Here's My Story

The following photo might be disturbing for some: it's a photo of the part of my dad's femur that was surgically remove d...along with the tumours on it.

During the last trip to Singapore with Ban, a friend recommended this to me. Once there, I noticed that it was already prepacked and refrigerated. I usually don't like cold taufufa but boy, this one was great. It just burst and melted in my mouth the moment I munched it. Highly recommended!

I was supposed to be in Butterworth toay while Ban was supposed to be on the way but my ilness resulted in postponement my mum's appointment with the psychiatric clinic. As a result, Ban and I celebrated earlier and this time we invited William and Derek to join us as they were they ones who introduced us to each other. Unfortunately, due to last minute arrangement (yes, our schedule was packed!), Derek couldn't make it. As usual, we dined at Kinpachi. I was surprised to learn that it was William's first time there. We had a good time there. Since I'm sick, I doubt we're doing anything fancy today. I just want to rest at home and so would want to minimise my time outside. Happy 10th anniversary, honey dearest. Thanks for being a good person and for loving me. I know my presence has enlivened your life but more importantly I hope you feel much loved from me. Muack!

Recently, I came across an actuarial report that alarmed me. It was an actuarial review/valuation (title of report was "review" but they had prepared "actuarial valuation study") of a country's social secrutiy retirement system. Common actuarial practice for such review/valuation is to determine and select assumptions that best reflect the system going forward. This is codified into professional code of conduct/professional standard/guidance note of various established prominent professional actuarial bodies. Yet, in this report, it was stated that the client had the final say in selecting methodology and assumptions. Clearly, the actuary wasn't given the independence they needed as it would be absurd to assume otherwise i.e. their client gave it but the actuary declined. This just reduced the actuary to a mere highly skilled technician. Even if various caveats were inserted to clearly disclaim their responsibility in selecting assumptions (which I sti...

I remember a year or so ago, there was a stage where my dad regularly expressed his worry of being a burden to his children, which I sincerely denied so. It is still true that his physical ailment (i.e. his cancer) or my mum's mental ailment (i.e. bipolar disorder) is not a burden to me. Those I can help them e.g. plan their hospital appointments, be familiar with the chronoligal development of their ailments and their medication; journey to Butterworth and stay there for a while to bring them to their various appointments; asking doctors pertinent questions, giving them relevant information and help them to rephrase their questions to my parents. Yes, it's exhausting but I can do it. What I cannot handle, and it frustrates me, is their unreasonable behaviour/attitude. For example, (1) It's understandable that my dad isn't happy being at nursing home despite him seeing the necessity but it frustrates me that he is making it an even worse experience by not doing t...

This is what happens when I let Ban customise my in-game chracters according to their portraits: He loves to spend hours on customising his characters. Sometimes that's all he does in a gaming session lol. Muack!

Saw this at a highway R&R in the north (probably Tapah): Interesting. I wonder how popular it is.

Five days after consultation with PCU and thirteen days after discharged from Adventist Hospital , my sister and I brought my dad to the hospital for follow-up appointment with Dr P. The specialist told us that dad was using the walker incorrectly: he wasn't supposed to walk into the 'box' but only to its back. Later, I messaged the manager of Jasper Lodge to get her staff to adjust the walker a little higher so that my dad wouldn't need to bent over using it this way. Dr P checked the surgical wound on dad's leg as well as tested his leg. (1) He was happy with the good healing of the wound, without infection. (2) During surgery, he noticed that the soft tissue around dad's left hip had hardened. This might explain why dad couldn't fully straighten his left leg while lying on the bed. This is a concern as it affects his walking. So Dr P wrote a letter to the physiotherapist on appropriate exercise, especially one that helped with hip extension. My d...

....from a single tree!

Dad changed his mind a few times about staying at nursing home but always relented each time I reminded him the reasons we put forth for him to recuperate there. However that didn't stop him fron nitpicking when my sister brought him to Jasper Lodge. Geram! The final straw for me, when I was speaking with him on the phone, was about food. I reprimanded him for sweating over the small stuff and that he had to think of the important ones: the reasons why he was there. He hadn't even been there for 24 hours, for goodness sake. It was obviously he already made up his mind that he didn't want to even try and so spewing out negative comments. It didn't help that the pain in his leg flared up when the staff there tried to lift his legs onto the bed (he was already sitting on the bed. "This is a bad sign." *Groan*. Upon my sister's suggestion, they brought up a lazy chair, newer and sturdier than the one at home, and that worked for him. Phew. Dad: I try fo...