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No Onions Please, Part 3

23 Feb

I am slowly discovering the pain of things that I should not eat. This Infectious Colitis business is a bit more tricky than I thought. Sure I have avoided coffee, alcohol, wheat, milk, onions and just about everything. But along the way, there’s more!

Last week, it was turnip. I think I cannot eat turnips for the time being because right after I had some, I had difficulties breathing! I didn’t have the awful nausea effect like what the onions did to me but more of feeling so gagged; and had to be horizontal for some time. Sigh…

And last night, I couldn’t pin point what it was I ate. Had a mild attack on the tummy, upsetting my system – a little different effect than the onions and turnips. By the way, I love onions and regrettable have to avoid them for now.

I am keeping track of the days to this abstaining act. Three months until May 6th is what I am giving myself. It better work.

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Change in Pattern, Part 2

20 Feb

My hopes for a six hours drive home yesterday was not to be as my estimates were way off! The drive home was just super duper long.

It started out smoothly but only for awhile. Traffic then became so heavy and got worst, culminating with a standstill situation on the freaking highway and a crawl at 10km/h, sometimes 30km/h for a good part of the journey for no apparent reason. Ridiculous. And it rained, making the drive more tiring. All in all it took us nine and a half hours to reach home.

This is part and parcel of Chinese New Year – the traffic crawl besides the food and family. Because it’s only a once-a-year experience, we take it in stride. If not, we’d never go back for the occasion. Thank goodness, we had food, drinks, music, devices, cables and power banks to keep us entertained during the long drive home.

Anyway, enough of the driving ordeal, what’s more important was the activities we did during the four days in hubby’s hometown which was a change in pattern from previous years.

Besides the food and rest, we managed to play two rounds of golf instead of just one round. During the first game at Darul Aman Golf Club, I lost my nine iron and discovered the loss almost immediately. I absent-mindedly left it somewhere on the fairway approaching the green at Hole One. Amazingly I wasn’t too upset and rationalized I did not need it, save for a couple of shots, and managed for the rest of the game.

It was the heat that got to me more than the loss honestly. After the game, we reported the loss and thank goodness, the club was found and returned within a short time. Phew… relief. I had contemplated my options if it wasn’t returned. An excuse for a new set perhaps? Hmm…

The next day, we played at a different course, Royal Kedah Club and after two days of back-to-back games, I’m happy to say there was no pain felt on the limbs. In other words, no recurrence of the tennis elbow. A good sign indeed considering I was using just all my irons for both games. No driver, woods or hybrid clubs at all.

The change in pattern also saw us catching the latest Marvel Comics’ superhero movie, Black Panther which was refreshing and very entertaining. And we visited a plant enthusiast whom hubby befriended on Facebook and got to see his eye-popping huge staghorn ferns at his farm. Hubby bought two staghorns from his new friend and promised to visit again on our next trip.

And this year, we start work on the Fifth Day of Chinese New Year instead of the Sixth Day which has been the norm for us for years. Definitely a change in pattern for the Year of the Dog.

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Lovely blue skies and paddy fields on the right

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One of the many meals the family had

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The big staghorn ferns and the two purchased smaller ferns mounted on wood

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Finally It’s Done

12 Feb

Over the weekend, we finally pushed ourselves to get ready for Chinese New Year. And when I say get ready, it means putting up the customary red cloth at the entrance of the house. Finally it’s done. Yay. But am I ready for the upcoming festivity?

I think I am looking forward more to the break to relax and do nothing because lately, work has been overwhelming and a break is much needed. As for the festivities, merry-making and food, it will be a challenge to manage because my intestines are still a bit sensitive.

I have gone a week without coffee and somehow doing well. And watching what I eat, I have lost 1.5kgs already as a result of all this extra precaution. Who knows in three months’ time, I would lose a few more kilos! Let’s see how I hold up with during Chinese New Year.

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No Onions Please, Part 2

9 Feb

After the Monday onion scare, I find myself more wary of food portions too besides food choice. Generally I am not a big eater, so now my portions have become even smaller than before because normal meals would make me feel bloated and uncomfortable.

And I also find myself needing to stash little packs of comfort snacks everywhere within reach; I don’t know why. As such, I feel like such a hamster – small frequent meals, stashed food, feeling hyper then lethargic, you know…

I have actually abstained from coffee since Tuesday, drinking decaf Earl Grey instead! The other food items I think I can go on without them for the next three months but coffee… so far so good, there’s no withdrawal symptoms. Yet.

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A Mother’s Love

8 Feb

Nature is amazing and wonderful at the same time. One of hubby’s air plant had grown some offshoots, babies in simple terms. Normally, air plants do not die when they have offshoots.

Unfortunately, this little air plant wasn’t doing too well in the midst of the cold and hot weather that we were experiencing the last few weeks. But to ensure that the babies survived, the ‘mummy’ air plant hung on and gave all her nutrients to nurture them until her last ‘breath’.

When the offshoots look like they were stabilised and growing well, the ‘mummy’ air plant died off in order not to fight with the young ones to survive. Such motherly love.

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No Onions Please

6 Feb

Recently I was diagnosed with Infectious Colitis. Not life threatening but generally very uncomfortable. All this while I thought it was the usual monthly cramps getting more severe with age but no, it was them bacterias in my intestines all this time, having a wild party every now and then to create an unbearable pain and discomfort.

I was prescribed antibiotics for a week and it had been okay, no side effects from the meds. Because it was abdominal cramps and not diarrhoea, the doctor did not advise me what food to avoid and neither did I bother to check thoroughly although I have been careful on the choices which were nothing too extreme.

So almost a week after the colonoscopy procedure, I was fine and on the road to recovery; I even played a round of golf four days later. But I had the most unfortunate and unsuspecting setback yesterday.

I had a very nauseating spell all because I had some onions for lunch. It triggered a reaction a few hours later and was the most horrid sensation. Initially I didn’t know what it was until I got home and laid horizontal for a few hours to recuperate before going online to check.

I figured it’s best to know what I should avoid to minimize my discomfort because with Chinese New Year just around the corner, there’s bound to be a lot of eating, drinking and merry-making.

To my horror, the list included coffee, cereal, nuts, alcohol, chocolate, spicy food and of course onions, with limited intake of milk, ice cream, cheese and a whole lot of other stuff but the first three items on the list horrified me to no end!

It’s not so much of what I can eat (white bread, ugh!) but what to avoid. No coffee, cereal and nuts, my breakfast and snack staples? And no alcohol, chocolate and spicy food, my life! For at least three months! Oh dear…

I try to look at the brighter side of the situation; I will definitely shed some pounds. And unless I want to be constantly feeling bloated or nauseous, I better be disciplined about my food intake. And definitely no onions please.

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The Poor Birds, Part 2

16 Jan

The poor birds are hungry no more! We went in search of bird seeds yesterday during our lunch break. Hubby remembered a shop that we have drove past before but never frequented and what a bargain we stumbled upon.

For a mere eight Ringgit (equivalent to two US Dollars), he bought two kilos worth of bird seeds. Two kilos! That’s a lot of bird seeds. Looks like our garden party for the birds (sometimes dubbed Soup Kitchen for the Birds) will be quite happening for the next few months.

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Next to a five liter bucket of paint, that’s a lof of bird seeds!

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The Poor Birds

15 Jan

We ran out of bird seeds and the poor visiting birds have not been fed the last three days. To make matters worse, we have not had the time to replenish the seeds yet the birds still keep coming, hoping and wanting. I guess when life is made easier, they keep trying their luck.

Thoughtfully, M2 gave them rice grains the last two days, something better than nothing. And the birds will have to make do with this choice until we do go buy more bird seeds.
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Full Bloom

12 Jan

We have been experiencing wet and cold weather these past few days. Last night it was 23 degrees Celsius which was unusual for our location. While we are not complaining – in fact appreciative, I think hubby’s air plants agree with the weather. Although it’s not proven that cool air does accelerate blooming, it’s more of the timing truthfully. Hubby sure does have the green fingers.

These air plants was in full bloom last night. So pretty they look! All the other air plants are thriving as well and we should see a few more in full bloom soon.

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Bitten by the Flu Bug

19 Dec

The inevitable has happened! M2 and I have been bitten by the flu bug. I was fine up till my meeting yesterday but when I got home, it’s full blown. Not good.

I suspect it’s during the taxi ride home that we caught the chill, as I could feel the acute coldness in the car and I knew it’s going to hit; it certainly isn’t from the cold when we left Hong Kong nor tiredness from the travel. Sure enough it did.

Well, better rest for a speedy recovery.

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