A little New Year Excursion

Hope the New Year will bring better news to everyone. 3 more weeks to go before Chinese New Year. More angpows to give away....:P
Gone were the years when I was the one expecting to get big red packets. Anyhow, I enjoy giving them to the little ones coz I can see the light of excitement shine in their eyes, just like how I used to be.

The first day of New Year was, well, normal. The whole family went for breakfast. Once everybody popped in the car after breakfast, Alden started making commands to his grandpa, as usual. ' Ye ye, I want to cross the bridge.' I think apart from his obsession with trains, his second favorite thing in the world is to go across bridges. It can be a flyover or the colorful bridge at the playground. The king has made his demand and the rest has to follow. He went across three that day. We were flat out by the time we got home.

Only manage to take the scene at the first bridge....this one overlooks Sg Kinta in Ipoh town.

'No, no, no...I still want to stay on the bridge!'


The view from the top of the bridge....


At D.R Park. Edric lookin wishfully at Alden, who was buzy crossing the playground's bridge (2nd one).


Grandparents and the grandkids....


At Gunung Lang Recreation Park...The lake was used for some scenes in Anna and the King.
We have to travel for a short disctance by boat to go across the park.

Another scene from an unwilling-to-leave-a-bridge visitor (3rd bridge).


The giant size catfishes in the Lake...what a sight!

Mom's little garden

When I went back home and saw mom's garden patches, I couldn't be happier. Seeing the growing plants always make my day. It was a refreshing sight.
Every morning when I wake up, I'll just walk around the garden and look for the ones that can be harvested. The rewarding feeling was awesome.

So people, try planting vegetables instead of flowers. (That's my mom's current philosophy. Flowers feed the eyes but vegetables feed your soul and tummy. It's convenient and we can minus the threat of ingesting pesticide too. Whatever we need, we pick them fresh from the farm.)

You don't have to have a large piece of land. You can always start planting in pots. Spring onion, brinjals, chillis and parsley are great potted plants. Tomatoes, bittergourd, okra and peas are a lot more trickier though.
But anyhow, just give it a try. I'm starting on mine soon.


Mom's parsley..She has 10 pots of them!
She often sell the extra harvest at the market.


Crazy tomatoes....extra sour too..

Sayur apa ni ah? I have no idea what's the name of this bean.

Harvest of the day....

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas Wish : Peace in my heart.

Somehow, unknowingly, I found peace. All the prayers sent up, I think I've received the answer.

Each time when I'm nearly in the brink of losing control, I'll tell myself 7 times 77 times. It's just something that caught my attention from an article in Daily Bread. It taught me patience.

I just want to wish all of my beloved friends and relatives that have supported me in the past few difficult months, a very Merry Christmas. Thank you very much for the care and love. May the faith, hope and peace of Christmas be with you always.

Crossroad

As depressed as I sound, I am really at the crossroads. Telan mati bapa, luah mati emak. Only a few of my clossest comrades will know the why I am like this.
Kindness in this world is difficult to find but I found it in the hands of strangers.
Human psychology is the least of my understanding. The harshness and softness of words can change the course of human lives. Some words are full of meaning but some uttered aimless and empty.
The motto that my husband opted : Respect and thou shall be respected; is this true?

I need to some convincing.

Well, I had my neucloplasty in the early September. Recuperated quite good and started yoga class in October. Thought I'm well into recovery. Somehow my nightmare is recurring.
Starting to have numbness in my right side of my jaw and neck. Right hand is hurting. Left foot doesn't work as efficient. I'm off for another MRI in 3 weeks time.
I have no idea what to feel right now. Better not think about it.

Remember to learn to use your body right. Posture is everything.

One step at a time...I guess...

Just had a review today. I went to SMC for a full body MRI and finally found the culprit.
I have a disc prolapse in between C6 and C7, which is compressing my spinal cord. Since my C4 and C5 are fused into a block, the orthopaedic is against the procedure of replacing the prolapse disc with titanium plate or bone block coz all my other cervical discs will be placed under further stress. He suggested to do a new procedure called nucleoplasty.

Neucloplasty is a procedure where with the help of an x-ray machine, a laser probe is inserted into the disc through a needle. The probe is used to evaporate part of the disc with the hope to retract the herniation that's indenting my cord. This is the least invasive procedure. I can only hope that the disc lifespan can last me for a few years to come. There is a high chance that I would be needing another surgery in the future to replace it coz it is already weakened. The MRI also showed that all my other cervical (neck) discs are degenerating. I wonder what else can go wrong.

I just talking to myself now. Guess this is the only place I can cry out for now coz I don't want to get all teary in front of people. Right now I think laughter will be my best medicine. I really miss my husband and Alden.
Gosh...I'm really blabbering to myself...

Tick Tock..the pain is ticking..

What is supposed to be a time of refuge and peace turns out to be one of the worst episode of my life. But I'm glad to be home.

My right shoulder started hurting after confinement. Thought it was due to what's normally known as 'masuk angin' or 'novingkat (for Kadazanlah)'. When I came back home for Chinese New Year earlier, I went for a couple of traditional massage sessions and it gave relief.

However, my right fingers became stiff every morning when I woke up a few weeks afterwards. At times I woke up in the middle of the night coz the fingers became painful. When I got back home early this month, the first thing I did was to go for the traditional massages. It gave only a bit of relief. I decided to give the orthopaedic a visit. Was told that a nerve in my neck was swollen thus affecting the function of my right hand. Gave me a few medication and a session of physiotherapy. The next morning, I wasn't able to grip both of my hands. So, off to the doc again. The bomb dropped on me that morning. The x-ray I took of my neck showed clearly of the C4 and C5 fusion. I didn't feel anything when he told me of my condition. Then I asked him what is there to be done and he repeated the same question to himself. Tears unknowingly started trickling down my face when he told me it is impossible to surgically separate the 2 bones. 'Lifelong medication and therapies'.....the words just went sailing through my mind and boy, was I sad at that moment. 'You better not carry your son.' I became depressed when I heard those sentence.

What am I supposed to do? Kept on asking myself that. I cried a river when I called hubby that day. Mommy was braver than I anticipated. She didn't shed a tear though her eyes became red when I broke the news to her. She's trying to be strong for me. I'm forever grateful for that coz I was determine not to cry in front of her, ever.

I started daily therapies from that day on. My condition worsened last Tuesday. Both of my legs and hand were terribly painful in the evening. Got myself warded into QEH that night. However, the orthopaedics and neurologist could not figure out why my limbs are hurting as the symptoms are not associated to my fused vertabraes (according to themlah). They only know there's problem with my nerves. I have to depend on painkiller each time I have a bout of the near-cramps experience. I couldn't walk properly at times.
The neurologist wanted to do a Nerve Conduction Study but my appointment is on 18 Sept coz the queuing line is a mile long. I got discharged as there is nothing to be done or can be done. I only have gabapentin - a neuropathic pain reliever, to help me at the moment.

Guess I got to check myself in the private hospital eh....hope I'll find the answer and correct treatment soon or else I might end up being a drug junkie..he,he,eh..fancy that..

Red and delicious.

I just made apple puree to add into Edric's cereal this morning. When I look at the ripe, red fruit, I told myself that I did not give this fruit the appreciation it deserved. Other than being used as the name for one of the largest American multinational corporation, I didn't really know the benefits and the nutritions of it.

Why does the proverb say an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Research suggested that apples may reduce the risk of colon, prostate and lung cancers. It contains antioxidant and helps regulate bowel movement, though it relatively contains less vitamin C than the other fruits.

All that I know is this fruit is 'safe' for pregnant ladies and a sick child with flu and cough. Safe means it's not 'cold or too cooling' (for the chineselah).
It's great as a titbit when you are in a rush, a ready-to-go kinda fruit. It's yummy for a soup, tastes great in salads (green ones), scrumptious in pies and cakes, good for a baby, refreshing when juiced and makes a fine vinegar.

The apple tree comes from the same family as the rose. Do you know that the apple seeds are poisonous? Found out about it in Wikipedia. The seeds are only mildly toxic and not enough to be dangerous to human but the birds do stay away from them.

In Christianity, the apple tree has been labelled as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The whole of my life, that's what I thought. When I read further into the article, found out that, apple is the generic term for all foreign fruit in Greek and also means ' fruit ' in Old English.

The forbidden fruit in the Book of Genesis is not identified, yet the word apple has been used several times in it. The Renaissance painters also helped etched this fruit as the forbidden one in our minds as they added the elements of Greek mythology into the biblical scenes.

I love apple-picking season. Used to go to the apple farms with my housemates to pick the nice, juicy ones. Miss the sight, miss the smell, miss the feeling of total bliss when I saw the fruit-laden trees. Most of all I miss the friends I had fun with. :)

Don't really eat fruits everyday, which is bad. I don't really drink lots of water as recommended, which is even worse. I drink caffeine everyday, which is the worst. Sigh..I think I have to make a food resolution soon or my skin gonna go from bad to worst.

Anyhow, I just found a nice site out of sheer curiosity. Been searching for games that feature apples and I bumped into The Apple Season game by Orisinal. It's a straightforward game but addictive coz I just can't stop catching the falling apples!!!

http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g2/applegame.htm

Orisinal has a lot more online games to play. The toons are cute too; lovable creatures (ha!)... Have a go at it if you want to kill time once in a while... (By the way, I love the Bugs game. I'm just like the kid popping bubbles so I can see the ladybirds fly. Weeeee....feel like I'm 10 years old again playing this game.)
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/

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Are girls really like apples? Hmm..some of them should not wait when the right guy passes by. She just have to fall from the tree and give the guy a knock on the head as the first hello...