…my cuppa iced coffee…

No, I’m not talking about beer. I’m talking about blood. Nothing gory or disgusting. Although you would probably feel the latter after you’ve read this story. It happened to Bahrinshah, my officemate. I do not know this guy personally, but his story is one that I think should be made known to the public.

Here goes…

For the past few months, Bahrinshah’s son, 8 years old, has been diagnosed with leukemia (blood cancer) and is currently being hospitalised at the Sime Darby Medical Centre (used to be known as Subang Jaya Medical Centre). About 2 weeks ago, his son’s condition improved but for the past few days, there were relapses and the poor kid has used up at least 18 pints of blood for transfusion processes.

Due to the high usage of blood, the management of SDMC has asked Bahrinshah to find blood donors who can help to replenish their blood bank regardless of the blood group.

Apparently the hospital has a silent policy: those who have used up more than 10 pints of blood must find replacements on a one-to-one basis. Meaning, each pint of blood used must be replaced with the same amount. 

For Bahrinshah, failure to do this may result in his son not being able to continue the treatment at SDMC or be denied of future admission.

So… news to you? Yeah, to me too. Who would’ve thought a hospital would have this rule and not made known to the public. I guess one would only know about it when one is experiencing it. But still…

Anyway, a blood donation drive was immediately conducted and the response from other staff was tremendous.

I have no idea whose idea it was but when AirAsia implemented the free seating concept, I thought it was one of the worst decisions ever made. I have this thought hanging over my head that if I want to get a good seat (that’s window seat for me), I have to either fight for it or check in and stand at the gate 3 hours early. No option, of course.

So when I got an email from AirAsia about this Pick A Seat, I thought… finally! About time they implement this.

But when I got to the part about the charges, I thought… bloody hell!! They keep coming up with ways to bleed people dry. I mean, c’mon… Surely service like this can be made free? Malaysia Airlines does.

RM5 for a standard seat and RM25 for a hot seat are just too much. Especially when the seats are extremely uncomfortable.

Yesterday was definitely not a good day for me. I’m not sure whether it was the chicken rice I had for dinner the night before, or the fried rice I had for breakfast the next morning. The result was diarrhea the whole day and 3 rounds of  puking my guts out. Man, that was painful!

After twice depositing my breakfast into the toilet bowl, I went to the clinic with the hope that I would get medical leave from the doctor. Alas, the doctor did not believe I was sick. He checked my blood pressure, my body temperature and my stomach.. and everything was normal. The fact that I looked completely okay did not help one bit, of course.

But then, what was I supposed to do? Puke right on his lap just to prove that I was sick?

Then with this sceptical look on his face, probably irritation as well, he gave me 5 packets of oral rehydration salts, some pills for diarrhea and vomiting, and no medical leave. Damn! He probably thought I was faking the whole thing.

Maybe I should’ve puked right then and there.

Anyway, I got back to the office, had lunch (or tried to) and got sick all over again. My friend gave me a packet of the local cure for diarrhea and vomiting – the Chi Kit Teck Aun pills. They definitely worked wonders because right after that, I puked my guts out again. Arrggghhhhh!!!

But hey, wonder of wonders.. I immediately felt better.

Not having the energy to wait until 6 pm, I applied for a half-day emergency leave (even though it was already 3 something pm), took the lrt home and promptly collapsed on my bed.

So, if something like this happens to you, my advice.. unload your breakfast/lunch/dinner right on the doctor’s lap. He’ll send you home in a blink of an eye.

Are you into bargain food? Good taste, generous portion at affordable prices? If you are, then I recommend this place at Taman Mayang, Petaling Jaya. It’s just a simple road-side stall just like the ones you see everywhere. Simple. Nothing fancy. But the food… you can see for yourself. Yummm… 

Those are only 4 dishes out of probably 10. You can choose chicken, seafood, even lamb. Everything was fresh and with the huge servings, it’s definitely a haven for big eaters. Prices? From only RM15 to RM40. Or maybe RM50. Reasonable, no?

Taste? As good as the ones you can get from 5-star hotels or restaurants. Definitely can’t beat the value, though, since you don’t have to pay for the plus plus.

So… have I tempted you yet? Contact me if you want to know how to get there. You definitely won’t regret it.