Coffee Island, Gurney Drive

There is a new eatery in town, but if that's already not significant enough, Coffee Island would perhaps ring a bell or two. It strike news when The Star recently wrote about it in it's Food section and my girlfriend had so wanted to visit it, she made sure that the cut section of the news excerpt catches my eye as soon as I got back from work. It was pasted on a section of our wall and indeed the Mixed Grill was a delectable treat, at least, to me. The last time I had Mixed Grill might have been several months back, at least. Or half a year, mostly. And so, it was time to spoil myself again after so many months of oats, nuts, berries, fruits and vegetables. I was dying to sink my teeth onto red meat once again. And since her birthday was drawing nigh, I put it on myself that I should at least make it a point to bring her there, on or around the corner of her birthday. We had planned for something else on her birthday, but that didn't come through and so we ended up having her birthday dinner at Coffee Island. I have to say that the place itself is pretty inviting, especially along the Gurney Drive's promenade. It would have been made much more lively had we gone there much later. Strolling and walking lazily in Gurney Plaza up till about 6 PM, we went to Gurney Paragon where we had some pictures taken before we finally settled to walk to Coffee Island. It took about 10 minutes walk and a lot of talk. Heh heh heh... but having spent time together is something wonderful...

There was promise that there would be free Wi-Fi from the Star's excerpt and indeed there was... just that it wasn't functioning as it should be at that particular moment. I tried shutting down and restarting my iPad and even hard resetting it without any obvious improvements with regards to its connection. Even my girlfriend had difficulty in connecting with her smartphone and my phone wouldn't even want to link with it. Needless to say, the much anticipated Wi-Fi wasn't something that anticipatory after all. We didn't bother to request for them to restart their Wi-Fi modems as there wasn't any point in doing that. The outdoors can be quite fun but we opted the indoors which were more cozy. After all, the outdoors were quite a bit of a heat to say the least. The indoors are well equipped with softy cushions as well as the comfort of air conditioning where you can laze all you want.

I had the Viet Coffee which tasted quite bitter as expected. I had thought that it would be strong at least to keep me awake, but the bitterness wasn't bitter enough for me to say the least. I ended up sleeping earlier that day than what I had intended out to be. And there wasn't any difficulty in initiating sleep either.

And of course, the Mixed Grill. Mizzy's Bistro (Prangin Mall, Tesco Straits Quay and New World Park) would beat these guys flat when it comes to Mixed Grill and Manila Place would have done it better. But I'm going to discount on this one as it's under RM 40 compared to Manila Place. However, this is no exception when compared to the bistro. Mizzy's under RM 40 (plus you get the soup of the day, a drink and free flow of ice cream to make it a set) Mixed Grill is indeed way budgeter, inviting and more salivating.

I thought that the chicken weren't that tasty (perhaps with the inclusion of the batter, which made it quite filling in the start) and that the lamb was all too rubbery than the usual. I ended up eating up more of the fish and giving the rest to my girlfriend. Heh heh heh... The other down point of the Mixed Grill is the fact that it had been a wee bit more oilier than others as I get a much more significant oilier feel on my face after the meal. The potato wedges however were slightly better than the others I think. After all, that's just my humble opinion. And if there's any consolation for that, the presentation of the food is quite commendable.

My dear2 had salmon steak. Healthier perhaps? She gave me a slice of the salmon and I guess it could have been much better although I have to admit that it is far better than the Mixed Grill. The slight fishy taste was still there despite the grilling but I'm not complaining too much considering the fact that it is a budget meal. Who knows, some people may love the fishy taste of salmon, but I prefer mine well done. The visit could have been marked up better had the Wi-Fi been working with a background R&B music or such. Anywayz, it was an experience to have and I am all the more happy to have it spent on my lovely dearest. =) Blessed birthday dear2!

Paddy Museum

I was post call on Friday and since it wasn't that bad a call, I decided to finally pay our local Muzium Padi (Paddy Museum) a visit. After all, we've been planning on this trip since the day before I got admitted the first time. The thought came up again in my mind after I was discharged and it was only met with futility when I was admitted the second time again last month. The decision came again two weeks before that, but because of a ongoing stretch of calls that I have to do to replace the calls that I missed the month before, I was dog-tired and had to just snooze till I regain my strength for work. I was finally glad to be able to drive there for a visit this weekend alone for I know that I will be pretty occupied for the next few weekends to come. After a short nap, we started our journey at about 3 PM and reached in less than 15 minutes time with the aid of a GPS. Our whole trip lasted less than an hour in the museum, since there weren't much to see.

The entrance fee costs RM 3 per head and another RM 2 if you're going in with a camera. Most museums would not permit you to bring in a camera for preservation of antics but since this museum does, the charge is all the more warranted. The museum puts up a huge display of paintings on the first floor where you enter. You will be greeted by glassed displays of all the various types of rice across the world as well as rice products. They even have a TV corner explaining methodologies of planting and harvesting paddy from the ancient times till modernization takes over.

This is what you'll see on your left just before you enter the museum. What we've pretty much learnt from our history books when we are in high school is what you'll see here literally.

Though I have to admit that I have no idea that there are so many variety of rice types planted all across the countries and especially our nation alone. Malaysia has 3 rows of these glassed up panels which depicts the various grades and classes of paddy. There are about 4 displays of these placed in a rounded structure of the museum.

And of course, some of our well known local scrumptious delicacies. Alongside these are crackers and rice powder used in various methods.

And if you were to climb up to the 2nd floor of the museum, you will get onto a rotating platform with adequate cushions for you to rest on as you witness the panoramic painted view of what you will actually see should you hike up Gunung Keriang. Of course, this is the lazy man's choice of having a breathtaking view, but despite the former annotation, I have to admit that the murals were spectacular and it resembles a 3 D imagery. It would have been sufficient to just witness the scenic view of the rural Alor Setar but of course nothing beats the breezy ambiance and the cooling atmosphere of a true Gunung Keriang peak. Speaking of which, I do hope that one day I can get to go up to Kedah Peak a.k.a Gunung Jerai and rest myself in the really cool weather.

The lower ground stores up the various tools, contraptions and devices of the ancient past used in planting and the harvesting of paddy in the fields. Clearly, much has evolved over the times of industrialization and harvesting paddies nowadays are pretty much modernized up to the extent of providing them in great amount to meet the demands of nations and countries. Regaling at the wonders of how our ancestors were so hardworking in the things they do to earn a living, it is without a doubt a lovely treat to awe and marvel at. And sometimes it just makes you wonder how life could be lived with such tools of the past compared to robotic, mechanics and machines that we have now. Well... people were much healthier then...

Seefood

A local Silver Ant productions that has all the smiles and thumbs to be awarded to. There are a few notes to keep one thinking behind every film depicted in the silver screens and though Seefood did its very significant best and film-worthy effort to entertain the audience, there are many rooms left for improvement. But it is despite all bad critics, deserve a standing ovation for its hard-earned masterpiece. The local cast is a praise though some, especially the servants of Julius and the land chickens' voice may be thought of as annoying as the film rolls (one sounded like Russian if I'm not wrong). The audiovisual cues may perhaps be improved on future productions to make the transition between scenes a smooth flowing one and some music in the background would be stimulating and adaptive at most times.

The characters deserve praise to say the least. The storyline was equipped with a lot of lessons to be learnt from and whether you get it or not in the first instance, it would definitely play a significant impact in your life after you've watched it. And this is that sort of movie that ought to be shown more often in the cines. That said, it would certainly reduce the amount of consumption of shark fin's soup and save the sharks from being annihilated. Perhaps Silver Ant's going down that path, and it's best suited that they continue to do so. After all, who could think of the combination of cute looking sharks and the unacceptable action of killing sharks just for their fins?

The film appeals to all... but don't keep your hopes too high though. For a first-timer, this is indeed spectacular!

Movie Rating:- 6/10

Hugo

Though the story line of Hugo isn't that intricate, the trick, perhaps from what I can perceive of it winning a handful Oscars would be from the fact on how it present the story so remarkably well, and some like me, would describe it as magical. It keeps the audience in anticipation of the ending, and if you're as fresh as me, it may be as I try to encounter, often end up in the wrong line of thought. The movie is pretty fresh to say the least, its visual effects and its audio creativity gives a significant assistance into the realm of what invention and clockwork is all about.

If my recommendation isn't enough, then perhaps 5 Academy Awards trophy would replace the urge.

Movie Rating:- 9/10

GERD Mimics

A 17 year old boy was recently referred to me as a cardiology outpatient clinic for ongoing chest pains to which the primary attending doctor had wanted to consider ischemic heart disease as a possibility. The doctor had taken a thorough history and noted down the important negatives of no significant family history of sudden deaths, coronary artery disease or any other lifestyle comorbids as well as the patient himself being all well prior to this. He is a non smoker, not a drug abuser and particularly not a cocaine inhaler as well.

The story of this patient had been like this. He has been suffering from chest discomforts (his own words) for the past 1 year. The discomfort localized to the epigastric area was persistent for that duration and had been localized with no radiation of pain. It occurs at10 pm each night because he has this ritual of eating abundantly at about 8-9 PM each day after coming back home. Presumably, a growing teen and having been very active in school sports, I don't see why not. The pain was described as burning in nature/character and there had been no vomiting/diarrhea/weight loss/appetite loss/hematemesis/melena. Aggravating factors though he can't pinpoint it was thought of to be due to the large meals (as he described it) and relieving factors have been to sleep it off. There had been no midnight or night awakening gastric pain to which he had to rush off to the fridge to load up on some fresh milk or any of that sort. The severity has been constant. Frequency constant. Duration 1-2 hours. There had been minimal similar symptoms in the morning, presumably precipitated by meals as he can't really deliver the differences clearly.

Systemic reviews revealed no rashes, joint pains, muscle aches, headache, red eyes, oral ulcers, alopecia, neck swelling, muscle weakness, exertional breathlessness, hemoptysis, altered bowel habits, hematuria, leg swelling, numbness or weakness. To make it simple, it was just the troubling epigastric discomfort to which it has never crossed his mind to take something to relieve it or find some sort of relief from taking lesser meals at night time. The primary doctor did an ECG to which it was normal and the mother had been extremely anxious about her son despite reassurances that this is not cardiac in origin. I examined him thoroughly, get a repeat ECG and checked his blood pressure alongside his heart rate, but that would not deter her persistence for further test to reaffirm the reassurance. It must have been a traumatic thought and feeling for her to have undergone such trying times for the past one year and she just wanted to get it sorted out. I can understand that.

To relieve her anxiety, I pulled her son and her to the ECHO room and did a detailed scan and showed here all the cardiac chambers, the valves, the walls, the dynamics of the heart movements, the blood flow (via Doppler) and some physics calculation to ease her mind. With the portrait of the moving heart, she was finally convinced that others could have been the cause of her son's continued pain. Although I can see that she is still not fully 100% convinced, I gave the child a prescription of PPIs to try it out for 4-6 weeks before a referral is made to the gastroenterologist to carry out a OGDS with the RUT testing for the prospect of eradication therapy. The mother looked petrified at the sound of the scope but somehow she agreed to give the medications a try. After all, they have never been through or heard about it before.

Somehow the stark difference between gastritis and coronary ischemia is almost close to resemblance and though the former is not an immediate life threatening event, it can be as worrying and as concerning to deal with. Especially the case which has been described above. I hope the PPIs keep him free from pain, if not it's another workup that needs doing.