Taiwan's trip 台湾环岛之旅 Day 2

I woke up very early today at about 6.40am..This was because we planned to catch express bus 南投客运 at 8.20am to visit 清境农场！！That was the earliest trip we could get..After cleaning up myself, me and my bebe have our breakfast at hotel's restaurant. It was free as we are the customer...However, i couldn't appreciate their style, it tasted weird...After checking out, we walked about 15 mins to 南投客运station to wait for bus. The trip to 清境农场 was cheap which only TWD 240 per person. 清境农场 is located at 南投县仁爱乡！It took about one and half hour to reach 埔里, then it needed another 50 minutes to reach 清境农场 from 埔里! Initially i thought of seeing the nice scenary along the way when ascended up to 清境农场 but i was too tire...this was reason i slept along the way...hehe...but the bus driver was nice, he dropped us right in front of our hotel which i book online 清境枫叶山庄..price was reasonable TWD 1750 for 温馨双人房! However, the boss was very nice to us, he gave us 景观双人房which the original price supposed to be TWD 2250..we left our bag in the hotel, we then proceed our tour at 清境农场！

We bought our ticket at the northern part of 清境农场! We were told that because there was a sheep flu, we were not able to touch and feed the sheep. Besides that, all the performances related to sheep were cancel..damn it, we were disappointed but we have no choice. We started our journey at 青青草原, then we walked all the way down from the northern part...other than that, we visited 清境绵羊城堡, 万里长城步道, 观牧步道 ...We took a lot of pictures along the way..there were a lot of 柳杉 and 枫叶 along the way. Besides that, the scenary along the way was extremely marvelous and amazing..We had our lunch small restaurant near 观山牧区! the beef noodle was nice but a bit oily..it cost about TWD 100..Besides that, the wild boar sausage was nice too..2 for twd 50...quite reasonable too...after our lunch, we proceed to 观山牧区,寿山园 , 步步高升步道 and 蒋介石铜像 to pay a visit...again, the scenary was nice....步步高升步道has 487 steps to walk..along the way, they showed us the different type of flora which i have no idea what was all about...finally we ended our journey at 旅客服务中心! We bought some candies which are made from goat and cow milk..i was curious about 博望新村which was recommended by internet and travel books..one of the auntie told me that i can catch buses in front of the travel centre..However, we caught a taxi in the end...btw, the taxi was rather cheap it cost only twd 200 to 博望新村！！again, the taxi was very friendly and offered a lot of help to us...without hesitation, i took this opportunity to gain more information regarding tourism spot in taiwan and his services...finally he gave me a name card and we can call him if we need to book a taxi..hehe...

After reaching 博望新村， i felt disappointed..It was just a small world war II village with some nice hotel..hehe..but the scenary was really nice lah...after taking some photos, we walked all the way down back to our hotel..it was quite a distance...i walked until my legs pain..Middle of the way, we stopped at 7-11 to bought some staffs...we reach our room at 4.30pm, we took afternoon nap because we were too tire after walking for so long....At 7.30pm, we had our dinner at hotel's restaurant...we decided to have some steamboat...price was reasonable, TWD 200 for 2 persons..Also, i ordered their homemade coffee, 枫叶咖啡! this cup of coffee was quite expensive...TWD 120..but u have no regret if having it....it was really nice..

There are a few more 步道 and some tourism spots such as 小瑞士花园 which i not intended to visit..hehe....overall, 清境农场is a nice and comfortable tourism spot..you will never regret once you are here unless you love shopping more than others...

Taiwan's trip 台湾环岛之旅 Day 1

Wow...again it was really long time ever i updated my blog....for your information...I am officially DR Tan now...hehe.....i actually plan to write about feeling regarding graduation, upload some photos of my result releasing day and graduationnitez...but i just couldn't get rid of my lazy bug...hehe...ok...back to the point...before departing to taiwan, i spent almost 2 days in Penang...it has been long time i visited penang...it was fun especially with my bebe's mum cooking..impressive...then on 25/5 about 7pm...Bebe and I took bus from Penang bus station to Ipoh..the reason was that there were no direct buses from Penang to LCCT...we reach Ipoh about 10.30pm..we spent sum time in Mc Donald near medan gopeng bus station(miserable bus station)...we took star shuttle at 12am 26/5/..to LCCT..... we reached about 4am...however, it was the sleeplessness for us..we just couldn't sleep at LCCT because it looked more like refugee camp...we spent sum time at coffee bean before we checked in at 7am...In summary, we boarded the air craft around 9.30am...this is the first time i sat Air Asia X..much bigger than those air bus..but not really comfortable also lah...i still prefer MAS actually..we reach Tai Pei International Airport around 3pm...one thing really impressed me was that the attitude among taiwanese including those custom officer...they are really enthusiastic toward hospitality and tourism..they welcome us with passion and warm-hearted...Afterthat, we took express bus飞狗客运to tai chung..price was reasonable only twd 220 per person..however, the drawback was the time factor..it took us 2 hours and 15 minutes to reach tai chung railway station which was at 6.15pm...Another i was so shocked was i met Yip Kok Foo while taking photos at railway station..what a small small world...without wasting any time, we checked into budget hotel 哈密瓜时尚旅店 which i book online...not too bad lah..i was amazed because they provide condom and porn movie in the hotel room..

Around 7.30pm, we took 台中客运35号 to 逢甲夜市..It is the biggest night market at tai chung. This night market is near to 逢甲大学..that why you can see many youngsters in this night market...of course girls are really pretty...there are a lot of food and 小吃 at this night market..The most well-known is 大肠包小肠! It was really delicious.....initially i planned to try different types of food..however, my stomach condition does not permit me to do...Besides that, i bought a top up card from 台湾大哥大 so that in case there is any emergency we can call back or our families can call us....After spending about 2 hours in 逢甲, we took same bus back to our hotel..we called it a day for our day 1 because tai chung city really nothing much to visit unless we reached here early...

before boarding the air craft....

at tai pei international airport

inside 飞狗客运 express bus that take me from airport to tai chung..cheap..twd 220 only

reaching tai chung railway station..this photo was actually taken by Yip Kok Foo

my budget hotel 哈密瓜时尚旅店 twd 1100 per nite

大肠包小肠 twd 40

乳酪鸡扒 twd 55

ice cream twd 10

Financial issue

Wao..again..it has been long time i didn't update my blog..sometime i just wonder, what for having a blog without writing it frequently..Before i start, just wish you all Happy New Year 2010...hehe...yes..i just finished my OGSP/neonatology posting..this was the laziest posting that i ever encountered...haha...maybe due to lack of interest of this particular subject..luckily, i am partially "awake" during 5th week of the posting when i was undergoing my neonatology posting...i told myself that i MUST study everyday..not because of end of posting exam...but Professional Exam II which held in mid of April...haha..god bless me...Again, luck was on my side by giving me an easy case in my long case exam..I got PIH...excellent...this is one of the easiest case in OG exam...haha..AP Dr HTA told me that i got very high mark from Prof Soe Aung..haha..sorry ya..feeling grandiose now..haha...but i was so disappointed with myself in pediatric short case..Not intend to mention the detail here but i wish i could do better in my prof exam if i get pediatric cases....

One thing make me very frustrated, pissed off is that until now i still haven't received my Kuok Foundation Award fianl semester money from BURSAR UMS..let me tell u the story here...I came to know that kuok foundation had sent the cheque to all Universities BURSAR in 1st of December 2009...so u just imagine until now i haven't received any money which make me suffer for more than one month. In a particular day which was the a week before my OGSP end of posting exam, after consultant ward round, i ran off from the HPL and headed to Canselory for clarification...when i reached unit kewangan pelajar...gosh..u can imagine more than 5 students were waiting for the staff to entertain them...Imagine again, the unit has more than 50 staffs and none of them sat at the counter...so pathetic...we rang the bell twice and finally one officer staff came with undesirable look(maybe we disturbed his tea-time).. The staff entertain the student one by one and finally is my turn....

"Encik, boleh tolong tanya ya...tentang kuok foundation ya, saya dapat statement bahawa kuok sudah hantar duit ke university on 1st of december 2009, tapi samapai sekarang, kita masih tidak received"i asked...

"ya kah, tak mungkin lah....erm, saya tak in-charge pasal duit pelajar ;ah...saya tak tau lah" he replied

"TAK TAU"i raised my voice with angry look...

" Ok, u tunggu sekejap ya, ku pergi check sekarang"he replied...

After 20 minutes of waiting(u just imagine how inefficient it is), he back to the counter...

"Adik, kita tak receive cek dari kuok lah...mereka belum hantar lagi lah..klau mereka sundah hantar kita tentu sudah bank in punya"he mentioned...

Then i was WTF, now u all blaming Kuok with never received the cheque.."tp sy ade statement dari kuok lah, tak mungkin belum sampai lagi"i replied...."then tunjuk statement pada sy" he answered...i was wat the as i didnt bring the statement on that day..."ok, sy bawa besok"..then that night, i immediately asked my brother to email me the statement so that i can show the officer next day...

Next day, i went to Unit Kewangan again....luckily, there was a pretty lady sitting on the counter..."kak, ini statement dari kuok foudation ah..tp skrg sy masih belum dapat duit lagi"i said

"u tuggu jap ya..ku pergi check"she replied

Again, after 20 minutes, she came "Adik, sorry ya..dengan masalah postman lah...kita tak terima cheque lagi...cheque ade kat office skrg...belum ade org pergi ambil lagi" she mentioned..so i asked "bila boleh pergi ambil?“..then she said"sy tak tau la, tengok org yang in-charge lah...u tunngu lah"..wah. i was hot already.."then nak tunggu sampai bila" she said"bila-bila sj, tengok org tu mau pergi ambil tak"....Eh..WTF...she answered me like dat..wat kind of attitude is it??i never said any thank you, i leave the stupid unit kewangan immediately....

In order to have a clearer picture, i decided to call up kuok foundation for clarification...Ooo..the actual picture is like this....Kuok foundation had indeed sent the cheque to UMS..but none of the staff claimed the cheque from the postman when the postman arrived( just imagine they have more than 50 staffs and non of them claimed it)...ok, they will give excuse they r busy..reasonable..but tak kan they didnt leave any note or statement on the counter so that person-in-charge can claim the cheque in KK post-office...SO..how come until one month they didn't go to post office to claim the cheque?? irony thing was that they claimed that they didnt receive the statement from postman..WTF...i seriously don't know what were they doing..haha...

Nevermind, i wait and wait with patience and frustration...Until now, i still haven't receive any money yet..so i decided to call Unit Kewangan again..."hello, selamat pentang ya..saya pelajar perubatan ya..boleh sy tanya tentang duit dari kuok foundation"i asked "kita masih belum dapat cheque dari kuok, bukan salah kita, salah kuok..kalau ade duit, kita akan bank in secepat mungkin ya, terima kasiah"...wah kau...useless..damn useless...i called kuok again...haha...rupanya...the staff really useless..the people-in-charge indeed had claimed the cheque from post office last week...however, the lost the cheque in the UNIT KEWANGAN itself..have u hear that??they lost in unit kewangan itself....haha...i really have nothing to describe other than useless...all these people, never admit what they have done and make student suffer...in the end, they blamed kuok foundation...first of all, do they know the background of kuok foundation, don't they??..secondly, who are they to blame kuok foundation? thirdly, if wanna compare efficiency and efficacy, who are they if compare to Kuok foundation staff...maybe if compare which kuih-muih is the nicest, maybe they are the expert..haha..MALAYSIA BOLEH.......I had a small chit-chat with the person-in-charge of the award disbursement. SHe told me this thing not happen in UMS but happen in all public universities such as UM,UKM, UPM etc...haha...i told her, no choice lah..this is malaysian attitude...unchangeable and unsalvageable...How to achieve a world-class university when you have this kind of attitude among the staff???

I can do nothing now..What can i di is to wait for a few more days whether i like it or not ..oh.crap..really in financial crisis now...oh god, please letting me to strike TOTO today...

Depressing day

I thought i will have a wonderful day after waking up because i started a new posting today...Medical Senior Posting..Although it is tough, i really enjoyed when i was in medical department in 3rd year..Futher more, elective posting in internal medicine dept in QM hospital, Hong Kong was another eye-opener regarding high-technology staff in internal medicine..However, everything was screw up by the adminstration..First of all, schedule was not ready and printed out for the student. Secondly, log book haven't completed yet.Thirdly, letter was not sent to the Queen Specialist...and the list goes on...I seriously don't know why these things happen after school has been established for 7 years..Within 7 years, an infant become a primary one children, an teenager become a young adult, a young adult might be married, a first year medical student become a medical officer...hai...In the end, all the blame was put on Raya holidays..For me, this is definitely an excuse.First of all, is it so difficult to prepare all these things before raya break?..Second, I suppose all the letter to external lecturers should send 3 to 6 months prior to the staring of the posting..so it was indeed an excuse...In the end, our responsible leader has to scratch his head in order to get everything done...Leader have to meet the external individually and distribute schedule to external lecturers one by one..Then, on and off we heard criticism from the external that why didn't inform early, why now only received letter..There is no way to blame the student in this matter because we are also the victim of the malfunction adminstration...hai....

Another thing is that i met one of the Dr while in clinic...Rupanya, some of groupmate got the tips of the surgical long case in advance but they did not inform all the members in my group..i was like...WTF...hai, forgot about it..i am still surviving....

Diving...

Yeah...finally i got diving license from PADI open water dive...i am officially a diver now....haha...i attended a 3 days open water diving course(most basic level) under PADI from 12 to 14 september 2009...sorry for being in posting my blog..hehe...lazy bugs all around my body when i have hols..first day of the diving course started with theory lessons...It was held in seaquest office at grace point...haha..it was interesting as is my first time to come across diving staff...however, i still able to slept during the lesson as i had no enuf sleep the nite before...hehe...luckily we watched cd for the theory lesson, if not i think i def had fall asleep further...haha...Besides that, i met 2 new frenz..one from HK, Cheng Hiu FUng and another one from austria, Anika..both of them working in MV Doulous, a ship name...they just slipped out from the ship and joined us for the diving course..it was really nice and fun to have them in the course...oh ya, how can i forget our beloved and handsome instructor Mr Andy Chia...i think he is an excellent instructor...i really learned alot of things from him..then 2rd day..we started with confined water diving in pulau sapi..wow..fantastic...when come to open water 1, got 1 session i nearly choking in the water, wah kau..so scarry man...we ended 2dn day at 4pm..then at night, i still have to study the diving books because next day we have final theory exam...haha..i just realized that i couldn't live without exam and log book..even diving we also have our own dive log..so miserable...then 3rd day, same thing again....we stared open water in sapi then followed by last open water dive in pulau gaya...i really love diving because i can appreciate a lot of underwater aquatic animal and plants...it is really amazing...so, after this open water dive, i promised myself that i will go for advance if possible..haha..after last dive, we bc to sutera harbour happily coz we almost passed....coz we still need to sit for the final exam in seaquest...haha..MCQ onlyu mah, not a big deal lah.....in the end, everybody passed lo...5 of us are officially a diver now...hahaha...we had a small graduation ceremoy which we got our temporary diver card from Andy...then we proceed to the big ship MV doulos with anika and hiu fung..we had our dinner there...one thing surprised me was that their fried chicken was excellent, i think much much better from KFC...hehe.....However, i suffered barotraumatic acute otitis media after the dive....most probably due to my sore throat during the diving...hai..so many medicine i have to take now...no pain no gain again..i even want to go swimming also cannot...

our book, quiz book, dive log and dive table

watching cd as our theory lesson but i think i am sleeping..haha

what am i looking for??haha

we departed to sapi island from sutera harbour port..i hope to have my own ship later..haha

be careful ya anika...haha

nothing better to do with ah loo

SAPI islands

Preparing for action!!!!i think i look thin..wuahahaha

Waiting for my seafood fried rice which cost me RM7.00

5 of us with Andy and Ivan..both are excellent instructor

this giant camera belong to a korean instructor..the frame is more expensive than the camera

Yeah, we finished last dive ....

Btw, i am not sabahan lah....

"graduation ceremony"

Wretched and Unlucky day

Why is this so?? Normally. first thing i will do when waking up from the bed is to search for my hp..summore today, i suppose to attend UMS-HQE joint endoscopy workshop..Oh gosh, i couldn't find my hp at all and i am late for the workshop...i tried to call a few times but it was not reach..I taught my bebe trying to be funny with me by keeping my hp with her and she brought to her paed long case exam..Who knew, on the midth of the workshop i received a call from my bebe that she didnt take my hp at all and she also couldn't find her HTC PDA..In my heart, "shit" existed spontaneously..my sixth sense told me that sumthing was going wrong and indeed, we lost our properties at the same time...Who else can steal our hp other than my housemates..but they are far in their hometown..My conclusion was that def someone had broken into our gate and stole our properties from my room window as i lives in the grandfloor...Yes, not a robber but a THIEF...i not sure whether this was done by a person or two or a group of syndicate but one thing i can ensure they have marked us long time ago...This is not the first time our house was broken in by such idiotic people...Other issue which provoked me further was the ignorance attitude from particular people..when my bebe asked whether did we need to make a police report so that the so called "mata" have some job to carry out...but that person insisted that this is our buisness, this is our matter....WTF, our house was broken in for the 2nd time and it this only our buisness, our matter...Watever, i won't care anymore..this is my final year...my last year in UMS, my last year in this house, perhap my last year in sabah.....the only thing i can do is to ensure the safety of myself and my bebe...

TO THE BELOVED THIEF WHO HAS STOLEN MY HP AND MY BEBE PDA, I DEF WILL CURSE YOU...MAKE SURE YOU CAREFUL WHILE CROSSING THE STREET, IF NOT YOU DEF KNOCKED DOWN BY A CAR AND YOU HAVE TO ENJOY YOUR RAYA WITH YOUR BROKEN LIMBS....sorry for being to harsh but i really couldnt tahan liao..this is the critical time for me as i approaching "broke" financially, now i have to spend another rm500 to buy a new phone...every ppl also wan raya, not you alone..if you dun have money, try to figure something so that you r able to enjoy your raya...worst come to worst, go and become a gigolo and sell your backside, not broke into ppl house in the middle of night...so, to the thief who stole my things, please have my word ya...i wouldn't who you are but it doesn't matter to me..i will curse you in my mind everyday...thank you for giving me a chance to do so as i had long time didn't curse people...

One week holiday in KK

GOsh..long time i didn't update my blog ya..very sorry, it has been very busy for me since final year started...I officially started my final year with Surgical Senior Posting...I was very excited because i love surgery very much...Indeed, this 8 weeks posting didn't dissappointed me..As some of our lecturers are sent to Sandakan to "guide" our 3rd year juniors, we are granted very well with HQE specialist such as Mr CHuah, Mr Kumar, Mr Ramu, Miss Siti and Miss Roha...Although some other specialists didn't teach us officially, thet taught us during clinic and ward round. That y i said, surgery posting for me was an excellent one...Other than that, we had Mr Basim, Mr Sabah, Mr Hla Maung and Mr Kyaw Naing on UMS side..Although we face difficulties in finding cases for bedside teaching due to the tower block problem, we are able to gain benefit from these external and internal lecturers. Besides that, we were posted to neurosurgery, urology and paediatric surgery for exposure..The drawback was some misunderstanding in paed surgery. I personally think that this issue was created by one of our lecturer. Normally, paed surgery is allocated in surgery posting. However, i seriously dun understand why the neonatology posting has to include paed surgery and created havoc for all of us..In the end, i just attended the paed surgery teaching for 2 days..shit..just forgot bou it...hehe..

The most stressful part of each posting is end of posting exam..As you noe, standard we r expected now are higher if compare to 3rd year and 4th year. Our mindset no longer a medical student but a house officer or medical officer..we can't make silly mistake as in 3rd year, we are expected to excel in management of common diseases, we are expected to perform as a house officer, we are expected to answer something which 3rd year dun noe..bla bla bla..and the lists go on...all these make me stress in the beginning of final year especially during the exam..I told myself, no matter how, the road not taken, this is something that i had chosen 5 years ago and i am still alive...i dun wan nonsenses to ruin my quality of life in subsequent months..that y the only thing i can do is to study harder compare previous years...haha..god treated me well, he give me simple case in my long case exam..i got MNG for my long case...wao..i am so release after the long case...i had a sleepless nitez before the long case...In addition to that, MCQ, MEQ, OSCE and short cases were also quite easy and attainable...at least, my hardwork was not wasted(perhap no hardwork will be wasted in medical field)..no pain no gain...more pain is waiting for me because my next posting will be medical senior posting...erm..i promises myself to study sumthing during this 1 week hols but today already thursday and yet i do nothing other than sleep, eat and play facebook mahjong..haha..

One sad thing happen on me n my family was that my grandpa passed away when i was in 7th week of the posting..I requested leave from Mr Basim and i flew bc to pontian for the funeral..Grandpa love all of us when we r young..when i saw grandpa lying in the coffin, i felt like crying but the tear just didn't want to come out..when i saw grandpa, tan of memory flashed bc in my mind..Perhap, this is a good relieve for grandpa also as he had suffered cancer 9 years ago..It is not easy for a man like him to stay alive 9 years with the quality of life and quality of care by doctor from singapore....No matter how, REST IN PEACE grandpa, may god bless you and u always in my mind...Perhap, all the family members are missing you very much....

Kota Kinabalu after long holiday

Today, i bc to KK..."welcome bc to hell"..i bc to KK with various emotion. Excitement, guilty, depress and worry.I am excited because i m going to start my 2nd posting(elective is the first) in MD 5th year, Surgical posting..I like surgery very much..I wish to scrub in to assist in many operations; i feel guilty is because my plans was not fullfilled during this long holiday..the only people to blame is me myself..During hols, the motivation and determination to study was totally absent...haha; I feel depress because i will only come back to Melaka during CNY next year; i feel worry because my dad's heart condition is still not stable after the operation one month ago..

In the early morning, i drove down to LCCT with my parent and younger sister. They kononnya say wanna talked to me while i was driving, who knew everybody were in the alice of wonderland..I reached te airport around 9.00pm. Without wasting anytime, i quickly rushed to check-in counter to check in for my heavy luggage. Who know, i waited from 9.05 to 9.30am for the check in..WTF..3 lanes were available but only 2 lanes were functioning.. This was the "Malaysia Boleh" type of services provided by Air Asia..Thier attidude and appearance totally tarnished the name of Air Asia....

Then, i proceed to Old town coffeee shop to meet my parent to have a quick lunch as i need to check in by 9.50am...WHile eating, the idea of franchising some of the very well-known restaurant and fast food suddenly appear in my brain...haha..funny rite?i plan to start my very own buisness with my sister at the beginning of 30 y.o..haha...dream too much alrd....

However, i nearly missed the boarding time..Too excited aftert toking bou buisness...My mum accompanied me until the boarding gate..Thanks mum, i love u very much it...you have been sacrified a lot for me... Another thing dissappointed me is the quality of the air stewardness of AK 5120 today....I have no other comments and the only word i can describe is bad...Bad in appearance and bad in services.....I think today is my unlucky day...airplane arrived late in KK...

Once i stepped in KK..i took a very deep breath and feel like telling the whole world that " I am back to KK"...i want to "strive to excel"(bertekad cemerlang) in final year..y i wan to use "bertekad cemerlang"haha..no comment...then me and my bebe went for sushi as lunch followed by watching Harry Porter at Grownball complex...Tell u wat, i sleep almost an hour inside the cinema....I dun think i am alone, most of the patron slept as well...terrible mv of harry porter i ever had....

Erm, this is my last year in UMS..i must work hard so that i won't let myself to be dissappointed again like what was happen in 4th year..haha...

goin bc to KK

Today is my last day in Melaka and most probably my last day in 2009....i dun think i will come bc until chinese new year 2010....

This is indeed a long hols for me.. I spent 5 weeks in HK(i consider elective was a hols) and another 5 weeks in malacca...haha...actually, i have a lot of plan in this long holiday as i dun wan to waste time bacause i m final year now...Final year is an important year...another year i will be graduated from UMS(this is wat i wan all this while), and come out to work, start to earn money and dun nid to depend on my parent. I feel that i have already burden my parent a lot in the money issue..However, when people talk about final year, it is indeed a nightmare for most of the student. Expectation from the lecturers and specialists will be higher...i noe it is tough but i wil try my best....i dun wan to fail my prof exam II and repeat another 6 month...

However, flash bc on the daily life during hols, it was suck...i spend most of the time in online, chatting...i promised myself to study before that. However, i only can finish renal medicine for OHCM and sum neurological staffs...haha...shame of me...Hols is like, no motavation and determination to study...I only able to finish my elective report n i left pupul report to carry out..U can't blame me on pupuk report as i had called m partner few weeks ago but she didn't even answer my call once...damn it....

2 days ago, i just knew the schdule and grouping of my MD 5th year..wtf, i will start with surgery and i really depressed for some partcular reason not because of surgery...i dont want to talk about this...i get one day to recover from the depression...haha....

finally, i goin bc to KK...this is what i craving for after 2 weeks hols in melaka..erm, i just discovered that i can't sustain a long hols...2 or 3 weeks is enuf for me...haha...sorry for those who like hols..haha...but when i go bc, when i encounter the heavy workload and stress of the exam, then i will ask for hols again....haha...this is me la..no choice....

Da Vinci Surgery

When people talk about Da Vinci Surgery, it is not a special surgery performed by him. Reason simply because he is an artist, not surgeon.....haha...lame joke...However, why robotic surgery still name under Da Vinci? According to the manufacture of Da Vinci Surgical System, Da Vinci Surgical system is so called "Da Vinci" in part because Leonardo Da Vinci invented the first robot, used anatomical accuracy and three-dimensional details to bring his work to life.

Da Vinci Surgical sytem is a type of Robotic Surgical system designed to facilitate and complete a complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach. The system is controlled by a surgeon from a console. Previously, it was commonly used for prostatectomy. Now, it is increasingly used in cardiac valve repair, coronary artery diseases, gynaecological problems and oncology, colon cancer, kidney disorders and kidney cancer.

The da Vinci System consists of a surgeon’s console that is typically in the same room as the patient and a patient-side cart with four interactive robotic arms controlled from the console. Three of the arms are for tools that hold objects, act as a scalpel, scissors, bovie, or unipolar or dipolar electrocautary instruments. The fourth arm is for an endoscopic camera with two lenses that gives the surgeon full stereoscopic from the console. The surgeon sits at the console and looks through two eye holes at a 3-D image of the procedure, meanwhile maneuvering the arms with two foot pedals and two hand controllers. The da Vinci System scales, filters and translates the surgeon's hand movements into more precise micro-movements of the instruments, which operate through small incisions in the body.

To perform a procedure, the surgeon uses the console’s master controls to maneuver the patient-side cart’s three or four robotic arms (depending on the model), which secures the instruments and a high-resolution endoscopic camera. The instruments’ jointed-wrist design exceeds the natural range of motion of the human hand; motion scaling and tremor reduction further interpret and refine the surgeon’s hand movements. The da Vinci System incorporates multiple, redundant safety features designed to minimize opportunities for human error when compared with traditional approaches. At no time is the surgical robot in control or autonomous; it operates on a "Master:Slave" relationship, the surgeon being the "Master" and the robot being the "Slave." Da Vinci Surgical System

For more information regarding Da Vinci, pls go:

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Vinci_Surgical_System

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotic_surgery

3) http://www.davincisurgery.com/

4) http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/products/davinci_surgicalsystem/index.aspx

Erm, why i am so eager to talk about Da Vinci surgery in this lovely morning?? Partly is because i am impressed by National Heart Centre of Singapore. Since imported this high-tech surgical system in December 2006, cardiothoracic surgeons from NHC of Singapore have been performed varous operations by using Da Vinci Surgery. Cases operated were Mitral Valve repair, CABG, VSD and resection of mediastinal tumour. Really impressive!! Luckily, we still have Prince Court Medical Centre that make Malaysia proud of Da Vinci. They started Da Vinci surgery on urological patient

This make me wonder, while Singapore National Heart Centre is so excellent in clinical and research, where is our beloved Institute Jantung Negara(IJN)??

Click on National Heart Centre website! You notice that various excellent clinical researches and trials have been carried out in NHC such as Percutanous Aortic Valve Replacement, Retrogade technique for total chronic obstructio etc..The most recent was the combine heart and liver transplant in NHC. This is the Asian's 1st combine heart and liver transplantation which jointly performed by the cardiothoracic surgeon from NHC and transplant surgeon from Singapore Genaral Hospital. Heart transplantation was led by Dr C. Sivathasan, Dr Lim Chong Hee and Dr Lim Yeow Phang whereas the liver transplantation was led by Dr Tan Yu Meng, Dr Chew Peng Chung and Dr Alexander Chung.

Now click on our beloved Institute Jantung Negara! Yes, you will find "First in Malaysia" here and "first in malaysia" there....haha...