The last 3 days of the year

Started with oncall from Wednesday into Thursday. Luckily it wasn't that eventful. Managed to catch 2 hours of sleep which was not too bad. Most sleep I got was 3 hours.

Was woken up at 4am cause there was a new admission. Naughty 2 year old put a small dice up her nose. Initially it was still visible in the right nostril but after she struggled so much while doing the head x-ray, the dice went in further and was not visible even on x-ray. ENT tried to dig it out but failed. In the end, admitted to the ward that I was covering for endoscopic removal under general anaestetics. Had to insert a cannula into a strong, struggling child with a dice somewhere inside her oropharynx which might have gone in even further after I stressed her out even more. Listened to her chest after....no stridor. So, all is still well. Sent her off for chest-x-ray. Might have seen some white shadow around the level just below her chin. Hmmm....it's gone in quite far. Had a really bad stomachache cause had my dinner too late at night when food has already gone bad but was too tired to think of my own health and just swallowed it down within 5 minutes cause new admission had arrived at midnight. Regretted that terribly.

Struggled to stay awake the whole of Thursday. I still don't understand why my energy level keeps on falling after each call no matter how much I rest. Found out during passover round that there was going to be an exchange transfusion that night. Made my friend promise to call me when it has started. Went back to my room, ate, showered, waited for call but fell asleep. Woken up around midnight....found out that exchange transfusion was going on, went back to the ward to observe and learn something. Went home around 2am.

Got called by friend who was oncall at 5.55am to ask for help to take 6am bloods. So, went back to ward, took first patient's blood and suddenly was called to sedate patient for reintubation as patient pulled out endotrachael tube. Struggled to sedate for almost an hour. Continued with the morning bloods and ward round. Couldn't be bothered to do much as was seriously too tired. Doctors in Malaysia don't get any public holidays, but at least I got a half day. Was at the verge of tears when had to take at least 6 mls of blood from a patient for some stupid research which HOs must carry out under orders from research assistants (which get paid to collect data and they by right should collect the bloods themselves) but we don't get any extra pay or recognition and patients lose more blood. Was asked to give up on my attempts at getting blood from a meningitis patient as I was ruining all the available veins. At this point, I couldn't care less for the patient. Will attack him again tomorrow for the sake of research. I'm so glad that today is the last day of this research.

Stayed back to complete a transfer summary for a patient who had been in PICU for the past 2 months. Made it super duper brief and packed my bags and disappeared from the wards before I was asked to do something else.

Counting down to New Year in my room after hibernating. Going to continue hibernation. Will go to wards by 6.30am to help oncall houseman to take bloods. Fingers crossed that my life will be smooth sailing for year 2011.

Happy New Year!!!!

Meeting up

Finally, a day off on Christmas Day thanks to my other houseofficer who helped cover the ward. It's just the two of us on the Paeds ICU ward and the workload is massive. I somehow survived 2 weeks and there's 7 more weeks to go. Wish me luck.

Met up with M and YH at Midvalley. Long time no see!

Catching up at Seeds Cafe. It's a new concept where the boutique is connected to its own cafe. Service was excellent but of course, you pay for it.

Took the KTM to and fro as I'm still not confident enough to drive alone. Going was all right. The way back was almost a nightmare as the same scenario of watching people trying to squeeze into the coaches like sardines is still happening. Luckily, there were 2 trains one after the other at that peak hour and I caught the one less crowded. I even managed to find a seat.

Looking at the new poster for the female coach, won't you think that Malaysia's really open minded? What about both parents and children? Are they allowed?

Today's half day for me cause Malaysia won ASEAN Suzuki Cup. We definitely need to win more. Enjoying my chance to hibernate and recharge this evening. Will separate out another post about my work cause that's another category and a total contrast to this post.

survived

Yesterday, I somehow did the work of 2 houseofficers as my other colleague was off sick. Before I came, there were 3 HOs on the Paeds ICU ward. When I started, there was only 2. Yesterday, it was only me alone. Almost died from exhaustion and nervousness as I was still unfamiliar with the work there. It's still depressing to me that I had to start work earlier and go home much later.

Oncall again tomorrow followed by Wednesday. It's every other day. Trying hard not to think about it too much.

So unlucky

Seriously, I just don't understand how can so many unlucky things happen to me within the span of 2 days.

It first started on Monday morning, when I had to help sedate a patient during intubation. I don't know if I was too tense or too tired, but I actually misinterpreted the amount that was drawn up into the syringe that I under-dosed the patient by 1/10 of Actracurium, which is a muscle relaxant therefore, the patient wasn't relaxed and the senior doctors couldn't open his mouth at all. Luckily my MO spotted my mistake and we gave him the right dose after.

Take 2 of unlucky events:
Next unlucky thing that happened was during the afternoon presentation. The presenter before my turn used her own laptop for her presentation. But when the projector was changed back to the desktop, the screen of the monitor was all black. So, as I turned around to look at the screen behind me, I accidentally knocked my pendrive out of the USB port at my knee level and it broke into half. What a joke, right in front of all the professors and lecturers. It died straightaway. I had to run all the way back to my ward to retrieve another copy of the presentation, borrowed a pendrive to store it, and luckily managed to give the presentation in the end. Phew.

Take 3 of unlucky events:
As I was preparing the IV drugs for 4pm, I found myself struggling to open the glass vial for Ranitidine. Finally when it decided to break, I ended up cutting my index finger. Haih.....what a great way to start my oncall.

Take 4 of unlucky events:
I managed to go back to my room at 1am during oncall to take a shower and to catch a bit of sleep after. Was woken up around 2.30am as there was a new admission. I made my way to the ward only to realise that I left my bag and keys locked inside my room. Luckily I had my stethoscope, calculator and my list of things to do. Continued my sleep at one of the deserted beds in the ward before getting up to review patients an hour later. Went back to my accommodation and luckily the porter was around and had spare keys. I was let into my room safely but had to go back to work shortly.

Take 5 of unlucky events:
Assisted in sedation for reintubation of the previous patient as there was leakage and his saturations was dropping. As I was drawing up drugs with the guidance of my MO, I accidentally placed my index finger (yes, the same finger) over a vial which was already open and sustained another cut. 2nd cut since I'd started on this new ward. Haih...... went home at 8pm that day and I was postcall. Who said doctors don't work up to 36 hours. Actually that statement is true. We work more than 36 hours.

For today, I started work at 7.15am and went home at 9pm as I stayed back to attempt a few transfer summaries. I want to retire NOW! At least I didn't encounter any further bad luck.

If anyone has luck to spare, please send your donations to:

Paeds ICU, 5th floor, Menara Timur,
Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya.

P.s.
Saw a former patient today who was at the verge of dying from Dengue haemorrahgic shock syndrome but improved after days of infusion of coconut water. I guess we'll start trying everything when hope is all gone. The patient looked so well that no one would have believed that many gave up on her when she was at her most critical condition.

There's still miracles in this world and maybe that's why I'm still staying on this long windy path.

Why the double standards?

Other government servants get public holidays and weekends off. Why can't doctors get the same? Both are human but one lives like one and the other had no human rights to rest in the name of saving mankind.

Random

Last weekend, I meet up with Y3 at One Utama. So happy to see her cause we haven't seen each other for months!

It was great catching up with you. Now, be a good girl and study for MRCP when you return. Hahahaha.

Food. I think my blog feels incomplete without entries on food. Both eateries are around Petaling Jaya.

Really delicious fish soup noodles with deep fried pork coated in breadcrumbs. Recommended.

This was at one of the market stalls in PJ. The Seafood Cantonese Style Noodles is highly recommended! Overall, food there is delicious. The Yong Tau Fu is expensive at RM1.20 per piece.

Covering the wards this weekend. Having pre-calls depression cause I'll be oncall on Monday. I've found solitude in the library which helps me forget about things. I'm such a bookworm. The thing is, I spend 99% of the time reading the newspaper and storybooks instead of revising. Oh well. I just hope that depression doesn't get to me.

Learning to live with it

I can live with being scolded for my own fault but to be scolded by 2 different people for 2 different reasons which are not my fault.

So, I started meditating, 'They're scolding someone else, not me. They're scolding someone else, not me'. Put on the never ending loop like a spoiled cassette player till the noise pollution dies down.

As guinea pigs, if we're not eaten alive by any one of the predators, we will still escape with bruises and injuries. Wait, I think my situation is worse than that, I cannot even run. We're just planktons. Haih.....no wonder people said that HOs are of the lowest of the lowest class followed by the medical students, the cleaners, the hospital attendants, etc.

The best cure

This weekend was so eventful that I've had enough excitement to last me a year. It started with Friday evening where we encountered this really obnoxious mother of a patient whom was dissatisfied from not having an ensuite room for them till not being able to meet the professor. Looking at the bright side, this scenario proved my inexperience in handling these sort of situation and getting too emotionally involved. I still have a really long way to go. Saw her again yesterday. The best cure for mending any misunderstandings is actually with her son getting better. Really mellowed down a lot and a 180 degrees change was not all that surprising.

Oncalls on weekends and holidays are depressing. I still didn't have time to eat all meals but at least I managed to feed myself something for dinner which turned out to be my previous lunch, current meal and next day's breakfast.

Post-call was horrible too. My brain's function decreased to about 10% of its usual capacity, had to use every single resource of communication skill that I had to handle the previous patient, then when I was staying back overtime to settle the discharge summaries, I somehow ended up together with my other HO in the doctor's room with my MO and lecturer and was grilled on Asthma management and my method of explanation of the Asthma Action Plan and diary to parents. It was the first time that I witnessed extreme stress from my fellow HO who had to leave straight away right after we were released from the torture chamber. For me, the brainwashing that I've been self implementing somehow worked. I felt happy that I'd learned the proper management and method of effective delivery of information across to patients. Plus, both MO and lecturer stayed overtime to grill us! What dedication.

It is always a good thing that I'm being scolded then not cared at all cause the reason why our teachers scold us is that they want us to improve. If they're not bothered, it means that they've given up on us.

There are good days, there are bad days

When you think that you're unlucky enough, more bad luck comes along when you least expected. For example, I was wondering why even the phone can bully me by falling off the table and wire unplugged from its socket when I was answering an important phone call. Luckily my lecturer accepted my apology the next day. Phew......

Today, came a phone call for me from the department asking me to help cover another ward for the whole day tomorrow. Hmmm....will I be of any help I wonder. Why choose me of all people? I don't even know if I can contribute much. Haih.....will worry about it tomorrow. Any luck that you can spare for me?

The good things that happened to me today was that my clerk helped me to change the appointment date for a patient who has to travel miles and miles to this hospital for her appointment. My good attendant helped send the blood sample for crossmatch at lightning speed and rushed back half an hour later to collect the blood without anyone reminding her to do so. Imagine if I had to run to the blood bank. I would have gotten lost somewhere and my poor patient wouldn't have gotten her blood by midnight.

Buffet Dim Sum at Marriott Hotel

We went to Marriott Hotel in Putrajaya today for my belated birthday lunch. This was one of the rare opportunities for me to fatten myself up as I've lost about 6kg since the last time I weighed myself in UK.

We went to this posh Winter Palace restaurant inside the hotel for our Shanghai Dim Sum buffet. I liked the relaxing and spacious atmosphere.

Thank you mama and papa for the lovely lunch. I was so full and had to stop the waiters from serving us more baskets of dim sum.

From the usual Siu Mai to Crystal prawn dumplings, stir-fried asparagus, Hot and Sour Crab soup, Seafood congee, Fried chicken with salted egg batter, etc. All of them were delicious! Maybe I've gained back the 6kg which I've lost in just 1 sitting. Hahahaha.

Back to work tomorrow but luckily, it's just a half day. Going to start preparing for MRCP Part 1 from now on. Anyone interested in forming a study group?

P.s. I realised that interpersonal skills are essential to survive housemanship. The better your interpersonal skills, the easier your life will be. Work smart and not hard. The communication skills that I've learned over the 5 years have served me well.

Wrong timing

Why don't you sleep when I'm trying to sedate you. After giving you maximum doses of 2 medication plus another dose of undisclosed medication, you finally gave your last struggle and fell into a deep sleep.

Now I want to discharge you but you're sleeping like a log. How can you treat me like this?

Note: At last, my patient was fully awake before I left home and was safely discharged from hospital.

I miss being bored!

This always happens. I'll only learn how to cherish it once I lose it.

The good thing is, I'm learning how to cherish all the little things. That extra 10 minutes of sleep that I gained today. The 2 hours lecture that I was selected to attend out of so many house officers this afternoon. I used to hate lectures but nowadays, they give me an opportunity to clear my head and solely concentrate on learning.

I felt fortunate for the opportunity to learn about the existence of Insulin Tolerance Test which needs to be carried out under supervision over 2 hours. Too bad I couldn't stay for the whole run as I had to rush off to join my ward round and clerk the new patients who were just admitted.

I feel so lucky to be able to feed and water myself during oncalls nowadays when I didn't get the chance last time. I was touched that the nurses offered me KFC in the middle of the night when I was doing my call. The best thing was, I was offered chocolate in the morning by nurses from my own ward.

I still do miss being bored despite all the things that I'm grateful for. When will be the next time that I'll get to feel as bored as I use to while waiting for my posting. Retirement, why are you so far away?

I just don't get it how

other people can have time to eat and take a shower during oncalls and yet I'm just not keeping up with the one hundred and one things that I'm supposed to do all at once. Hmmmmmm.......

Oncalls on holidays starts from 9am and ends 7am the next day, on top of that, you have to come earlier to cover your own wards and continue working from 7.30am the next day and finish as usual, after 5.30pm.

Am I learning on the job? I'm quite doubtful. Learning the skills of being scolded but treating it as if the one being scolded is not you.

Destress

I think I'm luckier than most housemans at the moment as I get to go home for a day after 3 weeks of work. It's really important to destress every now and again before any mental illnesses appears.

Since my parents had free food vouchers and coupons for Krispy Kreme and Starbucks, that's where we went for lunch followed by 2nd lunch. Hahahaha.

Free one sugar glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut with purchase of and Combo meal. Very sweet and crunchy coating over the really soft doughnut.

We had 2 combo meals. The tuna panini wasn't really outstanding but I liked the turkey bagel. The tomatoe in the bagel was as big as the bagel itself. Most probably imported as Malaysian tomatoes are 1/4 of the size.

Melted Mushroom panini at Starbucks. Really delicious. Much nicer than Krispy Kreme. Loved the hazelnut hot chocolate.

Melted Chicken Panini. A bit of tandoori flavour with cheese. Yums.

Shepard pie. Small but tasty. Looks a lot like a muffin but it's savoury.

I'm having some pre-calls depression now. On top of that, I'm having this really bad flu, cough and a big ulcer on the tip of my tongue. Hopefully I'll survive till Monday evening. When will be the next destressing session?

At the moment when least expected

when you're inserting a cannula into a crying child, a patient goes into SVT and lecturer and MO are busy saving another person's life, you receive a phone call from the nurse asking you to prepare adenosine. All my knowledge on Advance Life Support just somehow vanished into thin air.

Then it happened, the famous needle-stick injury, when I was preparing the flush. Luckily it was from a clean needle. Halfway bleeding, halfway relieved to see my lecturer but fear that she'll comment on the injury, I quickly found some plaster and gloves to prevent any cross contamination. At least now I know how it feels getting poked by me.

I somehow survived the famous 36 hours oncall. Slept 10 hours straight but still insufficient. Working again in 1 hour's time.

Anyone out there?

Who can reassure me that I'm going in the right speed and direction.

That I'm not too slow, stupid and lazy.

That I can make it through these 2 years without getting extended.

That my compassion and empathy will still remain with me after all the disappointments and stress.

That I'll end up with more knowledge and experience that one can ever gain in this short time frame.

Another week and I'm still lost and blur!!!!!

Perfecting....

the skills of looking awake and functioning but actually the brain has completely shut down.

i don't care anymore

i seriously don't care. who cares if i'm too tired to concentrate. who cares if i was supposed to review the patient. the thing that was emphasised was only record keeping. all my patients are my guinea pig. let's hope nobody dies while i'm oncall tonight, again.

I wonder why...

students applying for medical school are never assessed for their physical stamina as this was what's going to keep you awake and alert for 36 hours oncalls at least 7 times a month as a HO in Malaysia. Now I'm really pushing my glycogen reserve to the maximum after missing lunch, dinner and breakfast. Poor liver. At least I managed to catch 3 hours of sleep.

HO in other hospitals get to tag the more senior HO for 2 weeks before they're let off into the wild. Here in UM, I was already put oncall on my 5th day of work. Tag, what tag? I was expected to know everything right from the start which I felt was very unfair. Even simple U&Es are called BUSE (blood urea serum electrolyte) here. Then what's the difference from renal profile? Hmmm...will find out later. Maybe RP tests more electrolytes.

I remembered that it was not easy to get a Depression history as you had to go to the isolated psychiatric building, made to carry a keyring which can toggle off the alarm if the patient became aggressive, had to wait for a nurse or doctor to let you through those prison-looking doors with Pentagon level of security, when all you had to look for was just any new HO in Malaysia. I haven't come across anyone in my hospital who was very happy and motivated when they first started out. Depressed HOs? Yes, 99.9%.

So, some tips on surviving the first week:

1. Try to familiarise yourself with the layout of the hospital especially if you're really slow on the job. You don't want to waste more time getting lost while you're oncall.
2. Pack loads and loads of biscuits or instant food in your bag. If possible, in your lab coat as most of the time, you don't have the privilege of having a proper meal.
3. Be prepared to be scolded, ridiculed, scowled at not only from your MO but from nurses who you pleaded for their help in assisting you in the middle of the night.
4. See 1, do 1. Most of the time, listen to the instructions for practical procedures over the phone or read them off a paper and then off you go and do without supervision. I pity all my guinea pigs.
5. Accept the fact that you're not a human but a robot who is still very accurate even without charging the batteries.
6. Master the art of listening through one ear and letting the information pass through the other. Especially when the transmitter's volume is above noise pollution level. Meanwhile, transport your mind to somewhere else when you felt happiest. Make sure your facial expression stays serious and don't start smiling stupidly. I did that once this morning and had to call my super duper annoyed MO again to reconfirm the rate of blood transfusion for my patient. Haih....

Will I survive another day? What if I quit medicine? Why did I even graduate from medical school?

I've been battling with all these thoughts since the first day I stepped into my working life. How much longer can I bear it? I seriously don't know and don't want to think about it.

Next oncall: Tuesday and I'm dreading it every single moment.

A new chapter

Here I am, typing away on my laptop on the hotel couch, pondering the challenges ahead, wondering if I can survive the next 2 lifeless years. My induction ends tomorrow after a 1.5 hours BTN test on how well one knows Malaysia. I'm still clueless as to how am I going to pass this test after a mere 4 hours lecture and a 2 hour long (to be more precise, 2 hours and 9 minutes) movie which ended with both the main actor and actresses asking each other,

'Kau masih nak aku?'

For those who are interested, the movie title was 'Hati Malaya'.

By the way, I feel really lucky to be allocated my first choice of hospital, which is University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC or PPUM) and I'll be reporting for duty at 8.30am on Monday. 3 more days and counting down to the start of the horror. Not only that, I heard that the O&G department are lacking of housemans at the moment. Noooooo.....I don't want to start on the most difficult rotation!

2 years, it's just 2 years. 2 years of training to turn me from a useless fresh grad to a super doctor. I wonder if it really works? I would believe it more if it were to turn someone into a nutcase with the 7 till 10 working hours and 36 hours on-calls. I think I'll make an appointment with the counselor on my first day to see her after a week.

I don't know how much longer can I continue blogging. I hope that 1 fine day, I can look back at this entry and laugh at my own stupidity at this moment.

Finally

The letter of doom arrived today at 1.20pm via Postlaju. According to the records, it's been sent on the 8th October which was Friday but due to the maximum snail speed that it can travel, it only arrived today.

Induction in Malacca, 18th October 2010. I'll only find out where will I be posted after 11pm that day.

As I was reading through the first page, suddenly, it all went dark, silent and even the air became so still. No electricity!!!!!!!

I wonder what came together in that brown envelope. I suspect it's not only the documents relating to my induction. How powerful.

Luckily, the power cut lasted only an hour. I almost died from the heat of 37 degree Celsius.

Goodbye carefree days, so long 8 hours of sleep, farewell afternoon naps.

While waiting.....

for the letter of doom, which I'm informed that it'll arrive after the 8th bringing news about the start of my misery from the 18th. I've been keeping myself occupied with...

2 AGMs

E&O AGM- Went there, no door gift, drank a cup of tea, then went back to.....

Maybank AGM - where I had a good laugh at some of the questions and comments from the floor and witnessed how Malaysians rush for food when the doors to the buffet opened like there's a long famine going on in the country. I was really hard hit by the fact that I'm back in Malaysia. Queues weren't followed, people pushing and fighting to get the plates and dishes. Some even came with plastic bags and Tupperware to take away when not everyone has taken their share yet. Welcome to uncivilised Malaysia! When will it be a time when I can proudly say that I'm a Malaysian?

ECM Libra 4Q10 Investment talk:

It was held at Equatorial Hotel in KL and the breakfast was delicious!

This programme is highly recommended as it gives a very good insight to the direction of the Malaysian share market and also recommends stocks to watch out for.

Right after that, I rushed off to trader's club meeting at ChartNexus. Phew, only managed to have lunch at almost 4 in the afternoon. Training for HO.

I found out that many of my friends have received their induction letter which will be held next week. I myself was allocated to the following week's group so I'll have an extra week off. Feel a bit left out but at least I can polish up my skills in investment in the meantime.

Dining at Top Hat Restaurant

I think I better start blogging a bit about current things as my blog has been living in the past for a bit too long.

I'm only occupied on weekdays when the share market is open nowadays. I've been busy making and losing money. Hahaha. But overall, I'm in the profit. Recently, I've been tempted to the dark side of KLCI futures by my dad. It's totally a new level as compared to the stock market as the risks and rewards are much higher. I hope that I don't get hypertension from trading this.

Yesterday was a weekend, that's why the whole family is so free. We came across a restaurant which was features in The Star newspaper on Saturday so we decided to give it a try. Another reason why we went on a Sunday was because everything on the menu was half price.

After driving in circles, we managed to find the restaurant - Top Hat Restaurant. We didn't even expect the place to be so posh.

The restaurant was packed with people as there was a function to celebrate a baby's 1 month old birthday was ongoing when we got there. Luckily, after waiting for a few minutes, we were ushered upstairs by the owner herself. The restaurant was beautifully decorated with carved furniture, batik and songket.

My eyes popped out when I saw the prices on the menu. Luckily it was 50% off that day or I'll just stick with sky juice.

 The satay wasn't that good. I liked how pieces of lean chicken was used but the sauce was too dilute. The oxtail stew and laksa were really tasty. The oxtail was very tender and the stew itself was very rich in flavour but not salty. The laksa style was more of a Southern style of cooking where it had curry as a soup base. The portions reminded me of UK. Worth the money if you decide to dine on a Sunday.

 That's the address of the restaurant if you're interested. It's very near Petronas Twin Towers. Previously it was a detached house but now converted into this lovely restaurant.

I've found out that one of my friend has got her appointment letter for work. I wonder when will it be my turn. Hmmmmm

Paris through pictures part 2

As we saw Sacre Coeur through the tiny gaps between the buildings yesterday, we decided to visit it today.

Climbing up the hill to reach Sacre Coer. There were many small shops selling souvenirs and squares with painters selling their artwork.

Sacre Coer. It looks magnificent up close.

View of Paris from the hill.

Too bad no pictures were allowed inside. I felt that there was little respect and enforcement around the cathedral as the small of urine was so strong as we made our way up the hill. The interior was very beautiful and cooling. There were paintings in the inner walls of the domes which made me wonder how on earth did they paint such fine details in such an angle.

I noticed the cute cat mural on the way down.

Small little theatre on the slopes.

Moulin Rouge - there were so many sex shops along the way. We didn't stay for cabaret as the prices for the shows were too expensive.

Narrowest escalator in one of the Metro stations.

Our first and only proper meal in Paris. My parents really enjoyed the food. My dad tried making the onion soup when he got back but I think the onions are of different species and doesn't melt even after boiling for hours. Do try the onion soup when in Paris.

Notre Dame Cathedral

So many sparrows blending in with the bushes.

It started to rain when we were queuing to get in.

The interiors were still as captivating as I remembered. Gargoyles are still the lifeless stone creatures resting in the same positions in the day. I think I've watched too much of Disney.

We stayed for the choir practice and till the rain slowed down.

Rose line leading towards Notre Dame.

With the narrow stairs leading to apartments above ground level, ever wondered how the piano and furniture were lifted up? Through the windows.

Pantheon - the resting place for many famous Parisians including Victor Hugo.

When in Paris, do as the Parisians do. Rest on the steps of the Pantheon.

My dad was gripping that signpost as tightly as he could before he turned Mary Poppins.

Luxembourg Palace

So much creativity with lumps of sugar.

Baguettes for dinner. My parents enjoyed the bread as it was crunchy on the outside and really soft inside.

Our breakfast for tomorrow. Brioche was delicious and also available at Tesco in Liverpool. Hahahaha.

Due to such efficiency in covering the major sights of Paris, I didn't know what to do with my parents for our last day in Paris. Keep reading to find out what we ended up doing.

Next: Paris through pictures part 3

Paris through pictures part 1

Paris, the city of love.

We started our morning with a visit to the local bakery and supermarket. I introduced them to crochet monsieur which is still as delicious and oily as I remembered. My parents concluded that the fresh milk in France tastes as delicious as the milk produced by the cows in UK. Now I'm starting to miss the European fresh milk badly as the milk in Malaysia is not as fragrant and nice and mostly they come in powder form which needs to be diluted in warm water.


The 3 storeys RER trains from district 17 to Paris central.


Finally, we reached Eiffel tower. It has changed from the rusty dark green colour from 4 years ago into this less rusty brown. Considering the super duper long queue, we decided that it was enough to just have our breakfast below Eiffel tower. There was a point where so many military soldiers appeared to stop a scuffle between gypsies. Usually if there's a commotion, we would feel very scared but not in Paris where you see tourists wanting to take a photo with the soldiers after they've controlled the situation.


Take 2 of me and Eiffel tower. I somehow feel shocked looking at how long my hair was just a month ago. It is really short right now and fit for Malaysian weather.


Look at the queue! This photo doesn't do the length of the queue justice.


The amount of money and effort spend to get the perfect wedding photo. I think it's all in the Paris package. Won't the bride look fat from that angle? At least her jawline was quite prominent.


My father thought that the street performer was a golden status until it started moving.


Sifu, if you can park your harrier like this and then drive out without a scratch, your father would buy you a car no matter where you're posted. Hahahaha. I don't think I'll pass the driving test in Paris.


We used the underground passage to cross over to Arc De Triomphe.


Arc De Triomphe

Till now, I'm still unsure if we were supposed to pay any entrance fee to go up to this level. The carvings on the ceiling were very impressive and we enjoyed the shade below it. Paris was really hot that day. Temperature reached 37 degree celsius.

As we were in Paris, we had to have lunch like the Parisians. We spotted this bakery which was crowded with customers and bought salmon quiche and salad tropicana. So delicious! I didn't expect so much salmon in the quiche. I think there's a whole fillet in it. The salad had prawns, mango and pineapple in it which made it really unique. No wonder that corner shop was so pack.

We walked to the Opera where our walking tour starts. According to our tourguide who was supposed to be dressed in a purple shirt but he came in a pink shirt and umbrella, there are 3 entrances. 1 is just for Napolean Bonaparte and his wife, the other is for genuine music lovers and the last is for those who came looking for sex. Another interesting history was, the Phantom of the Opera's setting is in this theatre itself. If you've seen the theatre of movie, you'll be wondering where did all the water in the dungeons come from as there were no sight of water currently. The belief is that Paris will be covered with water every 100 years and this coming 100th year was supposed to be in 2010. We'll wait and see.

The avant garde artist who leaves his trademark paintings on famous sites.

Following our tour guide on our walking tour. I highly recommend it as we were led by a local Parisian who speaks good English and was very passionate of his job. Please visit Discover walks for more information. We paid him 20 euros each for his services but this is up to your discretion. The whole tour lasted almost 2 hours and under the hot sun.

Statue of King Edward VII of UK. He spent a lot of his time in Paris while waiting to take the throne.

The place where King Edward VII spent most of his time in Paris.

The price of alcohol in Footsie is like the stock market, it can go up and down as fast as the share prices.

The first luxury hotel in the world - Ritz. The only different which made it a luxury hotel was by offering ensuite bathrooms in every room. Nowadays, this is a common practice.

When the sun sets, people sometimes can see an old but posh looking lady hiding behind a veil walking along Rue Saint-Honore. She used to be a very beautiful lady but couldn't accept the changes that came with old age. So, she destroyed all the mirrors in her home and will only leave her house after sunset and not without a veil. Even after her death, she still occasionally appear at dusk.

The small little gap between the buildings where you can see the Sacre Coer cathedral.

After the long stroll, we did what the Parisians do - relax in the park.

We admired the trees and did some people watching.

The Kiss.

The smaller Arc De Triomphe which was just opposite the other Arc.

Hotel Le Meurice - the hotel where General Dietrich von Choltitz stayed when he saved paris from destruction during World War II by defying Hitler's commands to bomb Paris before German fell.

The general stayed in Room 213 which offered the best view of Paris at that time. Speculation has it that he fell in love with Paris seeing it from his hotel room that deterred him from bombing it up. Another theory was that the Madame of the hotel managed to persuade him from bombing Paris.

Statue in the compounds of The Louvre.

The pyramids of The Louvre. When the pyramids were built, there were many protests as people were unhappy that it destroyed the uniqueness of the old museum buildings but now, their existence has been accepted.

1km of art pieces. Art lovers just love this place.

Many choose to enjoy the fountains.

Time to make our way home. On our way, we stopped by Quick, a fastfood restaurant to get some burgers for dinner and the nearest supermarket for fruits and veg.

Dinner. That's why our trip costs so little.

Next: Paris through pictures part 2