1. Weezer – Island in the Sun
2. Maroon 5 – Not Falling Apart
3. David Guetta ft Akon – Sexy Bitch
4. The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
5. Alexandra Stan – Mr. Saxobeat
6. Pitbull ft T-Pain – Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor)
7. The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
8. Muse – Uprising
9. Outkast – The Way You Move
10. The Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow
11. Outkast – Idledwild Blue
12. Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc
13. The Killers – Somebody Told Me
14. Coldplay – Viva La Vida
15. U2 – Vertigo
16. Ben Harper – Put It On Me
17. Bruce Springsteen – Radio Nowhere
18. Outkast – B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)
19. Lifehouse – All In
20. Michael Jackson – Beat In
21. Offspring – Hit That
22. Duffy – Mercy
23. Enrique Iglesias ft Pitbull – I Like It
24. The Black Eyed Peas – Don’t Stop the Party
25. David Guetta ft Nicki Minaj – Turn Me On
26. Bodyrockers – I Like The Way You Move
27. David Guetta ft Usher – Withot You
28. Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks
29. Kylie Minogue – I Can’t Get You Out Of My Head
30. Groove Armada – I See You Baby Shaking That ass
31. Usher – More

Next up, a purely rock playlist, and a slower high-energy list for weights.

 Yes, we complain that patients nowadays have a sense of entitlement and enjoy the sick role, treating the overworked nursing staff like their maids. How often do you see or hear of patients who complain that the nurse is within sight, within earshot but refuses to stop what she’s doing to help a young man admitted for pneumonia get a cup of milo… just because she’s wearing a bright-coloured vest that says “SERVING MEDICATION”.

Doctors too are guilty of the same, grumbling that the nursing staff are so busy “passing report” that they cannot answer queries / spare the case files / serve the patient whose family is complaining loudly about the lack of milo.

 You would think that we would know by now that allowing the nurses to pass report and give medications uninterrupted is shown to decrease errors. Yet people routinely complain about the nurses doing something that is shown to help them (the doctors by knowing the patients better, the patients by not giving them medication that can trigger anaphylaxis and lead them to die)

Perhaps what we need is better information giving.

For instance, the ward should have a poster of a nurse in the serving medication vest “Please let me focus on serving you the right medicine.” or something to that effect.

The medical officer room should have one targeted at the doctors that says “Please let us pass report. Proper handing over lets us help you with your patient.”

Think it’ll help? Maybe it’s a start. 

The Oath

It’s so bad, it’s good. It’s like how forensic experts roll their eyes at the popular show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and lament how juries in the US nowadays expect the same impossible magic before convicting criminals (“What, you don’t have DNA evidence + tire trails + electronic money trail + 5 CCTV surveillance tapes + trace chemicals matching the one from this obscure chemical plant 20 years ago, we can’t convict this robber!”)

Similarly, we have actually had people ask: “Can poking the fingertips and rubbing the ears help to treat acute stroke?”

The Oath Episode 1

Then there’s this blood-vomitus-inducing car accident part at 12:30 of the above video that explains why the character acted by Christopher Lee basically got kicked out of medical school for general quackery. First, please contrast what happened in the above video with the below video (read: Singaporean scriptwriters may have copied a few things from more successful dramas)

Iryu Team Medical Dragon Episode 1

It starts from 0:45min, where they make a judgement after listening for breathing and percussing for hyperresonance that this lady has suffered bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax requiring urgent needle (pen) decompression to buy time pending arrival of the ambulance.

Now compare that with The Oath, where the medical student played by Christopher Lee on his way to an exam runs to a polytrauma patient from a road traffic accident, does not try to assess / open the airway, does not listen for breathing, and proceeds to jab a pen into her chest. Nice. The blog link above says it’s a cricothyroidotomy but the area of insertion is wrong, it’s more likely an improvised needle decompression.

And the best thing is that at the committee, the committee points out that no one is questioning his motives but he should not be performing such risky manoeuvres before he is a doctor.

What?! No doctor who follows evidenced-based medicine or is aware of Advanced Trauma Life Support would do this kind of quackery! Good intentions do not protect you from behaviour that puts the patient’s life at further risk!

Moving along, the driver of the vehicle he is in suffers a stroke. With the loss of consciousness and facial asymmetry, a stroke is indeed a good clinical diagnosis. However, he proceeds to do capillary pinprick followed by ear lobe pinprick all the while instructing a hapless bystander to massage this man’s ears until they turn red. He later blithely tells the doctor at the hospital that he’s diagnosed this man with an intracranial haemorrhage. Nice.

In response to Jesseca Liu’s character’s by-the-book-safe-evidence-based-medicine-patient-confidentiality thing, he arrogantly talks down to her and comments that the calibre of doctors has gone down since he left. Is the show trying to promote the humble, kind-hearted and talented TCM practitioner, or trying to paint him as an arrogant maverick?

Interestingly, he invokes the Good Samaritan Law (not present in Singapore). One of my issues with the show’s interpretation are that it does not cover just medical professionals… But that said, discussion of the Good Samaritan Law warrants another post.

Donorweb – Your blood is replaceable… a life is NOT !

On Donorweb, you can see the current blood stocks in Singapore (at the time of posting low in A and O), upcoming Bloodmobile Drives to look for one near your place of residence/work, see where you can donate blood at Bloodbank@HSA, Bloodban@Woodlands, and have your queries on the forums.

That said, you can also donate blood at NUH, as I just did a couple of days ago. I have a fondness for NUH because it’s the first place I donated at. If you drive and park at NUH you can get a carpark redemption voucher. Unlike my previous post which stated 3 months, now the time in between donations is 16 weeks (4 months)

Go forth, you can save lives too!

Another of my friends gave me one of the coffee tumblers she bought from Yahava KoffeeWorks. The power of the tumbler allows me to obtain 50 cent discounts off drinks at Yahava. 50 cents a lot of money!

Yahava Keepcup ($19.50)

I have heard that the main business of Yahava KoffeeWorks was the supplying of coffee beans. Unlike illy, which produces only one blend, Yahava provides a range of coffee blends. Their shop along Upper Thomson Road is supposedly more for people to sample their coffees and being a café is not their core business.

Tempering my expectations with that in mind, I made my way down to check out the place for myself.

Fortunately, I am familiar with the area (due to frequenting Plum Village) because it isn’t one of those places that is very visible from the main road and can be a little difficult to find. Looks promising!

First thing that leapt out at me were the doorknobs: they are made out of portafilters!

Portafilter Doorknobs

The environment inside was comfortably cool without being cold, providing me with some much needed solace from the stifling heat outside. Soft music reminding me of Yann-Tiersen’s works played in the background (the barista says it is music that would be played in Italy/France cafés). The place was very spacious and consisted of the main serving area, the coffee roaster + tasting area, the goods area and the store area (not visible).

Serving Counter

When I was there, a couple of Australians having coffee tasting. The barista says that usually people taste up to 3 coffees before their palate is saturated.

Coffee Tasting at Yahava

Of course, I have to try their coffee. The blackboard stated that today’s special was the Kintamani and that it was best prepared in the form of a latte. So I ordered that. The latte is very creamy, it was fragrant and very easy to drink with no hint of sourness and had enough caffeine to give me a slight buzz.

Latte (normally $5.00, but $4.50 using Keepcup)

The round circle thing is an electronic buzzer that says when food is ready. I last used this in Medzs at Orchard Central, and am confused as to why Yahava needs to use it. The place is spacious, seating is limited and everyone is within view of the counter. Ah well, I was using it to await my cake which was being heated up.

Yahava doesn’t have a kitchen, so all its food is either easy to prepare or sourced from elsewhere. The scones (I have a weakness for them) were PUNY and cost $2 each, so I didn’t even bother with them. Instead, I tried a slice of my childhood with the banana cake. It’s self-service for the cakes. Nothing much about the cake, it’s just normal. Somewhat bland.

Banana Cake ($2.00)

After reading my newspaper and watching the Australians eat a ham and cheese panini ($5.80), I couldn’t resist any longer and decided to have my lunch there.

Beef and cheese panini ($6.80, one dollar more than the ham version)

It was pretty good, surprisingly. Decent for café fare. Instead of prepackaged sandwiches that they heat up, they prepared the sandwich on ordering, slicing the bread, putting in the beef and cheese and toasting the combination.

Note that unlike most cafés these days, there is no wireless internet access. The barista said that although they were considering it, the café is not their main business and they do not wish to have students who buy 1 small drink and sit there for 5-6 hours at a shot (future post on studying in cafés etiquette coming up) and instead want to maintain the comfortable café environment.

I asked why they chose the location, since it’s a bit out of the way. They said that they liked the quiet nature of the environment and were seeking to recreate the ambience of the original location in Australia.

Now I’m torn. On one hand I want them to succeed and not close down, but on the other hand it’s nice that it’s not too crowded and the ambience is nicer than my other favourite coffee place Highlander Coffee, which incidentally isn’t so cheap any more.

Looking around the gift area, there are lots of coffee preparation items, many blends of coffee available, ground as well as in the form of beans. They have run one coffee appreciation workshop and more of such events should be in the works. Look out for Yahava Koffeeworks in the future!

In summary, go there for the ambience and the coffee. Skip the pastries and hot food (just go eat at the food centre 30m away).

4 Jalan Gelenggang
Singapore 578188
Ph 6554 7080
Fax 6554 7079
koffee@yahava.sg
Open Daily 9AM – 6PM
Free Coffee Tasting from 9AM – 5PM
(5pm on the website but at the shop it says 3pm)

Then I wake up.

That said, it never hurts to try to maintain some fitness, and one thing I do do is walk, even though it will never get me Arnie-worthy deltoids.

It’s one simple activity that I tell all my patients who are keen on weight loss to start doing.

At the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, I make it a habit to climb stairs instead of taking the escalator. I routinely walk 2 bus stops distance from the MRT station home even though taking the bus will only cost $0.03.

While in hospital, I would climb the 5 storeys up to the ward (time permitting, of course) instead of taking the lift. Instead of taking the shuttle bus to the MRT station, yes, you guessed it, walk there.

You’ll be surprised. All these little things add up.

That said, a few days back I ran 6km, went to the gym after, and after work walked from home -> MRT station, took an MRT to City Hall, walked from Raffles City -> Marina Bay Sands -> Gardens by the Bay South -> the Flower Dome. Took the shuttle bus to Marina Bay MRT station, took the MRT home and walked from MRT station -> home.

Legs were not happy. Difficulty climbing the stairs. Ah well.

The drink itself looked innocuous. A shot glass filled to the brim with transparent green liquid.

Only a moron calls a shot glass filled with transparent green liquid innocuous. It looked deadly and venomous, unlike the cheerful looking Pandan shot topped with whipped cream.

The server lit it on fire and quickly covered it with a glass and handed me a straw. She removed the glass, taking care to maintain the fumes.

I drank the shot. I had to cough as the Bacardi 151 and absinthe green hit the back of my throat.

I then inhaled the fumes from the upside down glass.

Tasted terrible. And it did go somewhat to my head, though I suspected the light-headedness was from the coughing because it only lasted for 30s. Hmmm… really wouldn’t drink it again. I like to enjoy my alcoholic beverages, not torture my throat with them.

The Seiko SKX781 Orange Monster

It’s an entry level automatic (translation: self-winding mechanical) diver watch by Seiko. It has all the requisite diver watch requirements: bright lume, unidirectional bevel, screw-in crown, solid stainless steel case.

If you buy it at an authorised store it will cost around S$500. BUT, I have heard that if you buy gray market you can get it for around S$235.

When I first saw it, I was deciding between the Orange Monster and its brother the SKX779 Black Monster. The draw of the Black Monster is that with its black dial, it would be easier to wear on a daily basis. However, the Orange Monster drew me in with its easier readability and cheerful orange.

Today, it handled my swimming laps with it perfectly well. I look forward to testing it in open water and in lower depths.

The stainless steel bracelet is excellent, it’s one of the best I’ve worn so far.

Accuracy: I’ve worn it 5 out of 7 days with lots of walking for the past 1 month and it’s now running 2 minutes fast. However, some forums say that I should wear it regularly (i.e. daily) for 2 months prior to any tuning. So we shall wait and see.

Drug-shock-drug-shock!

It’s been a ridiculous 8 months since my last update, and honestly I just haven’t had the energy or the inclination to do so.

Sometimes work gets you down, and all the altruism in the world won’t save you from burn out. But stop trying to see the world through rose-tinted glasses and see it for what it is, with all its faults and cracks, and just appreciate the little things around.

Life is good. As long as you don’t sweat the small stuff.

So I’m happier now.

I’ll resume posting.