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Cholesterol 2026: Part 2

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The cholesterol results as compared to 3 months ago :   Significant improvement! Total cholesterol and LDL are now below the personalised benchmarks. "What did you do differently?," my sister asked. None that can explain it. In fact, cholesterol should go up due to (1) and (2): (1)  Exercise regime not much different during the 3-month period. In fact, few days before test, I hardly exercise because of UTI. (2) Diet: no difference. Lack of HDL the week before test because didn't prepare salmon don (I do this once a week) due to illness. (3) Fast nearly 11 hours before test. I will try to repeat (3) for the next test as an experiment. 

Dragon Age: Inquisition

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I finished one playthrough recently, including its 3 DLC (Descent, Jaws of Hakkon and Tresspasser). One good thing it has over the previous two (DA:O and DA2) is that it doesn't need any mod to make it playable. Then again, the reason why the first two needed so many mods, afaik, is that they haven't been updated to be compatible to current hardware and software. Sadly, that's the only good thing about DAI, It has a litany of problems: (1) Way too long. I spent over 160 hours, not counting the numerous side quests that I skipped. There might be games that I played longer (Baldur's Gate 3, I think) but DAI's side quests are boring. They are like your typical MMORPG quests but that's not what I expect when playing DAI. Also, story-wise, it doesn't make sense that the leader of an army does these micro-level quests. (2) Combat tactic instructions are non-existence. I'm so puzzled why they progressively rolled back this unique game mechanic. That's what ...

Stairs for staff?

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This was at Bagan Specialist Centre. According to a nurse, this was put up because a patient had an accident while using these stairs. Hmmm why target these stairs? Patient can have accident anywhere. There were hospitals that encouraged usage of stairs e.g. Penang General Hospital and SJMC .

Grabpay or not

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Tea Garden @Paradigm Mall

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I remember when I first saw it on the concourse floor of Paradigm Mall, it was full with customers. Browse through its menu and spotted food that both Ban and I could try later. The first time we first tried to dine there was unsuccessful: again it was full. Few months later, we succeeded and subsequently dined two more times.   The first time I tried their char kway:   This was good! It had a unique taste that both Ban and I couldn't identify. The downside was that this wasn't enough for me, which means that definitely not enough for the average guy :D So, I ordered their steamed bread with kaya and butter: It was expectedly soft because it was steamed but the addition of butter on top of it, instead of in between the two slices of bread (where the kaya was) made the bread soggy as butter melted on it. I imagine that toasted version should work better.   The second time I tried their nasi lemak with fried chicken: This was good. The key component, the rice, has enough co...

Face wash at fruits section

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  😜 

Mum's rhinitis

Mum always has rhinitis which I suspected is the same as mine i.e. vasomotor rhinitis. This is more or less confirmed by the result of the 107 allergen test . Normally, she would just need to use nasal steroid spray (Avamys) and take antihistamine (ceterizine) for a period of time. However, earlier this year, the symptoms didn't improve and it was debilitating: woke up in the morning feeling the stuffiness and pain, took medicine and needed to nap 4 hours before feeling good enough to be awake but couldn't do her usual exercise routine. So she consulted Dr Yeoh and was prescribed antibiotics and another anthistamine. She felt much better soon but relapsed shortly after finishing the medication. Consulted the doctor again and was prescribed another round of similar medication. Again, same results. As expected, Dr Yeoh recommended that she consult an ENT specialist.  In anticipation, I've asked mum to ask Dr Yeoh to recommend an ENT specialist based in mainland Penang. Going ...