Communication

(A second comment came shortly afterwards.)

Dear Prof.Szeto

I read your draft in the section of specialty again.

It's excellent !!!!!!!

May I have the honor to read the full edition ?

Best regards
XX

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Dear XX,
Please email to me so that I can get back to you.
Szeto

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(A reply came almost instantaneously.)

Dear Prof.Szeto

So sorry to bother you !
I can't believe you would reply me .
The notes I found in your study group is excellent, it 's more clear and useful than oxford handbook .I think every medical student should read this notes since year 3.

But so depressed to find many chapters were lost , I just wonder may I have the hornor to read the full edition ?

Best regards
XX

Comment

Recently, I received from someone I don't know a comment to one of my blog entries. Simple as it first seems, the story is not without interesting points.

Let me show you our communication verbatim.

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Dear Prof.Szeto

So sorry to bother you.
I read your draft published in the section of specialty on ccszetogroup
(https://XXX )

Wow,I think it's brilliant notes for medical students and doctors,but I'm so depressed to find that many chapters were lost .

So I just wonder will you finish the notes in one day ?

Looking forwards to " CC Szeto notes" !!!

Best regards

XX

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The notes that she refers to are a collection of my own reading notes that I compiled every now and then over the years. They are primarily for my personal reference and not meant to be complete. Nonetheless, I put them, along with my lecture PowerPoint, on a web page that I rent from Google, so that students could download if they like. The problem is I did not update my web page for some years, and my new PowerPoint slides are now on our faculty website.

(To be continued.)

Movie

Met CP, one of our cardiologists, after grand round. I was amazed to learn he just finished with a difficult and prolonged resuscitation - for he appeared as calm and casual as ever.

"No big deal," he said lightheartedly, "As a cardiologist, I get used to watch horror movies (恐怖片)."

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On my way home, when I reflected what my friend said, it became clear his analogy has a far-reaching implication.

In short, what kind of movies do doctors watch?

• cardiologist: 恐怖片 
• gastroenterologist: 動作片 
• endocrinologist: 偵探片 
• neurologist: 科幻片 
• intensivist: 災難片
• geriatrician: 文藝片 
• anesthetist: 默片
• pathologist: 卡通片

The list is, of course, incomplete and entirely my biased impression. Don't be too serious.

Sing

I had a dream after dozed off while reading The Happy Prince and The Nightingale and The Rose by Oscar Wilde:

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The prince asked the nightingale, "Why do you love to sing?"

"What a strange question," the bird said with a soft voice, "What else could I do?"

"You can talk - you should talk. Come, tell me all about what you saw in Egypt, how people of this city live, and everything about a red rose."

"Your Highness, that's exactly why I do not want to talk. If I have to tell you what I see and what I know - the flood of Nile, the bullet that poor people are biting, and the rose thorn with my blood dripping on - I would rather hum a folk song."

Toast

Besides twice-cooked pork (回鍋肉) and schweinehaxe, another dish of obsession of mine is, or, to say the least, used to be, French toast.

To be specific, I mean the French toast in Hong Kong-style: twice slices of bread with a butter filling, dipped in beaten egg, deep-fried, and then served with a thick slab of butter and topped with syrup. Yes, it is evil, dangerous, harmful, poisonous, and often lethal - but it tastes good. I love it because, although it is merely twice slices of bread, it gives my stomach a sensation of fullness and satisfaction.

You know, for a whole month when I was a house officer of a neonatal intensive care unit, I could only have lunch after 2 PM (the time when the two shifts of nurses did hand-over and there's nobody asking me to do this and that) and, after an entire morning of exertion (and the time of serving regular lunch by the hospital canteen had passed), I always ordered this tasty treat. It gives more than enough calorie, and I would not have to worry about eating until supper. I actually said to myself French toast is good for health: No one ever die of cancer after eating French toast regularly.

They all have heart attack.

Schweinehaxe

Vivian and I dined at Table 18 Bar & Restaurant on my birthday.

It is a restaurant at Kwun Tong that serves multinational cuisine with a touch of German flavor. I suppose that's a compromise between character and marketing.

My wife ordered a mushroom soup - I didn't try and would not make any comment. (The favorite dish of Vivian is tree peony, and I shall not mention what she thinks.)

We shared a small dish of fried clam as our appetizer. Alas... wine, herbs, and tomato sauce; a tasty treat - this is the best you could get from frozen shellfish.

Vivian had an 8 oz rib eye steak, grilled to medium rare, as her main course. Again, I did not try. But, looking at the char marks on the surface and dark-pink flesh inside, the chef does have a good grip on the grill.

The main dish of mine was schweinehaxe - roasted pork knuckle in the traditional Bavarian style, served with sauerkraut and French fries. Since I never fancy sour cabbage, I decided to have a glass of lemon squash to help neutralizing the fat. (Schweinehaxe is a dish of obsession of mine, reasons yet to be defined by psychoanalyst.)

How do I think of the knuckle?

Easy answer: I shall come again - there is no need to go to Murray House at Stanley Bay any further.

榮華川

最近光顧觀塘瑞和街榮華川莱館兩次。此店位於瑞和街圖書館轉角，週末替女兒還書後獨自在此午膳，甚是方便。

初次吃的是回鍋肉客飯。主菜炒得夠味，份量亦不欺場。較之黄大仙詠藜園，是稍有不如，但城中亦少有望其汗背。只是白飯已凉，顯是放得太久，而例湯也平平無奇。（豆乾加豆芽，嗯，素菜也有親子湯。）反而附送的茶香且美觀，甚是不錯。價錢？當然是便宜得令人發笑。

有了初次經驗，第二次便只叫了煎鍋貼和回鍋肉小菜。前者既熱且脆，内裡肉汁充盈。餡料中大概加了孜然類的香草，是為特色。而後者水準亦能保持，份量較前次更大。埋單是貴了一點，仍是非常頰意。