The White Rapids…

Trivia: Why is it called White.... water rafting? - Cos the rapids are white in color :) hehe

:) Finally, on 26th Oct, 2008.. I have reentered the rafting world. My last rafting trip was in Austria in M1 2001, but that was relatively a low level trip with short rapids up to grade 3. So, after numerous failed attempts to go rafting, I have decided to go at it alone at Sungai Selangor, with reported rapids up to level 4.

The trip to raft started, as usu on Friday afternoon.. up to KL. Stayed at Ivy’s, as usu.. (thanks gal..) Saturday was mainly a rest day, with some work to finish.. Was suppose to go swimming on Sat morning, but the lazy me prevailed… sorry again Ivy.. had a nice lunch at Old Town Kopitiam and had dinner and movie later on. So… not bad for a relaxing Saturday.

Okays, twas Sunday when all the action took place…. Woke up late at…. Groggily prepped myself… and headed to Midvalley KTM Kommuter station. Took the 7.27 am train… and nervously journeyed to KKB.. arrived there on the dot at 9am… took a cab to the Post Office (meeting point) .. but ahem.. the other participants who drove were late.. so went to eat brekkie at nearby mamak.

Well.. after everyone has gathered, off we went to the starting point… here, another looooong wait as there were about 50 participants that day… so wait long long for the briefing.. after that, we broke into grps of 4-8 and hopped onto the 4 rafts.

I was in a boat with 2 other Malaysians and a Swede. There were 2 guides with us as well in the boat.. so we were the lightest boat there was with only 6 peeps. Short practice in the water about the instructions, like “over left” means quickly lean to the left, and “inside” means quickly go into the the inner part of the boat, and not on the sides… and.. finally…off we go!!!

The first few rapids were small rapids with small drops… but man, that brought back good memories. Things became familiar again. Ahh… man I really missed rafting… Now, altogether were 4 major rapids ranging btw grade 3-4, and many other small ones. Shortly after, we came to our first Grade 3 drop, aptly named “First Canyon” . The drop wasn’t very high but it was enough to get the adrenaline going. We got splashed with water and I got my clothes wet.. (well, it was already wet before that when I jumped into the river before the rafting had even begun).

The second major drop was called “Suck em Dog” errr errr… okies.. I’m getting lazy here… Just read this article…. http://www.wildasia.net/main.cfm?page=article&articleID=181 for a lowdown on the rapids ….

Okaaaaay, rafting was a blast. Though the water levels were not as high as I had hoped for… but I guess it was the weather is unpredictable so cant do anything about that. Next off, I’m looking forward to more rafting trips; hopefully Sungai Singor in the near future. So… to all those who wanna try something new… do give white water rafting a try, and I guarantee it… you’ll like it!!

So total itinery for those who wanna KKB the Jonie way:
0630: Arghh…. Woke up late!! Haven’t prepare yet!!! Curse abit... sleepwalk abit..
0715 : Arrive at KTM Midvalley
0727: take the KTM Kommuter to Rawang, msged the guide… might be late and change to KKB at Rawang.
0900: arrive at KKB KTM station. Either call the guide to pick you up or pay RM5 for the cab to the post office… (I ran out of batt.. so err… no choice, lorr.. take the cab)
0905: Meet guide…eat brekkie…raft raft raft…
1400: Fin rafting..shower , have short lunch, exchange emails, phone number.. IM, facebook, spits… whatever…
1430: Leave for home… or ask someone to bring you to the KTM station. Train at 1505 (basically every 30mins)
1630: arrive at Midvalley… proceed to shop or home.

Trudge on…. And raft on!!

Medical Informatics...

One of the biggie questions I oft get is ... "what do you do for a living?" I would then reply, "I work in the HealthCare Industry". Now here's comes the tricky bit.. if it's and aunty or uncle, their first impression is... orrr ... "so you are Missy larr?" .. which does in a way.. pisses me off abit as though every young woman who works in health care HAS GOT to be a NURSE!!.. After a silent sigh... I would reply.. no ... "lohkun la... lohkun"... which then brings up the next question... "which hospital arr?" another silent sigh... and I answer.. at S%&*$h%&*@h HQ.

Now, the HealthCare Industry is HUGE.. and not everyone in it works as a doctor or a nurse per se. Medical Informatics is quite a new field (especially in Singapore) but has its roots deep in the great US of A. It's not that well known yet, as we're still a small group in this tiny island, but we are.. a growing group (hopefully!). It mainly involves ... (take a deep breath) the integration of IT systems into doctor's workflow to "assist" them and finally ensuring patient's safety. It's basically building a bridge btw docs and IT peeps . Still clueless?.. here goes an example:

To doctors... UFEME means Urine FEME...
To IT folks UFEME sounds the same as FEME, fluid.. (which in a way makes sense...)

But in reality... they are not the same as both are completely different tests.

So there's where informaticians come in : to explain to the IT folks doctor's language ...

Another more impt work we do is to figure out doctor's workflow itself. Strangely, nobody really governs the way a ward or clinic works. Somehow, just put a nurse, a clerk, a doctor and the ancillaries together, and voila.. you have a working ward/clinic. Things just runs on its own, without much fuss as ultimately, everyone works to ensure the patient's health is taken care of. But when informatics come in place.. we're detailing down, if possible every single workflow there is.. and when we add in new IT stuff.. every single thing that can go wrong. It may seem like an easy thing to do..but when you really get down to it.. it just feels very "holey" and closing down each holes only reveals new ones... like how my colleagues put it.. it feels like all the holes in a block of cheese is coming together... hehehe...

Hmm.. what else is there in Informatics?...hmm.. well.. in my short time of May to Oct so far.. tt's about an accurate description of my job that I can give. The job is quite OK, with new discoveries along the way (like learning how a cavernosogram is done) and learning that IT folks do think very very differently from doctors... :) I kinda like my job so far.. but we'll see how it goes in the future when the projects take off... ;)

So for all out there who are interested in it.. give it a go... You might like it... you might not.. but its a fun experience learning what happens behind the behind the scenes.. and have a good time too as it is really fun to see how sth you help build take place. There are the good times, there are the bad times.. but I'm sure everybody have already been through that..

:) till the next time

trudge on, dear friends.. and never be afraid to try sth new..

The Twelve Months of Jonie

From an earlier post, the promise to myself to do sth new every mth for this year... so far, so good :) .. to be completed only on 1/1/2009 :)

January: CSMC paintball... then get to meraba-raba Brazillian Hotties.. hehe ... then arhh... Pacesetters 30 km run - my first race in KL

February: First CNY visit to Ipoh after..ohhh... 5 yrs?... first gathering with the SMKSI peeps..

March: Got my Open Water Diving license and First KL marathon... and first big bdae celeb after omos ?5-6 yrs of nothingness.. which was graced by first jewellery not bought by parents (gift from lovely housemate - GIRL!!!)

April: MULU - caving again after many yrs of absence.. Clearwater - wind cave connection

May: Changed posting to Medical Informatics. First Ultramarathon, but only managed 54 km before died-ed

June: Moved to another place in HV ... so new place :)

July: First tri bike, then first OD triathlon - OSIM

August: First bike crash, then PANGKOR where I rode on a JetSki for the first time!!!! oh yar.. oso first LV bag (and the last ever too)

September: First Half IM Triathlon and first ever visit to Tioman

October: First visit to Yangtze cinema, and first kayaking ever. Rafted at KKB!!

November: First SkyDiving Sim at SkyVenture, First Genting Trailblazer, First Tattoo (temp la), First Fish Spa, First Wakeboarding, First Pedicure!!.. then the Gmax Reverse Bungee and Xtreme Swing rides, First Makeover and James Bond Movie - Quantum of Solace, Another rafting trip at KKB and Skydive basics training at Genting!! Spent time back in Ipoh...

December: Whitewater kayaking

hehe... trudge on...

Soul searching...

September is now gone.. and we're about approaching the year end. The latter half of September and early october was really another soul searching time for me, where a trip back home reminded me of how much I really enjoy being who I am. so here goes:

1. First and foremost, I love my freedom. I love the ability to go where I want, and do what I want. Though most of what I do spells DANGER (yes, with all the capital letters), I do understand and am fully responsible for anything that happens to me, in other words, i don't go around trying to get myself killed (well most of the time, anyways).

2. I love adventures and excitement. I love to do things that excites me, both physically and mentally. I never run out of energy until I reach my bed, otherwise.. I can go on and on and on and on and on...

3. That said, at times, I love the serenity of just sitting back when the moment is right. The world was made to be beautiful, just the way it is. Sometimes, the most amazing thing is just in front of you.. you just have to open your eyes and open up to it

4. I love to procrastinate. 3/4 of my uni life was spent in front of the com - watching movies, dramas, animes, tv shows... anything, u name it, i'll prob have watched it. And yes, I DO watch TOPGEAR cos I love the show... and the cars... really really amazing... (droooling...)

5. I think too fast which makes me super neurotic... need to slow down at times, but I love thinking. Till now, solving problems and answering questions makes me happy :) bring on the sudoku!!

6. No.... I am not a clubber....but will go if invited...

7. My Left knee pain will probably never go away.... :(

8. I want a simple life. When I was young, I've always thought that I want to live it big and rich. But after doing a lot of stuff, I realised that the simplest life is what I am craving for. I'm glad to know that I have a safe home and stable life to go to whenever I come home from work, or from wherever it is I will be.

9. No.. I dont wanna pretend to be who I am I not, irregardless of whether I will impress/attract ppl or not. I am forever not tactful, hurtingly blunt.. I can get blur at times, and can be hideously impatient... but that is who I am... I can learn to be better.... like how I've not lose my temper for many a yrs now... but that will take time and someone needs to point it out to me.

10. I will change in the future... but tt's the greatest thing in life to do... to change and be ready to accept changes.. Some changes will be for the better, but some will definitely not. That makes life interesting; that every twist and turn at each corner... But you know what.. I'm thankful for all my family and friends... cos with them, that each change is bearable... no matter how bad it can be

:)

Trudge on...