Here's My Story

I had expected that we needed to spend only 1-1.5 hours at PAH to get my mum checked into the ward, in preparation for the surgery the next day but we ended spending about 3 hours there, where we were asked to bring her to: Get blood test done. Do stress ECG. Get X-ray done Consult Dr Tan Chun Ee about the results of the above. Both my mum and I had expected that the staff at the ward would arrange all these after mum checked in. So we ended having lunch at PAH before checking in at Wayton Express (I might blog about this no-frill room stay). Doctor said surgery was scheduled at 1pm but of course subject to availability of the operating theatre (OT). As at 12.45pm, mum was still not warded (we were asked to wait in the Waiting Lounge). Ban and I proceeded to check into Wayton Express while nurse takes care of mum. Visiting hours at PAH are restricted to only 12pm - 2pm and 6pm-8pm i.e. during normal lunch and dinner time. Contrast that with SJMC's 10am - 8pm. I wonder why. So we d...

During the consultation on 16th April , we accepted Dr Tan's suggested date of surgery 22nd April. My mum is still covered by an AIA health insurance policy and fortunately Penang Adventist Hospital (PAH) is not only a panel hospital (need to fork out deposit first), it is also designated "platinum" i.e. totally cashless. Panel hospital will apply for a Guarantee Letter (GL) directly from AIA. Dr Tan's nurse asked me to call them if we don't get notification from AIA (about the outcome of the application) before the surgery. From my experience with AIA during my hospitalisation for the arthroscopic knee surgery, it shouldn't take long for AIA to process the application after submission. However, by Sat, 20th April, there was still no notification. A check on the AIA app revealed no such application. Hmph! So on Sunday, before we drove to Butterworth, I called PAH in the morning. They said they woud check and get back to me. Almost half an hour later, it sudden...

About 3 weeks after I lodged a complaint in ezAdu,  I received a call from KPDN officer telling me that they would (or already have done so) give a warning to Nichiya Ramen and asked them to rectify their system. It's a fair action if they had not done this miscalculation previously. This is the second time I used ezAdu but the first time I received a call. In my first complaint, I stated (and provided the receipt) that the restaurant applied SST on 10% service charge, which is incorrect but somehow they closed the case saying that the eatery applied SST and service charge. Clearly, they misunderstood me.

We were back at Dr Tan Chun Ee's clinic two weeks after the last appointment . By that time, we all (mum, sisters and I) were convinced that surgery was the way forward, especially since medicine + physio hardly eleviated the pain. Also, that treats the symptom, not the cause, whereas surgery treats the cause. Medicine (including potentially new ones in future) also has side effects: Celebrex is already causing swelling of my mum's feet. Future medicine. During the appointment, Dr Tan asked some questions and physically checked mum quite thoroughly. It appeared that even he then leaned towards surgery. Since he already knew our preference, there was no need to explicitly ask whether we wanted surgery or not, especially since I asked more questions about it: (1) From the shape of the old screws and their configuration, it's highly like that they won't be compatible with the new rod and so these would need to be removed (along with the old rod). Unlike Dr Joehaimy , he di...

Ever since I blogged about Rise & Sip , we've been going there each time we shop for grocery at NSK. So far, I've been very happy with their food there. Here are some more food that we tried: Japanese curry chicken rice. Either Ban or his brother had it and he said it was good. Mushroom aglio olio with added grilled prawns (paid extra to add it). Absolutely love the amount of vegetables here. They all went together well. A definite must-have. Customised salad with added grilled prawns (again, paid extra to add those). Colourful, refreshing and delicious. Fresh ingredients. Another must-have.

Here are the average dividend yields on cost for shares that have paid out dividends: Share counters (2 of them) with no dividend yields just means that I have yet to receive at least a year's worth of dividends from these companies. The overall dividend yield on cost weighted by invested amount is 5.1% (vs 4.9% in previous review), excluding the 2 share counters mentioned above. There are 15 share counters with dividend yield (on cost) less than 5% (number of consecutive years of this low yield in bracket): BOUSTEAD (6) (at 4.9%, it's very close to 5%) CAPLAND INTCOM T (3) CL ASCENDAS REIT (1) COMFORTDELGRO (4) FRASERS L&C TR (2) IFAST (5) KEPPEL DC REIT (2) MAPLETREE LOG TR (2) MPLTR PAN TR (2) PARKWAYLIFE REIT (4) RAFFLES MEDICAL (2) SGX (4) SHENG SIONG (2) SINGTEL (2) UOB (6) The UOB's dividend yield of 4.8% is more than good enough for me. iFAST's low dividend yield is more than compensated by its huge unrealised capital gain. Here is the average cost of each s...

These are the shares that I initiated position in and sell since the last update about year ago :   Initiated in: (1) Delfi (as recommended by The Smart Investor) " Delfi manufactures, markets and distributes consumer chocolates and snacks to more than 17 countries with its core markets being  Indonesia, Malaysia,  and the Philippines." Reasons to buy: A consumer giant in Indonesia Going asset-light Growing profits and dividends New product releases are a catalyst for future growth Risks: Stiff competition Depreciation of regional currencies Food safety issues and hygiene Legal claims from Barry Callebaut Exited: (1) SIA Engineering Dividend yield less than 5% for past 5 years. (2) iFAST Pared down because current value is disproportionately large in the portfolio. (3) VICOM Smart Investor recommends selling it: the company decided to pause giving out dividends. As at 31st March 2024, I have investment in 28 companies (*these companies' source of business are only ...

So, the title of the unit I'm purchasing was held not by me or the seller: it was the developer. For some reasons, despite having received the strata title nearly a year ago, they haven't transferred it to the current (beneficial) owner. Hence, there are additional steps: The developer had to confirm that the seller is the current beneficial owner of the unit. The developer agreed to transfer the strata title directly to me, rather transfer it to the seller who the transfer to me.  So, aside from the usual Sale & Purchase Agreement ("SPA"), there are additional documents: for developer to sign to effect to above while both the seller and I sign to indemnify the developer for any loss arising from them signing those documents. Normally the 3-month timer where this transaction is due to be completed starts upon signing the SPA by both parties but in this case, it also conditioned upon signing of the relevant documents by the developer. The SPA outlines the conseque...

I took some time to get a physiotherapist who does house visit to treat my mum, during the two-week period before the next appointment with Dr Tan . Homage had, unfortunately, stopped providing services to the public (only to institution) and the therapist that we hired from them for mum previously had already moved to Ipoh. After a few enquiries, the first one that got back to me was Spine Joint & Muscle Solutions Physiotherapy, the physio centre that my dad went to. Towards the end of his life, we also got therapists from them to treat dad at home. My sister also underwent therapy with them previously. They assigned Nisha to my mum. Since it was on short notice, we had limited choices of suitable time and so ended compromised by accepting a 12pm slot. Over the course of 5 sessions (the 5th was after the next appointment with the orthopaedic), there is gradual improvement in pain for my mum. The very session was mostly Nisha trying to stretch and loosen the lower back muscles. Lat...

They sell cheap secondhand books. I randomly picked up two and saw the prices RM 10 and RM 12. That's cheap and their condition wasn't bad at all. I like this. It's a self-service bookstore. There was absolutely no staff there. But that means its viability depends on the integrity of others. Unfortunately, there had to be someone who just couldn't even fork out the exact payment for such cheap books. Haiz. Hopefully such case is rare.