I'm Too Old For This...

It has been a pretty frustrating week...

I just took some time off to relax by keeping the computer turned off and then getting my hands to do some work.

What is the result of my hard "work" and fingers burning with pain due to the size of these blocks?

You'll have to wait for a while to find out more. :D

Yeah... Yeah.. Some folks may say that playing with such toys doesn't suit an old fart like me but hey, they made some of these toys for adults!

Shadows

I've been quite lazy to blog lately.

Looking at these photos isn't going to help either...

Universal Fun @ Lion City - Day 3

Finally.. I'm able to blog about my day at Universal Studio, Singapore.

It was a really really fun day.

Universal Fun @ Lion City - Day 1.5

After dumping our bags at the hotel, we decided to grab a quick bite before deciding our next destination.

We dropped by the Balestier Road Market which is just down the road from our hotel to grab a quick bite. I decided to order chicken rice and kway chap. I had kway chap when I was in Kuching previously and liked it.

Universal Fun @ Lion City - Day 1

I'm still editing my numerous photos.

Some of you have inquired about the size of the room I was staying while in S'pore. Anyway, I'm uploading a few pics here for you to have a look. It is quite hard to estimate the size in images but I will describe it in words. :P

Room with a view... of sorts

A short post as I'm blogging from my mobile..

My hotel room is small but comfy. It's one of the new budget hotels around SG. I often wonder if the hotels in Japan are smaller?

Anyway, its good training for me should I plan a trip to Japan next year...

Photo-shooting has its ups and downs due to the cloudy & hazy weather. I often wished I bought some filters but hopefully can be fixed in post-production.

Lots of photographers around...

Tired

I'm just exhausted.

I can't understand why.

Perhaps this picture sums it up...

Here's to the mid-week... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz

P/S: I'm probably exhausted from a pretty rough week, as well as battling back pains.. yet again!

PP/S: This picture was taken about a year ago... Funny how I didn't got around to post it up.

Sunset

Sunset at the beach was really a relaxing experience. The beach was quiet and empty.

R&R @ Damai Puri Resort

Damai Puri resort is a beach side resort just about 45-minutes drive out of Kuching.

It is a bit isolated but the beach is just amazing! I've been here previously but didn't manage to take photos of the beach then.

Cat City... Meow! Meow!

I finally got around to editing some of my holiday photos.

Somehow, I have this nagging feeling that I should have taken more photos than necessary. *sigh*... I'd guess I'm still quite "frugal" when it comes to my photography. Nevertheless, it was a good experience to learn what it is like to lug all my gear around.

Recharged and Rejuvenated...

Am back at work.

However, I can't help but feel physically tired but mentally recharged and rejuvenated now.

I miss the lovely views and the cool breeze...

Some R&R

Finally... I'm going to get some R&R. It has been a while since I went on a trip anywhere!

Oh well, I hope to be able to post something while I'm gone. :)

P/S: I hope to survive this trip as I'll be traveling with EV...

Fishing...

There are days when you wish you can get away to "fish". In other words, we wish to just take some time off to relax....

Anyway, Friday is fast approaching and I'd guess everyone is just waiting for the weekend to begin!

Hope that everyone will have a great weekend ahead... (^.^)

CNY Over, A Dry Spell of Holidays Until May...

Feeling awfully tired as I've just gotten back from the gym.

Yes, the CNY holidays are over.... Time to get back to work and other stuff. Less partying and etc...

Time to hit the gym to lose those extra kilos gained over the 15-day celebration. Hehehe.. :P

However, if you have been "behaving" yourself, you don't have to feel all that guilty about indulging a little during the CNY festivities, right?

Meanwhile, I'd guess everyone will be working hard in the next 2 months as there isn't that many public holidays unless you happen to be in Sabah/Sarawak for Good Friday.

Ok.. So, hope everyone will have a smooth sailing Year of the Tiger... *ROAARR*

Christmas Came Early for Me This Year

I'm pretty exhausted now although it has been hours since I got back from the hospital.

Well, I just got a great early Christmas prezzie... One of my doctors, i.e. the cardiologist is quite happy with my echo-cardiogram which I did this morning. According to him, my heart looks to be back to normal with the treatment I'm undergoing.

It was a very busy day at the hospital, with a lot of folks coming for their check-ups and etc. I had to wait for almost 1.5hrs to get my blood drawn for tests. Some kids had to get their blood drawn and being so small, I pity those kids who had to be pricked by needles.

This time, the technician somehow "chose" a small vein and it was difficult to draw blood out. -_-"

So, I was in a bit of pain. Funnily though, I'm not too scared of needles or blood. But then again, at one point, I did seriously think about taking up medicine but in the end didn't when I decidedly loved Physics more than Biology in pre-U.

Luckily, there was no queue at the diagnostics services but the echo-cardiogram took a really long time to complete. After all, the test was to scan all 4 chambers of the heart. I had forgotten that it was cold and by the time I finished, I was freezing.

All that time I did not have time to take my breakfast as I had to fast before my blood test. So, I only had a late breakfast/early lunch by 11:30am. After a quick bite, it was off to see the other doctor too.

The doctors did warn me about side-effects of the medication and should I experience any of the symptoms, I was to go back and see the doctors.

Other than that, I'm now free to do a bit more stuff at the gym... in small steps. That means, I can't start doing 20kg bench presses or dead lifts so soon but to do so gradually when I'm strong enough. It'll be mainly cardio and some light strength training to tone those muscles. I'm looking forward to doing some running soon.

I'll still need to see my doctors in about 2-6months time.

Meanwhile, I'm just glad to be able to celebrate Christmas in good health this year.

Thanks to everyone who kept me in their prayers and thoughts. (^-^)

Sleep Troubles... Again!!

Snoopy doesn't like it when I disturb her "beauty sleep"

Of late I've been having difficulty sleeping...

It is frustrating as I've been experiencing great sleep at night for the last couple of weeks after I got out from the hospital. I'm not sure if it is due to the fact that I've started to go back to work since last week and that the stress is coming back, or it's due to the medication I'm taking.

Anyway, I've been trying to apply the correct sleeping habits as follows:

• No caffeine/food 2 hours before bed-time
• No exercise 3 hours before bed-time
• No TV/laptop activities while in bed or before bed-time
• Going to bed as soon as you feel sleepy...

However, it does not work. I tend to wake up at 4 or 5am feeling quite alert! Whenever I try to go back to sleep, it is not restful and I wake up feeling more exhausted at 7am.

Grrrrr... Also, I find that when I accidentally fall asleep by 10:30pm and not go to bed soon after, I'm wide awake until 12 or 1am!!!

Sleep is very important and we should try to get at least 7-8hrs per day to stay healthy. If we have not enough sleep, we can put on weight easily and also tend to crave unhealthy foods! My insomnia for the last 3-6mths also played a big factor in my being sick too... So, I'm worried about my sleeping patterns now...

Any suggestions??

Trip to Bukit Tinggi Part Deux (Two)

A continuation of my trip...

After a hearty lunch, we could not get into our room as housekeeping didn't have it ready yet. So, we decided to visit some of the attractions around Bukit Tinggi.

There are a few ways to get around the attractions, you either drive or take the shuttle or.... if you're really really up to it.. walk. We both decided to wait for the shuttle.

Being the school/public holidays, the resort was just filled to capacity with day trippers. There were not enough shuttles to go around and we had to wait 20-30 minutes before we can get on board one. AND... as usual, with typical Malaysian KIASU gusto, you will see throngs of people rushing to the shuttles to get on board with total disregard for safety... (imagine, seeing people jump up into the shuttle when the shuttle has not stopped properly...)

We took the shuttle to the Japanese garden and really looked forward enjoying the scenery there.

When we reached the signboard, I noticed something very interesting...

Me: *sniff sniff*... Uggghhh.. What is that smell?
EV: Toilet-la...
Me: o_0

Yes, there were so many people that you can smell the toilet as you walk towards the Botanical Garden as you pass the souvenir shop. Ugghh..

Within the Botanical Garden, lies a small Japanese restaurant. I looked at the prices and it is pricey to eat Japanese food in the "mountains". However, due to the big crowds, the restaurant was pretty packed with some patrons enjoying a late lunch or some dessert.

It was a relief to walk around the garden as it had been quite hot and humid after the showers which came down during lunch.

I did not go down the hill due to my knee problems and so, stopped halfway to enjoy the cool breeze and scenery around.

Besides the Botanical garden, there was a small Japanese garden at the other side of this "village".

The Japanese garden is designed in the manner of the Japanese style, using a lot of natural elements of water, wood, stone and earth in order to beautify the surroundings. The feeling you get as you walk around the garden with the tea house is one of being "united with nature".

I wanted to take a photo where I could "freeze" the movement of water and was glad that I experimented with the shutter speed settings of my camera. It is still not quite perfect but I understand the concept of using the shutter speeds to capture movement.

It is a joy to photograph in these gardens and I did wish that I had some macro lens or a superzoom to capture some of the more detailed elements. Oh well...

We left the Japanese village at around 5:30pm as we wanted to catch the last few shuttles back to the resort to rest in our room. Again, we had to face the mayhem of getting a seat on the shuttle when it came...

Now... what was there to do at night in Bukit Tinggi...

Trip to Bukit Tinggi Part Un (One)

During the recent Raya break, I took an overnight trip up to Bukit Tinggi for a short R&R. Well... It turned out to be less R(rest) and more A(activity).

We decided not to drive up as I wasn't familiar with the roads and also, thinking that there would be a traffic jam due to the public and school holidays. Boy, was I glad about that decision. Sure, it was costly to pay RM40 for the 2-way trip (up and down) but it really did save me from the stress and anxiety of finding parking and etc because the "hill" was packed to capacity!!

Colmar Tropicale was a lot smaller than I anticipated but that's because the entire place is just a hotel/resort for the guests to stay before they venture out to indulge in other activities.

This isn't a photographer's heaven but it certainly is a great place to practice my art. I've not done a lot of architecture photography and so, this was a chance for me to try it out.

Both sides of the court yard were lined with small stalls as well as hotel restaurants - Italian (pasta/pizza), a rotisserie, buffet restaurant, French fine dining and Thai/Vietnamese. Limited choice with limited seating. The crowds were so packed on the first day we arrived that we had to wait 30 minutes for a seat at a restaurant and another 30 minutes for lunch/dinner.

I took the view of the entire court yard from the observation tower, which lucky for me, had a lift!! Hehehe... After all, I was lugging my heavy equipment around and so, the lift was a relief!

Some shots taken here are great candidates for my fake miniatures and I can't wait to play around with that. Kekeke...

Food-wise, we were quite limited to the 5 restaurants around the resort, unless we were game enough to venture out to the Japanese garden, where they have a restaurant but the prices were just crazy... So, for lunch, we decided to have the Italian food as reviews said that the food was pretty good.

Portions were quite reasonable for the price we paid. Taste-wise, it was pretty good.

This "blob" is actually beef lasagna. Plenty of cheese and meat although there were not many layers but pretty tasty with just the right amount of tomato.

After lunch, we hung around the court yard for a little while as there was a looooong queue for the rest rooms. Our room was not ready yet and so, we just had to wait until housekeeping could get it ready.

Meanwhile, we planned to head to the Japanese garden and so, there was another loooong wait for the shuttle to arrive to take us there.

Well, good to stop here. I will continue with Part Deux (two) of this little trip... ;-)

You Need To Be More Sick To Get Well Faster...

Geez... This year has been pretty bad for me... Health-wise that is.

I've already fallen sick at least 3 times within the last 6 months!! And each time I got sick, I seem to be taking longer to recuperate. :-(

This time is no exception. I went to see the doctor twice to complain about the medication. Because of my throat infection, he prescribed some antibiotics which I dutifully complete the entire dosage long after my sore throat is gone.

However, this time round, I developed a "side-effect". I started to have diarrhea because of the antibiotics... So, I went back to see the doctor.

Doc: So, what's wrong?
Me: I feel much better, can breathe with less wheezing but I'm having diarrhea. Is it because of the medication?
Doc: Have you been eating out?
Me: No (*thinking* - I thought the doc told me to eat soft, non-oily foods the last time round... )
Doc: Then, it must be the antibiotics. 1 out of 3 people will develop this side-effect
Me: O_O

The doctor prescribed a round of medicine to stop my diarrhea. I still have to complete my antibiotics but will have to treat the side-effect in order to get well.

That's the funny bit about this time's bout with the bug. Am sure my immune system must have had a laugh.

However, on a more serious note, I did complain to the doctor about my breathing difficulties which caused me to feel like shit. He heard that I was wheezing and was afraid that I would start to develop asthma. Genetics may make me pre-disposed to asthma and allergies but I'd guess it had to be due to something else. The doctor also suspected stress which can bring this out. Regardless, I will need to see another doctor for a second opinion.

I have been feeling particularly stressed out and finding it hard to de-stress (i.e. gym) due to work/home issues. Just that when you see the doctor and he mentions a disease which can stick with you for life, or can be life-threatening at any moment; it is a wake-up call.

With the advancement of technology, we're expected to live longer than our parents/grandparents; but if stress is a major factor of daily life, I think many of us are just ticking time bombs where health issues explode out of stress. The sad part is, it's lifestyle-related.

Hmmmm... I need to sleep. Enough talk, I'm feeling breathless...

Weekends are for...

What does one do during the weekend?

DEFINITELY NOT WORK!!!! If you can help it...

Like Snoopy, these days, my weekends are used for me to catch up on the following:

• Sleep (as I sleep between 3-5hrs per day)
• Photography & Photo editing
  
• Blogging
• Watching lots of TV
• Spending time with my Terror Terrier Rascals - Snoopy & Rusty
• Shopping... (if I need to)
• Yum Cha/Lunch/Dinner with friends
• ... Anything-else-I-can-think-of

Hope you folks enjoy the weekend before we head back to the madness which we call our working lives...