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...

Sick Bear Bear

I have fallen sick, I lost the battle. One week away from CNY and I am feeling like this already.


It was a rather busy weekend, which just went by without much recollection of doing anything, except for a special dinner with Sayang's family, the part where we were able to monitor the nocturnal activities of Kepong residents (mostly from Kepong), throwing stuff out of my room, falling sick, vommitting all that shit I put in my tummy and sleeping the whole day Monday .

My body today decided to develop a slight fever, which I am not too amused with. Looks like I have to swallow those panadols after all. Lazy and no mood to work. Feel like sleeping in again today but there is work to be done, people to see and all. So I am back in the office, blogging .

Asam Laksa in MidValley - Halal wan

Famous Asam Laksa can be found in many places in Penang. But we stumbled upon this place, Garden Cafe, in 2nd floor of Jusco MidValley. It is unusual to find a cafe situated in the middle of a Electronics Floor. While walking pass this cafe, you cant help but notice, bustling with activity and a long queue waiting to order. Usually it doesn't take long for the Asam Laksa aroma to hit your nostrils.

(Ting ! ) Light bulb glows, hmm looks like a nice place to eat.

Two months after that, we finally came by to eat.

Asam laksa smelt very nice. Serving was small, but it does taste different compared to the Penang ones. Penang Asam Laksa , tastes sweetish, got more of that Prawn paste while this place I think they stinge on that abit, instead, they hentam more MSG into the bowl of noodles. Garden Cafe's Asam Laksa is a bit more salty compared to the Penang Variant. Here they stinge on the fish, noodles serving is quite large.

Overall, it tastes quite okay, just that they stinge on some of the ingredients. Penang flers go try la !!! Not bad wan.

Gym Fashion

Before you jump to conclusion that I had travelled back in time with my Nokia 6210 , snapped a few pics and came back to present time to blog about it, I did not.

I was perhaps the case where the fella was caught with nothing else to wear to gym. All his clothes were in the laundry so he just grabbed whatever he could from his kid sister's closet and came for a workout. When I first saw the fler, I asked myself, Guy or Girl lai de ?

Ok confirmed guy, because the fler was balding. Then I asked myself , Is that a pair of panties ? And looks like he is wearing a Fifi Top also, yer.. why so kem wan... :rofl:

So it looks like we got a contender for best dressed in Gym... sorry la Fifi, year 2007 you got competition, no more walkovers for you. :grin:

Sup Adabi - Anika Sajian Warisan

Picture from Kuali

Sup Adabi, hmm, definitely not something I was brought up eating or drinking. Mom, never encouraged us to cook soup using soup cubes. Soups are supposed to be done slowly, using herbs, free range chicken, and double boiled for many hours. So the first impression I got when I saw this restaurant at Tmn Melati , was just that.. Instant Soup and Rice. What so nice ?

Firstly, the restaurant does justice to itself. Decoration wise, quite decently done. It gives you a spacious feeling, not cramped up like most chinese Restaurants like Six Happiness, Overseas where they like to put in the most number of tables possible for the space they rented. No flies bugging you like most Malay eateries. Its not stuff , humid and hot like most stalls you find by the roadside, but neither is it air conditioned. Nevertheless, we did not feel very hot when in the restaurant.

Sup Ayam Kampung Warisan

The menu was quite extensive. Usually a malay eatery will give you a piece of paper, printed on both sides and thats it. Their menu takes time to explain what is in a dish. I ordered a Sup Ayam Kampung Warisan Set, which comes with Kangkung Belacan, White Rice and Telur Dadar. To top it up, I also ordered Epal, Asam Boi and Limau Kasturi Mix Drink (KatChai Shin Mui with Apple Juice - confirm no lao sai and tastes very very nice).

Four of us, ordered four sets. Two of them ordered Sup Tulang Nusantara Set. It was a clear soup with tulang and daging in it. Soup ayam warisan is the standard spicy soup , which we normally get when we order Mee Soto Ayam. Nice !!

To cap it off, we had Ice Kacang which I thought could improve abit. It was too sweet for one, and the ingredients were red jelly, green jelly, Canned Red Beans, Chendol ( not so fresh), Watered Down Gula Melaka, Too much Sirap Ros and not enough Milk for my liking. Oh ya not forgeting Roti Arab... It was a weird crepe of somekind, I suppose of Middle East origin, didn't like it, but it came with Sambar and Sambal ikan Bilis.

To summise, this place is quite pricey, but then, the food seems clean and the environment quite nice. Food , ok la only.

Picture from my Nokia 6210

Restoran Yap Chong - Jln Pudu Ulu

Its FT Day and Thaipusam combined today. This means nobody works which means traffic congestion every where in Kuala Lumpur. So what do we eat for lunch if we were too lazy to cook ourselves or we have been eating the same old stuffs everyday ?

Yong Tao Foo ??? The Jalan Pudu Ulu Yong Tao Foo restaurant has been a favorite for Cheras and Kl people, for many years now. I am not sure how I came to know about this restaurant, but I remembered many many years ago, mu uncle brought me to this place to eat Yong Tao Foo.

It is the little lane next to PGRM HQ at Jalan Pudu Ulu. It used to be a squatter area, but since the PGRM HQ building was completed, the government systematically cleaned up the squatter area, relocating the Squatters into little pigeon hole low cost flats in the area.

Okay so we ordered, Curry Fish Head, Yong Tao Foo and a serving of Fried Vegetables. It was really cheap, the place is air conditioned and the food is quite tasty. Really have to point this out though, Yong Tao Foo comes with soup right ? Their soup does not seem to contain MSG. But then the rest of the dishes were too oily for my liking. Especially the curry fish head. If I were to eat there everyday, surely my arteries will be clogged up within a year.

Kekeke... nice food , cheap and tasty

How to get there :

Sorry address I tarak, but can show you on the map...






Other posts on Restoran Yap Chong

Everything Asian

Note: Updated Aug 4th 2007

Mum's Place - Damansara Perdana

I arrived late for Combat class on Monday night. I was just recovering from a back ache due to bad ergonomics design of the Proton Waja which I been driving up and down to Lipis and back. It was a terrible ache, so I decided to skip Combat. Got to the curve, ngam ngam 830 saw Calvin after class chatting with his girl friends... Said hi and off to shower.

After that, Wookie said he wanted to makan some stuff, then only I realised he was actually going off to USA for a fortnight on a business trip. He suggested Mum's Place, Peranakan/Nyonya Food. Hmm.. ok la since long time no eat nice nyonya stuff jo.

It looked like a normal restaurant from the outside. The motive is very retro, all furniture is made of carved wood, Marble tables ( just like granpa dining table ), hand carved wooden dividers, a little indoor fountain and slow nice music. The restaurant also sells these furnitures and some paintings. Anyway we were there for food so we sampled some good stuff.

Cencaru Petai

Four Angled Beans Fried with Sambal Paste


Sotong Honey Stars


Chendol with Red Beans

The overall cooking was good, I liked it, not sure about Sayang.. keekke.. The food was hot and spicy for most of the dishes we ordered. Oh ya we also ordered Kangkung Belacan , which I thought was done pretty well. The price here is so so, quite reasonable considering the fact that, it was clean, very nicely decorated, and the food was good also.

Location wise, a bit far for a Cheras fler like me la. But this place really is nice. Unique so to speak and is definitely worth a drive to sample the food here. Will come back to try more dishes here.

Batu Talam Results

Victorious: Abdul Aziz and Najib being hoisted while (from left) Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein (partly hidden), Adnan, Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Wanita Umno deputy chief Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil celebrate in Raub on Sunday. Pic from TheStar

Results:

Abdul Aziz Kiram (BN) - 6,276 votes
Ng Chee Pang (Ind) - 419 votes

Abdul Aziz Kiram wins by a majorityof 5,857 votes.

So as expected the BN candidate won this election without much problems. However so, as we could see from the media coverage, noticeably, everyone else, DPM, Datuk Sharizat, Khairy, and Hishamudin who gets most of the limelight of Abdul Aziz's victory.

Well good luck to En Abdul Aziz , and I hope you serve your friends in Raub well. And Ng Chee Pang, maybe now you should have spent the 5,000 bucks elsewhere, like opening a few crates of Hennessy or something like that, lol.

Now I get to drive up to Kuala Lipis without too much fanfare around this Kampung area.

Ikan Kenerak; Kuih Kodok

Its been quite a challenge nowadays to find more good food in Kuala Lipis. The town is a dead town . I had the honour of having to have to wait 1hour 15 minutes for my food to come. The 3 of us ordered single serving meals, mine was Tom Yam Bee Hoon, and yet we had to wait so long for our food to come. I think this has something got to do with the Batu Talam Elections. You suddenly have an influx of visitors, and these restaurants are just not ready for the volume. Sigh !!

So during my trip down, I heard something very disturbing . One orang asli fisherman, approached my contractor and wanted to sell him Ikan Kelah for Rm25/kg. Contractor asked, boleh murah lagi ka ? He got cursed , org asli probably spit at him and went off. In my mind, alamak, wasted opportunity to try this fish. This fish can fetch about RM100 / kg in the market. The other fish is Ikan Jelawat, rated at RM 300 /kg grade. My friends said, if you manage to catch a Jelawat, you normally don't eat it, you bring it to a market and sell it. So I told my contractor, you must have peas for brains, 25 bucks you should buy all the fish he has. Open shop and sell ikan kelah la...

So I managed to eat Ikan Kenerak. Ikan Sungai Ori.

Kenerak Cooked in a Spicy Broth ( extra hot and spicy)

It was one huge fish, and it sat in the serving tray. I was unfamilliar in the broth/gravy it was cooked in.

So I asked, Ikan Sungai KA ?
Lady boss, nods. Then said, pedas ni.
I gleefully took the fish, then replied, aku tak takut pedas punya !!!

So I asked Ikan apa ? Besarnya...
Ladyboss said, besar lagi pun ada , ini kecil punya. Nak Tengok ?
Ok.

Definitely not a very handsome fish, and it was huge. I suspect they eat baby monkeys for breakfast. The meat is thick and tough. Skin too hard, so I threw most it away. But the style of cooking is so hot, you quickly forget about the mud smell you get from River fish over here.

Kuih Kodok was the other interesting food I had. But it was for breakfast. This trip, we couldn't get any of our nasi kerabus from our favorite TNB station stall. My guess is they were unable to get their ingredients due to the floods. I noticed a few vegetable farms by the side of Sungai Lipis, flooded last week. Its just normal crepe with udang kering in it. Simple but very very tasty.

Good Boy

Ikan Kenerak from the River

Kuih Kodok

Move aside Coca Cola !!

Who needs F&N Oren Crush, or Coke Cola when you can have Felda Cola. Been working around in Felda Sg Koyan the past few days and as usual we were on our business as usual demeanor. Which one ? - Jalan Jalan Cari Makan one.

Took the wrong turn and went into the estate's Post Office which had a row of shops ( wooden and single story). I was looking for a Malay stall that serves good Malay mixed rice ( authentic masakan Kampung estet ). Then I saw a shop equipped with one huge water filter and lots of bottles filled with orange color liquids !!! Did I discover a Kampung Cola bottling plant ?

So we got off the car and decided that we could do with some carbonated drinks. Apparently they entertain refills, which are cheaper as compared with buying a whole new bottle from them. They had Durian Belanda flavour, the lady was nice enough to let us try, YUCKS !!

Orange Crush - Ok la so so only. It is really not that sweet.


Homemade Cola 1 - Preparing the Syrup

Homemade Cola 2 - Making sure its not too sweet


Homemade Cola 3 - The finishing move

The plant with the water filter on the right

Making sure not too much or too little Syrup is poured in

The Black Juice is now ready to be carbonated

Carbonating the Juice under the watchful eyes of the young padwan

The Chinese Founded America !!!

What would have happened if the Chinese decided to colonize the Americas ? To me it would be simple, just many sleepless nights trying to live with or without the Native Americans. That has just been what I been doing while everyone has been sleeping at night recently.

I have downloaded FreeCol, an opensource developed Game which is a Free version of Sid Meir's Civilization Series. With that I immersed myself into a world back in time, imagining short Chinese warriors (ala Gay Chou) fighting against Tall, Skinny Long Haired Native American warriors ( starring Lou Diamond Phillips). LMAO !!

It took me a while to get used to the interface, because it is less intuitive and is less informative as compared to the Pirated Sid Meir's Civilization II ( I think the last one I played was Civi2). The current Civi4 has got video requirements too high for my PC to play. So, while I was browsing for free software I could use on my office notebook, I delightedly found this title, FreeCol.

Instead of putting in English names like, Georgetown, or Ducth names like New York, I decided to name the New World, China. And to use names like Shanghai , Xian , and so forth. Its pretty fun and very very addictive.

At the end of the day, this is free software, the developers, hmm I do not believe they wrote this during their collective freetime I believe. So I won't complain so much, but its a warning, it will take many hours of your life away from gym, and sleep.

Summary: Graphics not so nice, abit like Civi1 , Gameplay very very similar. Of course if you buy Sid Meir's latest Civi Title , you probably have to buy a new PC to come with it.

Batu Talam By Elections

I have decided to analyze, because Ng Chee Pang the latest election candidate for he is only 22, decided he wants to contest. After analysis I will come up with a quick forecast of the election results.

DAP, Keadilan and PAS has all chickened out from this election as the Opposition Coaliton accused the EC of mal running our elections. Meanwhile the PM says they are cowards for running away from this election. Instead, one Ng Chee Pang, 22, decided he wants to contest as an independent candidate. Read more, I like to contest (BERNAMA) .

In the text, he said I felt lije contesting. Loose jo also nevermind, as long as I competed. Then who is funding your electoral campaigning ? My dad. Who happens to be Pahang DAP, Treasurer. Ironic eh ?

Who is the BN candidate ? He is Special Affairs Department field assistant Abdul Aziz Mat Kiram, 47 years old. I think this fellas son could be as old as Ng. Not much coverage could be found about En Abdul Aziz except that his face was on RTM1, RTM2 , TV3 , TV8 and TV9 , Astro Ria News, when DPM Najib accompanied by 10,000 BN supporters accompanied him for the nomimations.



The above are pics from the Electoral GroundZero. Its filled with UMNO and BN Flags. Big billboards stating, Thank you for voting for BN are aplenty and is clouting the roadside. I hope after the election those jokers still have the budget to clean the rubbish up.

BERNAMA has got a website up for this Batu Talam Elections

FORECAST

So after jalan jalan around ground zero and reading some news, as a substitute Political Analyst, I think the BN fella will win, by more than 3,000 majority, as DPM Najib wants it. Other wise, sia sueh la this BN fella. If BN don't get their 3000 majority of votes, it would signal a victory for young Mr Ng Chee Pang.

Good luck to both candidates.

QUESTIONS in my mind now :-

When applying for a job, they are always a minimum requirement for Education level; ie:
Must have minimum relevant University Education; Must be under 35 years of age; Must have 3-5 years of relevant experience. Even to apply for a job as a Mat Despatch alla professional Mat Rempit also you need SPM qualifications.

So these two candidates got what kind of Education ?

Kacang Goreng Sempalit Raub

I was driving up to Kuala Lipis when I entered Raub town, then shortly after passing through the Raub town center, I drove past Sg Sempalit. Then it struck my mind, Raub was supposed to be famous for some kinda Nutz.... Sempalit Nuts or something like that.

Sure enough, 5 minutes of a slow drive away from Raub towards Benta, I saw this Kacang Goreng Factory. Its called Kebun Sea Loy, Kacang Goreng Sempalit.



Now , this is funny because the factory was closed, but right next to it, they have one stall, that sorta sells fruits. I have driven pass this factory numerous times, I just did not realize that it is a Kacang Sempalit Factory.

Okay what's so special about Kacang Sempalit ? First thing first, they do not have an agent in KL. So it is of limited availability to us people in KL at this moment.

What do you think off when I say Groundnutz ?

So when we talk about groundnutz, first brand we think of is Ngan Yin. What is wrong with Ngan Yin ? Firstly, too salty. The nutz are too small. It is so small, it slips out of your fingers, and sometime it gets lost in your mouth. You remember this logo ?



That brand/picture has always associated with nice tasty ground nuts. Can't remember any other peanutz brands leh ? After trying out the Kacang Goreng Sempalit, my impression of Ngan Yin groundnutz became like this.



Whats the big deal with Sempalit Roasted Groundnuts ?

Size. Its much bigger compared with Ngan Yin's nutz.
Taste. Much better not as salty as Ngan Yin.
FReshness. Much better, not as many nutz lao foong , like Ngan Yin.
Definitely much better quality control when it comes to cracked nutz in the packing.




There you go, some pictures to indicate the size of these nutz. And the packaging although is silvery , glittery stuff, I still think Ngan Yin looks better from outside. But then, once you have gone Sempalit, you wont go for Ngan Yin again...