Miracle O7

I was pretty much doing what I did in Miracle 06, I did a lot but I was not there to work out. This time my excuse was I had back pain, cannot jump. It was a Saturday, I had just come back from Pahang.... the terrible long drive gave me back pain ( however some other people might come up with their stories as to how I might have gotten my back pains).

Sayang took a half day off, so that she could attend this special launch, charity and get together with the body combat guys. I of course just like last year came by because she was there.

Service with a Smile (FF staff on the left, helping with registration)

By the time we arrived, the place Cineleisure was already packed with people. Not so much from Fitness First members, staff, etc, but the complex had other plans of their own. We went straight down to the LG floor to register Sayang and buy those tickets.


On the way down, we saw many familiar faces, especially CLM members whom I missed dearly. Since I wasnt gonna work , I might as well walk around and start taking pictures, to remember this event by. I got to say hello to my Body Attack gang, Body Combat Gang, and my RPM gang was there too (also just standing around ).

After watching the BC launch from the side, I found that I have either become less interested in BC or those choreographers at Les Mills are running out of ideas. Songs, becoming more and more rock like. On the bright side, I loved the Queen Song.

Back to just the launch, and looking at the 6 instructors on stage, at least this time around, they were each given a track to present. Unlike the last time, where only one fella , (eh Rene right ) presented the entire launch.

Its nice to see 3 other instructors up on stage for cool down as well.

THE REST OF THE PICS and One Video Right at the bottom

Combat Challenge Group from Cheras Leisure Mall (whats the group's name again ?) - Leader Jason , right most

Combat Challenge Group from - Leader Leslie (holding guitar)

Combat Challenge Group from Axis I think () - Leader Michelle left most, and The two Combat Instructor Trainees, Weng and Darkside

Also managed to get Body Attack Challenge Group, Pentium 5 see their hands ... they werent trying to grab me, just showing us 5

Before the launch, Shades getting his hair sprayed with color

The males instructors getting ready , putting on make up

Later that day: before the launch started, I went horsing around outside Cineleisure

Rings on FCI's head, angel ? hmm...

Ok the whole launch team including the three instructors who participated in the Body Combat Challenge thing.

Signing off ,

Shades and his presentation for , eh which track already ah?

Raub, Chinese Tarts and Pastries

It 's time to go back to Merapoh again. Stopping by at Raub purposely to go back to this unmarked Kopitiam in the heart of Raub. I previously had stumbled upon this Kopitiam , keyword "stumbled" after I had lunch at Ratha Curry house, "Famous Curry Fish Head Restaurant". Unfortunately for me, it was only famous, I wished it was delicious too.



So the story begin after we had lunch at Ratha's. While walking back to our car, we were talking about how you can be famous , yet your food sucks. How come in the heart of Raub town we couldn't find some nice chinese food to sample wan ? Just as that thought came by, we saw a Chinese Kopitiam, really traditional koptiam la. Inside I saw a lot of people queing up to buy something, that attracted my attention.



What were the signs of a succesful restaurant, or a place that sells good food. Firstly, you must see a crowd. Secondly there have newspaper clippings of their establishment published in various news papers. Thirdly, if their business is unmarked, and yet you find so many people in the koptiam... I concluded, this place I must try....



I contributed to the long que myself. I took my place behind a line of 6 persons. Since they were people infront of me, I got a lot of time to do my research on what they have to offer. Kaya Puff, Curry Puff, Egg Tarts, Siew Pau, Chee Cheong Fun.

On special occasions, they also sell Lou Por Biscuit (wife Biscuit).

So I ordered, Kaya Puffs, Siew Pau, Egg Tart (sold out), Lou Por Biscuit. Their kaya puffs were simply better than the normal ones. Their pastry smells nice, crispy and yet moist. Their kaya fillings are thick, and had a rich santan smell to it (definitely home made kaya). Their siew pau, tasted very sweet, not from sugar, but from the lard and pork they put into it. I must say those were some of the better tasting siew paus I have had.




Okay , so how do you get to this kopitiam ? I remembered if you were standing at the Raub Bus Station, looking across the street, this place is at the Kim Fah Hotel, opposite of the bus station on the Right Hand Side. It is just simply called, Kedai Kopi. Nama apa ? They didn't mention. On the outlook it just looked like a simple kopitiam, if not for the crowd they had inside there, I wouldn't have ventured into the coffee shop at all. I really Stumbled ( Pak Chong ) into this place this time.




Today I made the trip to go down to this Kedai Kopi again. This time I managed to sit down and ordered some drinks. I ordered a Teh C Ping. Chee Cheong Fun. It took a while for them to serve the drinks, and then the food. While waiting, I helped myself to one egg tart (which was sold out previously), Kaya Puff and one Siew Pau. The quality of their pastries, I just reconfirmed today are of excellent quality. I wouldn't say its the best, but for this price range, I must say they come in at the Top 3.

So the tea finally arrived after waiting for 5 minutes, abit too long for my liking. I took a sip. If you liked Uncle Lim's Teh C, this kedai kopi serves much better Teh C. Their Chee Cheong Fun, is also slightly different from the usual ones we eat in KL. The Cheong Fun is standard, the sauce is just nice, not too sweet and not too salty. Their chili sauce is standard, the usual chee cheong fun chili sauce, but they do add a tea spoon of sambal cooked with small shrimps (hmm... har mai sambal ). That probably made their chee cheong fun, a lot different and a bit better than the usual ones we get in KL. Their Fu Chook is rolled up, like a Fu Quin . Overall they also served some of the better tasting Chee Cheong Fun. There is another thing to this. They sell Chee Cheong Fun not in pieces, but by servings.

So after eating all that up, I was feeling full. More patrons came in and ordered different types of food. One of them that interests me is their empty thick toast, served with Chicken Curry. Will definitely come back to try this the next time.

So the next time you come down to Raub, do stop by and ta pao some pastries back to KL. They will obviously be better than a lot of pastries you've had.

Goodbye Loganathan Arumugam

ric

I was quite shocked to hear two days ago that Loga , one of the icons of Malaysian music was hospitalized. Sayang must have read some place that he was suffering from cancer. And then in a short time, she had read on some blog that he has passed away.

Although I was not a hardcore fan who knew the lyrics to all their songs, I have time and time again, confessed to how much I like their music. Although I have never bought their albums, I have always been able to walk into a pub where they were playing their songs.



The most recent gig they did was at a Pub in TheCurve, Damansara. Or was it Hotel Royalle Bintang. That picture was taken in Dec 16 2006. We never suspected how come Loga got replaced. Bands always change members, but in this picture Loga was replaced by someone of similar built. The only thing missing was the ball of hair on his head.

Anyways, thank you Mr Loga, for all the nice hits, you have given us.

Kuala Lipis - Hakka Mee

It was supposed to be another routine morning where we wake up early in the morning, go to our usual Malay stall and have our usual nasi lemak or nasi kerabu. We are however fast becoming bored with the usual kind of food we can eat in Lipis. Our choices limited largely due to the fact we have a malay colleague tagging along most of the time.

Kuala Lipis is a small town, even if you combine the all the Taman Taman perumahans ( can count them all with fingers on one hand) and the actual Center of town itself. Luckilly for us, our colleague doesn't eat breakfast. So we are free to roam and eat whatever we want to .

So we ventured off into the center of Kuala Lipis town. Where we heard (rumours-la) that in Kuala Lipis, one stall is very famous for their Hakka Mee. I am not very sure when was the last time I had hakka mee, or how is actually taste like. So off we went.

So we parked out car, and walked to the Chinese Foodcourt Lane. Its a lane where you can find chinese hawker food in Kuala Lipis town. If you get lost, mmy directions for you is, stop at the Kuala Lipis train station and ask where you can find chinese food. This lane is divided into two sections, this review is on the Hakka Mee stall, on the Upper Half section of this lane. There is another hakka mee stall in the lower half of this lane.


Ok, one look at the pic above, we could tell the noodles are home made. Personally for me, I don't like to eat mee, I am a mee hoon and kwai teo person. But this home made noodles are not yellow (means they din't put in any egg yolks, and it looks quite dry (still got flour wan) means not so oily. *light bulb* Healthy Noodles.

So what is so nice about the noodles ? When the bowl first arrived on my table I thought they made a mistake. I asked for kon lou , means dry. My noodles were clear and drenched in half a bowl of soup. They put in lots of minced pork, 3 fish balls and a pinch of spring onions.

The boss said, memang like that one hakka mee. If you want the dark noodles with dark sauce also can. Oh, if like that one , I will be very happy to try it.

Frankly speaking, its not bad. No big deal. But the noodles feels nice when you bite into it. The soup is standard ching tong soup. The noodles.. wa, I can really go on and on and on about it.



Some people might argue the best Hakka Mee is in Sarawak ( its like Kolo Mee ) or the best one is in Ipoh (everywhere u go u find hakka mee in ipoh). In Kuala Lipis they serve you a decent portion, the place looks clean, you won't get flys plunging into your noodles. The pricing is very decent also.

Taman Negara - Ikan Kelah

Its back to the jungle again , after that horrendous time I had in the hospital. Some one called me the Little Prick... Victim !! Work stalled while I was away, and I was anxious to start the ball rolling again at work. One more site to install , Taman Negara, clean clean waters, and lots of ikan kelah !!!

So work took us right to the brigde where the 4 day journey to Gunung Tahan begins. I was at Gunung Tahan's base camp. Make not mistake, this is Tmn Negara , Merapoh, not Kuala Tahan. You won't find 5 star accomodations, restaurants, lots of tourists here. Instead you find crystal clear waters, cool, quiet and peaceful camp site.

Trekking up to Gunung Tahan

This is also the site where they have the Kelah Sanctuary. The ikan kelah is the most sought after fresh water fish locally. So much sought after that it is now almost extinct. When you enter the park gates and register yourself to enter this park at the ranger's office, you would have walked past their aquariums where they have Kelah's that weigh up to 8kg. You can't miss it.... over here you get to see the Kelah swimming in the wild.


Next stop was the observation tower where in the background is the Gunung Tahan peak. Unfortunately for us , most wildlife was already sleeping or resting in the heat of noon. According to Park Ranger Azmi, most wildlife wake up early in the morning , rest by Noon, or wake up close to sunset and play until late morning.




From this platform, we should be able to hear them hunting, eating , doing their wild activities, etc. We managed to see Elephant treks along the road we were travelling on. The river we were allowed to install our sensors is one of the spots the elephants play. I was quite surprised to find out that we rarely spot elephants during the day. They are mostly nocturnal animals. hmm.... what about those elephants in the zoo ?

I was told that once in a blue moon, some fisherman will be able to catch the Kelah, but really its really like striking gold when you try to find this fish outside of the National Park. This fish is fussy when it comes to water cleanliness. The current market rate is about RM120 per kg. Not sure if you can find them in restaurants, but I am sure it will cost even more. Hope to get some one day....

Choc Chip Cookies, & Crab Curry

CCC , and CC will be served for CC's potluck dinner.

We began at about 130pm after lunch. We started by beating the butter until it becomes fluffy, then we put in the egg. Thats where all the hard work is actually. I was doing it for a good 20 minutes, when the mix is well done, we put in the dough mix. Wah, I am already having a good workout. It took us another about 10-15 minutes before the dough is wrapped.

By now the dough is choclately sticky. The blend was quite sweet I thought. Next time will definitely try to make own dough and will remember to make it less sweet. Sayang thought it was too sweet , Sayang's dad thought it should be the way it is.



Then we put the cookie dough into the baking tray. Lined with baking paper. Heated the oven up to 180C and we put in the cookies to bake for 10 minutes. After 6 minutes we could see the cookies beginning to flatten. When we took the cookie trays to turn them around , I had the idea of putting M&Ms on top of them.



Not knowing whether the M&M's will turn out nice , we only put in a few. That also because we put it in, while the cookies were getting baked. So everything turned out quite nice, except that sayang was complaining it was too sweet.


The crab curry was later. The raw ingredients, were, fish curry paste, all the different spices, and fresh crabs. Hmm this dish was cooked by Sayang's mom, I was there to take pictures and curi makan sahaja. So here are the before pics.



The spices are being fried before the curry paste and chili mix was put into the pot.



After the chili mix and spices are cooked, we put in the watery santan and the crabs to cook. It was simmered for about 10 minutes .

After about 15 minutes, of simmering, and moving the crabs around to ensure that the crabs are cooked evenly. Sayang's mom, took out the finishing ingredient. Santan Kelapa kao kao.

After she put it in, the lid was closed and left to simmer for another 10 minutes in low fire.



The final result was superb. By the time the stove was switched off, fresh crab curry aroma filled the entire house. Lovely aroma, and the taste is of course quite superb.

Here are the recipes :

Choclate Chip Cookies
Crab Curry

Damansara Seafood Village

Sayang and I had the pleasure of trying out Patrick's Steamboat place somewhere in Kampung Kayu Ara. Its Damansara Seafood Village. Coincidentally, in today's Sunday Mag, this place was featured in the food section of the publication. I must say I did see the pictures from their website, the restaurant looked really classy, picturesque is more like the word to use here.

I was there for the first time, and it looked like any other steamboat restaurants you can find in Manjalara, or in Cheras Business Center. The only difference is that, is has got huts in and around the place, other wise it is open air dining.

We went early, reached at about 7pm, to beat the crowd. I snapped a few pictures of the restaurant. It came out really nice, I mean, the pictures make the place look a lot nicer than in real life.






Al Fresco dining was the words Patrick used to describe this setting. This place is lacking in air conditioning, or fans around the place. If they had vapour fans all over the place, then it would have been a lot more enjoyable to eat. I basically began to sweat the moment we sat down, to the moment we left.



The usual stuff can be found on the table, Chili Sauce, Onion Oil, and Ginger Chili mix. So when we sat down, a nice fella came over to take our orders. He placed two nicely laminated menu for us to look at. Took our drinks order and left us alone to go through the menu. When he came back, he suggested we try their seafood set, for 2 pax.. RM59.90 nett. In this set you get 1 person standard serving, 200gms of prawns, Clams, and 2 flower crabs. They boast of serving only swimming seafood over here, and I must say their seafood is quite fresh. I was okay with most stuff except for their clams. Make sure you cook them for 3 minutes in boiling water minimum. Smelly wan !!





The dining experience was the usual steamboat one. Nothing special over here. You don't get Patrick dancing for you or singing or anything like that. However, I did notice, how brisk business was. By 730pm, the restaurant was full already. By 745 pm, you already have a 30 minute waiting list. I ordered lemon lime, while sayang was slowly korek-ing her coconut after she had enough to eat.




By 8pm, quite a number of kids could be spotted at the fountain near the entrance. I was wondering if they were actually fishing for their food. Oh, longkang fishing really did keep the kids occupied. My friend down there had the biggest catch of the day.



When you come over to this place, you have to try the different types of seafood stuff they offer. Don't just order the normal steamboat stuff. Why ? You will find it pricey and not special. If you tried their seafood set, at least the money you pay, you get to eat some real seafood, freshly cooked in front of you.

Oh ya one more thing, parking can be a hassle here, plus, If you want to come late, please make reservations.

1067, Jalan Jenjarum,
Kg. Sg. Kayu Ara,
off Jalan SS23/10, 47400 Petaling Jaya.
Open for Dinner 7 nights a week.
Reservations: Tel: 03 7803 1832

They have a blog too: Damansara Seafood Village

Also read the following reviews

KYeats
UV Musings
Stephen Lim

Recovering from Dengue

Recovering From Dengue

So after 5 days of "enjoyable" stay at the hospital, the doctor came to me one morning and told me, we will see the blood test results, if everything is okay, you can be discharged. You did hear about my appetite which wasn't present, but that day, I must have recovered abit, I was caught eating some fruits when the doctor came in. Whatever it was, the hospital food didn't help me very much with the appetite, I was wacking the grapes, Jambu Air which was brought over by parents and relatives.

When I got discharged that, day, I remembered the doctor telling me, eat anything you want to eat. My body was still bloated, I looked fat, had a lot of water in my body. I got discharged on a Wednesday and got a two day MC, for Thursday and Friday. I slept most of the time, with my appetite still recovering. No more fevers to say the least.

Sayang was nice enough to come over every day, hence her disappearance from gym.

On Thursday and Friday, my sleeping patterns were still abit weird. I'd sleep at 10pm the latest, and wake up at 2 - 3 am and stay awake till 5am. I had time to think, during these two days of staying awake in the morning. I was thinking about things I wanted to eat, do, as well as gym.

I know my workout patterns will have to change. Less BC, perhaps more weights training, and little bit more RPM for myself. As I lay there in the middle of the night, I somehow had the time to not only think, but to visualize what I was going to do in gym as part of my recovery program. While I was thinking, more like visualizing, I was getting cramps just walking up the stairs back into my room.



Saturday afternoon, I was ready to drive out on my own. We went watch Wild Hogs at TGV @ KLCC. Just the right kind of movie to get you going again after being bed ridden for so many days. You somehow had to go somewhere, do something, and also to eat something. Hence the pic, at Chilli's, I needed my beef. The movie was great, no doubt about it, and so was the food. Yummy !!



So come Sunday, I was well rested ( relatively), recovering very well from dengue and all, I got tempted to go to gym. I walked into BC class, after 3 tracks, I punctured liao. During the warmup track, my legs almost cramped. So I paced myself through 3 tracks before moving out to the weights area to do some circuit training. 2 sets of Circuit Training, and I was exhausted. Phew !! I had to come to terms with myself then, my recovery wasn't that fast, I am probably old liao, the amount of muscle lost, my body still have to readjust to the condition.

Circuit training is probably the best way to recover for now. The programme was simple, a little bit of something for the whole body to recondition it back.

Hack Squats, Leg Extension, Lunges
Upper Back Row, Low Rows, Pulldowns
Chest Press, Flyes
Shoulder Press, Upright Rows
Bicep Curls, Tricep Extensions
Abs

Sayang did a little bit more than me in terms of resistance and reps. By the end of the 2 sets, I was already sweating buckets ( thanks to 3 BC tracks), and exhausted.

I did the same thing on Tuesday. We went to MJH, Sayang went for her BC Class, while I could not attend, I stayed downstairs to re-condition my body. This time it began with 10 minutes of warmup on the bike, followed by:

Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, 2 Sets each
Pulldowns, Upper Back Row, Low Back Rows
Incline Chest Press, Flyes,
Shoulder Presses, Bicep 21's, Tricep Presses, Tricep Extension
Abs

This time around, I increased the resistance by a little bit. Also did 2 sets of it, and by the end of it, I was again exhausted, and sweating buckets. Skipped Wednesday, for recovery, and Thursday since I was off, we went to Curve to attend BC. I proudly lasted all ten tracks, without doing many options. My legs didn't feel like cramping. I told myself, if I can last 10 tracks, I will attempt to do a RPM class.

Today was great, my body still aching from Thursday's class, I attempted to do BC again. I was okay until track 8, that was when my body suddenly didn't have enough energy to continue punching, and scissoring. Its like that stupid KFC advertisment, the idiot asks, Never Eat Rice ah ? My reserves went zelo, conditioning also cannot tahan.

I think the circuit training helped quite abit, so next week I will attempt to do 3 sets instead of two, with 2 minutes of cardio in between sets(just to keep up the heart rate abit). Time to up the tempo abit and see how I recover from this.

I found one website which has got a range of circuit training programmes for different types of atheletes.

Now my next challenge is to finish one RPM class without cheating.

FatboykenaDengueFever.Blogspot.com Part 4

They came and took my blood every morning. There was a period of 2 - 3 days which I remembered those nurses kept coming in on the hour to monitor my bp and temperature. I experienced a suppository for the first time in my life.

They stuffed fever, gastric and anti vomitting medicine up my ass. I gotta say, suppositories worked really well for me, especially for the fever meds. The reason why they had to stuff meds up my ass is as according to them, I kept throwing up meds they put in through my mouth. Not true, about my meds getting vomitted, but I did involuntarilly vomit quite often before meals and sometimes after meals.

My appetite was not there at all, and of course the hospital food did not help much. Coupled with the fact that I haven't had curry ( fever not supposed to take curry or something like that), the food I consumed during that period were like, white bread, milo O, fish porridge ( with no fish ), chicken porridge ( where the chicken smelt like they didn't wash it), we get cream crackers for tea time ( not bad but too dry for me to swallow).

Mom will always ask me, what can she cook for me? She tried Mee Suah with fish. That was a lot easier to swallow, because mee suah is thin noodles, with soup. Luckilly I had mom to cook stuff for me, but once she knew I could eat those, she just repeated it. Yucks !

She also brought double boiled bitter gourd and frog soup. Supposed to have the cooling effect on my body.

I'd moved rooms, the doctor put me next to another dengue patient. That young fler seem to recover much faster and easier than me. I spent two nights there and the fler was out liao. I had another Indian fler who had kidney stone problem he, also got discharged. And also another old chinese fler whom I did not know what his problem was, also got discharged on my second night.

Saturday afternoon was a quiet one. I was the only patient in the ward of four. I hate ward visitors, they are fucking noisy and they come in numbers. This is supposed to be a fucking ward, where patients are usually feeling fucked up and wish to rest. But they allow visitors to come in flocks, and make a lot of noise. Talk on their handphones and shout across the room , etc.

Sunday I had a new room mate, some mamak fler. He had a crowd too, but at least they were much quieter. I totally hate it when they bring kids to the hospital. They run around, make a whole lot of noise and disturb the patients, who were already feeling fucked up. I am sure after the kids run around and make all those noise, the patients felt more fucked up.

You know what? I got a theory. The hospital people know that by having visitors around they will make noise and disturb other patients, it won't make you die, but instead they make you feel more fucked up so you'd stay an extra 2 or 3 more nights. That way they make more money.... coz they got two or more days to feed you their medicines, you sleep on their uncomfy beds and utilize their room for a few more days.

People who visit should just come, say hello , wish them well, give them their flowers, fruits , whatever and leave. If they want to catch up, they should do it at the cafeteria downstairs. Its like when their friends / family members are not sick they don't come visit....

My time I had dengue, was never pleasant, not even one second of it. The vomitting helped me feel a little better. The nurses were just doing their job , except for one fat nurse, who abused me while I was bed ridden.

I had no idea why she did try to inflict pain onto a helpless dengue patient like me, but she did. She inserted the digital thermometer into my mouth, when inserting you should do it gently, but instead she'd poke the thermometer in my mouth, ouch !! Then for dunno what reason, the thermometer took an extra long time to stabilize, so she turned the thermometer while it was still in my mouth. It felt like fuck, I had no energy to fuck her , otherwise I might have slapped that Bitch ! So we know , that there are cases where the nurses would let off steam on helpless patients. Why they do it , only they know.....

Sayang brought the traditional remedy of Papaya Leaf Herb drink, tasted very bitter , but it was said to help a lot of dengue patients overcome their fever. So I took it obediently. My fever subsided for that night and I was able to sleep much better. The papaya leaf was pounded and the juice was squeezed out. Look I found a website of similar testimony about papaya leaf juice. Her daddy pounded them for me. :D

USJ FORUM
SJMC EXAMPLE
BLOG ENTRY

So Sayang and I had this debate, of whether it was the Papaya Leaf Juice or was it the blood transfusion that helped cure my dengue. I'd say a little of both. My body wasn't really responding very well to Panadol, in fact I never have been very friendly with Panadols. It doesn't work for me most of the time. Mom had tried to make Lin Yong , that made my fever worst.

Luckilly the Doctor moved me next to this dengue patient. Western medicine will not approve of administering Papaya Leaf juice as a cure in their hospitals, but instead, they put you next to the patient who has had similiar success with Papapya Leaf Juice. Smart right this doctor.

So when I was first given this remedy, my platelet count was down to 9. Earlier in the day, the had already given me 4 packs of blood. Two days later you could see my platelet count had risen to 167. By the third day I was discharged.

I had lost 10kgs after the 9 days of fever, mostly muscle mass. My body fat percentage is 28%. It didn't change much, but since my weight has gone down, I assume now my muscle mass has dropped tremendously.

My liver is enlarged, and the hospital actually tells me that I owe them 4 packets of blood. When asked whether I could give them blood back, they said no, not in a year or two will I have enough blood for myself. So now I am on a quest to look for 4 blood donors to give blood back to Pantai Cheras. The damage on my liver is quite bad la, so it seems.

Until today I am getting my blood taken to continuously monitor my liver condition. My doctor wanted to be sure that my liver is recovering at a good rate.

I looked up Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia and it lists liver damage as one of the complications caused by dengue fever:

Complications

• Shock
• Encephalopathy
• Residual brain damage
• Seizures
• Liver damage

Hopefully I didn't get any brain damage from the fever.


to be continued

FatboykenaDengueFever.Blogspot.com Part 3

That is theorectically how my fever started, for those who asked. I got bitten by that aedes mozzie. Where did I get bitten ? Seriously it could have beeen anywhere. Doctors were telling me it takes the virus 7-10 days of incubation before the host shows the first signs of fever. But on countback, I was probably still in Korea at that time. Maybe less time, then I could be in Pahang, in Kuala Lipis when I was bitten.

Thursday 1130am, 19th April 2007.

I was already home after the trip to the clinic, already in bed trying to sleep. The phone rang and minutes later, my dad came into the room. Pack some clothes, you are getting admitted to the Hospital. The blood test results showed your platelet levels dropping alarmingly.

Tiu !! Can't sleep have to go hospital somemore.

Packed clothes for 2 days, and of we went. Sayang who happened to be on a half day was already here when we were ready to go to the hospital. We were both seated calmly in the living room waiting for dad to send us to the hospital. We had already decided Pantai Cheras since it was only a stone's throw away from the house.

My face did not show any emotions, I was too tired to emote. We went to see the admitting Doctor, then got admitted.

Day 1 in the Hospital.

Doc: There is no cure for dengue fever. So it is up to your own body to fight the virus. We can only monitor and provide symptomatic treatment. So enjoy your stay with us, and please eat as much as you can, and eat what you like.

Very nice welcoming speech I thought, but if i wanted to enjoy my stay here I'd have gone on a holiday. Some doctors are full of shit. Some are just being nice, but I think this fella will try to help me.

I got admitted, and the first thing they gave me was an IV ... a mix of Saline and Saline/Glucose liquids. My fever wasn't subsiding , and not long after, it was time for dinner already. I ordered something with porridge. I ate it up, but it tasted like shit. First impression , the food here tasted like shit. Probably shit tasted better.

My mouth was dry, smelly and dry ( not salivating). Even when food arrived, your mouth supposed to salivate right, mine remained dry. How to eat ? Take two spoons of anything, and I feel like vomitting. Drink also feel like vomitting.

That night everyone stayed until 930 ( end of visiting hours). I pity Sayang, tired yet stay until so late. I was trying to sleep with everyone around me trying to take care of me. My Fever never subsided even when after they gave me the meds. I did not remember much about my stay in the hospital , except that I had a lot of time looking at the ceiling.

It doesn't get easier to sleep at night, because the nurses would come in and check your temperature every hour. Blood pressure also check. My temp did go up to 40.5 C. I never remembered ever having a fever that high, or ever touching 40C before. This must be my first time. It felt like shit, and nobody was around to sponge me, neither did I ask the nurses to give me a wet cloth to put over my forehead. * Now I am wondering why *

Day 2: In the Same bloody hospital

I must have been up since 6am, I woke up and laid on the hospital bed and stare at the ceiling. I put my hand across my forehead, hmm... still got fever. I was feeling abit hungry but had no food to eat, so I poured myself some water and drank it up. My mouth was dry, got to have some water to wet it abit. My lips were dry too, in fact, my lips were cracking.

Just a little over 8am , someone from the Pathology Department came in with a lab coat, took my blood sample and went off.

I couldn't adjust my body so i could sleep sideways, because in that position I feel like vomitting. So it was just one position, lying on my back looking straight up. Breakfast was served at about 830am, the medicine was already placed on the overbed table. 2 Panadols, 1 Pharmaton Caplet, 1 Anti Gastric Pill or something like that. What's for breakfast ? Breakthru Bed by Gardenia , Milo O, jam and butter. I took half a piece of bread only, drank 2 sips of the Milo. I was already ready to vomit, so I told myself, take it easy on the food la.... don't eat wont die wan, got IV mah.

9:00am, I was thirsty , so I drank some water. Next thing I know, my stomache voluntarilly reversed everything I did earlier. Nice I saw only water coming out, apparently the bread didn't come out.

Strangely enough I do not have much recollection of my roommates during my first night's stay at the hospital. Oh ya there was this Malay guy who had gastric, he borrowed my phone charger. Then there was this Indian guy next to me, who'd... I don remember what his problem was, but also borrowed my phone charger too. Mom and Dad came by just before lunch was served. I think some kinda porridge I think. The food was fucked up ... nothing much to promote.

It felt like I was eating the prison food or something like that. Oh well at least, prisoners there have curry and rice right ? I only get porridge, chicken which smells and fish porridge which only has ginger strips in them. Yucks !!!!

So take a look at their website : Pantai Cheras Website
So impressive, in my opinion that is more like over selling and over pricing of your services.

FatboykenaDengueFever.Blogspot.com Part 2

So my first fever came about on Saturday night 14th April 2007, although I remembered only vaguely, I think it was the same night Sayang's mom got discharged from UH. I was at her place when I began to feel aches all over, a niggling migraine and of course that mild fever. Just normal flu symptoms, nothing I couldn't handle. So I drove home that night , and tried to sleep off the fever. I remembered Sayang telling me months ago when I was doing an installation at a construction site, any fever go get your blood tested for dengue ( in my mind, a ya rite was playing around)....... this can't be the dengue la, if I kena means , I would have gotten it when I was working at the construction site. my boss and the appointment.

Sunday 15th April 2007.

The fever did not subside. Since I had been spending most of my time in and out of of Pahang, and when I rushed back I was at the hospital, my parents were getting used to not having me around. I zombied around in my feverish state ( nobody noticed anything). OK, so I drove myself down to a nearby clinic to get some meds. Doc, I got fever, no sore throat, a bit of phelgm. He stuck his stethoscope into my chest, then my back. Took my bp, then asked me, are you working tomorrow ?

" Doc, I need to work tomorrow (in fact I needed to be in Pahang tomorrow) so you better give me meds that can cure me fast !!"

He wrote something in his notes and said, ok that will be it.

Minutes later, the same doctor came to the dispensary window and started packing my meds. This one panadol, 2 tablets 4 times a day. For your pain, 1 tablet 3 times a day, and this one...for Phlegm ( scibbled something on the packet) 1 tablet 3 times a day.

So I religiously went home, ate my bread, drank loads of water. Tried to sleep, did not go to gym. Sayang spent time at home too with her mom, since she just got discharged. It was a miserable fever, one that had to befall on me on a Sunday. Just my luck !!!!

That evening I began to loose my appetite, the fever just wouldn't go away, it was mildly nagging you, telling you its there. The weather was rather humid, it drizzled abit and I began to sweat. Ahh !! Fever's gone.......

I went to bed early that night. Trying to get ready for a long drive to Pahang the next day. The fever came back at night and it got stronger. It felt like it was in its 39-40C range. Whatever it was, the migraine, and the joint aches did not help me sleep a single bit. I took my meds, the pain killers, everything just as the doc told me to... I couldn't sleep.

I was counting cows, sheeps, clocks, but the pain was just unbearable. I drank so much water, I kept waking up every 1 hour to pee.

By 4am, I was so fucking tired, I think I passed out. Woke up at 6am and the cycle of pain ( head, knees, ankles, thighs, neck, elbows, shoulders) continued where I last passed out.

Monday 915am , 16th April 2007.

My phone woke me up. I must have passed out sometime during the 6-7am period. Some work acquaintance called up to make an appointment with me. So I said, ok I will be in the office. By that time my body was already soaked with sweat. I had used 4 T shirts , all soaked as my sweat towel throughout the night. No wonder I managed to sleep.

Drove down to the office like a zombie, and told my guys I am not going down to Pahang with them, instead just passed all the instructions as to who to meet, what to do, and the expectations of the installation and such. I laboured on in office, with much luck, during the day I sweat easilly. So the fever if it existed was only mild at the most. I did not have much to sleep, my joints were aching, still thinking this was just a normal FEVER, I rushed back as soon as I saw

First stop on the way home, Clinic. Oi Doc, your meds are not effective at all man !!!! I couldn't sleep last night and the fever did not go down. I was feeling headaches and joint aches all over man. He looked at me for awhile.

Took my temperature, and said, there you got no fever what.

Of coursela doc, can't you see I am sweating. I am suppose to be in a tender meeting tomorrow la, so how .. you giving me better meds ?

Ok I give you something better.
Dynamol Prescription ( this one looks just like Panadaol, not yellow color wan) for two days.
Generic Ponstan
and Fenadium 25.

The fucker gave me 3 pain killers.... :D smart sonofabitch, and he gave me two days MC.
If you still got fever after 2 days, comeback, I will take your blood for dengue testing.

That night I still couldn't sleep. But my headaches were gone .

Still I fell asleep much earlier, I thought by about 1030pm, after trying for 2 hours I think. Two days later my condition grew worst, by that time everyone was worried. By night when the fever came back to haunt, I was feverish and shiverring. Everyone, was worried, and it worries me that everyone is worrying.

I haven't been eating well,the past 2 days. drinking mostly fluids, like milo and water. If I wasn't trying to sleep upstairs I was trying to do it downstairs. Because the nights were just terrible. Everytime I closed my eyes, the fucking migraine come pound me at the back of my head. Imagine someone smacking you with a rifle butt from inside your head. It goes left... 10 seconds later right...... and it continues on until I faint or something like that.

Wednesday 18th April 2007.

The only smart decision was to go find another doctor to attend to. He took my blood, but found the Dengue antibody's to be negative, Typhoid also negative. Everyone was thinking this has got to be typhoid fever, Sayang told me the story of Typhoid Mary. So I imagined myself spitting at everyone's face infecting them with typhoid, thus calling myself Typhoid Berns... wakakakakaa... but negative la, so that fantasy won't happen. I went back to him Thursday morning to do another blood test. My platelet count was dropping rapidly, Wednesday it was 107, by Thursday it dropped to 67. He advised my parents to admit me to a nearby hospital.

Pantai Cheras lo wa kena. ---- to be continued....

FatboykenaDengueFever.Blogspot.com

I know I have not been updating this blog for quite a while, there are lots of shit that happened to me in that time. I also don't know where to begin writing..... Ok, lets begin by looking at my picture when I first arrived in Korea, first images, @ Incheon International Airport. Remember that fat face !!!

I was in Korea for a week, on official business and in the after hours, we went on to see as much Seoul as possible, eat as much Seoul and to enjoy Seoul's outdoor weather as much as possible. That face got much fatter by the time I returned home to KL. In that one week I came back to KL, I ate more Korean food, but unfortunately, the eating spree did not continue for very long. A fucking Aedes Mosquito bit me, and I got dengue ( aiyah !!!! got bitten)...... as a result..


I am now, half the man I used to be........ almost everything.... :D

During the time I was admitted in the hospital, 5.5 days of it, I had a lot of time to do some thinking. All in all I was feverish for 8 days, before my last fever symptoms were cast away, and discharged, but those 8 days really took the toll on my body. Today I am still recovering from it all.


To be continued....

Nasi Minyak - Kuantan

I was travelling from Kuantan to Gambang, one early morning . Hungry and lack of sleep I was determined to begin the day with something nice to taste. After leaving Kuantan town and drove on for about 10 minutes, just before we reached the East Coast Highway.... I turned off. Saw this little shop here with lots of people eating. Many people means good food. So we decided to pull over and investigate.


So we went into the shop, and it sold only Nasi Minyak. According to Gretchen's Cookbook , Nasi Minyak is Malaysia's Festive Rice... never knew that, neither have I tasted Nasi Minyak before. Oh well, been to a few Kenduris, but I don't believe I have tried Nasi Minyak in a shop before. The stall was clean, no flies around the food, I signalled my colleague, lets try this.



So when we ordered I had curry chicken to put on my Nasi Minyak. Obviously the other choices are Beef Rendang, Fried Chicken and also Mutton if I remembered correctly. The rice was abit unsual , as it had acar timun like briyani gam, but the rice was different. Instead of the usual heavily spiced rice , you have plain rice with red colored rice ( sweetened abit ). And to top it up, it had Mata Kerbau.

Cheap, RM3.50 for that plate and I also ordered my Kopi Campuran Radix for Rm2. I definitely hope to come back here again to try out some of the other dishes they serve there. Its nice, and I wonder why Nasi Minyak has gotten the stigma that it is specially done only for festivities, weddings, etc.

That restaurant has something going for them, and I hope they decide to open a branch here in KL, I am sure they will become a big hit over here.

Pakej Gerenti Lulus

Following the previous post regarding super driving schools that offer Pakej Gerenti Lulus, here is a story i found on the internet.

Edisi KL: Lulus asal beri JPJ duit kopi


KUALA LUMPUR: “Biasanya kalau kita bagi ‘duit kopi’ kepada pegawai Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ), semua calon yang menduduki ujian (memandu) akan lulus,” kata seorang petugas wanita sebuah sekolah memandu di sini, semalam.

Petugas terbabit yang berumur lingkungan 30-an mengulas pemberian ‘lesen gerenti lulus’ L (latihan) kepada calon sekolah memandu walaupun gagal dalam ujian dijalankan JPJ.

Bagaimanapun, menurutnya, lesen gerenti lulus L kebanyakannya hanya diberikan kepada sekolah memandu besar yang sudah punya nama dan mempunyai hubungan lebih akrab dengan segelintir pegawai JPJ.

“Kegiatan menawarkan lesen L ekspres ini bertujuan menarik minat orang ramai untuk belajar memandu di sekolah yang menawarkan khidmat itu berikutan persaingan yang tinggi di kalangan pengusaha sekolah memandu.

“Bagaimanapun, lesen L ekspres itu hanya ditawarkan kepada pemegang lesen ‘P’ atau lesen penuh yang pernah memiliki lesen L sebelum membuat permohonan bagi lesen tambahan,” katanya.

Persaingan merebut pelanggan antara sekolah memandu itu juga menyebabkan ada pengusaha mendakwa sekolah memandu tertentu turut menawarkan lesen gerenti lulus iaitu calon yang dijamin mendapat lesen walaupun gagal ketika ujian dikendalikan JPJ.

Untuk mendapat kepastian berkaitan kewujudan penyelewengan lesen lesen gerenti lulus L dan lesen penuh, wartawan Harian Metro membuat pembongkaran selepas menyamar sebagai calon memandu yang terdesak mendapatkan lesen.

Dua daripada kawasan yang menjadi tumpuan pembongkaran aktiviti sekolah memandu itu di sekitar Brickfields dan Ampang yang juga cawangan kepada sekolah memandu popular.

Driving Academy - Learn to Drive in the Real World !!

It was one Friday night, after BC class in Uptown, we crossed the road to our cars before we decided what we wanted to eat. Then as we crossed the road, something caught our eye !! One Red SLK (small little kancil) was parked in the middle of the road, blocking traffic and all.

One can only assume that this car belonged to a driving instructor, who teaches people how to drive, and of course they also teach undang undang jalan raya, and to teach their students to abide by traffic laws, right ?

So, that car belonged to Metro Driving Academy !!!! I hope none of my friends learnt how to drive from this school. Even if so, I am sure your lesen is Kopi O punya...