Tired

It's been a very tiring month.
Physically and Emotionally.
So tired that sometimes I couldnt sleep well because of weird dreams.

On the upside,
I've meet interesting people.
Learning a lot.

Mudik

Unlike in any other Islamic society, in Indonesia we celebrate the end of Ramadan bigger than the Idul Adha (Offer festival). As the end of Ramadan is getting near, people are preparing to mudik, going home. Just like every where in the world around at certain time of the year, people booked that overpriced transportation to see their folks because it's tradition.

When I was little we used to be part of that crowd, traveling more than 1200km from one end of Java to one end of Sumatra where My maternal grandparents lived. I hate the journey. It still takes longer to get there because of the traffic. Very crowded. Not to mention we have to cross the Sunda strait for hours.

Each year, you hear bad news about people who mudik to their villages, especially those who are using motorbikes. Babies/toddlers who died once they arrived at the destination because their parents took them on hours of bike ride. I dont get why people wants to risk something like that just because it's a tradition. The price is too high. Why cant they wait for another time? It's not like they cant share their emotion/feeling at all if they are not mudik. There are technologies to help us connected with our love ones. Almost everyone has a cellphone, even in the tiny village.

On the other hand, I enjoy Jakarta more when people are mudik. The traffic is so much better.

Busker Theme

For a long time back in 2008 I thought this song I always heard sung by buskers as their 'association theme' or something like that. I just found out that it was Ungu's song 'Dengan nafasmu'.

Vegan Satay

Yesterday I got home to a very delish vegan satay that mom bought. I absolutely love it, and asked our maid to make it today.

Turns out it is easy to make.

You need oyster mushrooms, some Indonesian kecap and butter. That's it.

After you clean the mushroom, boil them with a bit of salt. Dried the mushroom, then mixed it with kecap and butter. After putting them in skewers, grill them on the barbie.

It can be serve with or without peanut butter sauce.

Doctor's Religion Matters

When patient is close to death, your doctor's religion influenced his/her decision according to the new study.

I think it plays role even on treatments not related to death.

My Indonesian doctors are/were all Moslems. Some were really influenced by their religion to the point that they talked condescendingly to me while citing religious ideas that I went straight to second opinion afterward.

Back in NL, I had this Hindustani patient who used to be very happy with his treatment until his oral surgeon used cow's bone for his jaw bone graft. The man was very upset because he was a practicing Hindu and cow is sacred for them. He said, 'It is like you put pig's bone on a Moslem.' To be fair, pig is something forbidden in Islam, so it's not exactly the same. No one talked about religion prior to his treatment. In my own experience in NL, religion never plays role in the hospital during our consultation. I happened to know that some of my doctors were Christian and agnostics, I wonder how their beliefs influenced my treatments back then.

As a patient you have the rights to ask about the treatment and voice your concern, including things related to religion. Use that rights, and ask as detail as possible. I've been know of bringing a list of questions when I see my doctor. Some doctor loves it, some probably hates it (I think most of Indonesian doctors hate it); I dont care, as long as they answer my questions so I know what I put myself in to.