Speechless. Tidak tahu lagi harus berkata apa. Yang jelas saya amat-amat bersyukur dengan apa yang telah terjadi dalam hidup saya dalam sebulan terakhir (baca: RES). Hari tepat hari terakhir saya stase sebagai DM RES peadiatri. Adios amigos ha ha. Hari juga sekaligus hari ujian lisan saya, ditangguhkan satu hari sebab profesor yang menguji saya, Prof. Dr. Sylvie Damanik, berhalangan hadir kemarin. Menurut kabar sih beliau enak banget kalau menguji. Dan saya benar-benar beruntung berkesempatan diuji oleh beliau. Ujian dimulai pukul 9 pagi tepat. Saya mendapatkan kasus kejang demam komplikata plus faringitis akut. Alhamdulillah pertanyaannya satu per satu bisa saya jawab dengan tenang (padahal aslinya tetap gugup abis). Beliau bertanya seputar kasus saya, lalu tentang infeksi virus dengue dan demam berdarah, imunisasi (ini saya diberi kesempatan untuk memilih pertanyaan oleh saya sendiri lho), terus pertanyaan pamungkas oleh PPDS pendamping saya yang super nice, dr. Debby ;). tentang diare. That was all. Alhamdulillah nilai ujian lisan ini lebih dari cukup he he. Hidup saya dalam sebulan terakhir ini tak ubahnya seperti roller coaster going up and down. Banyak suka dan duka, tapi asli happy banget bisa mengisi waktu dengan RES he he. Hitung-hitung les intensif buat UKDI. Menjadi DM RES telah melatih rasa empati saya baik terhadap teman-teman sejawat (you know who you are). Pun saya beruntung mendapat kesempatan untuk berinteraksi dengan para pasien pediatri. Jujur saya juga lebih sedikit ngeh tentang ilmu pediatri daripada saat awal saya masuk lab ini. Yang jelas saya sangat bersyukur. This turned out to be a sweet revenge for me. Ujian tulis ga UP (yah walaupun ngepas banget nilainya) dan nilai ujian lisannya mungkin rekor tertinggi selama saya menjadi DM. Sekali lagi alhamdulillah. Terima kasih ya Allah, Kau telah mendengar dan menjawab semua pintaku. Teman-temanku sejawat yang juga RES di pediatri, thanks a lot!! What would my life be without your constant company and support. We made it finally ;) !!!! Dan juga untuk mama dan papa. Let the next show begin! UKDI waits for me, Insya Allah!!!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Ain't Playing A Sinking Game
I'm writing this from a cyber cafe of our faculty's library an hour after the bloody pediatric written exam. All went well just as expected. Thanks a lot my dear God, I was at least a bit relieved. Most of the presented exam problems hailed from the prior old exams. Now I can myself a really lucky jerk and expect a couple of days off this weekend. After that I'll just have to start my engines for the next bloody oral exam. Blah.
P.S.: I can sense somehow that Bangkok is calling me. It keeps ringing in my ears!!! To be honest I've been trying to persuade both my parents to make a trip all the way to Bangkok. I've been telling them repeatedly that Air Asia has now had a direct flight there from Surabaya since this November. And now they seem to be under my spell he he. Let's see how it ends ;)
P.S.: I can sense somehow that Bangkok is calling me. It keeps ringing in my ears!!! To be honest I've been trying to persuade both my parents to make a trip all the way to Bangkok. I've been telling them repeatedly that Air Asia has now had a direct flight there from Surabaya since this November. And now they seem to be under my spell he he. Let's see how it ends ;)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Back in God's Hand
Actually, I'm not really in the mood to drop some words for the time being. But I just have to. I wanna write an inscription about what has been going on with my life for these last three weeks. First of all, let me make a confession. I've been devastated even since the iudicium day (it was in mid-September). Thought that day would mark my very final day as a junior doctor (are you familiar with this term??). Thought I'd be free from my duty at hospital for a while after 18 months of working my ass, boring daily routines of seeing the patients in the wards, tons of case discussions, bla bla bla. I thought I'd make it perfectly by the iudicium day. I was confident though considering that I always did my best in each final exam at each departments. My mind was filled with a couple of wild imagination of making trip to, say Singapore or Bangkok; or enroll myself for an ECG course or that kinds of trainings. But it ALL got screwed up simply because I failed in my pediatric test. For this reason the faculty sent me and a flock of buddies who were as "lucky" as me, back to the lovely peadiatric department for 4 weeks. I was totally upset, jealous, and partially ashamed. But I managed not to show these my very feelings to others, but the pain remained there. I've been feeling somewhat sacrified by that f*****g person. Blaaaah.
But life goes on. Now me voici!! Been already in my second remedial week at pediatric dept. Me and my other 8 buddies will try our best to survive this obstacle. We've been like one big family lately he he. Impossobly difficult written test is scheduled by the third week and the oral exam by the last week. So hopefully we'll have been finished by the 3rd week of this October. But tomorrow we'll still have to try to negotiate the date of our second iudicium with our new dean in a hope that we still can catch up with UKDI (kind of USMLE in the US) taking place in November. We really have to try cuz we're in need of STL (Surat Tanda Lulus) as one of requirements to apply for UKDI. All other requirements must be handed in by this Oct 13, but the STL can be enclosed not later than Nov 3. So we do hope that our second iudicium can take place during the last week of Oct. Hope our new dean is wise enough and open-minded. If it goes as expected my short-term to-do list would look like this: written exam - oral exam - iudicium - UKDI - graduation ceremony - INTERNSHIP. I'll do whatever it takes, but still it's all back in God's hand. But I believe that unthinkably good things can happen, even late in the game. In the name of Allah ;) peace be upon all of us.
But life goes on. Now me voici!! Been already in my second remedial week at pediatric dept. Me and my other 8 buddies will try our best to survive this obstacle. We've been like one big family lately he he. Impossobly difficult written test is scheduled by the third week and the oral exam by the last week. So hopefully we'll have been finished by the 3rd week of this October. But tomorrow we'll still have to try to negotiate the date of our second iudicium with our new dean in a hope that we still can catch up with UKDI (kind of USMLE in the US) taking place in November. We really have to try cuz we're in need of STL (Surat Tanda Lulus) as one of requirements to apply for UKDI. All other requirements must be handed in by this Oct 13, but the STL can be enclosed not later than Nov 3. So we do hope that our second iudicium can take place during the last week of Oct. Hope our new dean is wise enough and open-minded. If it goes as expected my short-term to-do list would look like this: written exam - oral exam - iudicium - UKDI - graduation ceremony - INTERNSHIP. I'll do whatever it takes, but still it's all back in God's hand. But I believe that unthinkably good things can happen, even late in the game. In the name of Allah ;) peace be upon all of us.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Tarawih
Saya memang tidak terbisa melaksanakan sholat tarawih berjamaah selama bulan Ramadan. Dan banyak teman-teman saya yang mengganggapnya aneh. Oleh sebab itu saya paling tidak suka pertanyaan “Anda biasanya sholat tarawih di mana?”, sebab pertanyaan jenis ini melanggar area privasi saya. Namun Ramadan tahun ini akhirnya saya menemukan jawaban yang pas bila ditanya pertanyaan serupa. Saya akan menjawab saya sholat di masjid “Fil Baiti” ;) dan saya telah melakukannya kemarin.
Music of My Life: Grégoire Boissenot, The Raising Star
Walaupun baru menelurkan satu album pada September 2008 lalu, prestasi dari penyanyi dan pencipta lagu asal Senlis, Perancis ini patut diapresiasi. Albumnya terjual lebih dari 750 ribu kopi yang membuatnya mendapatkan anugerah disque de diamant dan penjualan albumnya ini merupakan yang terbaik di Perancis pada 2009. Wow, you might be wondering what’s so special about him. Personally saya rasa it all lies on his music itself since his voice is nothing but ordinary (oops..). Musiknya gue rasa cukup fresh, unik, dan ringan. Dibuka dengan single ketiganya Ta Main (Tanganmu: ind) yang sangat calm, petikan gitar dan iringan piano yang cantik membuktikan kemampuan musiknya yang hebat. Dengan reffrain yang gampang nyantol di kepala plus liriknya yang menyentuh, lagu ini layak banget dijadikan single andalan. J’aurais aimé tenir ta main un peu plus longtemps. J’aurais aimé que mon chagrin ne dure qu’un instant.
Biasanya penyanyi pria jarang sekali memperhatikan lirik, tapi ini tidak berlaku bagi penyanyi kelahiran 1979 ini. Dalam cover CD, lirik-lirik ditulis dalam model surat pada kekasihnya. Jadi latar belakang penulisan lirik bisa diketahui. How romantic! Berikutnya adalah lagu Nuages (Awan: ind), juga sebagai single ke empat, yang bertempo cepat masih dalam iringan gitar dan piano. Vers-vers pertama dimainkan dalam nada minor yang disusul dengan reffrain yang happy. Lagu-lagu lain yang layak diapresiasi antara lain Toi + Moi (Kau + Aku: ind) yang juga menjadi single pertamanya. Lagu ini unik sebab tiap vers-nya dibuka dengan kalimat toi + moi + eux + tous ceux qui le veulent + lui + elle et tous ceux qui sont seuls ;), selain itu ada juga piano driven ballad Ce qu’il Reste de Toi, Rue des Étoiles dan Priѐre yang menjadi favorit saya.
Biasanya penyanyi pria jarang sekali memperhatikan lirik, tapi ini tidak berlaku bagi penyanyi kelahiran 1979 ini. Dalam cover CD, lirik-lirik ditulis dalam model surat pada kekasihnya. Jadi latar belakang penulisan lirik bisa diketahui. How romantic! Berikutnya adalah lagu Nuages (Awan: ind), juga sebagai single ke empat, yang bertempo cepat masih dalam iringan gitar dan piano. Vers-vers pertama dimainkan dalam nada minor yang disusul dengan reffrain yang happy. Lagu-lagu lain yang layak diapresiasi antara lain Toi + Moi (Kau + Aku: ind) yang juga menjadi single pertamanya. Lagu ini unik sebab tiap vers-nya dibuka dengan kalimat toi + moi + eux + tous ceux qui le veulent + lui + elle et tous ceux qui sont seuls ;), selain itu ada juga piano driven ballad Ce qu’il Reste de Toi, Rue des Étoiles dan Priѐre yang menjadi favorit saya.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Travelling to Manado and Bunaken and on How I Fell Under the Charm of Dabu-Dabu Sambal
As tradition has it, I seem to always be on a trip a week or two prior to my exam (that time I was at surgery department doing my clinical rotation). During the last weekend of May, I and my family went to Manado,the charming little town on the northern tip of the Island of Celebes. I tought I was sort of on the verge of a discovery since I had never really imagined much of this island. What a shame! But on the whole it’s not solely my fault. Blame it on the government (particularly the Ministry of Tourism and Culture) for not doing their best to promote this forgotten island. They do need to more intensively promote it. Where were we ha ha? So this town was not well-depicted in my mind until my airplane (I flew with Sriwijaya Air with its infamous service and its fake-smiling flight attendants oops ;) touched the runway of Sam Ratulangi Airport of Manado. This airport is factually named after the famous hero of North Celebes. And trust me this airport is only “international” in name. I could hardly see any foreign aircraft fleets or local air companies with international routes parked in it. The only sign of its international sense was probably the presence of gangway (garbarata: Ind). O c’mon.
We arrived there by midday so it was already time for Friday prayer. So I went to a local mosque not far from the airport. What??? A mosque in a province where more than 80% of the population claims to be the followers of Jesus??? Yeap, Islam does flourish and thrive here guys thanks to the Dutch for choosing Manado as an exile for Kyai Mojo and the gang. It must have been a perfect getaway for ‘em he he.
My Very First Encounter with the Sinful Crabs
We went straight to a local restaurant (I forgot the name unfortunately) to taste some local specialties. The tables and the utensils were all set, but hey where were the food? I was about to learn another uniqueness of Manadonese when serving the meals. First they brought out the rice, the chili sauce aka sambal, then they served the dishes. So we cheerfully helped ourselves to a big scoop of rice and all we saw on the table. What a delicacy! Manadonese foods are obviously the biggest rival of Padang food ha ha. We ate and ate til our tummy reached its maximum extent. But voila then came other delicacies which were supposed to be the main course, so what we all just had was seemingly the starter. What?? So instead of letting them go untouched we had our second round of meal. My eyes caught the sight of the animal of my star sign aka crabs. I was rather doubtful to give it a try since I’d never ever tasted it in my whole life. But the look and the smell simply mesmerized me. Then those poor big crabs cooked with coconut milk and exotic herbs found their way into my mouth ha ha. I was in ecstasy then…;)
Lake of Tondano
C’est passé. Caught nothing interesting here.
Fantastic Splurge Hotel
Last year Manado hosted the World Oceanic Conference (or whatever..) in an attempt to boast its tourism potentials. But the city was rather lack of all kinds of travel itinerary, including the accommodation. So as for preparation, the local authority felt the urge to upgrade some hotels. I was lucky to get the chance to stay in a five star hotel, the only one of its kind in Manado, called Sintesa Peninsula Hotel. The hotel was conveniently located in the heart of the town, sitting high in a green and lush hill. Just perfect! I regarded it as a privilege. The room was all great and convenient, had double beds, clean bathroom, big flat screen tv, elegant working table, free internet access, cool paintings, and wooden floor (though it’s artificial I guess). From the balcony one got a spectacular view of Manado Bay dotted with a few islets and their summits afar. Breathtaking!
Bunaken
The next morning we set sail to the famous Bunaken Islands, a cluster of islets some 10 miles away from the quay. Manado is truly surrounded by hills and wilderness, so a boat trip to Bunaken would make a great escape. The weather was perfect, cloudless and the sea was so blue, so crystal clear though one might spot the floating garbage on the surface of the water along the track to Bunaken. How annoying! But that just wouldn’t stop us to keep on sailing he he. A moment before we anchored, the captain made a stop to show us the underwater panorama through the glass that penetrated down the sea. Frankly speaking, Bunaken is not a perfect spot for those unable to swim, just like me, cuz I believe that the coral reefs and the coral fishes can only be appreciated only when you dive. The Bunaken Island itself didn’t match my expectation. I thought there would be a vibrant kind of living on the island just like what I formerly saw on Gili Islands of Lombok. Pretty a discouragement! So lame and boring. But there was a restaurant serving great dishes that was a relief to me he he. We tried to avoid eating any kinds of flesh, but the fish or seafood during our trip to Manado for halal reason. The restaurant was called Nelson and owned by a lady from Moluccas I believe (due to their physical appearance). The dishes were ALL great, best-tasting food I’d ever tried in the whole universe. I did like the chili sauce called dabu-dabu and the other one I didn’t recognize which was even more exotic. The chopped shallots, fresh tomatoes, lemon water, the shrimp paste (just to name a few) turned out to be a beautiful combination. They were a piece of heaven he he. But did u know guys that Manadonese do eat the sweet fried banana with dabu-dabu? A lethal combination ha ha. That was all, I just could hardly wait to return to Manado.
Impression
Manado is so easy to fall in love with. The people love parties and seem to enjoy every single day of their life. Life is celebrated here!! One will get the chance to learn that it’s very possible to live in harmony with nature or probably with your neighbors with different religions. The Manadonese or Minahasans love helping each other, they won’t hesitate to help their neighbors who are helplessly in need which is already a scarce thing among Javanese society. I learned not to be an ignorant, that we need to participate in the social life by sharing what you have more, to be more passionate about life , and not to forget that our ancestors were great and skillful seafarers he he. Til we meet again Manado!!
We arrived there by midday so it was already time for Friday prayer. So I went to a local mosque not far from the airport. What??? A mosque in a province where more than 80% of the population claims to be the followers of Jesus??? Yeap, Islam does flourish and thrive here guys thanks to the Dutch for choosing Manado as an exile for Kyai Mojo and the gang. It must have been a perfect getaway for ‘em he he.
My Very First Encounter with the Sinful Crabs
We went straight to a local restaurant (I forgot the name unfortunately) to taste some local specialties. The tables and the utensils were all set, but hey where were the food? I was about to learn another uniqueness of Manadonese when serving the meals. First they brought out the rice, the chili sauce aka sambal, then they served the dishes. So we cheerfully helped ourselves to a big scoop of rice and all we saw on the table. What a delicacy! Manadonese foods are obviously the biggest rival of Padang food ha ha. We ate and ate til our tummy reached its maximum extent. But voila then came other delicacies which were supposed to be the main course, so what we all just had was seemingly the starter. What?? So instead of letting them go untouched we had our second round of meal. My eyes caught the sight of the animal of my star sign aka crabs. I was rather doubtful to give it a try since I’d never ever tasted it in my whole life. But the look and the smell simply mesmerized me. Then those poor big crabs cooked with coconut milk and exotic herbs found their way into my mouth ha ha. I was in ecstasy then…;)
Lake of Tondano
C’est passé. Caught nothing interesting here.
Fantastic Splurge Hotel
Last year Manado hosted the World Oceanic Conference (or whatever..) in an attempt to boast its tourism potentials. But the city was rather lack of all kinds of travel itinerary, including the accommodation. So as for preparation, the local authority felt the urge to upgrade some hotels. I was lucky to get the chance to stay in a five star hotel, the only one of its kind in Manado, called Sintesa Peninsula Hotel. The hotel was conveniently located in the heart of the town, sitting high in a green and lush hill. Just perfect! I regarded it as a privilege. The room was all great and convenient, had double beds, clean bathroom, big flat screen tv, elegant working table, free internet access, cool paintings, and wooden floor (though it’s artificial I guess). From the balcony one got a spectacular view of Manado Bay dotted with a few islets and their summits afar. Breathtaking!
Bunaken
The next morning we set sail to the famous Bunaken Islands, a cluster of islets some 10 miles away from the quay. Manado is truly surrounded by hills and wilderness, so a boat trip to Bunaken would make a great escape. The weather was perfect, cloudless and the sea was so blue, so crystal clear though one might spot the floating garbage on the surface of the water along the track to Bunaken. How annoying! But that just wouldn’t stop us to keep on sailing he he. A moment before we anchored, the captain made a stop to show us the underwater panorama through the glass that penetrated down the sea. Frankly speaking, Bunaken is not a perfect spot for those unable to swim, just like me, cuz I believe that the coral reefs and the coral fishes can only be appreciated only when you dive. The Bunaken Island itself didn’t match my expectation. I thought there would be a vibrant kind of living on the island just like what I formerly saw on Gili Islands of Lombok. Pretty a discouragement! So lame and boring. But there was a restaurant serving great dishes that was a relief to me he he. We tried to avoid eating any kinds of flesh, but the fish or seafood during our trip to Manado for halal reason. The restaurant was called Nelson and owned by a lady from Moluccas I believe (due to their physical appearance). The dishes were ALL great, best-tasting food I’d ever tried in the whole universe. I did like the chili sauce called dabu-dabu and the other one I didn’t recognize which was even more exotic. The chopped shallots, fresh tomatoes, lemon water, the shrimp paste (just to name a few) turned out to be a beautiful combination. They were a piece of heaven he he. But did u know guys that Manadonese do eat the sweet fried banana with dabu-dabu? A lethal combination ha ha. That was all, I just could hardly wait to return to Manado.
Impression
Manado is so easy to fall in love with. The people love parties and seem to enjoy every single day of their life. Life is celebrated here!! One will get the chance to learn that it’s very possible to live in harmony with nature or probably with your neighbors with different religions. The Manadonese or Minahasans love helping each other, they won’t hesitate to help their neighbors who are helplessly in need which is already a scarce thing among Javanese society. I learned not to be an ignorant, that we need to participate in the social life by sharing what you have more, to be more passionate about life , and not to forget that our ancestors were great and skillful seafarers he he. Til we meet again Manado!!
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