Here's My Story

IMG_6508 , originally uploaded by williamnyk . I had always wanted to try foot massage but two things stopped me: price and fear of embarrassing myself by screaming my lungs out ;-) Well, due to a sudden elevated stress at work, I decided to try Kenko's foot reflexology and foot bath, after having shoulder & neck massage (which includes arms, fingers and head). I (wisely) chose the shortest duration i.e. 45 mins, which consist of 15 mins of bath and 30 mins of massage. First 10 mins of the bath was just my feet in a machine, filled with quite hot water. It's like a jacuzzi for my feet (although I've never tried a jacuzzi before but it sure looks like one). It was relaxing for my feet although it appeared to be streaming on one side more than the other. Meanwhile, I slowly sipped on the flower tea. Then for the next 5 mins was, the masseur scrubbed my feet. Again, a first for me. I was amazed at how smooth my feet felt after. Like baby's feet! Hehe. The foot...

Looking Out To The Sea , originally uploaded by williamnyk . Someone I know vacationed in Nepal recently. To his and everyone's disbelief, he was robbed. No, the amazement was not the robbing but the fact it was done via a stun gun! Stun gun in Nepal! In fact, he didn't know it was a stun gun effect until someone else told him so. He felt electrick shock and then was in a dream-like state while he was being robbed. It was a good thing he didn't carry all his cash with him. So here's a tip: don't carry all your cash while on vacation. He quickly alerted the banks that issued his credit cards. Once back in Malaysia, he called RHB and EON Bank. Here's the second amazing fact of this incident: despite having told the banks that he was robbed, the banks still ask him to pay a fee for them to reissue cards! Seriously, are they brainless? For a mere RM50 and due to no fault of the customer, they're willing to lose a customer and potentially many other custom...

I was given a bomb at work. I was asked to be the main contact person for a particularly troublesome client (i.e. to front for the company). That's on top of a particularly fussy client. What happened was that after performing certain calculations and submitting to client, my colleague discovered a huge spreadsheet error and promptly recalculate and resubmit to client. By then, client has acted upon the erroneous figures and thus understandably was furious with us. Now, I'm not sure why the error occured in the first place and it is entirely feasible that it is not my colleague's fault. Probably his only mistake was not to discuss with my boss on how to handle the situation first and I put it down to lack of experience. However, the damage was done and unjustly it may seem the client apparently has lost confidence in my colleague. Hence, my boss's suggestion of me as a replacement but still with my colleagues performing calculations. Just that I have to make sure th...

The recent weekend was disappointing on a few fronts, ranging from frivolous issue such as the hot weather to serious issue such as the lack of effort in studying and lack of support that led me to fall backward with my life briefly flashing back at me. This morning, the gastroenterologist told me that my Helicobacter Pylori breath test is negative i.e. they all have been slaughtered. He guessed rightly that I still have gastric problem every now and then, due to sensitive stomach. I really wonder how on earth did my stomach get that sensitive? It clearly wasn't there before 1999. One new thing I learned today is that I'm not supposed to consume beans and nuts. Why? Strangely, it didn't strike me to ask him there and then. Anyway, here is the third and last part of my visit to the Garden. Though most of my photos are of flowers, there's probably 50/50 flowering and non-flowering plants in the Garden. Red claws! Recently, I realised that my condo compound has thi...

Haven't had time to do much else for past few nights after I came home, aside from catching the latest Bleach & Naruto Shippuden episodes and several blogs update. Normally I have at least an hour at night to do stuff, depending on the time and duration of the pilates/yoga evening class. However, I've been having problem sleeping past few nights (yet again!) and not too sure why. Have a vague suspicion that it's due to my mouth guard. Due to the refilling of a tooth, the mouth guard has become a bit tight. Since over adjustment would result it being too loose and thus useless, adjustment has to be done bit by bit and comfort via trial and error. Adjusted once but no good. So went without it last night. Though I slept through, I had rather vivid dream and so I knew I didn't sleep well. Woke up once again feeling really tired. So due to such restless nights, I tried sleeping earlier to catch up but not working. Since tomorrow is Saturday, I'll sleep in and h...

William was down in Singapore for a week, from late March to early April. It was the longest stay so far but like most good things, it's never enough :-) On the first Saturday of April, William, Derek, Llyod, Nick and I made our way to Singapore Botanics Garden. If I recally correctly, it was Derek's suggestion although someone has been whinging that his other half had still not brought him there although latter had suggested it before ;-) I had always thought the garden is called Botanical Garden and so I was surprised to learn its actual name. Hmmm I wonder why it's named this way. I supposed it's similar to Historical vs Historic City? *Shrug* So all of us walked around, not necessarily together all the time but within sight of each other most of the time initially. William, Derek and Llyod took photos using proper cameras while I used my gimpy handphone. Nick was there, panting from the sun and the walk hehe. Ok, I did that took but not that obvious :-) Some...

...I ever bought in my life. Cost more than some of my shirts! Bought specifically to match the shirts I bought recently which are of the colour lavender (match with tie at the top), rose red (match with tie in the middle), strong blue (match with tie at the bottom) and black (match with tie at the top and in the middle).

In Singapore, Good Friday is a public holiday. Since a few weeks ago, I had already planned to ask a few friends over for lunch and boardgames on that day. Not sure why but I was in one of those moods (and it's rare these days) to make sushi maki. So I suggested that I would make the makis while someone else brings cut fruits and another brings non-carbonated drinks. Apparently I was over-enthusiastic as most of my friends hedged their response by wanting to confirm closer to the date. About a week ago, I asked again and in the end, Lloyd, Nick, James and Simon turned up yesterday. Lloy and Nick volunteered to get the fruits while James get the drinks. We had guava, papaya, honeydew and watermelon. They came in those sealed plastic cups and were bought from a vending machine at a temple. Amazing! They were amazingly sweet too. Thanks for doing me a favour and not buy sour fruits, Lloyd and Nick :-) As for drinks, while at the mall, James asked me for my preference. I requeste...

Rick is not one who spends recklessly. He'll weigh, measure, read, chat, window shop before deciding whether to buy or not and even then, it's not uncommon that he ends up empty handed. This is a positive characteristic as that means he'll usually get stuff that's value for money and often useful. I've asked his opinion a few times previously e.g purchasing my current phone, which is extemely helpful to me since I'm clueless. Ok, more like because I'm lazy. So imagine my surprise when this happened: Rick: I'm flying home this time. Me: Huh?? Thought you're big fan of coach? Rick: Well, the ticket is really cheap. Ok, maybe that's not surprising. After all it's cheap, right? But how about this baby? Me: Hey, why did you buy that phone ar? Is it because it's touchscreen? Rick: Yah, it's the cheapest touchscreen. Me: Oh I see. Rick: I want to know what's all the fuss about the phone. Me: What the...and you bought it simply ...

In the end, it's these small things that you remember: little imperfections that make them perfect for you. So to my beautiful children, I hope one day you too find yourselves life partners who are as beautifully imperfect as your father was to me. - The Indian lady in the advertisement speaking during an eulogy for her departed Chinese husband

He's not the best-looking man, but he's the most good-looking man on Earth to me. In the morning, while he's sleeping, I lean over to my 46-year old Chinaman and coo, 'So cute!' If the neighbours heard me, they'd think I was mad ... He's got a paunch where he used to have a flat stomach. I said to him, 'You know what? I prefer you with a paunch. You have more to hang on to.' It's so nice! Like a cushion!" - Acclaimed Malaysian director Yasmin Ahmad, on her husband Ps: Mr Skanky, you have a punch line to use now haha.

I think if you want to run life with regrets, you may end up doing little - Ms Ho Ching

It is less than 2 weeks to the breath test for H. Pylori. During this 2 weeks, I have to refrain from taking PPI i.e. proton-pump inhibitors. In short, these are medication that inhibits the production of gastric juice. I've been taking at 1 omeprazole at least at bedtime before this period. However, ever since this moratorium began, I started having gastric again. First it started with gastric in the late morning. The usual treatment with food didn't work. Had to take antacid. Took the usual stronger yellow Actal. Didn't work too well. Went out and bought Mylanta, a liquid antacid. Worked wonders but didn't last as long as I would like it to be but still gratful for its very fast relief. At least, I managed to attend my first Body Balance class, which is basically a combination of yoga, pilates and tai-chi. I like it! It helps that the instructor is good as well. Now I cannot sleep. I was merely in shallow sleep since bedtime and as expected, had to wake up because...

From TODAY newspapers under "Voices" section: " If you really want to save the Earth, why light candles? Letter from Errol Goodenough The report "What they did in the darkness?" (March 30) gives cause for reflection. I hate to be a part-pooper but in the excitement to switch off for Earth Hour, many may have lost the plot. I witnessed families switching off a coiple of lights and then lighting 20 or more candles. At the Esplanade the scene was repeated a hundredfold and it is mind-boggling how many candles have been lit all over the world. If the compaign is about gloval warming and not merely about minising the use of electricity, then one ought to consder the carbon-footprint of a myriad of naked candle flames worldwide. How much carbon was released when all the eco-disciples switched to candle power? One also needs to factor in the processes that produce, transport and market candles, as these could be more eco-friendly than the careful generatio...