From hospital to hospital...

Today is a busy day for me, though I was on leave...

Mum's appointment for the gastric test is today, so I went to the hospital with her early morning. Waited about 30 minutes after registration for her turn at the Diagnostic Department. Then the diagnostic specialist came with 4 "bags" (about 3' x 6' in size) and a cup of orrange colour drink. So what mum needs to do is to breath in, hold it for 5 seconds & then blow through a mouth-piece into the "bag". After the first "blow", she has drink the orrange colour drink and wait for 10 minutes before blowing the next bag, then subsequently blow the other bags every 10 mins.

After the "blowing" test, mum's blood was taken for blood test as well. All results will be out next week when we see the doctor on Tuesday. Pray hard that there's no more bacteria in mum's stomach...

We left the hospital at 11am. Mum & I decided to visit hubby's grandma in another hospital... Hubby's grandma was experiencing some chestpain and after being checked by the doc, she was admitted to the hospital yesterday. Her chestpain was caused by minor heart attack! An Angiography has also been arranged for her tomorrow and she seems worried...

What is an Angiography? It is a medical imaging technique in which an X-ray picture is taken to visualize the inner opening of blood filled structures, including arteries, veins and the heart chambers. The X-ray film or image of the blood vessels is called an angiograph, or more commonly known as an angiogram.

According to the doctor, during the angiography, decision will be made whether there's a need for Angioplasty - a mechanical widening of narrowed or totally-obstructed blood vessel.

Hubby & mother-in-law & the whole family are all worried about grandma. I just pray that everything will be alright tomorrow...

Simple, yet satisfying...

Since there's no meeting in the office today, I opted to work from home. I told mum about this last night so she said :"Why dont I cook lunch as well then u come & join us?" Well usually mum cooks dinner only & not lunch, but since she offered, I said Yes to her ofcoz...

Around 12.15pm, I drove to my parent's house which is about 5 minutes away from mine. Lunch was just about ready...To my surprise, mum cooked something which i've been craving for lately - Chinese pancake & sweet potato desert ("fan-shu-tong-shui" in Cantonese). This combination is perfect coz the taste of these two just go so well together!

The simple Chinese pancake is actuall made of flour & dried prawn. This meal reminds me of the tough times when I was young...Mum was always creative in her cooking, so she will think of many simple, economic, yet delicious food for us.

U know...sometimes I think it's not how expensive the meal is that makes you happy, but the taste of the food which is made by someone with her heart & love that makes it special. That's why my lunch today was really simple, yet truely satisfying.

THANX MUM!

Which beer do u prefer?

Last Friday, I was invited by bunch of friends to the Tuborg launch event in MardiGras bar...For those who may not know Tuborg, it's a beer by Carlsberg. It is apparently the number one beer in Denmark, and is the leading premium beer in several Eastern European countries and in Russia. But in Malaysia, it is not as well-known, so Carlsberg organized a big launch event to create some "rah-rah" around it.

Well it was free flow while stock last, so we had it as soon as we arrived at 7.30pm till around 9.30pm. Then since one of our friends is a Carlsberg Embassador, she bought more Carlsberg beer for us. It was a fun event with some live band singing & hip hop dancing on the stage too....

It has been a while since I last drank so much beer coz I was pregnant since Jan last year, then was breastfeeding for 6-7months, so those were non-alcohol period for me...Now that I can drink alcohol again, I dont usually drink beer coz I'm not a beer person.

But if I'm given no choice but beer only, I'll probably go for Heineken - a beer that’s been brewed in Holland since 1873. Why? Since I'm not a beer-expert, I probably cant describe it to the details, but somehow I prefer the taste of a Heineken beer better. My 2nd choice will probably be Carlsberg and now 3rd will be Tuborg...

What about you? Which beer do u prefer and why?

I would not have survived...

People who knows me may know that I met a terrible car accident 7 years ago, which almost took away my life...But people who are reading sharlydia's blog may not know this had happened to me before and so I decided to put my testimony down in my blog...And BTW please dont think that I'm trying to preach or something, haha!

4th July 2000

It was a fine morning, two days after my convocation when I was driving alone, heading to the kindergarten to pick my niece around 11am. That was all I could remember....

Something terrible happened a moment later…which until today I have no recollection of what had happened. Without knowing what had happened, I woke up in the hospital. I regained consciousness and felt the pain on my face, arms, legs, chest and almost every other parts of my body.

Then someone told me I met a terrible accident! I was shocked and could not really understand how this had happened. My family members were all around me. They looked sad, worried and anxious. They told me that I crashed into a lorry and that my tiny Kancil was totally damaged - beyond repair. Anyone who have seen the badly damaged car would not believe that I survived. No one knew how the accident happened, including myself. My memory got wiped away totally and I could not remember a single thing about the accident. I did not feel any fear or pain. Neither could I even recall what did I collide into nor where did the accident happened.

But whatever happened, I know that I was not driving alone at the time of the accident. God was with me, watching me. And He saved my life. He was in control of everything. Firstly, He arranged a good man to save me out from the car and subsequently contacted my family members. Not only sending me to the hospital, this man also kept all my valuable belongings. This man thought I was dead and that my right hand was broken!

Batch of miracles...
The first miracle that I experienced through this accident was on my wounds. God allowed every wound that happened only in the right places! It was as though they were perfectly measured somehow. Although they were serious wounds, they happened only at the places which otherwise could be a lot worse. The cut on the right side of my face caused my cheekbone to fracture. There was some bad internal bleeding. However, this cut was just few millimetres away from the main vein to my eye! The doctor said I was really fortunate that the cut did not reach the vein, which otherwise would have caused blindness. I also had a big cut on my right arm, which again was “perfectly measured.” The cut was just one or two centimetres away from the bone in my arm!

The internal bleeding caused by the injury on my face required an operation to fix my cheekbone. However, the doctors could not operate me because I had another injury in my lungs, which caused a great pain in my chest whenever I breathed.

According to the doctors, the punctures in my lungs must be closed before the operation on my cheekbone can be performed. Otherwise, another operation has to be performed to close the holes in my lungs first. The situation was crucial at that time as the internal bleeding was getting worse. A lot of church friends, including pastor came to visit me in the hospital and prayed for me. I prayed hard as well…asking God to heal me by closing the holes in my lungs. Again, another miracle happened! The holes miraculously got smaller until the operation on my cheek could be done and was successfully done too.

God strengthened my Faith
After two weeks in the hospital, it was finally time to remove all the bandages on my face. It was really tough for me to accept the fact that one side of my face is now full of large and small scars, reddish & swollen.

It took me a long time to learn how to control my emotions when I talk about the accident. It took me a long time to be brave enough to go out to start meeting people again. I blamed God, when I first saw myself. I asked Him why did this accident have to happen to me?

But soon, I found an answer to my question…God has a plan for me and my future. I know there must be a purpose for Him to allow this to happen to me, but as long as I trust in Him and continue to have faith in Him, He will bless me!

Many years had passed now and I realised I've really been blessed, being married to a man of my dream, having a healthy cute little baby boy, having a good job, living a happy life...My scars have faded alot too so they dont look as obvious as before...Thank God!

Before I end this post, I have to give credit to my hubby (who back then was my boyfriend) and my family members too, for taking good care of me, accompanying me, encouraging & supporting me during the most depressing & miserable time of my life. Thanx for loving me so much!

Will you keep the baby or not?

Over lunch yesterday, this conversation came up, about one of our colleague's cousin having a Down syndrome baby...It's always sad to me, to hear this type of thing coz somehow, I pity the poor lil baby, and also pity the parents...

Commonly known, Down syndrome is a genetic disorder, associated with the presence of an extra chromosome 21, characterized by mild to severe mental retardation. Affected babies have weak muscle tone, a low nasal bridge, and epicanthic folds at the eyelids.

Since one of the friends who was lunching with us, P is planning for baby next year, we also spoke about pre-pregnancy test, prenatal test etc. For Down syndrome in particular, there's normal screening test (usually done over a blood test of the pregnant mother) to try to identify those pregnancies at "high risk". These pregnancies are then candidates for further diagnostic testing - Amniocentesis.

Amniocentesis is usually carried out between the 14th and 18th week of pregnancy, which is around 4th month. This procedure is used to collect amniotic fluid, the liquid that is in the womb. It's performed in the doctor's office or in the hospital on an "out-patient" basis. A needle is inserted through the mother's abdominal wall into the uterus, using ultrasound to guide the needle. Approximately one ounce of fluid is taken for testing. This fluid contains fetal cells that can be examined for chromosome tests. It takes about 2 weeks to determine if the fetus has Down syndrome or not.

As we were talking, I have this question in my mind which I put it forth to get some feedback. What happens if the Amniocentesis result came out to be positive where your baby is highly possibly having Down syndrome? Are you gonna keep the baby or not?

This is a tough question. P said he will rather not think about this until he really needs to make such decision. Most of us kept quiet...I agreed with P. What do you think? Will you keep the baby or not?

Does height matter?

I went out clubbing with some friends 2 weeks ago when hubby was not in town. One of my friends M brougth her "new boyfriend-to-be" and introduced to us. He's quite OK-looking, but he was sitting down all night long while we were drinking & dancing away...

Around 1am, M said she's quite tired and wanted to go home, so she & her boyfriend-to-be G came to me to say goodbye. That was when I actually realised that G is shorter than M, quite a bit!

So on the following Monday while M was talking to me over lunch, this topic about G came up...

M said : G is really a nice guy, he is very caring & romantic too. He's very rich & successful on his career at his age, driving a BMer 5series and has another Merc which he offered to let me drive! But u know...he's shorter than me! But does height really matter?

I told M : It depends on your priority! Well if u always think height is one of the criteria to qualify your partner, then this bitter point will be there. But if u think his wealth & kindness is the utmost important and u'r sure that it wont bother u when people talk about his height comparing with yours, then by all means u should go ahead with him! But for me, personally, I've always wanted my partner to be taller than me. I've tried going out with someone with the same heigth where I have to wear flat shoes all the time, and I felt very uncomfortable when we bumped into friends...Maybe I havent really fell in love with him, that's why...

M said : Well, look at the Country GM of MNC 'X', his wife is taller than him! Look at CEO of company 'Y', the wife is so pretty and much taller than him too. They can live happily and the wives can enjoy their lives! I want to be like them too! Have a knowledgable & rich husband, so I wont need to work and can enjoy life! Dont care about the height lar...

I told M : Then u better spend some time seriously thinking about this. U'r talking about spending the rest of your life with this guy or are you talking about just going out with him for a while then decide if everything goes alright? Let's just say everything goes right, are you sure u'r ready to marry someone despite of all kinds of nonsense and "talking" about you guys behind your back?

Guys out there, would u mind if your girlfriend or wife is taller than you? Girls, do u think height really matters? I know some of you girls may say, well I think it's fine for height, as long as this guy loves you and treats you really well. But how often is this true?

Smoking is bad for health, isnt it?

When our parents were young, people could buy cigarettes and smoke pretty much anywhere — even in hospitals! Ads for cigarettes were all over the place...Comparing with us today, we're more aware about how bad smoking is for our health. Smoking is restricted or banned in a lot of public places and cigarette companies are no longer allowed to advertise on TV, radio, and in many magazines.

Almost everyone knows that smoking causes cancer, emphysema, and heart disease; that it can shorten your life by 10 years or more! Not to mention that the habit can cost a smoker thousands of dollars a year! So why would people still light up? They love to burn their lives off? They want to test out their healthy lungs?

I really dont understand!

I may get quite emotional when I continue writing this, so please bare with me...

I recently found out that my dad is smoking AGAIN. He was a smoker since I was very young but he quitted many years ago since he had serious hypertension, high cholesterol, minor altery blockage and single kidney failure problem. Many studies detail the evidence that cigarette smoking is the major cause of coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack. So we constantly remind him that his move to quit smoking was the right thing to do.

When I accidentally saw him holding the cigarette smoking away in the coffee shop, I almost fainted and I didnt know what to say! Should I confront & scold him for not loving himself & not loving us coz he will make us worry? Should I keep quiet & not do anything about it since it's his choice to burn out his lungs & lead more health issues to himself? I was definitely upset about this, but not sure what I should do or what can I do....

On another note, I have a loving, caring & romantic bro-in-law who loves his wife (my sister) and his 2 pretty daughters a lot. He's a business man and made quite alot of money (I guess), so they are staying in bungalow house and sis is a housewife. Everyone thinks that he's the best husband & best daddy, but I really dont think so. Why? Simple - He's a heavy smoker!

See...he's the only son in the family and sis is a housewife. His 2 daughters are 14 & 10 years old this year which I think they are still pretty young. So what happens if, one day bro got a heart attack or stroke? Who's gonna take care of the family finance? Who's gonna provide TLC (tender-loving-care) to sis & their 2 girls?

Well, many smokers will give all kinds of excuses for staying in the habit - Stressed out with work, it's already a habit, it's cool, whatever...But have these smokers thought of their family & their love ones?

Who doesnt know smoking is bad for health? But why these smokers are still giving those excuses? Why would they treat their lungs as the ashtray?

Europe Part3 - London

This is really a long overdued post, almost 6 weeks after I came back from Europe! Well if u have missed the previous posts about Paris & Rome, you may wanna check out Europe Part1 - Paris and Europe Part2 - Rome.

London was our last stop of the 2-weeks Europe trip. We arrived on 26 Sept and had our fun-filled 4 days in London! Actually...on 26th which was the day when we touched down, it wasnt as fun-filled coz both hubby & I were exhausted from the travelling, so we just settled ourselves into the hotel we booked in King's Cross, and then came out for a nice fish & chips dinner early, and rested the whole night so we can enjoy the rest of the days in London. BTW I must also say, the weather in London is pretty cold!

On 27th, we started our day with a great English Big Breakfast, then we took the Underground to our first destination - Big Ben & Houses of Parliament. It was AWESOME! And apparently "Big Ben" does not refer to the whole clocktower, but to the huge thirteen ton bell that strikes the hour. Attached with the clocktower is The Houses of Parliament which incorporates The House of Commons and The House of Lords & Westminster Hall. And this whole place including the Big Ben is also known as The Palace of Westminster.

Opposite the road not too far away from Big Ben is the famous British Airways London Eye! It was opened to public since March 2000, rising high above London's skyline at 135 metres, making it one of the tallest observation wheels in the world. I'll leave the pic to the end since we went back for the ride on 3rd day night and took some awesome pics of its night view...

Then we went on to visit the Tower Bridge, stood over the River Thames in London since 1894. It has become an iconic symbol of London and is sometimes mistakenly called London Bridge, though London Bridge is in fact the next bridge upstream and it's really very "normal" looking! haha! Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge, and I must say this is really a magnificent architecture.

After that, we walked to the Tower of London which has lots of hystory behind it and I'm not gonna put them down here...On the same day, we also visited the National Art Gallery and took some pictures at the Nelson's Column.

On 28th, we first went to the elegant buildings of Horse Guards, which were built in 1755 and was the original main entrance to the Buckingham Palace. The Changing of Guard took place at 10.30am that morning and those guards with their uniform riding on the horses were truely gorgeous! But we did not manage to watch the entire exchange process coz we rushed over to the Buckingham Palace through the famous St. Jame's Park, to witness the Changing of Guard parade over there at 11am!

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of The Queen. During the Change of Guard parade, The New Guard marches to the Palace from Wellington Barracks with a Guards band, the Old Guard hands over in a ceremony during which the sentries are changed and then returns to barracks. The New Guard then marches to St James's Palace leaving the detachment at Buckingham Palace.

By the time we finished witnessing the awesome parade, it was drizzling...dem! So we have to take a bus to somewhere indoor, which we decided on Harrods! When we got there, the splendid appearance of this luxury shopping mall really amazed me! And one thing I must mention about Harrods is its "BY APPOINTMENT" shopping experience - a truly bespoke Personal Shopping heaven offering an unrivalled luxurious service that is rare, stylish and indulgent.

After Harrods, the rain stopped, we then went to the Chinatown, close to Leicester Square. Frankly there was really nothing much there and I just cant wait for our flight on London Eye which we planned for that night. After dinner, we went to get our tickets & there we went on the last flight, enjoyed the beautiful night view of London city!

On 29th which was the our last full-day in London, we did only 1 thing - SHOPPING & SHOPPING! We were mainly shopping at Bond Street, Oxford Circus & Regent Street. The shopping experience was just amazing! I was overwhelmed by the sales going on in NEXT, Dorothy Perkins etc, and baby clothings in Mothercare, Marks & Spencers were just so much cheaper than here!

**I definitely look forward to another trip to Europe!

Longest weekend...

Last weekend was the longest weekend ever...Why?

Hubby has been away since Friday morning in Thailand attending a conference, so I've been spending the whole weekend at home with my lil baby. I did not bring baby out because the doc advised us not to do so for at least 2 weeks since baby was affected by pneumonia earlier.

I realised, to handle the house work & baby at the same time without a helper (who usually is my hubby) is not an easy task. I enjoyed the 100% attention I had with baby and the fun we had playing together without daddy around the house. I brought him to the park and let him walk around, and he was having so much fun!

Though I enjoyed spending quality time with baby, still, when baby was asleep, I felt so lonely...somehow I missed hubby soooooo much! And when u miss someone, time seems to just stop there! Indeed this is not the first time hubby is away due to work, but not sure why, I felt this past weekend has been the longest...

Hubby, I MISS U...

Is having a "fu-bu" something common?

I'm not so sure how many of you do not know what "fu-bu" is, but I guess it's better for me to just explain it here, just in case...*it's definitely not the brand 'FUBU'*

"fu-bu" is actually made up by 2 words : "fuck" + "buddy" = fu-bu

I started to hear people using this "word" more & more common these days, so I'm just wondering what the world has turned into...coz this is something that I definitely cannot accept!

What's the difference between fu-bu and one-night-stand (ONS)? The difference is :

• ONS is usually when u dont know the person u f***, and u dont really leave contact to know each other better or keep the relationship going.


• fu-bu is when u actually know this person, but not bothering if the person is married or engaged or whatever, and f*** each other when there's a need.

Hubby & I have a friend "C" who's married with 2 kids and wife currently pregnant with 3rd baby. No doubt he's a very very attractive man, especially when he starts speaking, but this doesnt mean he can have fu-bu! Apparently he has not only one fu-bu, but a few! GOSH...And more surprisingly to find out is, some are actually married women! I cant believe it!

Recently we also heard of another person "Y" who broke up a fu-bu relationship with a married man...She said she has been fu-bu-ing with this person for years without her real boyfriend knowing it and she really enjoyed it! Oh my God...I almost fainted!

Am I leaving in the cage not seeing the world or what? Have u also got a "fu-bu"? Have u have friends who are "fu-bu" of another person? Is this something really common now?

Problems with relationship

Was having lunch with a friend who's much younger than me, a junior who just joined the company as management trainee indeed...Somehow we clicked well when we first met and so we have been lunching & joking together for the past few weeks.

Today, she looked very down...not as cheerful as before and was extra quiet...True enough, something happened...Problems and complication with relationship!

She has been having problems with her current boyfriend and have tried breaking up with him for few times, but somehow got back together. Few days ago she asked for a break-up again after a big fight with the boyfriend, but then the boyfriend asked for one last chance which she agreed to....

What's her problem? She's quite sicked with the current boyfriend for being someone ridiculously uncourteous and not caring at all. At the same time, there's this guy in the same management training program ("F") who's really caring for her and he has expressed his feeling towards my friend too, knowing that she has got a boyfriend.

So now she's confused! Why? Because she cant let go of the boyfriend as yet though she's sicked with his attitude coz they have been together for 2.5 years. BUT she quite like this new guy "F" too! She asked me what can she do....

Well I told her to settle her problem with the boyfriend first and not get into another relationship while she's not even sure where her heart is going. This feeling with "F" is probably just crush, which will be gone over time...

When I was advising her, suddenly I was reflecting on myself...how often this "crush" feeling happened to me? yaya...I know I'm married, but let's be frank, it still happens and I'm sure it has happened to u too! But with some self-control, doesnt it always fade off over time?

Baby's first few steps...

It's just so wonderful to see your baby started walking "freehand", and not cruising along the furniture anymore!

Actually my baby started to walk few steps a time few days before he fell sick, and he was still "walking" while he was admitted in the hospital, but "walking" on the baby bed which was quite a big court for him...

Last weekend, I put the new pair of sandles on him and we brought him down to the park to "practice" his walking. AMAZING! He was walking & walking, ofcoz few steps at a time, but tirelessly walking! Hubby & I were laughing and we were soooo happy that baby was enjoying this learning. And finally I felt much better now since baby was discharged from the hospital as we watched him having fun!

I guess this is the sweet part of parenthood. The joy within me when I saw baby walking those few steps by himself is beyond description. This is a huge milestone for both baby and us as parents!

Soon baby is going to call me "mommy"...I cant wait for that moment!

*somehow my baby is still talking those "nonsense" at 13th month, but I guess that's ok...his time will come!*

Oh...my poor lil baby!

Last Sat after the medication given by ER on friday nite, baby's fever subsided, cough & flu got slightly better. But on Sunday afternoon onwards, the fever came back, cough & flu seemed to be getting worse...Baby cant seemed to be able to sleep well, and he vomited in the middle of night too, suffering from nose-block and bad cough...

Monday morning 7am we went to the hospital to see the paediatrician, but her appointments were really full and we had to wait in the queue. At 11.30am, finally it was our turn! Doc checked lil baby and said he has got pneumonia, commonly known as lungs infection. Now baby needs to be hospitalized to get the right treatment and x-ray done. My heart fell down to the ground! But doc said this is not something REALLY serious, and as long as treated well, it will be alright.

After all the admission processes, we got in to the single room at 3pm. First treatment started thereafter - Nebulizer, where the liquid medicine will help to "soften" the phlegm. This will not cause any pain but baby was just sooo affraid and he was screaming, crying & struggling throughout the 5 mins of treatment. Me? I cried with him helplessly...

About an hour later, another treatment in place - physiotherapy, to help clear the phlegm. This is the WORST treatment! They wrapped baby and insert the long thin tube into his nose & throat to "suck" those phlegm out by a machine! Baby was screaming out his lungs and crying helplessly. The physio therapist told me to wait outside the room and only daddy was in there. I cant describe how painful it was to me to hear baby's shouting from inside the room...This took about 20 mins and imagine, baby crying & shouting for 20 mins and u cant do anything to help!

Besides, they did the x-ray for baby's chest, took his blood for tests and japped his buttock with antibiotic on top of the oral antibiotic dose. And for each of these, he cried & screamed. Towards Monday night, he was so exhausted and his eyes were swollen.

After 4 days in the hospital, gone through those "suffering" time, I must say : My lil baby is really a tough boy! I'm so proud of him! BRAVO BABY! *star for u* Everyday 3-4 times of nebulizer treatments, 1 physio, 1 jab a day for first 2 days, oral medication, etc....YET he's a happy boy smilling and playing when there's no treatment going on for the past few days. And this is really heart-warming and encouraging for me. Finally today, he can be discharged! As usual, he's back to be a cheerful boy!

I cant really describe how despairing it was to see my lil baby suffered the past few days. The hurt to see your pitiful baby going through the fearful treatment is heart-tearing and beyond words...I'm glad that this is all over now and baby will just need to be on medication for few more days and return for check-up next week...