Another fainting incident

The first and previous last time I had this vasavagal syncope was 31 Jan 2007, almost exactly 15 years ago from yesterday.

We hosted reunion dinner with Mother yesterday coz we couldn't all go to her place due to COVID-19 SMMs. I started preparing for dinner in the morning - cutting up stuff etc so that I would only have to cook later in the afternoon. 

So there I was, in the kitchen, slicing Chinese sausages which were the last thing to do. (Later, I remembered that I forgot the garlic...) As I made the last cut for the last sausage, I sliced into the tip of my left little finger with the tip of the knife. It felt like a bad cut coz I could feel the slicing, like slicing meat *.*

Btw, this was the third time I cut this finger since helper left - first two times were slight cuts when cutting dragonfruit. There was another instance when I accidentally poked this finger with the tip of the knife. Nothing cut but still hurt for a few days.

The blood kept flowing this time as I washed so I held a piece of tissue on it and sat down at the dining table near the fridge, facing the clock. I thought I might have to press on it for 5-10 min to stop the blood. Then it happened.

I felt a bit dizzy and cold. I thought I might faint. Should I move to the sofa then? Maybe not, better not stand, and I was seated. Right?

50-50. 

The next moment, I was waking up from an upsetting dream coz I wanted to cry. Can't remember the dream at all. I was surprised to see white - it was my ceiling. And Yang was the first face I saw, I think. I think he asked what happened. I realised I fainted and fell, and got him to call for Sito. Later, he told me he saw me in midair as I fell. 

I was lying on the floor between the dining table and the dry pantry cabinet. My head was right next to the right door of the freezer. I wondered if the floor was clean - I mean, our pet lizards live around the fridge... Then I remembered I mopped that morning. The clock said - I can't remember now but it was not past 10 am. And I saw the chair I was sitting on; it was overturned. How did I fall? I was leaning towards the table rather than on the chair...

There was a huge baluku on the back of my head on the right. It was like a peach was half buried in my head. There was a bit of loose skin on the inside of my lower lip - please don't let it become an ulcer... And my upper teeth hurt on the right side.

Then Sito arrived. He was in the bathroom and thought Yang was disturbing him as usual until Yang said Mama fell and there was blood! Later, I saw a bit of blood on the floor, probably from my lip coz my head did not bleed.

I lay there for a while. Finally, I got up to change - Sito was bringing me to the clinic. But first, I sat down with the kids who were watching TV. Can't remember what we talked about. Sito quickly cleaned up the kitchen first else the ants would have a party in our absence.

Then, we instructed Kai to watch over his brothers and made sure he knew Sito's number as well before we went to the GP. Waited quite some time, during which Sito bought pizza for the kids' lunch. The bump on my head went down a little by the time it was our turn. As the bump was still big, GP suggested an X-ray at the hospital; polyclinics are closed on Sundays.

I wasn't comfortable leaving the kids alone for too long and with us far away so Sito stayed with them while I went to NUH A&E myself. Reached there about 1 pm. There were fewer people at A&E than at the clinic. Didn't wait too long to see the doctor. By then, my bump had gone down further. She didn't recommend a CT scan (ah, that should be more apt than X-ray!) based on my risk factors. I said I would do it anyway and was told to pee in a cup - must do pregnancy test first.

Sito didn't see my text before I saw the doctor again. Her consultant also didn't recommend a CT scan as it was unlikely for me to have a brain bleed. Um, ok. Then I should save time and go home... But I was out of A&E when Sito replied saying I should just do it. Actually, yes, why not?! So I went back.

Had an ECG done and waited one hour or more before I was wheeled up. Apparently they had some emergency cases to do first. This elective one had to wait... 

While waiting, I downloaded instructions to Sito on cooking dinner! :p But I forgot certain things, like how to turn on the oven, which frying pan to use... My dear hub is not so familiar with the kitchen apart from his stash of instant noodles and related :)

The scan took less than five minutes and I was back at A&E by 4.30 pm. I wasn't sure if I should open my eyes so I didn't. Now I'm so curious what's inside the tube, haha!

Then I had to wait for the radiologist to interpret the scans, pass the result to the doctor and see the doctor. I dozed off while waiting. When I woke, it was 5.10 pm!! Gosh.. I deided not to wait. Took me two tries to finally talk to the doctor. It was a different one now. She tried to persuade me to stay for the results else I might have to return if the results showed anything nasty. I told her I was an elective case so she could call me later. 

Took me a few tries and eventually a lot of money to get a taxi home... On the way, the doctor called - everything was fine, woohoo! And I hadn't been so happy to be home for a while!! 

Mother they all had arrived by then. She was with Yu who was crying coz Yang took the little stool away from him and amid the quarrelling, Sito removed all the little stools. Yu decided to hide until the adults were done with dinner.

The rest were with Kai, playing / watching Nintendo. No one had started eating. So yes, time to eat! I hadn't eaten anything since the leftover pizza from Yu during lunch!

It wasn't much due to the unexpected one-man show but I realised it was our joint effort :)

Apart from the spring rolls which Mother brought upon my request; I hadn't had those in years!!! The soup was seafood soup with prawns, fish, tomatoes and tofu. Char siew was homemade and so good... But next time I would use another cut; pork belly is too fat! And line the baking tray a lot more... Sito deviated from my recipe for the vege - he panfried the scallops instead of blanching them. Rice was flavoured with mushroom and those darn Chinese sausages. Had wanted to fry guotie and put out some bah kwa but didn't manage to...

They continued with Nintendo after dinner while I cleaned up. Dessert was mini Magnum, yum! The kids went to bed late. I only managed to talk to Yang and Yu after showering, as Kai had slept already.

I explained why I was away for so long - need to check that there was no internal bleeding. Yang and Yu said they were scared. Yang was afraid I might die *.* Yu didn't want me to die *.* This afternoon, Kai said he wasn't scared; he was watching TV/playing Nintendo. Wa liao, 没良心的！

The bump hurt a lot when I was washing my hair last night. The mark on my right temple felt like an abrasion with a bruise. My neck especially the right side and my back hurt but my back has been hurting for a while. After standing for a few hours in the kitchen, Sito said it should be due to prolonged standing... Anyway, the bump is hardly there anymore though the pain remains. My teeth still hurt. Hope they feel better soon - I have nightmares about teeth ever since I had braces...  And hope to be able to wash my hair better tonight! 

Apparently, the next lunar year is very good for me, so 明年会更好！

End of week 2!

The first two weeks of school were too happening.

1) For the first time, I let them come home on their own. We bought a GPS watch to keep tabs of them. It's in Kai's schoolbag coz it's quite big to wear and he lost his first watch in the first week of P1 :p It takes 20 seconds to retrieve location info. I thought I would be chill but I was quite anxious the first day... Also went through various scenarios with them, e.g. if the bus breaks down etc...

2) The first week coincided with my last week at work. It was chaotic as I was trying to sort out my laptop and ensure all important stuff had been filed and/or sent to people. Also went to office on Friday to de-kit and pack but didn't manage to do the latter coz was still doing handover stuff!

3) After just one week three days of school, Yang was issued a health risk warning. Saw the SMS on my birthday, no less. Thankfully it was past 11 pm when I saw it so still had a happy birthday :p But if he had contracted COVID-19, the damage was done coz we had gone to JEM that evening...!

So (a) we cancelled birthday lunch the next day, and (b) he didn't go to school on Monday. According to the advisories, he could have gone to school if he had a negative ART that day but I hadn't figured out how to get him to do ART early in the morning so let him skip school.

Kai: What?! I wish my friend had COVID-19!

😱 Terrible...

It was the day I intended to really clean the toilets properly - they saw purposefully wet floors just once after helper left on 20 Dec :p So I let Yang play Nintendo etc while I did work. Even cooked lunch for him. Then we settled down to play Scrabble. Kai joined us after his lunch but he left shortly coz he was upset when he couldn't form a word, gosh...

Yang posing sweetly next to Kai

Yang can't spell many words so I always have to wait looooong long time for him. Suffice to say it's a very slow game for me.... But it's still nice to play with him :)

At this point, I think I had originally wanted to write about the end of my first week as a SAHM, haha! No choice, too tired. Haven't done this much physical work for a while!

Nope, haven't managed to kick the second cup of coffee yet!

Managed to negotiate a deal with Yang for the remaining four days. Since school reopened, he wanted cereals in addition to his usual warm milo so that he could stomach the vitamins - last month, I changed from liquid to chewables which he doesn't like. So I stopped the vitamins so that instead of eating cereals, he would spend the time doing ART. He hated it but no choice...

4) And then on Wednesday, he couldn't find his wallet as before boarding the bus. We had to retrace our steps to find it but nope, couldn't find. I handed the wallet to him along with his mask, and saw him reach for a piece of tissue. He said he put it in his pocket by the time we got into the lift. I suspect it dropped through the gap of the lift... 

With Sito away and Yu alone at home, and it was getting late by the time we went home to search, I could only call a taxi for them and waved bye bye!! Gave Yang money for the way home. It cost 85 cents by cash by the way.

Took a photo of him for his replacement card when they got home. Then found that our printer doesn't print photos clearly so the counter was unlikely to accept - I asked in the morning. Tried to reduce the photo to do online instead though it would take five days for the card to arrive in the mail. But on whim, I tried the app - there was an option to use the original photo! Ok, done. And best part was that I could print the card at a kiosk downstairs, woohoo!

The next day, I called the helpline to cancel the old card to get the money back, on the advice of the lady at the counter. Due to high call volume, I left my number. But I got an sms to go get my money back after that. So automatic, yeah!

I have been cleaning a lot since helper left. This second week saw massive laundry - washed the curtains in the two bedrooms the kids sleep in, i.e. four loads; changed their bedsheets and mattress protectors. Seriously, laundry has been ruling me, haha! Also wiped down the windows while they were bare, and wiped all the bed frames which were super dusty!!!

Rare to see bare windows

Much brighter without curtains but good to block out sun in the afternoon for them

Apart from children and clothes which I must be hands on, cleaning - of the floors at least - has been taken care of my our new friend, Xiaomi 1C, aka Robot-kun :) Our grouts aren't very even with the tiles so after a while, some grouts start to catch dirt from the robot mop. So today I steamed the floors and cleaned off the dirt, yeah!

Ok, going into week 3 now... But no, there won't be a post on week 3 :p

A brand new start from my 43rd year

Birthdays these days are occasions for the kids to blow out candles. And it doesn't matter whose birthday it is! It's quite nice to see them happy with cake and candles - they can blow out all my candles every year!

This year, they didn't get to blow out my candles though we had cake thrice:

Cake 1: A surprise from some colleagues on Thursday! It's got a tail, hoho!

I was so happy at the tail! And I was hungry so I had it for tea without waiting for them to sing song blow candle cut cake with me :p All tried/ate this cake except Kai of course. So much cream, I love it, haha!

Cake 2: Chocolate mousse and mango mousse at Jack's Place on Saturday - no candles

Actually we ordered black forest, not chocolate mousse :p Anyway, we went there coz of a one-for-one birthday meal. Kai and Yang weren't very keen coz they went recently with their grands and one didn't like the steak and the other found the spaghetti too little. Kai still didn't like the steak - he had spaghetti this time. Yang had that too and found it huge! Of course - we got the regular one, not kiddy meal. Even Yu had the big one :p

These two enjoyed the cakes! Kai had the chocolate decor and a bit of mango jelly

Ikea time saw Kai struggling in the kiddy toy - too big already! *.*

Cake 3: I totally dig cakes of local flavours - this one has pulut hitam!

We were supposed to head out for lunch on Sunday - can't remember the last time the extended family ate out! But late on Saturday night, I got an SMS on Yang's health risk warning! So we had to cancel lunch. Mum brought mee tai mak and the cake which Ah Yee already bought. I was busy with setting up lunch etc so didn't do the birthday cake thing before cutting out two slices for us to keep. Sito and I finished them all that night :)

And my PJs in photo above were from Sito! With bag and comb pouch as free gifts :)

And the key reason it's a brand new start is that, I ended my 42nd year by wrapping up my paid work - on Friday, 7 Jan, I returned my laptop and PS card. I was going to write more but figured that it deserves a post on its own...

Anyway, take my word for it - it's a brand new start!

No more helper!!

I remember we started considering a helper around the time of our second miscarriage in 2013. That was a factor. Also, I thought Kai should graduate from cereals, bread and bites of my cai png to a more proper dinner *.*

Y left after just under two years, I think right after Yang turned one. She wanted to come back later as her then employer's house was too big *.* But I didn't want to change. Later, she texted me again, as I had mentioned previously that I might get two helpers in future with more kids. But this helper room is even smaller than before! In any case, I didn't need a second one after all. What I didn't say was, my boys were older and I didn't wish them to see her dressing on her day off! 

N stayed with us until Dec 2019. I would have let her stay but for her off day request after getting married. She later had issues with her new employer and left. No sound from her for two years until the Tik Tok incident. 

I was planning to tell A about not renewing contract towards the end of November. But I saw on MOM's website that I could only extend her work permit for four weeks; it was eight weeks when I checked a few months back! This meant she needed to start looking for transfer earlier. So I decided to tell her in mid November, after I finished a key item at work instead she just upped and left! Just nice she also commented that her work permit was expiring that Saturday morning when I was baking; I told her we would speak later.

While the kids were playing Nintendo, I told her I wouldn't be renewing her contract as I wouldn't be working the next year, and asked her if she wanted to go back or transfer. She decided to transfer directly to a new employer. I extended her work permit for four weeks and went to a Facebook page and linked a few employers to her directly for interviews. All settled within two hours!

The next morning over Yakun breakfast, when we were cuddled around the small tables, I told them we wouldn't have a helper anymore, and sought their cooperation to help out in housework and eating well. They were so nice about it - Kai said he would help with housework, Yang said he would mop, and Yu said he would fold clothes! :)

I liaised with the new employer on the transfer. Took two weeks before we sorted out the consent coz she did it wrongly the first time round. In these two weeks, A came to ask me why she could not continue working here. Um, coz we could not communicate??! Nah, I didn't say that but I told her - again - that I wouldn't be working from next year so I wouldn't need a helper.

The MOM approval took a while but it arrived. I had already started preparing for the day - bought replacements for various household things (e.g. frying pans which got damaged very easily over here) and also new items that I want to use (e.g. steam cleaner). Also sorted out my daily, weekly and monthly tasks, and decided on a new laundry routine.

A left 5 pm on Monday, 20 Dec 2021. For the first time in over eight years, we had only family in the house :)

And then for the first time in over eight years too, I ironed clothes and washed toilets :p

But it was quite tiring the first few days - had to clean the yard room, paint the walls (why were they brown and grey?!) and shift things into the yard room, on top of regular cleaning and feeding the family. Two days of leave were not enough. I had to go back to work but I managed to settle more household stuff as I was on half-day leave mostly - clearing leave!

For some strange reason, my hamstrings hurt madly. I mean, I painted with my arms leh :p Got better with massage from my four boys. And then Robot-kun came to help! Failed to map it on Christmas eve coz it got stuck in the toilet etc - turned out that it must start and end at the dock in order to create a map. Finally did it on Christmas day!

Map of our house, excluding toilets, kitchen, yard and balconies

So far, I've used it to vacuum all floors and mop only the tiled floors, and even let it run to the kitchen - just have to watch it a bit as the cabinet height is such that the robot could get stuck! Maybe I'll wring out the cloth more and try mopping the parquet floors on low water setting...

So that's one C - cleaning... Children - still the same, haha! Cooking - totally outsourced except for our Saturday porridge. Clothes are the worst - laundry every day! And somehow, I automatically wake at 6-ish every morning to hang up the clothes *.* Good thing is they dry very quickly if it doesn't rain; I don't have to wait for more sun in the afternoon!

I now need a fifth C - chill! Seriously salute full-time working parents with no help! I'm looking forward to settling into a new routine with work out of the way :)

Festive month!

What is it about December that makes me look forward to it? The cool weather? The Christmas carols? The school holidays? The time for clearing leave? The promise of a new year so near?

This year, it's Papa coming home on 4 Dec, woohoo! And he came back as Santa - gifts for everyone! The kids were very pleased :) He's also Santa for being 50% heavier than me, but that's a story for another day!

Yu with his twin monkeys

Yang with a minion box the size of a minion :p

Kai gets to play super mini Lego with Papa

Sito's PCR result came back in the evening - negative woohoo! But I was already preparing dinner to eat in. He happily went downstairs to see the doctor for a painful hand which turned out to be trigger finger, and got our regular Saturday bubble tea. To celebrate his return, my baked pasta 加料 - bacon and sausages which were popular with everyone!

As we didn't know when his PCR result would return, we arranged with Mum to bring lunch over - this is regular programming when five of us cannot go over. Even though result came back on Saturday, we decided to stick to this anyway as we would be going over the following week.

Dinner was at our fave Ichiban! I thought it was great we decided to cook on Saturday and eat out on Sunday when the helper was out - nothing for me to wash :p

That Sunday happened to be the 12th year of us moving in together so a little sweet thing for us :)

Then a happening week followed....

Monday, I brought Kai and Yang to get school shoes. Plaza Sing seems to have many possibilities so we went there. First stop - chicken balls at the basement :p Then we went to Muji for laced shoes for Kai. He was ok in a size 24 - not the smallest... But we didn't buy immediately as I wanted to check out everything!

Second stop was Skechers. Yang said he didn't like the shoes there. Laced shoes for Kai were too expensive. So we went to find World of Sports, which turned out to be tiny! But we passed by Cotton On and I found a nice pair for Yang. Unfortunately, Yang's feet were too big for the largest size available.

So we went back to Skechers and I made Yang try the shoes. Took two designs in two sizes to find a suitable pair. I had 20% discount from Popular card, yeah!

Then we went to Bata. Yang said his current one was ok but he MUST adjust *.* So I got him a pair from Bata. He said it wasn't the same as the ones this year but I thought they looked the same! Also got a pair of North Star for Kai. Then we went to Muji and grabbed the four pair plus a polo tee for Kai.

Since we were there, I had to check out Daiso :p But it was so difficult with them! Anyway, I couldn't find the long floor squeegee so we left empty-handed. 

Kai suggested watching a movie. We were in luck - Encanto was showing in 20 min! We bought tickets - my GV membership came alive based on salesperson's good will :p - and of course popcorn and milo. I sat just diagonally behind them and could hear Yang laugh :) Grabbed a chicken cutlet on our way to the train station. By then, had to get helper to fetch Yu.

Fiddling with the 4x4x4 cube on the way home - first time bringing their own bag out while with me

Tuesday, Yang had a follow-up at NUH. The wait was rather long this time. I told him to try to poop every day else we would have to come back! But still no sight of regular poop.

Yu was very regular, though, with his calls - he called me 15 times between 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm! By the 11th call, Yang was telling him to stop calling me, haha! He happened to be home coz he was sniffling and coughing in the morning. I felt cheated coz no more from 9 am... In any case, I made him do an ART the next day before going to school.

Both of us were in stripes!

Wednesday, the grands brought Kai and Yang out for an adventure! I thought it was just nerf gun but it was more than that! Yang said they took a train to Promenade where we changed trained to Mountbatten during their camp, and walked to the nerf place. Kai said they had lunch (bun with loose meat filling) and started their adventure. First, they painted t-shirts. Then they had two rounds of nerf gun games. Finally, they went climbing - rope like the one in the zoo and rock-climbing! Yang said they wore "nurse's hat" before wearing the helmet - looks like shower cap to me :p

Dad sent the videos - they were awesome! They said they had fun :)

Yu didn't have much fun. He came home to tell his brothers about the work he brought home but no brothers?! I offered him WhatsApp and he asked AhMa where they were. We watched the videos together. When he learnt that they were having xiaolongbao, he also wanted! Ok must bring him for that soon...

Yang dropped his first tooth during a nerf game, woohoo!

My brave boy just took it out and wiped off some blood with tissue. The new tooth has already come out. Oh, I must swop out his tooth for a coin now...

Date night at The Three Peacocks

See the two half lobsters on the grill? Yes, seafood BBQ! There was also meat. I was very full. Sito wasn't so full.  Yu called us two times. The next morning, I asked him if he missed us, and he said he didn't want us to go out at night on Thursday (happened to view a flat that evening) and Friday and every day! Awww....

Every morning, they used this as a stadium to play Beyblade - 3, 2, 1, let it rip!

And the day after I took the above picture, AhMa found them a better stadium!

Yes, that's a pot lid!!! I promised to give them a pot lid back home after kakak left, coz I would break out my new frying pan with its own lid. And every day after that, Kai couldn't stop asking about the lid *.*

Seriously, Beyblade is THE thing. They would watch an entire episode in Malay coz they couldn't find that episode in English. I got curious enough to google what "3-2-1 let it rip" is in Japanese: 3-2-1, go shoot! Not as fun :p

After a couple more fun weekends with the rail corridor and the luge, it was Christmas! We decided we wanted log cakeS :p

Yu wrote the card on top: I pray for the virus to be gone.

Posing before we cut the cake

Yang: I want the Santa head!

Yu: I want the body!

Mama: Hmmm, I don't know if they can be separated...

And as I spoke, I tugged at the figurine and the head popped off! I wished I had said "Off with the head!" :p

It was a super yummy mango logcake from Chateraise! I thought I should get a fruity one rather than a chocolate one since it was Chateraise. Good choice :p The second one was less yummy, chocolate one from Proofer. But we finished it anyway :p

Sito was clearing leave on some days. One day, he brought Kai and Yang out :) They went to Kinokuniya where he tried to interest them in books other than Dogman and Captain Underpants - to no avail... Also bought Christmas presents - Scrabble and more Beyblades! They had Macs for snack and managed to make it back just in time for swimming lesson! I was so busy clearing house after helper left that I almost forgot about swimming :p 

Christmas decor outside Wheelock Place

Play date on Christmas eve!

One day out of the blue, Yang said he wanted K1 and K2 to come and play again. This time, K3 came over too. JY even brought a real stadium along, woohoo! That was a highlight man, even though it was falling apart haha!

Game of Life of course

These six don't have cousins (in Singapore) so it's great they are of similar age and can play together. Even though K1 is older, he can play with the younger ones who also enjoy playing with him!

Christmas eve dinner was pizza! The ad on TV worked for us - we ordered the cheese pops. There was no delivery slots so Sito ordered takeaway - from CCK coz couldn't do takeaway from BPP by then! Second trip to CCK that day coz he jogged there that morning... But it was worth it coz everyone loved the pizza!

The kids happily tore open their new Beyblades on Christmas. Yu was upset that he couldn't aim his powerful Beyblade into the stadium and complained to Papa. So dear Papa got up to go to CCK again coz he saw a cheap one during his jog :p But guess what? It broke in hours!! At least he got youtiao :p

I cooked my first porridge in a long time on Christmas day, complete with snacks

Christmas dinner was KFC again, heh :p It's a slippery slope from roast turkey years back to baked chicken drumsticks (we skipped the roast chicken totally) to KFC :p

Sito took his booster on Sunday and was unwell on Monday. The grands brought Kai and Yang out on Tuesday so Sito and I went to watch a movie, yeah!

Matrix Resurrections! Not too impressed though...

They went to Haw Par Villa!

We bought a GPS watch and managed to get a SIM card in time to test it out. So I located them in Haw Par Villa, Chinatown and Marina Barrage where they flew a kite for the first time :)

And it's now the last day of 2021!! I bade goodnight and "see you next year" to the kids just now :p Kai was especially tired. Wonder why... Maybe growing up so likes to sleep more? :p

Had dinner at Mother's place. Yu said he wanted nuggets and lucky him, there really were nuggets! As it was raining, we couldn't go to the playground. They didn't ask for toys but helped themselves to the TV instead. Somehow Kai knew Channel 5 is on button 2 *.*

Mini Magnum for dessert!

They were having a chopsticks tournament

I don't like this game *.* But they all want me to play with them! So I made them do things properly before I would play, heh... Especially for Yu - it's so hard to get him to go to school when his brothers are home! And with no helper, I need to send him and be back in time to start work. Chopsticks became my carrot :p

So I'm glad the new year is starting soon - school is reopening, wahahaha! Not to mention a fresh chapter starting when I stop work. Really need to clean the bathrooms properly, oops :p

Too busy and lazy to review 2021 and make plans for 2022. Just welcome every day and wish for good health so that we can create happiness and make memories!

See you next year!

TCM journey for my nose

Logging my TCM journey for my poor nose...

1) Thursday, 8 Apr 2021

$158.47

I mentioned I started TCM for my nose again, after the first time in late 2009. Doc would treat both my nose and my gastric issues coz they are "表里". The medicine was horrible - bitter and spicy. Week 1 of medicine, I sweated at night. Week 2, my symptoms went crazy as, I guess, the nasal spray left my system totally.

2) Thursday, 22 Apr 2021

$204.79

First acupuncture session. The medicine changed a little - less spicy. She gave me just enough packets to last until my next appointment, plus a bottle of probiotics which I rejected coz scared LS like when I took just before India trip! My nose got worse in middle of week 3 before showing some improvements before week 4. When I woke at night, my nose felt less stuffy. But it's still dripping a lot at night.

3) Wednesday, 5 May 2021

$241.69

Again, there seemed to be an improvement as the second week approached. But then it became a bit erratic - sometimes, I got stretches of comfortable breathing, and next I used tons of tissue. I guess overall trend is improving, which is good enough this early in the treatment.

Midway through these three weeks, I started needing to poop every day! I get mild to bad tummy ache after meals. For at least one meal a day, I would need to go. On Friday when I had kimchi ramen, I could feel movements through my intestine - haven't felt that for a long while, usually when I had a large dose of probiotics. Maybe the doc gave me medicine to help since i rejected her probiotics *.* 相表里 right....

This stretch is slightly longer as I couldn't get an appointment on the two working days of Yu's child care centre closure week - closed three days that week. But as luck would have it, I kept him at home for the next appointment due to COVID... Too bad for me..

4) Monday, 24 May 2021
$214.93

Told the doc about the tummy ache and then it kind of dwindled to no pain *.*

Nose condition fluctuated.

5) Tuesday, 8 Jun 2021

$215.96

And then there was plenty of LS pain! EVERY DAY!

And sometimes, I went multiple times a day. It was - short of giving TMI - nasty... It felt like my intestines were given a cleaning *.*

I was wondering if it was the new Yakun ground coffee. So fragrant and yummy but I gave up after one week. But the pain continued so it was probably the medicine. Strangely, I did not go the day before the next appointment. Was I finally getting used to it??

Nose was random. I wasn't drippy mostly but it was still blocked often.

6) Wednesday, 23 Jun 2021

$209.04

Told the doc about the LS and she said she would adjust the medicine. So it was the medicine :(

True enough, no more daily LS. But I did get a nasty stomachache while in the library with the kids that Friday. For a moment, I was scared I couldn't rush home in time but somehow the pain went away...

Nothing to do with TCM but I had Shack Shake after my appointment since it was just opposite and I had to cross the road :p Underwhelmed though :(

7) Tuesday, 6 Jul 2021

$209.91

The doc suggested going off carbs as that could affect my stomach and nose. That's hard! And I told her so. She asked me to consider it..

I told her I was having some gastric pain. I didn't know why... Then just before I left, she told me to eat warm and slow. Um, I did wolf down some food before that, oops....

Now no more daily poop :p But my intestines are feeling fine! More importantly, I suddenly realised both my nostrils were not blocked!!

But I suddenly got a running nose on Sunday. Popped a yellow tablet and all was good.

8) Monday, 19 Jul 2021

$212.33

The doc gave me a lot of needles this time, including around my nose which she hadn't done for a while. Maybe it was coz I told her about the running nose. I also told her I could not go off carbs :p

9) Tuesday, 3 Aug 2021

$226.96

My runny nose never really left me until Monday :(

And this visit was supposed to be in the afternoon but I changed it to the morning due to a workshop in the PM. In the end, workshop changed dates and I had to change my next appointment too! This means I didn't have enough medicine to last me until then. Not that I miss the taste but it's treatment right? Need to be consistent.

In any case, my runny nose is still on and off, usually on during weekends, which is very frustrating. And this dose of medicine seemed to be giving me tummy aches again like #5!

10) Monday, 23 Aug 2021

$262.72

Between finishing my medicine and this appointment, I had only one poop :p But gosh, it was such a relief from constant tummy aches! My one poop was very fine some more :p Asked the doc to stop making me poop like that.

The nose, however, was a different story. I kept getting runny nose! But it got better after I started wearing a jacket at bedtime before hiding in the duvet. I think my nose really doesn't agree with aircon...

11) Tuesday, 14 Sep 2021

$213.92

Oops, missed updating so I couldn't remember my progress :p

12) Tuesday, 28 Sep 2021

$214.53

Told the doc that I would not be able to continue treatment by the end of the work. Nose seemed ok this round.

13) Tuesday, 12 Oct 2021

$217.19

Good nose!

Wonder if it's coz no aircon, as Sito had left for KL...

14) Tuesday, 26 Oct 2021

$237.49

Due to a cockroach, I slept in Kai's bed one night. My nose was not good for a day after that. Then it got hot and I turned on the fan, and my nose was also not good.

I think a key part of managing my nose is to keep warm and reduce direct wind on my face. Very hard!!!

15) Friday, 12 Nov 2021

$216.26

Told the doc that this would be my penultimate trip due to Sito doing SHN at home in December. But then the VTL with Malaysia happened and his flight was a VTL flight! In any case, no time to do TCM soon enough...

I had tongue ulcers so no idea how the nose fared *.*

16) Friday, 26 Nov 2021

$215.15

Think this last acupuncture session was especially long. Had a chat with the doctor about drinking different soups in different seasons. She gave me 20 days of medicine and that was it.

I had two episodes of runny nose - one right after the session likely due to the cold acupuncture room, and one after Sito came home likely due to me being not used to aircon after seven weeks without!

Took my last pack of medicine on 16 Dec. It was such a relief not to take any more medicine the next day!!!

But I had another episode of runny nose over the weekend. Felt more like a cold than allergy or flu. These days, I'm wearing my jacket when watching TV at night even without aircon, and take it off only when I'm ready to sleep in my warm duvet... Will monitor this and see if I need medical attention for this chronic runny nose...

The Luge is really fun!

After the staycation, we still have Sito's rediscover vouchers. So we went for the Luge yesterday!

I woke to see dark clouds outside, and it soon started raining! This, after days of bright sunshine! But the weather forecast showed a gap between 11 am and 1 pm; our booking was at noon which was the earliest available when I booked. So we still decided to go! And we got so lucky - it was bright and cheery, but back home later, it was raining again!

I estimated a late lunch at 2 pm so I made sure we all had breakfast. Somehow, Yang ended up with Yu's egg mayo sandwich on top of his top so he was very well fed. Yu had only one slice of bread with jam and half a slice of cheese. And the eldest ate the least for his built - just a slice of bread with cheese. I got economic beehoon for Sito and had peanut butter sandwich myself. 

Kai was busy with his 4x4x4 while his brothers could not stop talking!

Took the train to Harbourfront and switched to the Sentosa Express. Sito always uses his phone for rides while I use it when out with the kids so it was a O_O moment when we were told that the Express cannot take paywave! But coz it's now free entry, the staff just opened the gates for us. Something to remember for future...

Took the Express all the way to the Beach Station. Understood the tickets wrongly and went to Sentosa ticketing and was told to go straight to Luge. At the Luge ticketing, I realised I also understood the tickets wrongly too - I bought five tickets when I could have bought four and just buy child doubling tickets for Yu, argh! Lucky the vouchers offset the costs though I still spent $14 for nothing, beh...

The only family photo that day

I realised we almost could wear helmets of all the sizes - XS, S, M, L and XL! Just short of the blue M :p I think Yang wanted the blue one but it was too big. Yu said he wanted the red one but it was too big for him too! The remaining three was not so picky with the colour.

Yang and I shared the first ride up

Yang went on the Luge on Yang Yang Day three years ago. He told me that Papa dropped his shoe back then. Sito later said they actually saw someone else's slipper. For the next three rides, I pointed out random slippers to them, and said rubbish like maybe one day, we would find a monkey walking around in slippers :p

I also went on the Luge before - when I was 28! Of course I had forgotten all about how it worked but it was quite cool - pull back to brake, release a bit to move, release all and it goes stationary. Papa + Yu and Yang went ahead first while I waited for Kai who had a bit of trouble with his kart. Then we were off! Papa and Yu came in first, followed by Yang, then Kai and lastly, me. 

Now everyone wanted to go with Papa, haha! But only Yu had that privilege. That didn't stop them from wanting to be with Papa on the next Sky Ride!

My lovely boys :)

Kai was the first to change clothes in the morning. When Yu saw him, he said they were wearing "hot racing wheels" coz we were going racing! How true, haha! Forgot to pull out the same shirt for Papa..

I was all alone!

My boys right in front

Can you see their hair sticking out of the helmet? :p

Then, Yang wanted to ride with me again, and Yu hopped on at the last minute. Finally, Kai and Yu sat with me. Both parents got a bit of all kids, yeah!

Love that Kai was so willing to pose with me! Yu didn't want to take photo...

So Papa and Yu won three rounds. Kai won one round. I was always the last, heh... For our last round, Kai was very upset that he was blocked by this guy who didn't move off. 

Still grouchy when I was taking a photo of their funny hair after the helmets were off

Each round took longer than expected. We spent just over two hours from the first queue to our last ride. The first queue was short and coz it was so fun, there was no complaints when the queues got longer! Yeah!

So lunch was later than expected. We only started eating past 2.30 pm, at Morganfield's. Their menu was different from before - no more burger! So Kai had a whole steak to himself while his brothers had their hotdog bun and some of my ribs shared with Sito.

Sito and I were so tired by then! But the kids didn't want to take a taxi home so we took the train. Probably sustained by the thought of date night with foot massage? :p

Baby on a sunburnt Papa!

Yu said more than once that it was fun. Just now, he said he wanted to go again. And so we will!

Mindfulness camp

I had wanted to send Kai to holiday camps since he entered primary school, and I finally did it this time! Of course, Yang went with him.

It was the second week of the school holidays. In the first week, they played Nintendo whole day while I worked; after work, I was too bothered by tongue ulcers to engage them that week...

Chose this week due to uncertainties over Sito's return. There was no VTL with Malaysia when I booked the camp so we had to avoid Sito's SHN or they would have to take ART every day before going to camp...

The unfortunate thing was that, this camp this week was really far... I had to make 10 round trips to Mountbatten!

Monday, 29 Nov 2021

I have given them a prep talk the evening before, but the morning grumbles were inevitable - woke so early (but they were awake even earlier over the weekend), nose so itchy (same every day), why must we eat breakfast (hello, no recess...)

Somehow we managed to get out of the house by 7.30 am and boarded the train by 7.40 am. The journey was quite fast including a change at Promenade. We reached Mountbatten by 8.15 am. 

Model kids on the train, reading their new books from our weekend trip to Popular

Took a leisure walk to the surface and found a covered walkway - no need to bring brolly, yeah! Eventually, we reached a side gate and found our way to the meeting spot just before 8.30 am. Spotted the facilitator and handed the kids over.

I took the train back and started work. Finished at 3.30 pm, just nice to go fetch them home. Rested on the journey there...

Took some time for me to get the kids. Unlike the morning arrivals which were staggered, all the parents came to fetch the kids at the same time. Coz I didn't want to spend $25 on a taxi, we took the train home :p

It was 5.30 pm when we got the Bukit Panjang so I told them to go home on their own while I went the other direction to pick Yu. I was worried when I didn't get a call from the door bell - they can buzz my phone to open the door for them. I called home in case they managed to get in when other people went in but no! 

I hurried back with Yu to find the two hanging around B3 coz they couldn't enter the mall - tokens said unvaccinated. But aren't children allowed to enter malls?! I asked the staff on duty and he said they could not go through. The kids were sick of waiting and Kai wanted to poop, so I just buzzed them through with my app.

That night, I dropped the mall a note over Facebook. They replied very quickly and were very nice about it! So we could (a) call the mall using the help button at the gates at B3, or (b) head up to the manned gates at Macs to be let in. I think it's easier to go through (b) - it's a slightly longer route but it's still safe (no roads to cross) and sheltered (just walk a little more if it rains) and won't clog up the queue at B3.

Anyway, back to the camp... I was asking them along the way and they didn't say much before being sucked into their books which I brought along. But I received a text from the facilitator about what they did today so I asked them the breathing exercise they did and got Kai to teach me - score! :p

Kai said the camp was alright. I think he was relieved that it was not in a forest, camping in a tent! He said he went into dirty water in the forest in an excursion in K2 and he didn't like it... City boy... Still got NS, how?! Yang said he liked the camp but didn't elaborate.

Got a nice picture of them reading something together

Source: The camp leader

Tuesday

More complaints in the morning - why are we always the earliest? Hello, you always want to reach school super early... But this is not school! *.*

These two walked into the classroom without a second look at me *.* When I complained, sweet boy Yang came to say bye bye :)

So this day, they went swimming! I barely asked and Yang was talking about his "noodle fights" :) They did more breathing and some yoga. I asked them to teach me. Yang just demonstrated raising his right arm over his head to the left side.

No, he wasn't afraid, hoho!

Source: The camp leader

They said that they would be going to a farm the next day. Animal farm or vege farm? Farm lor! We shall see...

Wednesday

Yang offered a goodbye hug outside the classroom :)

They went to a farm this day! They saw and touched chickens. I saw photos of kids holding up the chickens!! Mine didn't but Yang touched a chicken called Mr Chicken :p

Source: The camp leader

They also made compost

Source: The camp leader

Thursday

No excursion anymore. Actually, I don't know what they did the whole time coz they wouldn't tell me much - just want to talk Beyblade among themselves!!

Kai made egg mayo sandwich for lunch

Source: The camp leader

Yang made rice balls - but he said my rice balls are yummier :p

Source: The camp leader

Friday

Last day of camp! 

Looks like something I would do - get into the photo!

Source: The camp leader

He didn't like the vanilla inside

Source: The camp leader

They said it's lime outside. The following week, Sito and I had coconut ice cream which looked similar and I didn't like the inside too - maybe they had that instead?

So that was their first camp. I'm already on the lookout for the next one!