Penang Trip - April 2012

Besides visiting my parents, I also went Cheng Beng with my sister to pray at my grandparents graveyard.

We managed to buy 2 durians from the Air Itam central market for RM40 and they were quite good, it was just the beginning of the durian season so we did not expect it to be that good.

We managed to eat the Hokkien Prawn Mee and Char Koay Teow more than once.

Not forgetting the famous and popular Chendol by the roadside too.........

Please go to my Facebook album to see more photos of my trip.

Earthquake & Tsunami in Penang, April 2012

My family & I flew into Penang in the late afternoon on Wed 11 Apr to visit my parents.

We understood that there was an earthquake in Sumatra while we were in the air, Jas got a tweet about it upon landing at the Pg airport and was confirmed by my cousin who met us.

We still went for a seafood dinner near the jetty area ( this is not facing the open sea so we sholud be safe .. ) but when we were driving back to our hotel ( located in Georgetown ), we saw people outside the shopping mall like what you see in a fire drill. Apparently, there was another earthquake and there was some talk of a tsunami coming in about 2 hours time, around 7pm+.

So we decided to stay inside the hotel and my cousin rushed home as she did not want to be caught by any flooding waters, etc..... but it was a false alarm eventually. THe tsunami warning was called off when I saw the news on TV at 9pm.

We decided to go to the shopping mall to buy some drinks and snack for supper and also to stock up the fridge.

Guess what happened?

All the shops were closed and only 7 Elven was opened and Pizza Hut too! We have no choice but to follow the crowd ( mainly tourists, I think! ) to get our stuff at 7 Eleven and quickly returned to the hotel, which is just next to the shopping malls.

It was quite an experience as the town looked deserted and I have never ever seen this before....... having lived in Penang for 18 years before I left for my overseas study and eventually, working and living in Spore!

Even my Dad felt the earthquake and asked my Mum if someone pushed him when he was lying down in the sofa in the living hall.

Luckily, other than earthquake felt, there was no tsunami at all. When I spoke to the shopping mall staff the following day, they were scared as the hanging lights were really swinging to and fro and this is not usual at all! They were told to go home and be with their family in case there was a tsunami coming later, it was nice of the management to care for their staff.

Finally, I am glad to report that my family & I have a great time shopping in Parkson in 1st Avenue and also saw 2 movies, Battleship and Hunger Games, one after another... something that we are unlikely to do in Spore.....ha...ha.....

A panorama view of Georgetown, looking towards the Jetty, taken from  8th floor in 1st Avenue shopping mall.

Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar

Jason's electric guitar needed some repair and since it was quite expensive, almost 50% of the cost, we decided to buy him a new electric guitar.

After he has tried out some guitars over the 2 days, he has decided on a Fender Telecaster electric guitar.

Jason has been playing electric and acoustic guitars for 5 years+ and he now knows what he wants and still very keen on it, so we do not mind buying him a better guitar.

He is very happy with his new guitar.

The guitar case is a hard one and it looks like a sniper case...ha...ha... Quite heavy too, to protect the expensive guitar!

Well, we told him that this Fender Telecaster electric guitar is his graduation present which we have brought forward by a year.

Happy 19th Birthday, Jason!

Jason turned 19 this year and we celebrated it a few days before the actual day as Uncle Charles was visiting from Australia.

Happy 19th Birthday and may your wishes for the year come true........!

A toast of red wine to the birthday boy..!

In case, you are wondering what presents did Jason get for his birthday....?

We bought him the Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 3 ( COD-MW3 ) PC game and lots of hugs for the year...ha..ha...

Penang Trip in Feb 2012

I went back to visit my parents from 9 - 14 Feb 2012, my quarterly visit so to speak.

All seems well but my father was warded and had a stone removed from his bile duct a week after I left. Otherwise, all including my 5th aunt are doing reasonably well or status quo.

Here are a few photos... for the complete album, visit my Facebook page.

Mum exercising in the hall when she does not go for her physiotherapy session at LWE hospital, twice a week.

I took dad out for a western salad lunch and a movie at Gurney Plaza, our usual outing when I am home provided he is up to it.

5th aunt who is also living with my parents.

A huge statue of Goddess of Mercy or Kwan Yin was built on the hillside next to the Kek Lok Si temple, the area is brightly lighted up in the evening and quite a lovely sight.

Congratulations to Mary Jean Lupas on her newborn baby boy in Nov 2011...!!!

Jean worked for us for about 12 years since Jason was 4 years old. She left for home about 2 years ago to get married and started her family.

We are so happy for her and wish her and her family well with this new addition to the family.

Here are a few photos received from Jean recently :

and a complete family photo with her hubby too......

Finally, another lovely photo of the baby boy........

Calligraphy Competition 2012

The Calligraphy Competition 2012 was held at the car park below the Marina Floating Platform seating area again, on 29 January.

Participants of all ages including school children and retirees.

I was there to support my wife who participated for the past few years.

This is the first time I saw a non-Chinese participant in the competition.

Healthy, Safe, Prosperous & Happy Chinese New Year - 2012 Dragon Year

My family & I wish all of you a Healthy, Safe, Prosperous and Happy Chinese New Year in 2012 - the Dragon Year....!!!

Typically, we would have a steamboat dinner for our own reunion dinner on the eve of CNY but as Jason was hospitalised for his dengue fever to monitor his blood count and we were not sure when he could be discharged, we did not plan for it.

However, we managed to find a cosy place nearby to have our reunion dinner and we enjoyed it as the food was good and it was very quiet too.

As usual, we always have a family photo taken on the 1st day of CNY.

Dengue - Jas Discharged

On Wed, Jas blood count went down to 76K and the GP referred him to be hospitalised for closer observation.

We chose to be admitted to A&E in Mt E as he went to Mt E for his right knee ACL reconstruction surgery last Sept.

His blood count dropped to  66K on Thu but crept up to 93K on Fri so he was discharged yesterday afternoon.

While he was there, the rashes became more evident and they were getting itchy too!

We are indeed very happy to be home for the coming Chinese New Year.

As reported in the papers on Thu, the outbreak is not over yet and there are now 10 dengue cases in our housing estate. NEA has issued all the houses an urgent notice on dengue awareness and the steps that we should take to manage this outbreak.

We now apply mosquito repellent and spray the house with Shelltox more often.

Anyway, we are glad that Jason is on the road to a full recovery.

So wishing all of you a HEALTHY and SAFE Chinese New Year...!

Dengue Fever

The new year started with Jason having quite a bad sore throat and he recovered from it after taking some antibiotics for 5 days.

After a few days, he came down with fever and it happened to be Friday the 13th morning ....a coincidence ?

He had a very high fever, hitting 39.2 C and hovering in the 38 C range. Even after sponging him with wet towels and asking him to take a shower, the fever refused to come down. So after dinner, we decided to return to the clinic but it was closed so we went to the Raffles 7x24 clinic instead. They could not find anything wrong and the medication given seems correct so we went home.

That night, his temperature continued to hover between 38 and 39 C and he shivered quite badly when I sponged him with a few wet towels, a few times. Eventually, I gave up as I was too tired from lack of sleep... around 4am.

On Sat morning, I called the clinic and after discussing with the GP his condition and also the fact that there was at least once case of dengue fever in our area, I took Jas to the hospital lab to test for dengue fever.

After 2 hours of waiting, the GP called me and that Jas indeed has dengue fever but his blood count was still within range but at the lower end, borderline... at 156!

We have to monitor the blood count ( esp the white cells count ) daily to ensure that it did not drop below 80 else he needs to be warded and have a blood transfusion.

The blood count dropped to 120 on Sunday and it is now 121 today.... a good sign that it is going up ..we hope!

So another blood test tomorrow morning!

BTW, in between the fever, he vomited and also has diarrhoea so it was really tough on him and he did not eat well on the first 2 days. He lost 3 kg, so far!

His case is considered a mild dengue fever, according to the GP.

There is no medication to treat dengue fever other than some panadol or paracetamol to help with the headache and fever. Just need to ride it out...... sigh

We hope he wil be back to his normal self by end of this week, latest... and celebrate the Chinese New Year then!