Belacan - smell-ful food #1

Today I shall blog about belacan. Belacan, otherwise known as fermented shrimp cake (with lots of salt, and apparently, ash), is used in a wide variety of Malaysian dishes. It lends a subtle shrimpy (anchovy-like) seafood flavour to the meal.
Amy Beh has written a recipe for the famous sambal belacan in my favourite recipe site, Star Kuali.

Ingredients
# 10 red chillies
# 4cm piece belacan, roast till fragrant
# Pinch of salt
# 1 limau kasturi

Method
Pound chillies until rather coarse in texture.
Break up roasted belacan and add into chilli mixture gradually.
Continue to pound until texture is neither too smooth nor too coarse.
Add pinch of salt. Put sambal in a bowl. Squeeze lime juice in and mix well.
Serve sambal as an accompanying side dish.

Another great recipe from Amy Beh again: source here. This time she uses Maggi(TM) Belacan granules. The wonders of modern technology... :D

Stir-Fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Sambal Belacan

Ingredients:
300g sweet potato leaves
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp dried prawns, soaked, drained and pounded.

Pounded ingredients
3 shallots
2 cloves garlic
4 red chillies, seeded.
1 1/2 tsp Maggi belacan granules

Seasoning
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp chicken stock granules

Method:
Pluck the leaves out from the stalks. Cut the stalks into 7cm lengths discarding the tough parts of the stalks. Wash and dram sell.

Heat wok over high heat until hot then add in oil. Fry the pounded dried prawns until aromatic. Add the rest of the pounded ingredients and stir-fry well.

Put in sweet potato leaves and stalks and stir-fry briskly for 1-2 minutes. Add seasoning to mix. Dish out and serve immediately.

More yummy recipes here. Happy belacan-ing!

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Undeserved A$150 fine, thank you very much, ma'am tram inspector!

I was watching this old lady board the tram today. She had a skin condition, I remember, she had sores all over her arms and face. She probably also had osteoarthritis, judging from how painfully she boarded the tram. The schoolchildren rushed into the tram first, laughing and swinging their bags at each other. The adults waited for the older lady to board. I remember somehow getting pushed to the back of the queue in the process... never mind, I thought. I'll just squeeze in somehow.

So the tram was jam-packed full of kids, old people, and basically a random mish-mash of tram users. It was fun watching people, but heck, I couldn't reach the ticket validating machine. Also, there were an awful lot of old people on canes in the way. Never mind, I thought, I'll probably get on the next tram if nobody frees up the way. No worries, it's a bright and beautiful day.

Okay, so the next stop arrives. I hop off.

And get slapped with a whopping A$150 fine.

Inspector Robot: "Your ticket is not validated, I give you a fine. I give you a fine."

This not the first time they've screwed me over. Stupid tram system. And I've just found out that inspectors get A$20 for every person they 'catch'. Explains a lot.

PTUA (Public Transport Users Association) - FAQ re. travelling rights on trams.

Yeah, I think I'm going to lodge a letter of complaint with this one.

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Mad School

I have nothing to write today, really. So read this if you're bored.

The reason it's taken me so long to get used to telling people that I'm a medical student is that people invariably follow up my admission with comments about how tough it must be, how hard I have to study, and the long hours I'll face in the all-too-near future. Usually, at this point, my eyes glaze over, and I say something pithy like, "Yeah, it can be pretty tough, but it's okay as long as you keep a balance between school and other things."

It talks about the stresses of being in medical school. But then again, it's Harvard.

Oh yeah, and the Pope got a tracheostomy.

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Blogging delirious...

Grarrgh, I am so tired. It is 9:15pm, the pillows are all mucky sweat - my 5 minute nap after classes somehow morphed itself into a 4 hour hibernation period. The weather is horribly hot and dry and I have a sore throat. *cough cough cough*

Staring at the mountain of textbooks, post-it notes, random medical literature, jottings... Jottings. ARGH! I can't remember writing these notes. *stares at neon pink notepad*

"Read up - anatomy of the HAND and FOOT"
"When doing an ankle examination, eversion/inversion = supination/pronation."
"Tenosynovitis, read. Also, common bone tumors (oxymoron)."
"Read up - anatomy of the forearm, arm. Blood supply, nerves supplying forearm & arm, course"
"Read up common plastic surgical procedures."
"Different techniques - knee and hip joint replacement."

The list of 'Important! To finish tonight!' items looms ridiculous. Also, for some reason, my joints are aching like crazy. Tiger Balm is not working. Speaking of which, I was telling a colleague about Orang Kampung Longjack and yes, the name's not that funny unless you're an English speaking Malaysian.

------------------------------
'The Coral - Dreaming of You'
------------------------------
What's up with my heart when it skips a beat? skips a beat...
can't feel no pain but not under my feet under my feet...

chorus
I fill my lonely room wahooo... when I'm dreaming of you wahoo...
But what can I do wahooo...
I still need you wahooooooooo........(drag 'ooo')
But I don't want you now ooooo...

When I'm down and my hands are tied hands are tied...
I cannot reach your pen for me to draw the line draw the line...
From this pain I just can't describe can't describe...
It's gonna hurt but I gotta say goodbye say goodbye...

repeat chorus

random man saying 'Oh yeah'

Guitar rift.... blend into...

Ting ting ting ting ting (triangle sounds)

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh (men singing 'oh-oh-oh')

repeat chorus
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TIME TO BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL! YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

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Exploding CD - what are the chances?

ARGH!! The original CD I borrowed from the clinical school just exploded in my boyfriend's CD ROM drive! I didn't even get to use the program!

Recap: I slid the CD into the slot, pushed the 'close drive' button. After a few seconds, I noticed that the CD drive was taking unusually long to read the VERY EXPENSIVE ORIGINAL MEDICAL CD(not a crappy generic CD mind you) and started tapping my fingers impatiently. Meanwhile the CD ROM unit was spinning faster and faster (judging by the humming noises)... and then suddenly, it made a loud 'SNAP' and ejected the halfway exploding CD, pieces flying everywhere.

On hindsight, I am thankful that the CPU is on the floor, the exploding CD bits could have flown into my face!

Anyway, just spent the whole afternoon dismantling the CPU / CD ROM drive (Conveniently, the warranty has just expired. Stupid high speed readers) and am very very very behind on my study schedule.

I am looking at the remains of the VERY EXPENSIVE ORIGINAL MEDICAL CD. Boyfriend has given me a small plastic bag to put all the bits in. Oh damn. How am I going to explain this to the clinical school?

EDIT: Apparently this happens quite commonly with 52x CD-ROM units, as evidenced by this article.

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Which Scrubs character are you?

You are Turk!

Which Scrubs character are you
brought to you by Quizilla

Apparently I'm a young black male surgical resident. And I chose "Elliot" in the last question too. Ah, the wonders of TV-land...

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Internet Addiction Disorder (hmmm)

I just read about this 'new' psychiatric term which has been juggled around in modern psych research for the past few years. It's called IAD, or "Internet Addiction Disorder".

Dr. Grohol adds his own hypothesis complete with explanatory flowchart:

new online activity -> stage 1 (enchantment) -> stage 2 (disillusionment) -> stage 3 (balance)

stage 1 - obsession
stage 2 - avoidance
stage 3 - normal

Apparently the problem occurs when users get stuck in the 'enchantment phase'... o_0

What then, constitutes normal Internet use?

Another interesting article - Is the Internet Addictive, or Are Addicts Using the Internet?

Okay, gotta log off. Barely have time to blog these days... lol...

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I love Fridays because of the Saturdays next

Yay! It's the weekend already! I was so exhausted yesterday I passed out while having dinner in my boyfriend's house. Okay, checklist of stuff I have to do next week:

1. Watch a total hip joint replacement / total knee joint replacement. The surgeons only allow one student per arthroplasty because of contamination issues. The hospital I'm based in right now has one of the lowest infection rates in the district and they are planning to keep it that way.

2. Scrub in and assist in surgery. Must...study...anatomy...

3. Prepare for my orthopaedic presentation... *groan*

Oh yeah, I cooked dinner last night. No, it wasn't that bad I was just tired.

(a) Beef and Lotus Root Soup - recipe here
(b) Chicken in Soy Mushroom sauce - recipe here
(c) Stirfry brocolli, french beans, and carrots - stir-fry recipe collection here

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And the elbow joint is where again?

That little man in my head is not doing his job properly! I must have been on a winning streak this whole week. I had the right answers to the right questions, yeah, I felt like a winner alright. Then today some guy came in with a snapped biceps tendon; his arm actually looked like Popeye's - EXCEPT the biceps was sitting bunched-up on the top part of his arm, and not DOWN the bottom like how they describe in the textbooks... usually the upper biceps tendon gets snapped off, not the lower one*.

Ruptures of the distal tendon near the elbow are rare. They usually occur when an unexpected force is applied to a bent arm. For example, a snowboarder can rupture the distal biceps tendon if he or she uses the arm to try to break a fall during a turn.

The proximal biceps tendons near the shoulder tear more easily. Tears can be either partial or complete. Often, these tendons are already frayed, particularly if you are over 40 years of age, have a history of shoulder pain, and participate in activities that involve overhead motions. Among the elderly, biceps tendon ruptures near the shoulder are often associated with rotator cuff tears.

Anyway, I don't know how or why, but when the doctor asked me what I thought had happened, I said

"Looks like the coracobrachialis tendon was snapped."

*pindrop silence*

Gah, the look on his face made me want to sink into the ground. The coracobrachialis tendon???? What on earth was I thinking??? *tears hair out*

Geez, someone has to hit the books... hard.

Anyway the rest of outpatients was fun. =D I really like orthopaedics. Sort of like carpentry with bones, lots of blood... and then some swift needlework at the end.


* Story: He was being attacked by wild animals and was flinging his arms about when he heard a snapping sound.

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Too tired to blog... (or, it's Sunday already?)

Trying out this newfangled email blogging system**. I hope my dear readers do not mind the fact that my thoughts have become medical student-ised. (Check out my serious dot-points.)
2/2/05
1. Flight was uneventful other than the fact that I didn't sleep a wink and therefore have been sleeping in the day these few days which translates to serious jet lag. On the food side of things, I had tangy squid rings and sweet'n'sour fish for dinner.

Late Morning 2/2/05
2. Arrived a little later than the expected time. Baggage was NOT torn like the last time, which is good. Was surprisingly cold outside. Then, of course, the freak storms came. My boyfriend* thinks I brought them on. He must think I am some sort of dark mysterious lady who summons rain (and hail) and thunder where-ever I go. Or maybe he just suspects that I keep a giant rain charm in my (really heavy) backpack.

Afternoon 2/2/05
2. Ride home was uneventful. The arrival HOME however...! I was cheerfully greeted by a stuffed-full mailbox - filled with expired cookiesample deals, expired discounts or promotions, and BILLS. *grumble*

3. Shocked to learn that the landlord is planning to increase the rent. (nooo!)

4. Slept. Woke up at around 7pm. Had Maggi Mee for dinner thanks to the FREAK STORMS freaking me out. Nice weather to sleep in though... or so I thought. o_O

3/2/05 *tic toc tic toc*
5. Major jet lag... could not sleep the whole night and thereforespent time unpacking and cleaning the apartment. Also, bedsheets were so dusty... keeping the windows closed helped but the problem is that I left the apartment in a mess anyway. Which is UNACCEPTABLE in the world of Australian medical students from Malaysia***.

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** Email Blogging did not work so I am reposting this on the 6th February. On a lonely insomniac morning.

* Spent the following 3/2 - 6/2 going to and fro between my apartment and my boyfriends' (40 minutes away, 1.5 h two-way trip) because (i) we have not seen each other for 2 months, (ii) we will not see each other again for the next 6 weeks, (iii) I have 101 intangible things to do in the apartment, like, dusting the last piece of dust from the floor and helping my housemate fix the lightbulb and I feel bad leaving her all alone to satisfy her criteria of apartment cleanliness of CNY just because I am sloppier than her (note: I am already the most fussy clean in my family).


***It seems all the medical students I hang out with in Australia have a thing for tidiness... and washing hands... and antibacterial products. OCD or too much graphic Microbiology? My mind goes into Malaysian mode when I balik kampung so I amazingly transform into a pig (hey the maids clean the house anyway) everytime I go back to KL. THe metamorphosis from pig to lady though, takes a bit more time. Which is why I like to come back early to Melbourne, but of course, tell people things like this and funny looks you will definitely get.

NOTE: it is almost 6am on a Sunday. No, I did not sleep the whole night, but I slept in the afternoon. Okay, staying awake the whole day today (Sunday). Not gonna sleep. Just yeah, unless I want to die a natural death in the hospital.

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Last post from Malaysia...

Okay guys, last blog entry before I pack my laptop into its snug leather hibernation bag.

*drumroll*

...I'm flying back to Melbourne tomorrow!

I am feeling something halfway between sad and happy. That makes me... sappy? But overall, I'm frantic busy. (EDIT: Not busy enough not to blog)

"I felt the arrows of sadness piercing through my heart as I looked around at the earnest faces of the people who cared for me. Suddenly, I felt lost; I was bobbing around in a sea of uncertainty, like a marshmallow floating around in a cup of Milo. I waved a limp goodbye to my dear family and friends, and pushed my luggage-laden trolley towards the automatic gates."

Hm. That attempt at melodramatic writing was horrendous. And I usually wave a curt goodbye and just go. Two lives, one in Melbourne and the other in Malaysia... unfortunately both are incompatible. :(

Such is life.

Bye holidays! Bye fair tan Malaysia, dodgy weather, oily food, rude shoppers and all!

He-llo again, my old buddy, old pal, MEDSCHOOL!

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