Here's My Story

For years already, I've been counting down to age 50. No, not that I look forward to enter late-life crisis. It's a milestone for two additional medical actions to take: shingles vaccination and FOB test. Shingles vaccination is only for those aged 50+ because clinical trials were done only on those cohort, presumably it's the cohort most at risk of contracting shingles. Current vaccine requires two shots (2 to 4 months ago) and it lasts a liftime, thank goodness. Not cheap though: price is around RM 900 - 1000 per shot. Coincidentally, Ban's mother mentioned shingles vaccine but for a different reason: there is a study that shows "among the vaccinated, those who remained cognitively healthy were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, and those who did develop dementia were nearly 30% less likely to die from it over the course of nine years." "More research is needed to confirm the findings—but the study is a particularly strong one......becau...

This was 3 years ago. If I'm not mistaken, it cost RM 5.50. This was recently. RM 7.40 (RM 7 before tax). I asked to replace red beans with corns. It may not look like but both Ban and I are convinced that the portion had shrunk: I didn't need to be careful in scooping up the first few spoonful of it. Previously, sometimes bits of it still dropped onto the saucer despite being careful.

Recently Ban and I went on a 4D 3N vacation in Singapore, just to relax and visit friends. This time, unlike previously, I restricted to only one social outing per day. Age catching up with me :D Ban naturally can't socialise much and so previous times he was just going along with my plans. I'm a member of IHG and I've been pleased with the stay at their various hotels so far and so usually I scout whether there's suitable hotel at our destination when we need one. My main criteria for Singapore trip is that it has to be within short walking distance of an MRT station so that I can arrange to meet friends anywhere near an MRT station. After checking locations and reviews, I settled on Hotel Indigo Katong Singapore. This time, I paid extra to include breakfast and the for free cancellation up to a few days (think it was two?) before the arrival date. These are the photos of the room: Clearly, they are going for the Peranakan theme. It really made this a unique experience...

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Exercise. Shower. Chill by playing games or read on laptop for like 30-60 minutes while waiting for hair to full dry. Then nap for 30 minutes. This gives me the best sleep. Yes, even better than the night sleep usually. Unfortunately, it's only for 30 minutes. The effect is no different if I nap for longer, up to, say, 45 minutes. Closer to 1 hour, I'll feel a little worse, usually, unless I'm much more tired than usual or ill.

Pluto is a animated mini-series about robots, especially the few advanced robots. Ban wanted to watching because of its interesting theme. It started slow but became more engaging. However, it had unsatisfactory last few episodes. Here are our complaints: SPOILER AHEAD

That's the title of the webnovel that Ban has recently completed. It's available on Webnovel. Here's the abstract: "  The player may want to kick butt and look cool in his new life in the Forgotten Relams, but how cna he when he's a wee widdle halfling? It's time to cheese the hell out of this system! This is a dramatization of an actual playthrough of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, meant to be used as a strategy guide for new players. Come and learn to cheese, uh, play the game yourself, then be your own hero! " Overall, I enjoyed reading it. There were some parts I glazed over the list of loot as I don't intend to play the game. I am pleasantly surprised by the range of emotions that I experienced from different scenes. Some were light hearted and downright funny while others were serious and heart-tugging.

Ban wanted to give away a t-shirt but didn't know to whom. I suggested asking the 3 friends we would be meeting for lunch soon. So he asked them...all 3 at the same time 😁 Ban: Alamak, all 3 of them said yes.  Me: laughed I thought you would ask them one at a time. Ban: I took up your suggestion but did it the wrong way. I'll just tell them I messed up. Friend: Should we duel for it? Me: What type? Will you be bringing Zengetsu? Blue-eyes white dragon? Pikachu? Friend: Beyblade Me: 😂 I took a video and photo of the three of them 'fighting' over the t-shirt. As expected, they were chill about this situation and just quickly decided among themselves who would get it. 

Just before Chinese New Year, as usual Ban's ex-high school mates organised a get-together in Melaka and this time it was for a game of pickle ball at 8 am. Usually, Ban couldn't join in because of the need to attend the New Year's eve reunion dinner with his family in PJ. However, due to fortunate timing (CNY being two days after a weekend), he could make it this time. I didn't want him to drive alone by himself and so I volunteered to accompany him. He had already googled and booked a room at K-Star Hotel, as it is the nearest hotel to the pickle ball venue. It turned out to be a budget hotel, with limited counter front desk service. Entrance to its small lobby was via a PIN keyed into a pad and another set of PIN for the room itself. It had two floors of rooms. No lifts, only stairs. To me, the most important features of any hotel is a clean room, with clean bathroom, comfortable bed and an environment that allows comfortable sleep. This hotel checked all of these. I...

Saw this on the back of a truck:  Translated as "Where are you going, getting so close? To the grave?" 

(Emphasis is mine, to show the mistakes)  1. The Guardian article: " Trump declaration of Greenland framework deal met with scepticism as doubts persist ". Sentence: " In Greenland however, Trump’s announcement was greeted with serious scepticism. “He’s lying,” said one main in the capital Nuuk, who was interviewed by the AFP news agency. " 2. ABC News article: " Model revealed for Thriving Kids, the NDIS alternative for some children with developmental delay or autism ". Sentence: " He said aimed to empower parents to support their children, and was in part returning to a system of support that existed prior to the implementation of the NDIS. " 3. Free Malaysia Today article: " Teoh Beng Hock’s sister to address UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday ". Sentence: " The Teoh Beng Hock Association fo Democratic Advancement says Teoh Lee Lan departed today for Geneva, Switzerland. ".

There was once in Singapore, we had lunch at a restaurant at the hotel were were staying at. At first, Ban wanted to try their honey ginger drink but changed his mind when he saw Coca-Cola on the menu. Me: Why order Coke at a hotel (in Singapore)? Can have it back home, way cheaper. Ban: Malaysia's Coke's sugar level is capped. Also, they added artificial sweetener (which is yucky). Me: Oh, good point. However, when served, Ban cursed because that can of Coke was made in Malaysia and yes, sugar content was capped :D I quickly suggested to him to ask to change it to the honey ginger drink since the can wasn't open yet. Perhaps because of this story, some friends bought Coke overseas and passed them to Ban to try. Awww, so sweet of them. Coke from Thailand. Yes, definitely sweeter and nicer than Malaysia's but boy, it burned my stomach a little after drinking like half a can. Had to take antacid. Even Ban thought it was acidic to him. Maybe we're too old for this :(  ...

 Money can't buy happiness but it can buy so much.  - Celeste, a character in Atlas Reactor 

Dragon Age 2 has so many irrational people. Yes, it heightens the drama but it's dramatically stupid. Some glaring examples:   Templars:   I consistently opposed Meredith, even publicly backed Orsino against her at the start of the last Act. I also helped one of their leaders. Yet, these fellas suspected that I sided with Meredith. WTH.   Anders & Meredith: Anders: Compromise will not work between templars and amges. So I blow up the entire Chantry temple and kill the Grand Cleric. (WTH!) Meredith: I thereby invoke Right of Annulment i.e. kill all mages in the city. (WTH?!) Sebastian: Why invoke the Right of Annulment when the perpetrator is here? (Exactly!) Meredith: The city demands blood and I'm giving it to them. (Are you deaf?)   Fenris: Fenris: Tevinter mage is bad, mistreated me. Therefore all mages in Kirkwall must die so that I don't see them turn bad. Sooo, shall I now say, "An elf betray me, therefore all elves must die so that they won't betray me?...

Early morning after the appointment , mum had itchy rashes again. Despite not looking like the fungal infection rashes, she applied the fungal cream and took antihistamine. Apparently that worked and for a while it was fine until it happened again a few days thereafter. My sister brought mum to see Dr Ling again. Doctor said that they stopped the medication too early. She said that normally it takes at least 3 months to fully recover. In mum's case, it was just a month because she examined mum and concluded that it was likely that mum had fully recovered, thinking that perhaps she was one of the lucky ones who recovered faster. Oh well. Medicine was prescribed for a month and mum was advised to seek the doctor's consultation earlier if condition worsens.

This is a poke bowl (can't remember what!) served at H31 @Damansara Utama last year in 2025. I vaguely recall that it's pretty good. We should go back there again.   Saw this outside a Family Mart outlet. I'm curious on how well this would be.     IIRC this is coconut coffee latte. I tried twice and unfortunately it's not worth it: barely could tell there's coconut in it. So far, ZUS's gula melaka latter with coconut milk is the best. I loved Mixue's toffee hazelnut latte. Even though I always get it at 30% sugar, it still tasted distinctively.   A Seng Kee restaurant opened at Paradigm Mall last year, 2025. As a fan of steamed chicken rice, I had to try it but sadly I now cannot remember details of the food 😅 I just remember that overall, not worth it. I think the dish was not bad but just not worth the price.

Three weeks after the last appointment , we were back at Dr Ling's room. This time she voluntarily told us that the swab test confirmed the fungal infection diagnosis. She was also satisfied with mum's recovery after performing a physical examination. After we told her that despite mum having no prawn allergy for most of her life, the past 3 times she had prawns consistently caused itchy rashes. Mum showed her a photo of the rashes, which the Dr Ling said was bad. Hence, mum was advised to avoid prawns, regardless of the results of the 107 allergens test. I also signed up for the test. Dr Ling explained that the allergen test is testing for the presence of IgE. There are 5 types of antibodies i.e. IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE, and IgD. Allergic reaction that's caused by production of IgE to fight allergens is the most serious compared to other types of antibodies and hence allergy test focuses on IgE. So, even if the IgE allergy test is negative for prawns, mum's allergic reactio...

The cholesteroal results as compared to 4 months ago :                                   Nov 25                 Mar 26                 Ref Total cholesterol            6.1                       6.7                    < 5.2  (<6)* Non-HDL                      4.4                       5.0                    < 3.4    HDL ("good")              1.67                    1.73              ...

Passed by this restaurant many times. Prices are on the high side but looking at its menu on the wall, it might be worth trying it. So recently, we did just that.   I was intrigued by this: As my nephew exclaimed, "Can you even eat it?" after I've shared photo of the dish: Oh yes, it was edible :D In fact, the moment it was served, I smelled the distinctive smell of a typical fried chicken. I loved the plating. The sauce and coleslaw were placed in mini saucepans. Cute :) Salad was more than expected and was consist of a variety of vegetables. Great. Mased potato was good and had a slightly unique taste, probably affected by the chicken on top of it. Chicken had a sprinkle of herb on it that gave its taste a twist, otherwise it tasted like a normal fried chicken. Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the sweet spicy sauce. Ban had the Miso Buttermilk Chicken. Unfortunately, the chicken was "very chicken-y" to him. The rest of the dish was "nice". I woul...