Singapore

I met my future roommate in Singapore.

Zabeena is from Houston, Texas and is graduating with me from UTSW in two weeks. She and her twin sister just happened to take a vacation to Malaysia. We met up in Singapore and had a wonderful two days traveling around together. Here is a synopsis of our journey.

Day 1:

Zabeena and her sister, Mehveen, wanted to see some of the natural side of Singapore, so we struck out to find the Bukit Timah Nature Preserve, where we hiked  up summit hill to the highest point in Singapore. We were surrounded by rainforest so we could not see the city. Apparently, we were standing where tigers used to roam.

The climb was steep, basically straight up. Zabeena and Mehveen here on the way down.

We made it to the top! It was not as rewarding of a view as I was hoping for, more trees. But needless to say, we had a workout in for the wonderful hawker food that was awaiting us down at the bottom.

We also, were side tracked and found a second park on the way to this nature preserve, where we had fun with our cameras and found some wildlife. 

We stopped for a rest in the shade of a park bench. Zabeena is sitting with me and Mehveen is behind us.

A very candid shot of us trying to shoot a jumping picture in front of the quarry.

Here is a great picture of the three of us. Notice I am flanked by my bodyguards. This is how we traveled around, one on each side of me.

We came upon this little bird digging around in the underbrush. I have not been able to identify it, anyone know?

And, these Monitor lizards come out of no where and have scared me multiple times on my trip. This one was a safe distance away digging for lunch. It has a long tongue with a split end like a snake.


Day 2:

First we went shopping at the biggest "Walmart" I have ever seen. It was a full 4 floors and was as big as the supercenters in the U.S.  It had 2 story grocery store included. It was located in little India, so we wondered through there, and I did lots of people watching.

Then we went to see the Merlion to get the ultimate roommate picture. 

The Merlion is the most Singaporian landmark we could think of.....so we now have proof that we were here.

After the Merlion, we wondered through the Botanical Gardens where we stumbled upon a Mother's day concert, and the surprise visit of the President of the Republic of Singapore.

Our final stop was Orchard Road, the famous shopping district.

And our final stop was for some of the Singapore's best gelato!! YUM!

And this is where my roommate bonding ended. Zabeena and Mehveen left for the U.S. that night.
Thank you both for a wonderful weekend in Singapore. Who knew we would get to know each other on the opposite side of the world? I hope to have many more trips with her to come at JPS.

Hi Everyone!

I apologize for not posting for a while. I have been having way too much fun. Below is a summary of my last week.

SUNDAY:  Dr. Yin and his wife Li Chen took me on a grand tour of Penang Island.

We stopped to try the King of the Fruits: the Duran. Which Dr. Yin claims that I am more of a Penangn-nite than he because I actually liked it, which he does not.

Dr. Yin and Li Chen treated me to lunch at the Hard Rock cafe....I had a Bacon-Cheeseburger (YUM!!). I then tried out the trishaw, which I am much more comfortable doing the pedaling than riding.

We also stopped for a walk along the beach. The water is always warm.

And, there are only little villages outside of Georgetown. Here is a Malay house in a little village on the SW corner of the island.


TUESDAY: I was chauffeured to Kuala Lumpur (KL) by Dr. Yin and Li Chen.

I went across the Penang bridge, finally! Pictured here is the Alactraz of Penang. From the looks of it, all of the prisoners could swim to shore. Maybe that is why they changed the location of exiled prisoners.

We stopped at a few fruit stands along the way, and Li Chen and Dr. Yin (here) made sure that I tried all of the different kinds of tropical fruit.

One of the stranger ones.....the Rambutan. You peel it and only eat the inside, but holding the fruit was an experience in itself.


WEDNESDAY: Traveled to Malacca (or Meleka)....a Dutch and Portugeuese influenced town south of KL.

This is town square, where the Dutch architecture is prominent.

 I went to the museum and learned all about the importance of Malacca to Malaysian history. Lets leave it at it was very important.

The only remaining portion the the Portuguese fort, A'Famosa, located at the bottom of Mary's Hill.

The Meleka Palace. Today it is another history museum, but it was built without nails and in the design of the palace from the Sultans, before they were conquered the first time by the Portuguese.

And, I walked along the river, where I saw the Dutch influence on architecture and a sea otter. 

THURSDAY: I walked around the Botanical Gardens and went to the Bird Park, Orchid and Hibiscus Garden, National Museum and Central Market.

Here in the Botanical Gardens, I ate breakfast while watching the turtles of the Lily Pond.

I had a Kaya and Cheese pastry.

My visit to the bird park included a bird show. I also had another unique experience that I was able to get a photo of with my phone....stay tuned!!


FRIDAY: I went to the top of the Petronas Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world at 452m.

I am standing in one and looking at the other with the KL tower behind it.


SUNDAY:

The end of a good week, back in Penang which I missed dearly.  Auntie Keng Hong son's and their fiances thought I should experience a Penang sunset. Apparently this one is not the most beautiful since it was cloudy, but it was quite the experience!

We ate Thai food while watching the sun go down on top of the cliff overlooking both the east and west coasts of Penang.

I leave for Singapore (or Sing) on Friday.   Happy Birthday, Monique!
Miss you all,
Allison

Malaysian Food

Food is a very important part of experiencing any new culture. It might also be my favorite. Malaysian food is a very delicious combination of Chinese, Malay, and Indian. As you can probably imagine, I have had many types of noodles: beehoon, kuay teow, mee, etc. and lots of steamed rice with different things mixed in. They also combine many kinds of protein into their dishes including chicken, egg, pork, fish and their favorite, prawns (which I try to avoid due to allergy). Note, beef is difficult to come by here and the locals look at me weird when I eat fruit for breakfast. Apparently fruit functions more like a dessert here, reserved for afternoon or evening meals. But, there is such amazing tropical fruits here, I want at least one at every meal! In sum, I have been known to eat rice three times a day....as milk and cereal is not a proper breakfast. And, there have been days where I have eaten 8 times a day, as either everyone is a very good host or I appear to be starving!

My favorites are Baku Kut Teh and Ice Kacang. Others that Penang is famous for is the Char Kuay Teow and Laksa. Here are some pictures:

Baku Kut Teh: Its a herb-based soup includes black tea with pork and vegetables. There are pork ribs but also pork inners too! The vegetables from what I can gather is cabbage and some root vegetable. It is served with tofu, pork floss on lettuce, fried Chinese dough (I forgot the name of that), and of course steamed rice! Note, I am eating with fork and spoon, everyone else with chopsticks.  The various drinks pictured are nutmeg juice, Chrysanthemum tea and 100 plus (the gatorade equivalent in a can). 

Ice Kacang: Shaved ice with syrup covered with green and black gelatinous stuff that is the inside of palm tree (?), red beans, corn, various nuts and most importantly topped with ice cream. The one pictured above is the best one in town.....so far. Auntie Ai Hwa took me here my first day and no other place is the same. 

For those who prefer Chendul over ice kacang: It is shaved ice with brown sugar and coconut milk instead of red syrup topped with red beans and the gelatinous stuff. 

We went to an Indian place for lunch. It is Southern Indian food because it is eaten on a banana leaf, traditionally with hands, although I chose fork and spoon. There is rice with two types of curry (watch out for the hot and spicy), lettuce, really good cabbage mixture, eggplant and ginger. They served these tortilla like chips instead of nan. Apparently, nan is a Northern Indian food. My drink was a Mango liquid yogurt.

Traditional Nyonya meal that I had with Auntie Ai Hwa. It is the Chinese and Malay culture merged together. My understanding is the curry is Malay while the Otak, coconut milk and fish is Chinese. 

Penang's famous for Char Kuay Teow. It is fried noodles with chicken, egg, and sausage and some added flavor with spices.


And where do you find this food? At the local coffee shops that feature local hawkers (street food).

Here is the new coffee shop in downtown, on my way home from the hospital. It is open-air stalls with plastic furniture in a circle. Along the outside are street food carts that make every local type of food you can imagine....Wan tan Mee, Chicken and Rice, Hokkien mee, Char Kuay Teow, Western food (an interesting version of Chicken Fried Steak and Fries), etc.

Apparently, the local two story supermarket, similar to a Walmart (with an moving walkway to the second level) has dried herb packages that you can buy. This will probably be the closest I can get to the real stuff, and it will give you all a bit of the taste of the culture!

My New Friends

Last day of surgery, can't wait to see what awaits me in the OR (or  OT here).

I am making new friends here. I have large shoes to fill in making them feel just as welcomed and at home,  if they ever visit me in the U.S., specifically Texas.

Auntie Keng Hong, who is Dr. Tan's sister-in-law. She has adopted me as the daughter she never had.  She feeds me, transports me and talks to me almost daily, making sure I am having a good time. It is pay back for the people who took care of her sons when they studied and lived in the U.S.  She is quite the world traveler herself (she just came home from Europe) and looks forward to visiting the U.S. next year. She is thinking of Texas in September, which I assured her is not as hot as July. If I can schedule my week's vacation at the same time, I will give her a personal guide of Colorado.  Her favorite past time is watching Korean dramas on the computer. I think she has Korean blood although she assures me that she is Chinese. 

Auntie Keng Hong's two sons. Yen in the blue, with his fiance Ai Ching and Jared in the maroon with his fiance Lily. We went out with some of their friends Kim and Val for Bakut Ku Teh, which is my favorite food and which I will try to replicate when I get home for my family and friends.  Both Yen and Jared are very nice and great hosts. Tonight we are going to a local beach in Penang, and who knows what other adventures and sights they will take me to in the remainder of my stay.

Auntie Ai Hwa, Dr. Tan's good friend, who was my first tour guide the first days I was here. She is a wonderful host and makes sure I have eaten a good meal at least once a week and have seen the tourist attractions of Penang. Like Penang hill, which I did with her nephew last weekend.

Auntie Ai Hwa's nephew, J.J. He was a good sport and hiked up and down Penang hill with me for 4 hours. Apparently, he would not use the word "enjoy" to describe his experience. I had a lot of fun. We ate Ice Kacang, ranked second in my book. This is also where we saw the Monkey Cup plant (Pitcher plant).

And not pictured, yet. The doctors from Island, and more of Dr. Tan's friends, some of whom I will meet this weekend and next week in KL, when I travel to Singapore, and a few more here in Penang. She is very well connected, and they are all as wonderful as she is.

And, Dr. Tan's mom,  her nurses, and her maid. They are very nice, welcoming, good hosts and lots of fun to talk to at night. The nurses all are wealth of information as to what to do and how to do it.

Miss all of my friends and family in the U.S., but I am really enjoying myself and immersing myself in Malaysian culture (mix of Malay, Chinese, and Indian). U.S. Chinese and Indian food will never taste the same again.

Photos of Malaysia

Here are some random pictures of the area I am in.

Taken from 8th floor. The main land (Peninsular Malaysia) is pictured across 10km of ocean.

Land is limited here on the island. So, all the buildings are continuous from one block to the next. And you can imagine there is limited parking. Penang hill is shown in the background.....I will go there on Saturday.

Everyone drives on the wrong side of the road here! Note the UK influence. Apparently, the price petrol is standardized so they don't play the game of find the cheapest gas station. The walkways are underneath the overhang. And they have open drains, where all the waste flows. So watch your step and don't fall in!

Island Hospital where I am doing my rotation. It is on a busy road, but they do have a cross walk with a light. You still have to look, because some motorbikes apparently don't have to stop on a red light.

Island Hospital. It is a private hospital. You should see the deluxe suits on the 5th floor. They are like hotel suites with a small kitchen, table and couch in a separate room from the patient room. There are dual occupancy rooms and rooms with 5-6 patients. Of course the beds are separated by "sound-proof" curtains, just like the Parkland.

When the doctor walks onto the floor during rounds, the nurses flock to him and follow him from patient to patient. Its actually quite nice, that way the nurses know what is going on, he can give verbal orders and receive report. This is different, of course, than in the U.S. where we have to find and interrupt the nurses duties. Everyone seems to turn cranky with the U.S. method. Maybe I will try to implement this where I work in the future.

My very comfortable room. You will note the tile floor, the whole house is in tile. The bathroom door, which is a bathroom including a shower (!!), minus the sink which is in the corner. Dr. Tan even has her old medical textbooks which I can read for my rotation. They have been very helpful in my review during the evenings.

Malaysia:

Why Malaysia?

I am finishing up my medical school by doing my last rotation (for elective credit) in a foreign country. While on my interviews for residency, Dr. Tan in Maine was a wonderful hostess. I had such a great time with her while in Bangor. Dr. Tan, who is originally from Malaysia, offered to allow me to stay at her home (for free!) and do a rotation at a local hospital. So, I will be in Penang until May 23. I will be exploring and taking many adventures on the weekends and the last week, but I am based in Penang. If you look up, Penang, it is an island off the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. I am just outside of Georgetown, and my hospital, Island Hospital is a private hospital in town.


Intro to Malaysia:

I am staying in the local part of Penang. I am surrounded by Malay, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, and a few Japanese. I am taller than all females and some men, and do not look even part Asian, so I turn a lot of heads when I walk down the street or ride the bus. I am also bigger, so shopping would be interesting. Because of the Asian genes, all the clothing is small or if you are lucky medium. I am glad I brought sufficient clothing.

The weather: hot and humid or hot, rainy and humid. Apparently the temp is between 28-31C (or 85-90s) day and night. And, all the locals wear pants or skirts and button up shirts. When you walk around town, everyone is in professional dress, under umbrellas shielding themselves from the sun or rain. So far it has rained daily, just a quick storm and it moves on, sometimes multiple times a day.

Malaysian custom: always take your shoes off when entering any home. So when you visit someone, there is a line of shoes outside of the front door. I guess the number of shoes shows you how popular the people are!

Food: Is rice or noodles with chicken or fish or shellfish. The influence of India, Chinese, Malay results in wonderful food. I am not tired of it yet. They have wonderful spices that goes with it and there is somewhere to stop and eat on every corner. Yesterday I stopped at an Indian place and had wonderful Nan with curry and iced tea (think iced chai tea not Lipton iced tea).  My favorite food is still ice kacang, I promise to take a picture the next time I eat it. And, this culture eats a lot. Everywhere I go I am offered food. I find myself eating at least 4 times if not 5 or 6 times a day!! (Thank goodness I have to walk a ways to work!)

There is a lot of UK influence here: everyone drives on the opposite side of the road, I find it unnerving to sit in the front seat. First off, I am in the driver seat. And, every time we turn, I think we are turning into head-on traffic! All the English that is spoken, is with a British accent and they use British words like lift, corridor, etc. Apparently, the health care system is modeled after Britain....free government health care or you can pay for private. (more later).

Buses: So, unlike Ecuador, the buses do stop at the bus stops. The adventure of the buses is that I have yet to find a bus schedule or a map of the routes. So, it is a guessing game. Thank you to Auntie Fung Lin, I at least know which bus to take to the hospital and which one to take home. The rest will just be trial and error with a map of town. If I get really lost, I am carrying a "hand phone" with numbers to my  local Aunties and friends who promise that will come rescue me!!

Aunties: As per culture, any female older than me is an Auntie. I am staying with Auntie, who is Dr. Tan's mother. Auntie Ai Hwa is Dr. Tan's best friend and featured in the Nyonya museum. Auntie Keng Hong is Dr. Tan's sister-in-law who has internet and has taken care of me like one of her children or their fiances. She has two sons age 28 and 31. We are going out to dinner tonight (maybe American--KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, although I don't miss it yet). I also attend church with them and am a part of her son's community group. Auntie Fung Lin is a retired nurse who showed me around on the buses, she took me to work and home the first day.

Rotation at Island Hospital:


I am shadowing different doctors at one of the private hospitals in Penang. The health care system is very different, but still very good. When you walk into the first floor of the hospital, you are greeted by the concierge desk, where you can check your luggage. In front of you is the receptionist desk, much like a hotel. There are two long hallways, each with airport seats (groups of 4) sitting back to back. Lining both sides of the hallway are glass doors with their own waiting rooms. They are labeled by doctor and specialty. My first reaction was that you shopped for your doc. I now understand that they all have their specialty and its much like a group in the U.S., the Island hospital group featuring internal med, surgery, orthopedic surgery, neurology, pediatrics, etc.

For outpatient, the doctors have one room that functions as their personal office, patient consultation and exam room. In one corner is the doctors desk perpendicular to the wall. There are some bookshelves above the desk. On the wall behind the desk and around to the adjacent wall are patient chart (they are still using paper charts). The nurse has a desk along the wall perpendicular to the doctor. She (I have not seen a male nurse) readies the charts, retrieves the patients, answers the phones, etc. On the opposite wall, where the door is, is the exam bed with tools next to it.  So, the patient comes in, talks to the doctor at the desk, then doctor and patient go across the room for the examination and then return to the desk for assessment and plan.

The doctor (I haven't seen a female yet), was shocked when I told him that in the U.S. we stand up the whole day! In patient we go room to room, writing notes in the hallway. Outpatient, we also go exam room to exam room, writing notes in the hallway.

The doctors here work very hard. They have inpatient rounds before clinic at 9am, then afternoon rounds after clinic at 5 or 6pm. And in between they are called to the Accident & Emergency (ER) for consultation or by other doctors. And, somewhere in there they are supposed to complete their office work. Also, weekends they have clinic from 9am-1pm on Saturday. So really they are only off on Sundays, with the exception of being on call of course! From what I gather, they are on-call for their own patients 24/7. Oh, and a lot of the doctors leave and get their specialty training (residency) done in Scotland or UK, so you can see the UK influence again!

And, the patients all enter with a number, the order in which they show up. I guess appointments don't exist, so I guess they limit the number of people in the morning and afternoon(?) Of course they problem with that is the complicated or new patients vs. the follow-ups. It takes different amount of time to see each.

And, the patient population. To be a doctor here you need to have working knowledge of English (which all of your notes are in and communicate between staff), Malay, Hokkien (Chinese dialect). If you speak Indonesian, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese or Hindi, that's a bonus! So, I read over the shoulder as the doc is writing because I don't know any of these languages, Spanish is not spoken here. The patients are interesting.....because it is a private, fee for service, many docs will meet the requests of the patients. So, the Indonesians will come, with their luggage, get a routine medical exam including lab work and chest Xray and abdominal ultrasound, then stay and enjoy a vacation before returning to Indonesia!! (I am thinking medical tourism).

Tomorrow, I will get to see the inpatient. I am meeting my doctor early to go on morning rounds with him. More to come!

I explored more of Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia today with Auntie Aihwa. We went out to eat at a Nyonya restaurant named Nyonya breeze desire located in the Marina shopping mall. We then went to the Nyonya museum and finally Fort Cornwalis.

 The marina shown here. You can see the mainland Malaysia Peninsula in the background.

I am standing on the sea wall with the light house in the background. Apparently, this is all reclaimed land from the 2004 tsunami and it would the first place the tsunami from Wednesdays earthquake would hit. But we have not had any tsnuamis, so the locals believe we are safe.

Our next stop was lunch inside the marina shopping mall.

 We were served by waitresses in the traditional Nyonya dress. An embroidered see through blouse with another shirt underneath over a long silk skirt. She was not wearing the traditional beaded slippers.

Auntie Aihwa showing off the too tor tng, or pig stomach soup.  The soup also had ginko, chicken and mushrooms. The pig stomach was very chewy and tasteless. The other ingredients of the soup added some flavor to it.

This was our full lunch meal. It was Acar acar at 12 oclock, going clockwise, Otak otak, Pork Rendang, steamed rice, and Too Tor Tng. We washed it down with nutmeg juice.  Acar acar is pickled green beans which I rated as a medium spicy (I didn't have to drink a cold drink after each bite). Otak otak, Malay for brains, was chopped fish and a local herb leaf made into the consistency of brains, rated as not spicy. Pork Rendang, a curry with pork, is a traditional Malay cooking style which is traditionally done with beef but the locals have adapted it to a pork dish because of the local Chinese and Hindi who do not eat beef. It is done in a very special way and takes hours to prepare. It was a super spicy dish that required my nutmeg juice and a second lime juice. Finally the too tor tng, or pig stomach, which is a very ethnic Malay dish. I found it quite tasty, although the texture was a bit weird. I think I would try it again, maybe.

Interesting fact over lunch conversation: a new Nyonya bride must past tests like cooking some of these  Nyonyan dishes for the groom's family in order to be deemed good enough for the arranged marriage. And the Nyonyan kitchen has special ways of cooking, not quite as strict as a kosher kitchen but similar idea.

After lunch we went to the Baba-Nyonya home turned museum in downtown Georgetown. The Georegetown skyline from the marina. It is a family home that is now open to the public.

The home was ornately decorated with gold everywhere.

This is the sitting room.

Next door is the game room.

This was a popular card game that Auntie Aihwa has forgotten the rules to.

Here is Auntie Aihwa on the couch in the game room. It is made of marble so, it would be cool on a hot afternoon like today.

Here is the formal dining room,  from the courtyard which is in the center of the home.

The formal dining room.

The staircase from the courtyard.

As per Malaysian custom, you must remove your shoes before going upstairs. 

There is a opium smoking couch.

Supplied with opium.

The bridal chamber. According to Auntie Aihwa, the basket is for chickens. The newly weds bring male and female to the room with them and release one. Their first born will be the gender of the released bird.

The bride and groom wedding crowns. They look heavy to me!

The bride comes with a wash basin and chamber pot.

The Buddist worship altar.

Traditional Nyonya dress.

The hand-embroidered blouse with silk skirt. The blouse is see-through. They wear a white blouse, styled like a tank top, underneath and no bra. Auntie Aihwa's mother still wears these.

The older style of Nyonya dress.

The handmade, beaded or threads on slippers. The bride is required to make her own bridal blouse and shoes.

Some of the jewelry that a female wears with the Nyonya dress. There are ankle bangles, clasps for the blouse, earrings and necklaces.  Aihwa shared that for parties, the more jewelry a female wore, the higher social class she was considered. Women would go to the extend of borrowing jewelry.

The courtyard from above. The front door is at the top of the picture.

The kitchen is located in a building adjacent to the home. It is a wood-burning stove.
  

Another part of the kitchen. Note the mortars for grinding grain.


I will post the pictures from Fort Cornwalis later. I am joining a community group tonight.