Commuting to work by public transport can disappoint at first glance. The added time and distance might not be worth the hassle, I know. If that's not enough, the trip can be ruined by greedy seat searchers – to say nothing of someone who blocks the middle seat with a school bag.

Yet I'm unflinching: the best-kept secret of enjoying my train ride is the reading time. This week I traveled to Guangzhou for a conference. Getting there by train takes close to two hours,

"Guess what," Peppermint Patty told her classmate Marcie one day, "I'm going for the "Most Improved Student" award."

"School just started today, sir."

But Peppermint didn't lose her hope, quite the opposite really, because she went on, "And I'm already better this afternoon than I was in the morning."

The story of Peppermint is the story for all of us to learn. It's not that we should learn to console ourselves when

Off all effects created by fountain pen, none is more eye-catching than that created by ink spillage on a white shirt.

Since I started using fountain pen over ten years ago, I came across time and again the creepy experience of wearing a white coat stained with black ink. Never shall I forget the embarrassing story which reminds me of - oh, say - say the Persian Gulf War oil spillage. I was trying to examine my patient yesterday morning, with medical students around. Before I put my hand on

"I've never known anybody who didn't have a skeleton or two in their closet," writes Robert Fulghum, noting that there are always those things we don't want to talk to anybody about.

It is true that all of us have a few demons being locked somewhere in a closet or drawer. Fulghum, the American author who wrote All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten , explains that shame, guilt, and embarrassment are the locks on the closet door. I have long

I used to work in the hospital till late hours. But not now. To a new father, eager to see his daughter, being at home is the only way to make the day count.

If you thought I'm getting lazy, I would have answered, "Quite the opposite." And I would have added, "If that surprises you, it surprises me, as well."

Lest I be misunderstood, let me make it clear that the longer we stay at workplace doesn't necessarily

Teaching our children has always been more by trial and error than science, but that has been pursued for some time, at least in experiment.

Think about a beautiful example done at Temple University in Philadelphia some years ago. The parents of a 4-year-old girl invited a research team to their home. The two professors explained to the little girl that she will get a prize at the end of their visit. This is just what they did, handing out 10 potential "prizes" and asking the

By any reasonable standard, no doctor would like to be called back to the hospital in the middle of the night. But some of them can't be judged by any reasonable standard.

Last night I went to see a 92-year-old woman who has been bleeding from the ulcer in her digestive tract. My guess was that I might have to ask someone to perform an upper endoscopy procedure to help that anaemic patient. Probably it's the most helpful means to control bleeding through a flexible tube

When it comes to the gene pool, there must be a chromosome that makes us read while we're walking. This is exactly what my daughter gets from me.

And, yeah, that's what I had been told: Baby walking, both in the time and the style, is as unique as personality. Sure-footedness, of course, isn't characteristic of my daughter, age 1 (which is why she is called a toddler). Being a fledgling toddler, Jasmine is eager to

I couldn't believe it when my brother brought me the book Difficult Conversations , before he knew that I'm going to take a mediation training course this month. This book might not be new to you, but in case it is I should say that it comes from the same group who wrote Getting to Yes .

Think about the last time you felt the urge to get your boss, your spouse, your friends or colleagues to say yes. It's no secret that today many of us feel that

Toddlers love to give "no" for an answer, and my daughter is no exception.

My nephew Ethan learned this fact when he came from the States to visit Jasmine. "Why does Jasmine shake her head every time I ask if she loves me?" Ethan wondered.

Yeah, when it comes to a one-year-old's way of communication, shaking head is much easier than nodding. I was trying to explain a toddler's difficulty with saying yes. Before I could convince Ethan,