Hospital visits

The title pretty sums up what had swamped us for the last 1 week. No, not to human hospital (a big relief, optimistically) but to animals' hospital. Our poor Tubby-boy had stones in his bladder which triggered a string of problems.. one after another.

Last week (Mon night) we discovered that he vomitted once we returned from work. So we took half-day leave on Tue & brought him to the vet. We didn't expect him to be admitted immediately as an emergency procedure needed to be performed on him. He then stayed there for a few days under observation.. til the surgeon told us the only solution was to do an operation. It's a real big struggle for us whether to save him. We've never expected he's such serious problems at his young age. Eventually we decided to go ahead with the ops on Mon (this week). Brought him home last night, after exactly a week's hospitalisation... with a total of $1.5k spent. And the sad part is.. he's not totally cured.

He's such a very sweet boy & had charmed everyone in the hospital. The 1st 2 days he's totally zonked out due to the sedation & pain. 3rd day onwards, when he saw us, he'd meow till he knew there's no chance for him to be freed from the tubes, the e-collar & the long bandage on his leg. He'd then sulk by closing his eyes & ignoring us no matter how we called him. Only when we went hiding that he'd open his big eyes to look for us.

I was rather depressed last week. Was thinking why again around this time? Last year we went through a traumatic period having to deal with daddy's condition. Of course the intensity can't be compared at all. And the year before last.. to cope with the hardest blow we ever had when the bomb of daddy's health dropped onto us. Unable to have a happy CNY preps for 3 years, straight in a row... doesn't help at all when hubby & I like CNY.


Next 2 weeks will be a trying one for us & him... we'll have to see how everything goes. 辛苦你了老公, you've been doing all the dirty jobs.. even more now. Muakz.

The uncle downstairs

Am referring to the security guard of our office building who worked here for at least 4 yrs. In his 60s.. very friendly & helpful but talked non-stop. A simple question or reply could get him rattling on. So eventually everyone in the office tried to avoid him after a "good morning" or "bye bye" everyday. Hubby knows him too.. they used to chat a lot while Vince was waiting for me. Perhaps he's lonely.. from hubby, gotta know he's staying by himself in a rented room & had some relatives in Malaysia. He ever complained he'd no money & as a result his mobile phone line was being cut (Vince later helped him to call the telco company as he didn't know English). That's long time ago. Slowly Vince was afraid of uncle too who kept repeating the same thing & very often we didn't know what he's trying to say.

I was a lil relieved that these 3 days he's absent. I don't need to answer his questions which were the same everyday. But never did I expect to receive this shocking news - he suffered a heart attack & passed away early this morning (we presume).

Inevitably I think.. would we have given him more attention should we know his days were so numbered. If only.

Hotel talk

Was talking about hotel rooms earlier on. Thanks to my job, I get to stay in quite a few fine hotels in the region. Used to cover China, HK & Taipei as well but our territory had shrunk after a restructuring when each Rep is assigned to take charge of only 1 country (except ours - a region instead). It's a pity I don't get to travel to the Far East anymore... mmm...

Here's a recap of all the hotels I stayed before in ASEAN.

Legend: * = fine hotel

Out of which, the following have left a better impression.

The Sukhothai Bkk. Belongs to the Beaufort group. The exterior of the hotel is exactly the same as The Sentosa (formerly known as The Beaufort)… similar ponds, flooring, landscaping… The deluxe room in both hotels also looked alike with same type of furnishing. Once, I stayed in their Executive Suite & it’s heavenly! Total 76sqm (818sqft)… even bigger than Ritz’s Premier Suite (635sqft). just the bathroom alone is an awesome 25sqm (269sqft) which is abt the size of a small hotel room. Whole teakwood flooring & big enough to put an ottoman in the middle, 2 basins in 2 separate vanity counters, walk-in wardrobe etc … & there’r 2 toilets!

Behind the left bathrobe: W.C
Behind the right bathrobe: Shower cubicle
On extreme left & right: the 2 basins

The floorplan

I was stunned when being escorted to the room. What a waste.. 1 pax with 2 basins & I was like swimming in the bathroom. But shiok! How I wished Vince was there with me to enjoy the luxury of facilities & space. Looking on the bright side, we did stay in their Deluxe Studio before during 1 of our short getaways. At that time we're already greatly impressed with the room.

Had a wonderful stay in the beautiful hotel. The shower cub. & WC on either side of the passageway leading to 2 basins (on each side), then the bathtub.

Other than Ritz Carlton in Singapore, so far this is the other hotel that I give the highest rating.

Pathumwan Princess Bkk. Being a typical (shopping) Singaporean, tis my all time fav hotel in Bkk. When you stay there, you might think that you're back in Singapore in a split second. So you can imagine how popular this hotel is among our own people. Been taking their ExecuPlus Suite for more than 4 yrs.. comes with own kitchen & living room but I dislike the bathroom. 1 big minus point. Honestly I don't think it matches the entire concept & the en-suite bath area is a lil worn out. I can forego a bathtub in exchange of a separate shower cubicle, at all time, for I don’t use hotel’s bathtub except Ritz Carlton’s (& perhaps Sukhothai’s). The 1 & only attraction is of course it's location. MBK is just next door & is directly connected with the hotel. No worries about rain or shine as I can also reach the sky train station or to Discovery/Siam Centre, sheltered all the way.

The living hall, before going for a nice dinner

Whereas The Sukhothai.. it's in the midst of the embassies which is also the business district. Though it's not far away from the shopping area (perhaps 5 mins drive if without congestion), the place is a ghost town at night & not near to the sky train station. So when I stay here, I've to be totally reliant on cabs & it's very inconvenient.

Hilton Sentral. 1 of the 2 newest skyscraper hotels in KL (or perhaps also Westin). The other 1 is their neighbor – Le Meridien. They share the same pool & belong to the same owner, but different management. Comfortable-sized rooms that give small surprises here & there, eg. the chic black couch by the window, big plasma tv, the special wall-lit long corridor from the main entrance to the bed & bathroom. Its uniqueness is the open-concept bathroom.. you can indulge in a warm rain shower while enjoying programs from the in-set tv or the panoramic view of KL city. Another plus point – the train station is just in front of the hotel that takes you from the hotel to KLIA in only about 30 mins. You can also check-in the luggages at the express train station instead of lugging them to the airport but for that, you'll have to be at the station say 30mins earlier.

Being located on much higher ground than street level, it offers spectacular view of KL city.

So you can see, I'm a bathroom person huh... haha.

Mandarin Oriental KL. If Bkk = Pathumwan Princess for me, in KL it'd have to be this. What pulls me to this hotel is its direct connection to KLCC where I can find almost everything, from restaurants to shopping. Nothing too fantastic about the room though (but they've my most preferred shower cubicle!) except the view. Particularly love the rooms at the lower floors so I can have the views of the seemingly seamless pool, the KLCC park & the magnificent Twin Towers. Day & night offer 2 different but equally lovely views. Day - a great combi of blue (pool & ponds) & green.. night - love the lightings & the fountain (at the park). It never fails to chill me out by sitting next to the window with a book & a drink.

Picturesque view! I tried to capture it in my own digi-cam but failed.

Ritz Carlton KL. This is the other hotel I'll stay if MO runs full. Like its very European ambience as well as the relatively big room including bathroom. Also have a separate area for wardrobe & vanity counter. About 5 mins' walk on a shelterless slope to Bkt Bintang which I didn't really feel comfortable as it's very quiet at night. Much better now with that Westin is on that slope.

Stubborn as I am, I've sticked by my choices of hotels for so many years even if there're newer & better hotels along the way.. unless I've to go in a group for special mission.

Whenever I stay in a great hotel, I'll always think of Vince... how nice it'd be if I could enjoy it with my hubby. Thankfully, he's so far stayed in all of the above except Hilton. 1 day perhaps...

Creation

Alright since I'm better today, shall tell ya what I'd accomplished last weekend... of course with the ever great help & support from hubby dearest.

Spent our Fri night @ Ikea. Got what I needed & some other stuff for us... ended up spending a couple of hundreds again.

Sat morning, brought Tubby to the vet in Serangoon Gardens & had breakfast @ Coffee Bean. Been so many years since my last visit. Being there also gave us reminiscence of our short holiday in HCMC. Similar alfresco breakfast @ Highlands Coffee... mmm.....

Breakfast time!

Rented some movies from VideoEzy before moving off to Bras Basah Complex to get all needed materials. Our last stop was back to the vet to fetch our Tubby-boy. Our meowmeow was already up by then.

After getting all the stuff & settling Tubby back home, went to Sembawang Shopping Centre for our early dinner @ the thai restaurant we'd been wanting to try out. It's a big disappointment & we're puzzled why the crowd every night (not only weekends). Perhaps it's the air-con environment with coffeeshop prices being the main attraction? Lucky we didn't gather the whole family to dine in there otherwise we'd hear music.

Then the whole evening was dedicated to my project 44 constructing my very own accessories cabinet! It looked simple but when I got my hands into doin it, it wasn't the case. Lotsa measuring & cutting works had to be done & hubby helped to fine-tune the finished product.

On Sun, other than doing the routine in the morning, the whole afternoon & evening was spent on gathering & sorting out all my accessories. Throughout the years I bought & bought.. it didn't help when I've moved a few times... my accessories were almost everywhere without a proper storage place. Not good at all. Every morning I'm in such a rush that I've no time to dig into the drawers & various jewellery boxes. And I keep wasting money by stocking up but not utilising them. So delighted now that I've all pieces displayed for easy selection.

Maybe I worked too much over the weekend & hence got myself sick.

Voilà

On the left: Earrings

Middle & on the right: Necklaces

1st tier: hairclips & brooches

2nd tier: hubby's rings (in jewellery box) & a glass of miscellaneous hairpins

3rd tier: rings & earstuds.. a few belong to hubby

75% well

I'm much better today

Thanks to my sweet colleague who brought me to a chinese physician during lunch yesterday. It's raining heavily then & she didn't mind at all getting herself wet. Was feeling very lousy the whole day in office.. the headache didn't seem to go. Got a lil better in the evening. But still no appetite to eat... & what I had for dinner? A can of Campbell minestrone soup. The thought of fishball soup, wanton mee, porridge, etc made me sick. At least minestrone was a lil more appetising. Took 2 rounds to finish it but still I threw up. Had an early rest at 9ish while poor hubby.. rush rush...... first rushed to get the soup for me & ta-pao dinner for himself, sent me home, prepped my Dinner & ate with me, then after seeing me to bed, off to fetch mum from her cell group gathering @ Bukit Timah. When he's back, had to attend to Tubby-boy too.

Sickly days

Am ill.

Started Sun evening, felt pain in my left eye, aches all over the body & feverish. When I woke up last morning, atop the above symptoms my limbs were so weak I couldn't pull myself out of bed. Hubby took a day's urgent leave to bring me to the doc & to take care of me despite his busy work. The lousy feeling was compensated by the extra pampering from hubby. So I'm not complaining.

Still unwell today. The fever comes & goes... the body ache... the painful eye...

Peace

Gotta agree with LL.

Felt great after making peace with him. I didn't feel it, didn't even detect a trace of guilt... not before I got to talk to him again last week after losing touch for 10 years, no less. Especially when I was that mean 1.

Somehow after saying the word "Sorry" & we chat like old friends now, I feel relieved & happy. It's some kinda peace & joy that you won't be able to fully comprehend till you've made that move.

I truly hope the 4 of us (with our partners) can become friends.

Btw.. previously I didn't check the link to LL's blog wasn't working. Now rectified!

Christmas present from hubby

On 1 evening, about 2 1 weeks before Christmas, as usual hubby came & fetch me. He surprised me with an advance Christmas gift. When I knew it's a diamond ring, I nearly fainted. I don't want him to spend too much though he assured me it's not too ex.

I love the pretty ring! The stone is not big but the design is very unique.

And he refused to receive any Christmas present from me as he said he'd sacrificed his own share so that I could get a more special ring. However I insisted & eventually bought him a nice (but cheap) shirt.

Hmm.. hubby dearest is always up with those funny theories but I know his ultimate intention is to let me have the best of everything. Thank you honey!!

Dramatic

Last Wed.. was shopping @ Seiyu during lunch when I heard someone called my name. It took me a few secs to recognise he's my ex-classmate. As both of us were in a rush, he got my hp no & later sms me his. Started a chat from there & that's when I gotta know he's still in touch with LL. Remember him whom I wrote about end of Nov... Boys of Summer? Got his no. from C & I gave him a surprise call. Chatted for an hour & truly so much had (a PAST tense I really hope) happened to us. I was shock to hear of his & I think likewise for him. Unbelievable...! It's such a biiig coincidence to be able to reconnect with LL after so many years & shortly after I mentioned about him. Adding on, he wrote about it on 28Dec.. exactly 1 month after I did.

Most importantly, it's comforting to know that we're now very happy with our respective partners. Cheers to a brand new year with many more brighter tomorrows to come!

Nouvelle Année Heureuse

Contrary to the Christmas weekend, our New Year weekend was a lazy & relaxing one. No countdown party.. no celebration.. We started & completed 1 korean serial during the holidays & caught up on household chores... had a thorough cleaning.


The wedding dinner last Fri night ended very late, @ 11.30pm! We're so tired but the consolation was the 4-day long weekend. Just love the feeling of knowing the next day would be a no-work day... so were the day after next & next next. But good times never last. Hmm...