Archive | September, 2019

An Ambitious Piece, Part 2

30 Sep

Ginormous Gnome is coming along fine. The cap was challenging because I had to file it down in order to make the hole disappear; then I had to shape it – at the back especially, so that the little bob (at the back) looks natural. I think it’s coming along.

 

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Notice the gap on the beard? Needs to be patched up too

The next challenge was the nose as it’s rather flat. After much thought, I decided to glue a piece to give it a more prominent bulge. But the add-on that I split did not split well and I ended up with such an uneven piece, it made Ginormous looked like it had a pig nose. Ugh.

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Ginormous looking piggylicious with an oink of a nose!

So more effort was needed to shape the nose to make sure the add-on doesn’t look like an add-on. Glad to say, it worked out well and with some putty to smoothen out the surface, you can’t really tell that Ginormous had a nose job. I’m confident by the time paint is applied, all evidence of an add-on will not be visible.

Stay tuned, I’m almost done with this fella!

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Gone to the Dark Side

27 Sep

Two days ago, I found out that iOS13 can be downloaded already but truth be told, I wasn’t keeping tab on it. It was M2 who mentioned to me when I spoke to her. She’s doing great by the way, enjoying college life to the max in Ireland.

Anyway, I downloaded the update for my iPhone XR. And my… my… new features to learn! The biggest thing was of course the Dark Mode, which I enabled. Like a Jedi gone bad, I gravitated to the dark side. Bwahahaha…. I couldn’t resist. Seriously I enabled it to only activate after dark, perfect for reading in bed or low light environments, as what Apple envisioned.

The other new fun thing I discovered – creating my very own memoji. This feature was available since iOS12 but I never used it. According to reviews, it’s now more refined and more fun to use. I’m glad to have discovered it now as it’s rather delightful, and my memoji looks pretty close to the real me. I’m a good memoji I must say! Heheh.

The other thing that I was fiddling with was Shortcuts which somewhat works for me and not. Apps that I use constantly, I can’t seem to add to the menu. User problem? I think this will take me some time to figure out.

Nonetheless, I seem to embrace the latest changes well. Gotta keep up with technology even if this means leaping over to the dark side with glee.

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Attack of the Killer Endometriosis

24 Sep

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Just when I thought I had a month’s break before the next endometriosis pain attack, the body went haywire. I had only a week’s reprieve! Boo hoo hoo… it’s such a messed up bloody affair.

Prior to the third long weekend getaway, I took the meds my O&G doctor prescribed – Tren (Tranexamic Acid) and Ponstan (Mefenamic Acid) before pain got the better of me when the unexpected cycle struck.

Thankfully both made the condition more bearable than before as the pain and discomfort were reduced by a whole lot. However the inconvenience of waking up in the middle of the night was still happening; I can’t overcome this just yet.

Only time can tell and unfortunately, I wait with fear for the next cycle to hit. Shudder… but before it could even occur, I was hit by another unexpected experience instead.

Last week, after our return from the third long weekend getaway, I had the worst cramps ever. EVER.

OMG… it was an epic scale attack of the killer endometriosis pain and this time, it floored me. I keeled over. I have no words for the immense agony and sleep–after downing painkillers–was the only option, which I did. For almost 12 hours.

The irony of the situation – it wasn’t even the cycle phase and the cramps just came suddenly. The pain level felt like a freight train mowing me down repeatedly. Dang… after the last bloody episode, this awfully painful experience. I had only the Ponstan to fight it because taking Tren wasn’t appropriate. And after two days of intense suffering, the cramps did lessen and a little more bearable before it subsided. Sigh.

I seriously hope this latest problem is a one-off freak occurrence. If I have to go through this again and again and again, perhaps vetoing my doctor’s veto on removing my uterus might be the ideal solution than waiting for nature to run its course. I can never be prepared enough to withstand the unexpected without keeling over. Shudder…

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An Ambitious Piece

23 Sep

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Two weeks ago, I started on a very ambitious and challenging piece of carving. Ambitious because of its size, measuring at almost 20cm tall before I even started. And challenging because the chunky piece is a combination of three Meranti pieces glued together and uneven in height at the top.

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I wanted to do another Gandalf-like Gnome because it’s been awhile since I last did a giant piece. I have been too focused on the Whales lately so much so, the Gnomes and Citizens of Gigglesville have been neglected. But I am unperturbed by the stalled population growth because I am sure when the mood hits, I can whip up some Citizens or Gnomes effortlessly.

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The biggest challenge now is to shape the cap of Ginormous Gnome and ensure that the gaping hole does not become a permanent feature on it. We’ll see how it will be as I progress.

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I Bought Plants!

20 Sep

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It is a big deal when I buy plants because it is a known fact that hubby is the one with the green fingers, not me. Why… I don’t even venture into our garden to enjoy the greens and all, only he does that. I stay indoors to do my carvings. At most, I would venture out to the garden terrace and not beyond when I need to do some drilling or serious filing because I certainly can’t do this dusty and messy job inside.

Sometimes when hubby excitedly brings a potted plant to me, I become flabbergasted because I don’t know what I am supposed to look at or even compliment about. I don’t see anything special—at least to me—and as always, he has to point out specifically to me; that’s how useless I am when it comes to plants.

So it’s a big deal when I decided to pick up four little pots of greens when we were up North recently. I thought the petite leaves and succulents were oh-so-very cute and obviously appealed to me. But of course, the one taking care of them will be hubby and I know he will do a good job.

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It’s All About Food, Part 2

17 Sep

Now that the three long weekends are over and done with, it’s back to work. Sigh…

Over the weekend, we took Friday off again, this time to stopover in Ipoh for a round of golf and a full blown three meals of yummy eats prior to driving up North to see hubby’s parents.

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Nasi Lemak breakfast at the Agromall along the Plus highway

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A little hazy but it didn’t stop us at Royal Perak Golf Club

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Felt like a glutton doing Nga Choy Kai with Hor Fun AND Char Siew at Lou Wong after golf

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Amazed at the White Rabbit sizes! Humongous or Large anyone?

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Had to eat Nasi Kandar before reaching the house

Honestly, the weekend was also all about food, and golf too. And yes, the 16/8 diet was put aside as well. There was a variety of local fare we ate this time, mostly spicy but just as enjoyable.

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Caffe Diem in Pekan Cina was very hip with the decor and ambience

 

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Had dinner with an aunty. Cakes were really good

And the two rounds of golf, at Royal Perak Golf Club (on Friday) and Darulaman Golf & Country Club (on Sunday), was equally enjoyable with both games finishing in three and a half hours as we had the courses all to ourselves. Nice. However, the golf elbow flared up this time! Uh oh… I had to Salonpas it to reduce the pain.

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We had the course all to ourselves!

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After the game…

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After game lunch was a Kueh Teow goreng (top) and Pasembur (bottom)

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Dinner was a Fruit Rojak (top), Nasi Ulam (left) and Thai Kueh Chap (right)

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The Apom was nice while the packet of Nasi Lemak was very little but enough

Well, rest should fix the elbow and no more breaks until October. This has been a good break too like Club Med but the same cannot be said for the drive back this time.

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It felt like a Chinese New Year exodus drive. So tiring!

It was an unbelievable eight hours and 15 minutes to reach home! Very unusual for a typical 4.5 hours journey. Then again, when there’s a long three-day weekend, others are bound to take advantage of it as well, just like us.

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Constant Holidays

16 Sep

This month of September is just full of public holidays that happen to fall on every Monday. As such, we have had three consecutive weeks of three-day weekends which was kind of nice because work at the office of late has been very frustrating.

The first long weekend, we took advantage of it and went to Club Med, taking Friday off as well to make it a four-day escapade. The second long weekend, we stayed put to do our usual weekend activities but added a movie date on Monday night.

It was hazy leaving Ipoh

Now this third long weekend that is just ending, we visited hubby’s folks up North and will say goodbye to them after lunch. The folks are fine.

Pretty sunset colors approaching Alor Star

We are taking the approach to enjoy the breaks when they occur and not worry about deadlines that keep extending. Work can wait.

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A Delightful Discovery

13 Sep

It was a typical morning getting ready to leave the house for the office. Sometimes, we would do a quick spot check for caterpillars on the lime tree closest to the car at the front of the house. On this particular morning, we discovered a beauty hiding between the branches!

My my… looking rather alien but not spooked, the moth did not even budged when we took turns to take its picture up close. Later, when we got to the office, hubby googled it up to learn that it was an Oleander Hawk Moth. What a delightul discovery!

This species is rather large, sleek and thrives in warm climates. And it loves to hide within lush green foliage which I don’t think our lime tree is that lush though. But I am not complaining for we had the chance to admire a full grown beautiful moth instead of just caterpillars all the time.

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Enduring Endometriosis, Part 2

10 Sep

After our return from Club Med, I went to see my O&G doctor the next day to address the endometriosis problem. The conclusion on the situation is all about managing the pain and timing.

I was actually ready to have my uterus removed–considering I don’t need it anymore and also it’s giving me all this problems–but my doctor vetoed the idea. Instead she prescribed some medication and painkiller for me to take. And to take only when necessary.

Put it this way, I am at the crossroad for a change in my body (well, I can’t be forever 38) and ideally, I should let nature take its course. But this natural path is not the smoothest unfortunately. The only bright spot is the hope that with each passing day, the problem will lessen or go away without having to do anything drastic. Like a surgery…

In the meantime, when faced with the monthly agonizing cramps, I should just take the prescribed meds and painkiller without hesitation.

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Gains and Losses

9 Sep

It’s obvious when we went off to Kuantan and Cherating for the anniversary trip, the 16/8 diet was not followed and therefore, we gained some weight.

Although we didn’t eat much in Club Med, we did try almost everything albeit small portions and it was enough to do us in. The frequency of eating in a day made our system haywire as there was breakfast, lunch, tea, pre-dinner snacks and dinner and the offerings were always loaded and very rich. In comparison, our typical meals consist of no carbs/high fiber for lunch and low protein/some carbs/fiber for dinner plus some snacks in between. Suddenly the 16/8 was more like 16 hours of eating and just eight hours of fasting instead.

And add in all that free-flow alcohol, the weight gain was inevitable. Remember I had seven drinks on Day One, hubby had one less and on Day Two, I had 12 drinks while hubby, I think had a couple less; I lost count on his intake. All that sugar in the cocktails… tsk! tsk! Thank goodness I didn’t have an endometriosis cramp attack with all that alcohol consumed.

When we returned, gain we certainly did when we stepped on the bathroom scale that evening. But by Tuesday, we were back to our 16/8 routine and at the end of the week, we lost all that weight gained and was back to normal. Phew.

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