Day +1670 : Shopping for Chinese New Year

I am fine today.

I brought my wife and the children to buy clothes for Chinese New Year at Jusco store, IOI Mall in the evening. The store is offering discount as high as 70%, so it is the best time to shop now. We purchased quite a lot of clothes this time.

The store
It would cost over RM1200 to have these but now we paid RM420 only :-)
We purchased 10 boxes of Mandarin oranges - buy 10 free 1 :-)
Three boxes for the nurses in haematology ward, UH. Daniel and Joseph helped to carry the oranges to the ward.

See you next post :-)

Day +1669 : The art of taking Avelox

I am fine today.

I am on Avelox since Thursday due to lung infection. It is a very strong oral antibiotic and has the side effect of making me tired and unable to focus my mind. Doctor suggested me to lie down for at least 10 minutes after taking it.

When I felt that I was unable to concentrate my mind when I first took the antibiotic last December, I thought that something was wrong with me. I was a little worried at that time because it is very difficult for me to pursue the Bible study course without a clear mind. I approached the doctor and he pointed out right away that the problem was due to the side effect of Avelox. I was very happy that it is "not a permanent damage." :-)

With the side effect in mind, I takes the antibiotic just before I go to bed at night instead of having it in the morning. This minimizes the side effect greatly. If under any circumstances that you need to take the drug, remember to have it before you sleep.

See you next post :-)

Day +1668 : But not my husband

I am fine today.

"Will I be like mommy when I grow up?" Adriel asked my niece.

Then she looked at our wedding photo and said, "I will be like mommy but not my husband."

This means that she doesn't like a husband that looks like me :-( May be she wants somebody that looks like the prince in the cartoon :-)

Anyway, she likes me very much and always proclaimed it through her mouth. She could told me, many times a day, that she likes me. I should tell her that the handsome one might not necessary be as good as me :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +1667 : Company(Esteem) Chinese New Year Dinner

I am fine today.

I attended company(Esteem) Chinese New Year dinner at Hee Lai Ton Restaurant (喜来登海鲜酒家) this evening. We were supposed to have the dinner at Cheong Wah Seafood Restaurant but it was fully booked. Chinese New Year is really a eating season and my lung infection didn't stop me from eating at all :-)

The dinner was very good and I enjoyed it very much :-)

The menu - total 7 dishes

First table
Second table
Lao Sheng(捞生)




Other dishes






See you next post :-)

Day +1666 : Lung infection again

I am fine today.

My lung is having infection again. I feel itchiness inside the left lung and started to cough and experience mild sore throat. Based on the previous experience, I am pretty sure that my lung is having infection.

I went to see my family doctor this evening. I reminded him that the previous infection in November relapsed twice and I had to complete three courses antibiotic.

The doctor then prescribed to me the strongest oral antibiotic called Avelox. The antibiotic is so strong that I have to lie down for at least 10 minutes after taking it. This is because I am unable to focus my mind after taking it and I might fall down if I don't rest. In fact, I couldn't concentrate my mind many hours after taking the medicine :-(

Hopefully, the antibiotic will wipe off the infection else I have to be warded for intravenous antibiotic.

See you next post :-)

Day +1665 : Life at MBS

I am fine today.

We have care group meetings every Friday in MBS. The students are divided into small group with lecturers as leaders. This is a very good approach to understand the needs of the students so that the lecturers and students can support each others through various ways including reflecting the difficulties faced by the students to the management board of the college and praying together.

A lunch - RM4.00 only :-) Quite cheap, but two weeks after Chinese New, we will have 3 main dishes only because of inflation :-(






See you next post :-)

Day +1664 : They say, you say, I say

I am fine today.

I am from engineering and computing background in which the study involved maths and science a lot and thus, most of the theories that we studied were provable and practical. So we don't have to memorize much.

Studying in the Bible seminary is quite different. We have to study Bible, history, geography, culture and understanding some philosophies. Good memory do have a role here. Though there are practical subjects, a lot of the study involved understanding of the discussion of various topics by various theologians. The argument of a topic may result in totally opposite conclusion, so in the end (there might be no end in fact) the topic discussed is open ended, in which an unanimous conclusion couldn't be reached.

One of the purposes of the seminary study is to get the student into the process of understanding what various peoples say about a topic and then participate in the discussion through the writing of academic articles. We have to understand the various arguments and then propose our stand. Where we stand might not be really important in most cases but the important thing is how we arrive to the conclusion.

The above process can be described in 6 words - "they say, you say, I say".

What others say? What the lecturers stay? And now it is my turn - what I have to say?

See you next post :-)

Day +1663 : Follow-up at BMT Clinic

I am fine today.

I had my post bone marrow transplant follow-up at UH this afternoon. The haematologist, Dr. Bee, said that I am getting thinner but in fact, I am gaining weight :-) He didn't know that once my weight dropped to 53kg and now it increased to 62kg, almost the weight while I was diagnosed with Leukaemia.

The doctor saw me first before the blood test result was ready, so I didn't keep a record of the blood count this time. However, the doctor said later that all counts are normal :-)

On the way back from UH, I dropped by a Christian bookshop called Sufes at Petaling Jaya to buy some text books for my study but only to find out that it was closed for stock check :-( However, it doesn't really matter much as the bookshop will be selling books in the Bible college sometime this week.

My next follow-up will be four months later.

See you next post :-)

Day +1662 : Attending MBS Annual Retreat (5)

I am fine today.

The food provided in the camp was not really good, so we skipped the last lunch. Ps. Tan brought us to an old coffee shop called Restoran Dan Bar Fung Hai （芳海餐馆）in Melaka Town.

I believe this is one of the rare traditional coffee shop left. The owner said that there will be no one to take over his shop and it might close down after he retired from this business.

The charcoal toasted bread in this shop is the best ever that I eat. If you visit Melaka, don't miss this restaurant.

The restaurant

You can see the KFC outlet from the shop - just in case you need direction to the shop

The coffee is very nice too :-)
The incredible charcoal toasted bread

David, Ps. Tan and Gloria
A photo with the shop owner
Chicken chop - not bad too

Wah Tan Hor - so so

With this, I shall conclude the posting for this retreat.

See you next post :-)

Day +1661 : Attending MBS Annual Retreat (4)

I am fine today.

I brought my laptop to the camp together with the Celcom Broadband modem and thinking that I would be able to access to internet over there.

I tried to access the internet early morning in the second day of the retreat and I found out that the access was denied. I called the customer service and I was told that the service was blocked because I didn't settle the bill for two months.

I requested them to temporarily unblock the service so that I could do my work and I was promised that they will do it for me within half an hour to two hours. And I was also told that I have to settle the bill in 5 days. I was very happy. I waited and waited and nothing happened even after three hours.

I called again and this time they told me a different story - the service cannot be unblocked unless I paid a minimum amount of RM75. Whenever I raised a question, the customer service staff had to put the line on hold and then answer the question after a few minutes. He asked me to settle the bill first but I told him that I couldn't do that as I was in a camp. He then asked me to ask someone to settle the bill.

I gave up in the end. The conversation wasted me more than half an hour time. I am not happy with their service.

They sent me a customer support feedback survey through SMS after the first call and I gave a favourable feedback but it is funny that they dared not send me the same survey after the second call. I believe they knew that I would give bad comment. So if Celcom tells you in future that their customer support is excellent and provides you with the statistic, don't believe them, they are cheating.

To be continued and see you next post :-)

Day +1660 : Attending MBS Annual Retreat (3)

I am fine today.

Though the facilities of the campsite are simple, the scenery is quite nice.

To be continued and see you next post :-)