Brick-bats and Bouquets

Okay... the bouquet first, to (wait for it...) the wonderful customer service at the Ceylon Continental. Mums had gone there for a workshop and at lunch had been quite sad that all desserts had been made with eggs. After picking a few pieces of fruit off the top of a mousse she had noticed the chef hovering around and in her charming way requested that they please consider just one egg-free option for the next few days of the workshop.

No sooner had she returned to her seat than a marvelous concoction topped with whipped cream and a cherry was placed before her, compliments of the chef and certified egg-free. Mums was happily munching on the toothsome morsel when a dish of kiri-peni was whipped in front of her as well! Much laughter at this turning of tables from the rest of the crowd, who are usually used to flaunting their wide range of dessert choices in front of Mums... :)

Now Mums goes for these big do's at hotels (wedding/workshop/conferance) fairly often... and usually asks the chef/steward if there are any egg free desserts. The usual answer is a shrug and a polite "sorry madam". Was really pleased with the chef for being so nice to her and not forgetting to provide egg-free goodies for the rest of the workshop... loads of brownie points, dude, and well done Ceylon Continental!

The brick on the otherhand is thrown at a certain "superbrand" men's clothing boutique which for ethical and possible legal reasons shall remain un-named. Since Darling and the Brothers needed suits, there they went to choose fabric and give their measurements... I tagged along too. The first fishy thing they did was up the price the moment they realised it was for a wedding... the 6K tailoring charge became 10K. Then they said that only italian made fabric was available in the colour we wanted... fabric initially quoted at 4K per suit length became 4K per yard... and 3 1/2 yards needed for a suit.

After deciding to go ahead with it the three guys were hanging around the measurement counter for ages, occasionally chatting with the salesguy. I waited and waited and waited. Mearly an hour later, no measurements had been taken. The sales dude, who had been servile to the extreme while the manager was about, started dishing out some serious attitude when politely asked when they planned to take the measurements. I was irritated, the boys were irritated and finally we just walked out... it just wasn't worth the fuss and feathers. The irony of the "superbrand" books placed prominantly about the store did not escape me. So much for fancy titles!

The last forage of the Glut-club

a.k.a. Golden moment #2

To be honest, it was the culmination of a long series of golden moments, gently spread over 6 years of Med-school. There was no official inaugaration... it was more of the brownian motion of life bringing together a bunch of serious food addicts, cookery experts and...well... gluttons. A mutual craving for salad took us to a certain fast-food joint down Union Place and with the tutorship of C we quickly developed salad-bar surfing into an art.

Birthdays heralded competitions (who has the tallest salad?) and this became more or less the ideal way for us perpetually broke undergrads to eat cheap. Cheap salad that is. There were stares from the staff... and sniggers from the other diners... but nothing dampened our enthusiasm. The management shut down the salad bar 3 times during the past 6 years. Each time it reopened (with much fanfare and progressively dilute mayo) the Glut-club made its presence gently felt.

The day after our final paper, we went there... for the last time as penniless undergrads, eight of us happy to share 2 salads and a garlic bread and split the 625 rupee bill.
Salad served by C, who once managed a 9" salad. mmmm...mmm look at all the chunky pineapple.

Angel with her (pitch)fork poised to attack the salad. Never can manage to get enough pineapple to stay on top.


We came, we ate and we conquered... :)

Hurrah!

Dr. Angel MB,BS (Col)

I am SO happy... :) What more can I say?

My first job interview

Last week self was once more demurely draped in 6 yards of cotton and waiting to to face a panel. This time however, they were not to cross-question mercilessly on disease states and their management... they were to go through my CV and find out if I, Angel, was the kind of person they could trust in a temporary post at the Faculty.

I had to wait in a side room with the rest of the hopefuls and despite the balmy weather, makeup was getting slightly oozy and nervousness was mounting. I repeatedly asked why I was voluntarily submitting myself to this type of agony... do I get some kind of cheap thrill out of it? I dunno - before I had figured out the answer, I was called in.

Many questions, some predictable and some not. And then I was shown out. My rather slim file of certificates wasn't even glanced at. Shame, I was looking forward to boasting that I had won the relay race in grade 5. :)

So anyway, I got a call yesterday. The whole thing is very hush-hush as nothing can be "official" until our results are known.

Results are due on Monday... eeek!

Cupcake frenzy

I think I mentioned before that the post-exam blahs left me in no mood to celebrate... but I did have a number of golden moments...

Golden moment number one

Inspired by Darwin (actually, reduced to helpless slobbering by the luscious photos) I trawled the net for egg-free cupcake recipies. I came across a really good one here. I made a thick chocolate icing and decorated with chocolate crispies.


The pic is very fuzzy because I couldn't find a camera and all I had was Darling's camera phone.

I was really thrilled they came out so well 'cos although I'm ok in the kitchen (never poisoned anyone, yet!), I suck at making cakes. The look of ecstasy on darling's face was pure gold in itself. :) Hurrah! Am turning into domestic goddess in manner of Martha Stewart and Darwin!

The cupcakes were delicious but a little on the heavy side. I think I have to add more X or reduce a little Y. A whipped cream topping would have done much better on a banana cupcake. Mmmmmmmm.... I foresee another golden moment in the near future!

Random thought...

There's a wierd sort of satisfaction in having made it to the top of the food-chain in campus. We are "super seniors" to almost every other medical student. Memo to self : enjoy the feeling while possible... in a fortnight said self will be at the bottom rung of the professional ladder... with a long, long climb ahead!

A closure of sorts

This post is over three weeks late... it has been 22 days since I(officially) completed my final MBBS exams. In the deep dark armpit of the night whilst I was battling sleep and headaches and cramming obscure facts, I used to wonder what it would be like "afterwards". I dreamt of parties and celebrations, shiny new shoes and trendy hairstyles,I laid elaborate plans... yet the end came, not with a bang but with a fizzle.

So here I am, still waiting for the "kick" to set in. Results are due in 2 weeks and till then I am stuck in the no-mans land between being an undergraduate and a graduate. If I pass... well... then I join the rekiya virahitha upaadhidaari club. You may even see me protesting at the Lipton circus/Fort railway station, a flowery umbrella carefully shading my face from the sun. It will be close to a year untill the Government allows me to practice as a doctor and make use of the degree that I spent 6 years struggling for.

So right now, I'm job hunting, looking for a non-clinical post within the Faculty itself. I figured that since I'll be doing clinical work for the rest of my life, better experience the other side of the coin when I have the chance.

I can't help wondering how much I would have forgotten by the time I start my internship. Right now, I'm at my peak... I know stuff about various diseases... even obscure ones. I can prescribe rationally. Yet for about a year, I will not be able to (legally)write a prescription. Well... I guess I'll find out, eventually.

Mums says to accept that which we cannot change... She is SO zen!