a new mother/surgical MO

While everyone else was excitedly catching up, Alya expertly ordered her selection of North Indian cuisine for us. Our menu for today:

• Rogan Josh (Lamb in red sauce)

• Chicken Tika Masala

• Polak Paneer (Spinach and goat cheese)

• Aloo matar (Potato and peas curry)

• Briyani rice

• Plain and garlic nan bread

Now you see it..soon you won't

The food was amazing. I loved the Rogan Josh and Chicken Tika. It was not as spicy as I imagined. The flavours were quite delicate and subtle. The lamb was so good (not chewy and cooked perfectly so there was no trace of the dreaded 'goaty' smell) that we ended up asking for second (AND third helpings).

Second helpings of LAMB!

Ask anyone and they will tell you that I don't eat vegetables. It's not really that I don't, it's just that I am very fussy about which vegetables I do eat. So the concept enjoying of blended spinach and goat cheese was totally foreign to me. I was surprised that I did enjoy it very much. It didn't taste bitter at all and actually accentuated the flavours of the other dishes.

Alya explaining how to cook what we just ate. Paeds MO AND Indian cuisine expert?

The briyani was so good that it practically melted in my mouth (strange description for rice, I know.. but it felt that way). We also ended up devouring three baskets of nan. (Loved the garlic nan).

Rice, didn't manage to snap a pic of the nan..it kept vanishing!

It was amazing to be able to catch up with all my friends again. Listening to them talking about the hustle and bustle of hospital life made me a little wistful. I do miss the adrenaline rush. Who knows maybe after I settle my masters....

With Soha (an Egyptian who's lived here for 14 years and can converse in fluent Malay with her patients) and Nadia (a radiology MO who named her daughter Alya..hehe)

We were clueless teenagers once.. look at us now

In the end, it was a superb lunch. The food was INCREDIBLE. (Rating: 4/5) The company was SUPERB. I wonder where we will go next year? Korean anyone?

The Good Guy by Dean Koontz

"I love this book! I finished the second half of it on the LRT from Taman Paramount to Terminal Putra. THAT is how much I loved it."

~Me

Basic plot

Mistaken for a hit-man and then meeting the real hit-man, all in one night should be enough to make any normal person run for the hills. Tim Carrier is not just any normal person. Instead of walking away from certain death, he runs head on into it to save the life of a stranger he's been accidentally hired to kill.

Best thing about the book

I loved the fast pace and gripping storyline. The 2 main characters are witty and handle their unbelievable situation with style, always able to crack a joke or two even under the worst duress. The villain is satisfyingly ruthless and evil.

Worst thing about the book

There wasn't much that I didn't like about this book. My only qualm is that part of the mystery revealed (namely the real story behind Linda- the unconventional damsel in distress) seemed very familiar. I may have come across it before, probably some of his other books featured the same theme.

A quote I liked from the book

New experiences were overrated. Being run down by a bus would be a new experience.

Rating 4.5/5

American Idol .. Over and Out

"I used to be an American Idol junkie. Thankfully Season 9 managed to cure me of that."
~Me

My addiction to AI started back in Season 4 when country girl Carrie Underwood slaughtered rocker Bo Bice. I didn't care much for Taylor Hicks, Jordan Sparks or Fantasia Barrino but I was crazy over David Cook and Kris Allen.


My favourite 'idols':

Kelly Clarkson-The first is aways the best huh?



Carrie Underwood- Sweetheart


David Cook- Nerd turned rocker

Kris Allen- see, the good guys do win

Actually the best part of American Idol is watching the early audition rounds. It's great to catch raw talent and hilarious to watch the really atrocious ones. It always amazes me how people can be totally oblivious to their own stupidity.

Sadly, the bullet train once known as AI has slowly been turning into a rickshaw. Relying more on sob stories and gimmicks rather than real talent. The worst of which probably was that Kara Flasher -Bikini Girl showdown last year. (~Picture censored~)

So this season, I dutifully watched as they tried to rescusitate the show. It was in all aspects a lost cause. Even the judges have become obselete. Randy no longer makes any sense, Ellen tries so hard but misses so badly that it's actually painful to watch, Kara demeaned herself this season with the whole Casey James ogling fiasco and even Simon seemed low-key.

No longer formidable

He was truly the life of the show. Being smart, he knows that you can't beat a dead camel and is high-tailing out of there to start another multi-million dollar sensation. Not forgetting to bask in his soon to be conferred knighthood. I wonder if Sir Cowell will be more forgiving to the commoners, I hope not.

We love to hate you (although I usually agree with him)

After totally missing every episode since the Top 10 (I just watched some highlights but always ended up changing the channel), I also missed the final last night. Maybe it WAS an epic showdown of magnanimous proportions between 2 unbelievably talented people...maybe...I wouldn't know.

Lee vs Crystal

I wonder who won? Strangely, I don't care anymore. Yes! Check me out of rehab!

PS: All photos were googled