Appointment With Cardiologist

Yesterday I met with a cardiologist at a private hospital in Subang who is the hubby's family friend.  I know that my heart flutters are caused by my extremely low blood count / low iron as our body needs red blood cells to bring oxygen throughout the body. The lack of blood may cause shortness of breath and heart flutters and in extreme cases, even heart failure. My gynae had warned me of heart failure if I do not increase my iron ASAP!

But the hubby wanted me to see this cardiologist, just to get a second opinion.  So off we went  to the hospital yesterday morning. The doctor had asked me to fast from 12 midnight. I had my last meal at 8:30pm. By the time I had my first meal, it was already 12:30 noon, a fast of 14 hours.  Surprisingly, I didn't feel hungry as I drank lots of Izumio :)

Anyway, no test was needed and my fasting was in vain. Never mind.  Good news is there does not seem to be any problem with my heart.  The only problem is my low blood count and of course the fibroid in my uterus that's causing the heavy menstruation.

I left the hospital feeling relieved that I am not a heart patient as feared. I have to continue with popping 2 Sangobion iron tabs each day with lots of iron-rich foods. The doctor mentioned medium rare steak with oozing blood! Oh. My. Gawd.  I am not a lover of beef and definitely not a sucker for anything with blood oozing out!  He also mentioned pork liver.  Another Oh. My. Gawd. food which I absolutely abhor!

What choice do I have?  Eat these blood rich meats or risk collapsing!

After we left the hospital, the hubby brought me to tuck into my favorite bitter gourd pork noodles. This time, I ordered extra pork liver, eeeewwww!  And ate the bowl of noodles as if it were some kind of Fear Factor yucky stuff.





Back home, I forced myself to eat more meat and had char siew and chicken, washed down with a mug of red dates water that the mil boiled.




Tonight I will be having double boiled chicken essence again.  Gosh, this is really starting to feel like confinement minus the baby!  My doctors have advised me to indulge in beef, lamb and pork liver to my heart's content and forget about the cholesterol. When your body craves for blood, it will be able to accept all the rich food without causing much problems.  And I think it's true. I feel great these few days and can even run without feeling breathless anymore. My exercise session each morning has increased from 30 minutes to 45 minutes 🙌  And the heart flutters have lessened a lot too 😊

Breast Cancer Risk Scare

I had a '3% breast cancer risk' scare early this week. After my yearly check-up at my gynae's clinic at PMC last week, my gynae referred me to a breast doctor at the Breast Care Center  and to another gynae (oncology gynecologist) to handle my uterine fibroid.  After a very stressful time last week of having to deal with the diagnosis of having severe anemia (reading of 6 g/dL.  Normal range is 12 - 16) caused by heavy periods contributed by the fibroid, I have to face yet another stressful week this week with work and another two appointments with doctors.  The damage to my wallet last week was over RM1,000 and this week's damage is another RM1,000.. holy crickets!!

On Wednesday this week, I met up with the breast surgeon on referral by my gynae.  She had a look at the ultrasound scan images and commented that while the cyst did not look round with a nice shape like it should (round and nicely shaped means benign), other markers did not suggest any malignancy.  The radiologist indicated a BIRADS III grading.. which means 'probably benign'.  She told me that while it is not malignant, there is a 3% cancer risk. My doctor's words were a sucker punch and I felt like I was slapped with a slow death sentence.  She ordered for a Mammogram done immediately.  For those of you who have had experience of doing an MMG, I am sure you feel really 'exploited' as your boops are being manhandled by 2 female imaging staff. That's really a very unpleasant feeling, not to mention the pain of having your boops squashed.

The MMG report further confirmed that the cysts are benign with a BIRADS II rating, oh thank you Lord Jesus!!  However, I will have to see the breast doctor in 3 months to have another ultrasound scan done to monitor the cysts. The 1 hour+ waiting time for the MMG report to be out was painful and tensed.

The BI-RADS assessment categories are:

• 0- incomplete
• 1-negative
• 2-benign findings
• 3-probably benign
• 4-suspicious abnormality
• 5-highly suspicious of malignancy
• 6-known biopsy with proven malignancy

My mum used to be very prone to fibrocystic breasts too during her pre-menopausal days and had undergone several open surgeries and fluid aspirations. In fact, she still gets lumps in her breasts occasionally now, at the age of over 70.  However, ever since she started consuming Izumio and Super Lutein, the products seem to be helping to shrink the lumps.  I am now taking extra dosage of Izumio and trying my best to keep my stress and anger level in check.  These two emotions are a big culprit in causing free radicals and intoxicating the body.  No matter how much Izumio I down, how healthily I eat and how much I exercise, anger and stress will negate the benefits of all these good stuff that I put into my body.

The stress hormone, cortisol, is public health enemy number one. Scientists have known for years that elevated cortisol levels interfere with learning and memory, lower immune function and bone density, increase weight gain, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease, cancer... the list goes on and on.

For the past few days, I have been telling myself not to sweat over the small stuff. Shouting and screaming at the kids have been reduced significantly, cussing and complaining have been kept down and I am learning to forgive and FORGET.  And I feel good about it. Practice makes perfect.  😊

Mykōri Dessert Cafe, Taman Desa

On one of the evenings during the school holidays in December last year, the hubs brought us to a newly opened dessert cafe after dinner.  Mykori Dessert Cafe is a purveyor of Japanese snacks and desserts with a twist. Their signature items are their array of taiyaki (fish-shaped cake) with different fillings in both sweet and savory options - the cheese croissant version is high on their list and cheese lovers will love the cheese filling taiyaki to bits.  We ordered one cheese taiyaki initially but one was definitely not enough for 3 adults and 3 kids, so we ordered another one later and sure enough, it was gone in just seconds after it arrived 😛  Another of  Mykori's most popular choice is the Melon Kakigori which is very refreshing and light. Generously topped with fresh melon balls on a bed of finely shaved and soft ice, the Melon Kakigori is just perfect on a hot day.  The ultra soft shaved fruit flavored ice reminds me of the ice-cream sold at 100 Yen Shop, which we would indulge in occasionally in the past when 100 Yen Shops were still operating around KL.


Source: http://www.buro247.my/lifestyle/food-and-drink/5-new-dessert-cafes-around-kl-to-visit-in-october.html




Melon Kakigori and Strawberry Cheesecake Kakigori







Taiyaki (fish-shaped cake) with lots of oozing soft and melting cheese hidden inside. The chewy strands of cheese can be pulled high up. Fans of cheese will love this savory dessert.









Mango yoghurt kakigori...












Recognize this handsome chap? He's our regular 'makan' buddy.  You may have seen Alan Yun in TV commercials, magazines and local movies.



Mykōri Dessert Cafe, Taman Desa
No 28, Jalan 2/109E Desa Business Centre
Taman Desa, Off Jalan Klang Lama
58100 Kuala Lumpur

Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan In Ipoh - 28 December 2016

We had one full day to amble around Ipoh today.  Ipoh is my beloved birth place as well as the hubs. Driving around the streets of Ipoh always makes the both of us feel mawkishly sentimental. It brings back waves of our sweet childhood memories and we have so much to talk about when we are traipsing in Ipoh while hunting for all our childhood favorite food.

Our first stop was at Hugh Low Street where all the biscuit shops are located. We went into three biscuit shops and ended up over a hundred Ringgit poorer... just on Ipoh-made biscuits 😒










Next, we went to Ipoh Old Town to 'Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan' while waiting for the mil to buy some dried food provisions from those decades-old pre-war shops. These are the shops that my late maternal grandma used to patronize before Chinese New Year to shop for all her dried food stuffs and waxed meat. It sure brings back lots of fond memories walking past these shops.







Below - I think this toy shop has been around for over 30 years. I remember going into this shop with my mum before Children's Day each year to shop for toys and snacks for our Children's Day celebration in school. That was in the early 1980s.  Our girls stumbled upon a 5x5 Rubics Cube at this toy shop and were so excited. But I didn't manage to get it for them as it was about to pour heavily and we had to run back to our car.  The next day, the hubs went back to this shop and got them the 5x5 Rubics Cube.  His princesses were SO happy!




A shop that sells a panoply of exotic dried food stuffs -- starfish, snakes (EWWW!!), sea horses, sea lions, gigantic sea shells, etc. etc.














Then we made a pit-stop at the ever popular Sin Yoon Loong to enjoy a cuppa Ipoh white coffee and desserts.







We had initially planned to make a stop at the Ipoh Stadium food court or Mushroom Hut (Tung Koo Teng) at Ipoh Garden to tuck into some hawkers' delight but alas it poured heavily. So we headed home, had a short rest before adjourning to our next destination for dinner - at Wah Chai Seafood Restaurant in Menglembu to tuck into some delish dishes. I'll save the pix taken at Wah Chai for my next post 😊

Our 2016 Christmas & Boxing Day

Our Christmas 2016 morning was spent worshipping in the church.




After church, we spent our afternoon indulging in sumptuous Japanese food at Lot 10's Isetan Japan Store. There was a whole jing bang of us - my parents, my younger brother Roy, my older brother Ray and his family, the mil, hubs and our 3 girls.

After lunch and tea, everyone had a rest at home before the onslaught of Christmas dinner at the hubs' aunt's house. While everyone rested at home, I quickly did a quick clean-up of the house as our part-time helper was on leave for several days.

As with previous years, our Christmas dinner has always been pretty traditional with such retro treats as roast turkey with stuffing, cold ham, grilled sausage with bacon wrap, roast lamb leg, Christmas pies, Christmas pudding, Panettone bread, an assortment of salads, spaghetti, pasta and fruits.






















Our yearly Christmas dinner always ends with  gift exchange and unwrapping of gifts towards midnight along with lots of camwhoring 😄

Below - my mum with her 2 youngest grand-daughters - Cass and Raelyne.




On Boxing Day, we had desserts of ice-cream and waffles at Inside Scoope. Below is a charcoal waffle 'injected' with salted duck's egg atop, GLORIOUS!  This must be the latest food trend that cafes have caught on. It sits well on all spectrum - sweet, savory, crispy and cold. It's so very scrumptious!







My baby girl and me 😍 and this little girl with an appetite bigger than her tummy was reluctant to share her 2 big scoops of ice-creams with me 😡

Back In Ipoh

We're back in Ipoh yesterday with 9 people in the MPV (my parents and younger bro, hubs and me, the mil and our 3 girls), traveling from KL to Ipoh 😃




The moment we hopped into the car, we have been eating non-stop - our first stop was at Rawang where we tucked into some yummy Ba Kut Teh, which cost us a bomb - close to RM300 for  9 pax, expensive?  We had Ipoh 'Ngar Choi Kai' for dinner. Breakfast this morning was all my favorite food since my childhood days from the Kg Simee wet market. 😋😋  From morning through noon, we have been snacking non-stop. I'm glad the holidays will come to an end soon, which gives me the motivation to start exercising again 💪💪  Yup, I have been slacking a wee bit in my exercise regimen ever since the school holidays to catch up on my much needed beauty sleep 💁

Below - the girls lending my dad a helping hand with the laundry.

Whatsapp Message

The hubs had bought some Christmas decor for his catering events. Cass saw the cute decor and sent a Whatsapp message to her dad to ask if she could keep the decor.

I can't stop laughing each time I read their conversation.   Check out their conversation on Whatsapp below 😁






I have retyped their conversation here for your ease of reading...

Cass - Dad, take these ok?

Dad - Who? (are you)

Cass - Somebody...

Dad - Who? (are you)

Cass - The cheekiest one

Dad - I know the naughty one

Cass - No. You are only naughty and fat.

Dad - 😡

I Found Her!

For years I have been searching for my erstwhile roomie, CC on Facebook but to no avail.  I first met CC when I was 18 and she was 19. That was in early 1991. We both stayed at the college hostel along Jalan Yap Kwan Seng for a week but the environment in the hostel was so terrible that we packed our bags and looked for another place to stay.  We both shared a tiny room in a double storey terraced house in Jalan Ipoh.  If you have been following my blog, you would have read my stories on my 6 years stay with Madam Yap, the landlady of the house.

CC was my best friend for almost 2 years. She was my confidante.  We did everything together. We would walk to the bus stop on some mornings to catch mini bus no. 10 to college. On some afternoons, we would take the same mini bus back to our rented room.  Our favorite mini bus song then was 'Joyride' by Roxette.  Every evening, we would walk to a nearby stall to eat 'chap fan' (mixed economy rice). We shared our fruits, our junk food, we laughed, we did homework on a small rectangular foldable table together every night and slept on two mattresses on the floor every night.   CC is amiable and easy to confide in. It is not easy to live with a stranger but we just hit it off and hardly fought.

The last time we met was in December 1992.  I had taken a bus to Kluang, Johor to visit her. We then took a bus to Singapore and had a short holiday there. That was it - 24 years ago. I can't recollect if we had met or contacted each other after that.  All I know is that she went to the UK for further studies.

In recent years, I often thought of CC.  I remembered our bitter sweet 2 years staying together. I really missed her.  Whenever I had time on hand, I would type in her name (in all order that I can possibly think of) on Facebook to search for her but it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Last night, one of my customers informed me that she had sent me a Facebook friendship request. These days, I am not sure why I don't receive email notification anymore from Facebook each time someone sends me a friendship request on Facebook. When I went to my Facebook page setting on friendship requests, I saw a name very similar to CC's.  I clicked on the name but could not find any familiar photos.  CC ain't active on Facebook, thus the lack of update on her page.  I accepted the request anyway. Within minutes, I received messages from CC.  We were both SO SO SO overjoyed and excited that we had found each other!  CC had also been searching for me for years.   I am not going to lose contact with her anymore. Good friends are hard to come by and I'll treasure this one forever.

Christmas Shopping

We spent our Sunday fun day at The Gardens Mall and Mid Valley Megamall yesterday to do some last-minute shopping for Christmas gifts yesterday.  Traffic into Mid Valley was horrendous as expected.  But we were lucky as hubs found a spot to park almost immediately  upon entry into the car park ✌   Brunch was dimsum at Han Room and we had an almost 30-minute wait for a table.

The Christmas decor at Mid Valley Megamall this year is pretty enchanting.  When we were there, we caught a bedazzling Christmas carol performance with the singers dressed up to the nines in gowns.




After 3 hours of shopping and calorie burning (I love love shopping coz I burn calories while indulging in my hobby!), we were hungry again, though we've had a heavy brunch just hours earlier 😆.  We had a very early dinner at Alexis where the adults tucked into local spicy delights and the girls walloped a large pizza themselves. I told you that they are piranhas in disguise, didn't I? 😨

Our big princess had her socks knocked off when her dad bought her a pair of Nike shoes of her choice!  That pair of shoes cost much, much more than my shoes and must be her most expensive pair of shoes ever!  It's her belated birthday present - for officially entering teenagehood 💗

Homemade Pancakes By The Girls

Someone was craving to eat pancakes since days ago. So she asked Drama Queen if she would like to make some pancakes on Saturday.  Drama Queen couldn't be happier to undertake another masak-masak session in the kitchen!  😋😜  While Drama Queen was at the tuition center in the morning, the someone googled for some fluffy pancake recipes and got ready the ingredients. Once Drama Queen was back home, the 3 sisters started their pancake-making project without further delay coz someone was super duper hungry 😆








The 'head chef' supervising her 2 charges at work...




This time, the girls got the pancakes right. They were fluffy and pillowy and not burnt. They tasted as good as the ones sold at cafes. Good job girls!! 💪




Can you see how pillowy and soft the pancakes are?




Carbo and sugar overload oh gawd!!  Can you see the ice-creams and maple syrup on the table to go with the pancakes? Gawwwwwwd!!!





The girls had great fun and bonding in the kitchen while I sat back and relaxed and surfed the internet on my relaxing Saturday. I can now entrust Drama Queen 80% with supervising her 2 sisters in the kitchen for teeny weeny cooking and baking projects 😉😁

Ostrich Egg

I had seen ostrich eggs from books and TV but had never seen and felt a real one before until recently, at age 43!  When the girls' grand aunt showed me an ostrich egg that she bought recently from an ostrich farm, I was awestruck.  The ostrich egg looks like a ball and the shell is very hard and plasticky, as if it had been coated with a layer of paint or shellac...





The seller drilled a hole on the tip of the egg and sealed it with masking tape, so that pouring out the egg for cooking is made easier.

It would require about 60 - 90 minutes in order to hard-boil one of these monstrous eggs, which weighs about 3 pounds (1.4kg) each.  At 2,000 plus calories per egg, it takes about 15 peckish adults to finish 1 ostrich egg.  And you'll probably need a chisel or electric drill to break the shell too as it is very hard!






Ostrich eggs are proved to be a healthier alternative to chicken eggs. When cooked, these eggs are fluffy in texture and mildly sweet in flavour.  Besides their common use in decorations and other artistic creativities, they make for some excellent baking items like pastries and egg dishes.

Health benefits of ostrich eggs:

1) Ostrich eggs are much lower in cholesterol than chicken eggs, and a little lower in saturated fat, making them a healthier choice

2) Ostrich eggs serve to be a much better heart protector with raised amount of omega-3-fats.

3) These eggs are rich in magnesium and iron.

4) Despite being the largest edible egg (one ostrich egg is equivalent to approximately 24 chicken eggs!), you get only 1/6th the times of calories than chicken eggs.

5) The best part is that you get enough fiber as an added bonus.

Jungle Retreat @ Ratu Rening Residency (10 - 12 Dec 2016)

Our jungle retreat at Ratu Rening Residency over the weekend was the girls' first ever wilderness adventure stay. We were upclose and personal with  nature for 3 days 2 nights. There were bitter sweet moments but more sweet than bitter :)

Our family and friends (total 17 of us) stayed at Ratu Rening Residency, which is an Air BNB villa. We had never heard of this place before and had initially planned to rent an Air BNB bungalow in Fraser's Hill but it was fully booked. So the next Air BNB property available that met all our busy schedules was at Ratu Rening Residency.   We had no frigging idea what we would be expecting nor where this place was. What enticed us were the charming pictures of the rustic villa set in a forest reserve in Ulu Yam, Batang Kali (near Genting Highlands).   We had no idea that this stay would be like a camping trip... but in style.  We read from the Ratu Rening Residency Facebook page that there are only 2.5 bathrooms for the 17 of us and this dampened my enthusiasm right from the start, to be honest.  Despite the inconvenience and creepiness of having to walk up and down slippery steps in the rain in the forest at 1am, 3am and 7am to visit the bathroom, we enjoyed ourselves very much, especially the kids.  Cass was terrified of all the jungle insects that stayed with us in the bedroom and bathrooms throughout our stay there.  On the bright, Cass had sort of overcome her phobia of flying insects as she had no choice but to sleep on a bed with visiting insects, as well as to pee, poo and bathe in a bathroom with lizards, moths, ants, dragon flies, jungle roaches and other insects all over! hahaha!

Enjoy the pix that we took during our stay at Ratu Rening...





The gazebo-like hut on the left is an open bedroom (much like a luxurious tent with Jap style bed).  Our couple friend took up the challenge and occupied the bedroom. I bet they had a great time enjoying some suspense in the open :D





We had to cross this jiggly bridge to get to the kitchen and bathroom from our bedroom... even when it rained.  However, umbrellas are provided.







Fruit platter - some of the them were provided by the host.





Kids playing badminton outside the villa...






On the right is an open bathroom. When it rained, we had to shower in the rain!  We had to cross the bridge from our bedroom to use this bathroom.




The kids had a blast playing 'masak-masak' cooking eggs and instant noodles.



K helping the kids retrieve a frisbee from the pond.




The water looks muddy but the kids and adults couldn't resist jumping inside to swim. Thankfully, no one had itchy body after the dip.




The hubs was the cook throughout our stay there. He brought along an MPV loadful of food and essentials to last us for 3 days.  Everyone enjoyed his superb BBQ ribeye steak, lamb chops, chicken chops, prawns, sausages, etc.







Almost ready for dinner...




View at around 6ish pm...





View around 7ish pm... we occupied the bedroom on top. Below is another bathroom, which we had to climb down some steep steps to reach. It was a hassle at night and especially in the wee hours of the morning when it rained and the steps were really slippery.  On the left is another open bedroom, which another adventurous couple occupied.




The kids enjoying their BBQ dinner and indulging in lots of forbidden food - sausages, instant noodles, fried nuggets, fries, chips M&Ms and other junk haha!




My dinner, cooked by my man...



My big princess helping to wash the dishes. Really a rare moment for her to wet her royal fingers in dish washing liquid ha!  But everyone had to help out during our stay there.




The adults enjoying a sumptuous BBQ dinner while it drizzled. It was pretty chilly that night with lots of jungle insects joining in the fun with us!



Drama Queen helping to cook...




Supper was super spicy Korean Udong noodles where the kids and adults had a 'spicy noodles challenge'.




The kids had a funtastic time in the wilderness, albeit the discomfort of having to queue up to use the bathrooms, walking in the forest in the wee hours of the morning in the rain to use the toilet, sleeping with annoying insects on our beds and a grueling 3-hour hike to a magnificent waterfall.