Reflecting on 2017

2017 had been a difficult year on a personal level. It was the year which I lost my father. Alfatihah.

The rest of the year went through like a blur. At least Mum had moved on somewhat with her recent trip to New Zealand. For me, I should've taken more time to digest what had gone on. My strategy to cope was to get on with work. It was alright for a while. And then when things get tough or I had a moment alone, the thought about my Dad came flooding again.

Rather tough being a Doctor and was not able to get any clue about how it happened. Could I have done things differently? But it was all in the past.

One of my plans for the end of the year was to slow down. Unfortunately, my father-in-law was taken ill this time. He had three separate hospital admissions in the last couple of months. It certainly was tough for him.

Both my boys were now on a same school. So, at least Anita need not worry about school runs and she should have more free time in the morning.

Work had been steady this year, which is good. And I didn't do many trips overseas. Just that the timing was never right.

On the photography front, I didn't invest in many new equipment. I added a new wife angle prime for my Sony and started to rediscover my Leica M again. Not much time for many outings lately.

The immediate plan for 2018 was the coming MSH Scientific Meeting which I would be chairing. I might be replacing my 4 year-old Mac Pro towards the end of the year. I wouldn't mind going to medium format at some point but they are not easy to come by and expensive at that.

Praying for more stability in 2018. In shaa Allah.

Reflecting on 2016

Another year has passed. And it had been a busy one.

Milestones? Idlan sat for his UPSR, and then changed school. We finally sorted out the renovations for the apartment as well as selling off our house in Taman Cemerlang. It had been a full year and it had passed on really fast.

I started the year with the sad passing of a dear senior colleague, Arwah Dr Ahmad Kamal. He was missed until this day, and many more days to come.

The hospital also went through a transformation of sort, with the implementation of the new EMR system, which was a mixed bag. It at times slowed down my work process, and well as can be helpful as some time. The system still needed tweaking and it would take a long time before a satisfactory work process could be found.

We had a couple of nice family trips this year. To Langkawi in April and then later to Fraser's Hill after Idlan's UPSR.

I have not had any real plans yet for 2017. It looked like the start would be busy, and after the long stretch of work recently, I was looking forward for a few days off in the middle of January. I may take some time to recharge then .... and may be able to do a bit more reflection ... Happy 2017!