Their treat

It's my birthday! :D

Impromptu meet up with Denny and Hong Wei yesterday. My two closest guy friends. We had some healthy soup spoon (plaza sing) for lunch and chatted very long. The chicken and mushroom wrap is green! Tasted some sort of like green tea to me. After that, I suggested to go to Baskin Robins for desserts, BUT it's closed down? I just went recently and now it's gone :(. We settled for some Hong Kong style desserts instead, which I think no one remembered to snap any photos of. It's at 记得吃 basement 2. (I have never forgotten to eat so far in my life, it is a hobby!)

Don't know why my nose looks enlarged in the last photo. Looking forward to our next meeting. Some finding job session, which will probably end up as playing viwawa session :). And also the next next meeting.

You who came from the stars

There are different English names for it but I'm referring to the popular alien boy Korean drama! I have just completed the show and yes I'm quite lag.

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Do Min Joon, who originates from the star, visits earth one day and saves a girl from falling down the cliff. He stops the time and everything freezes. He then pulls the falling girl back onto ground. From then on he protects this girl called Yi Hua from the people who wants to kill her. Unfortunately she still died in his arms. Due to him being helpful to this human, he misses his ufo flight back to home. Hence, he stays on earth for a whole 400 years using different identities as time passes because he don't get old as fast as human beings.

In the modern days, he met Cheon Song Yi, a famous actress. He later finds out that she is the girl he saved 12 years ago from a car accident. The girl at that time looked the same as Yi Hua. He thinks that there must be a link between them, she may be her. Therefore, alien boy tries to save Song Yi from all possible mishaps, especially when he can predict certain events to happen. Knowing her good guy friend's brother's dark secret, Song Yi is constantly in danger and Min Joon has been protecting her. Because of all that, Min Joon reveals his powers to the public in the process. His powers include super speed, teleportation, ability to stop time and incredible hearing. To save her, he risks exposing his own identity, when he could have leave peacefully for his star 3 months later when the ufo arrives again.

Both of them fell in love with each other. But since Min Joon is a leaving alien, he reveals his identity to her in an attempt to scare her away. Yet, they still got together despite being of different races. However, Min Joon has to leave earth soon. Otherwise, he will die. He leaves, leaving Song Yi with sadness. The story twisted to a good ending with Min Joon coming back to earth after he disappears into a worm hole, healing himself there, and returning for a longer period each time. In the end, they found a way to be together.

The drama is really funny because the character of Song Yi is really interesting. She go girl crazy and the acting is superb. Min Joon's character is too solemn for my liking though, not much lovey dovey feeling coming out from the scenes. It's hilarious when alien boy always faints after every kiss because he is "allergic" to human saliva haha. And I wonder how they can have kids since that was what they wanted in the plot. Overall, I found the start of the drama quite boring but it becomes super addictive as the plot moves on. It's especially cool when Min Joon suddenly, like the hulk, jumps down from the sky onto the moving car to prevent it from falling down the cliff. Wahhhh.

All these are fictional stories la, but do you believe in the existence of other beings? We never know right, especially if there are aliens who live on some other planets we humans can never go near. If there are, I hope they are as cool and gentle as the character of Min Joon instead of those in Alien Vs Predators kind. Other dramas also have story plots in which humans travel through time, going to the future or back to the past of sorts. Like this one- Queen In-Hyun's Man.

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There's also robot and human love like this- Absolute Boyfriend.

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All these story plots may be so romantic but they are all quite sad if there's no happy ending of being together. I know my imagination is running too wild now but who knows who you may fall in love with lol. Secretly, my bf may be some cyborg since he is good in math and computers hahaha. Talking nonsense.

Please tell me you are human and you will grow old with me. :)

We love to eat.

Bread Society

We decided to try the brunch at the Suntec City outlet since it is all day. Brunch menus are my all-time favourite! I always go for the most wholesome type which includes the eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, mushroom....

Bread society is a half cafe half bread shop style. It has a nice ambience. After ordering the food, we sat down at the table beside the glass wall. The food took too long to arrive. I saw my order already waiting at the counter but I believe they wanted to serve us both our food together, so end up my dish was cold la! The soup was so so. My brunch platter has too little quantity and variety. There's this muffin thing that I had problem finishing as it was too dry. I prefer toast or bread to that. The katsu rice tasted not bad though.

Overall verdict: The coffee and katsu rice was nice. The brunch there is thumbs down. I will not go there again.

Bibigo

We walked around looking for our favourite Marutama to realised the area must have been closed off. :( Then, we saw this restaurant. Ever since I came back from Korea, I always crave for Korean food lol. We decided to give this a try. Bibigo is like the brand of Korean products such as dumpling and seaweed.

The waitress provided prompt service. She can speak good English too (We think she is a Korean). The food came relatively fast. The fried mandoo is nice! You can buy the frozen ones from supermarkets and fry them. The kimchi pancake was not like what was written, not crispy at all. I did'nt like it very much. Bibimbap tasted very good. When we realised bibimbap and ddeokbokki uses the same kind of sauce, we felt that the hot sauce with rice tasted better than with ddeokbokki. Never liked the authentic rice cake that much because of the sauce. Kimchi fried rice was good too, yummmy. Kimchi taste so nice to me now haha. The tea is actually barley tea though it tasted nothing like the barley water in Singapore. Reminds me of the sweet rice drink from Korea, I miss you!

Overall verdict: I will see you soon! :P There are no Korean side dishes served here though.

Going to take some time...

Linking back to my July 2nd post- I was called by a nurse in Tan Tock Seng Hospital on 7th July to return to the hospital before the designated date of next appointment. I went back on Wednesday (9th) since it was my graduation day the next day. I don't know what to feel at that moment. I was alone at home. Since they pushed forward the appointment, something must be wrong. I was even told to bring my mum down together.

The needle biopsy test showed an atypical lymph node or something. It could just be a reactive lymph node or a possibly cancerous one. Reactive just means the lymph node is swelling due to reaction from nearby infections. I am safe if that's the case because it's only a natural body reaction to infections. But they aren't sure. The tissues taken out were not enough to determine a definite result. The option of going for a mini operation was given to me. They would take out the whole lump and examine from there to investigate the real cause. Without doing that, no one knows what is really going on inside.

Another senior doctor came in and suggested doing an ultrasound first. This is so as to determine the real size of the lump, whether there are others, and see if it is really necessary for the operation. Of course, I can directly opt for the operation. I chose to go for ultrasound first to see if there's any other weird things around my neck. They gave me a very early date for that and I did the ultrasound the next day. When I entered the room, I felt like a pregnant lady waiting to see my baby (Like I have always seen on tv) hahaha. The doctor put some gel on my neck and did her job. My neck was so strained after that because my upper back was arched up. The gel also got under my hair after the whole process, ew.

So today I went back with my mum to see the doctor again. For all the 3 times, I was seen by a different doctor. Today, the whole issue sort of changed. The ultrasound results seems to suggest that the swell is actually a thyroid nodule? It's all medical and hard to explain. But the overall result is still- nothing can be confirmed. A new addition (from the ultrasound) is that I need to check my thyroid too, but that can be done at a later date sigh. Back to the current issue, the doctor wanted to do another needle biopsy and ultrasound again to see if there's any changes. I'm quite pissed because I don't understand why must I do it again when I just did it. But then he told me he have discussed with other seniors and that I should take a wait-and-see approach because that risk is less than doing the operation. He does'nt want to put his patient in unnecessary risk.

Due to the shoulder nerve being near the node, there's a 10% risk of damaging the nerve. If that happens, I would lose my mobility of my right shoulders. Not sure of the extent of immobility that would be caused to my arm, but he said I would look lopsided, with the right shoulder drooping. Hais, why did they not tell me this that time? Upon hearing this risk, I'm also scared. At first, I just wanted to do the operation to get it over and done with, but now what. 

I followed the doctor's instruction to do another needle biopsy to see if I can get better results this time. If it turns out positive, I don't have to do the operation. If it's bad, then the operation needs to be done. I think it could be the same results too. But the doctor said that every biopsy, depending on situation, can take out different/more tissues? I don't know.

Bruised

The same procedures goes. He used a needle to poke. He did twice but only gotten blood out. I was just there trying to 忍痛. In the end, they decided to cancel the test since the lump is too small and nothing is coming out. I am supposed to monitor it and go back to the hospital in November for review. I believe I may need to do this needle thing again then.

So if it's the same uncertain kind of results, just what should I do? I will never know what's wrong. This uncertainty is a risk. So is the operation. I can only wish that it is just a reactive harmless one. Better still, please just disappear.

NUS Commencement 2014

I'm listening to Jason Mraz's "I won't give up" while arranging my graduation photos when suddenly, tears just fill my eyes [Although it's a different context]. Looking back to semester one, I had wanted to give up. Although it was never a serious thought, giving up was on my mind. It was too much to cope. Three years have passed and here I am, I have gotten the hard earned paper.

The Dazzling Stars

In celebration of the Wong brothers' birthdays, I was invited to join bf's family for a buffet dinner at Starz yesterday. It's located at Hardrock hotel in Resort World Sentosa. I took a quick glance and the price of a weekend dinner is quite steep, $65? 

The place was quite noisy with a significant number of children around. The food is displayed in one straight line and it gets really squeezy when people crowd around. They do not offer many varieties of food in my opinion. There was no oysters and although I don't eat raw oysters, it's something I look for if I want to bring my family there. The cold crab tasted dry and just not very nice. There were some dishes I did'nt even touch because they look unappetizing. I liked the warm apple strudel, chocolate cake, pandan kuey lapis, the naan with curry and another Indian snack. The drinks that come with the buffet consist of coffee, tea and plain water only. I liked their prompt service though, bringing the drinks to us fast, refilling water frequently and clearing our plates as soon as we were done. The whole experience reminded me of Straits cafe at Rendezvous hotel. The food was just average and there was a lack of variety. Their durian desserts are advertised to be good, but I rather eat a real durian after trying them.

Right outside the restaurant, there was a band playing at the performing stage. A couple started dancing to the music and I really feel like doing the same, but I don't know how to dance and there's nobody to craze with me. If I can choose something to learn when I was younger, I would choose to go for dancing classes man. At least, that's what I think I would want. How nice, you get to enjoy and to work those calories away. But back to the music and band performance, I could really sit there all night and enjoy the ambience.

Strolling in Sentosa is also another enjoyable thing to do, especially at night. I love the night scene, the lightings and the quiet romanticism. Add a playlist of love songs and that would be perfect.

My Dear turns 25

My bf turned 25 yesterday.

Since I'm quite free this time, I made sushi!

Wahaha, those ugly sushi. This is the first batch. The seaweed is too moist to be cut. The maki roll is still manageable, the one with crab meat on top is really difficult to make.

Second-time sushi looked much better. Tasted better too. But seaweed still too moist to cut.

The final one. Seaweed still moist. They tasted harder because I left it overnight in the fridge. Bf said it's still nice but I know it's because of the love, and not the taste. heee.

For the kani maki recipe, I took it from Noobcook [Although I also made reference here and there, researching on advices for sushi]. The way to cook the vinegar rice is also linked in this recipe. Japanese rice to water ratio is quite optimal at 1:1.15. Soaking the rice grains for 30 minutes before steaming is quite an important step as the grains will turn white and round. For the vinegar mixture, I modified the amount of caster sugar to 1 tablespoon and the amount of salt to half a teaspoon for 1 cup of rice. The rice tasted pretty good with this amount of seasoning, although it tasted more bland after it was left in the fridge. Seaweed wise, I bought mine from Diaso. It's roasted and the packaging stated it's suitability for sushi-making. But I cannot figure out the art of maintaining the crisp of the seaweed. Maybe the seaweed is not of a very good quality. Nevertheless, it tasted okay after being left in the fridge for a little while [if you prefer to eat chilled sushi, and because the fridge effect helps to firm the sushi and retain the shape].

So here's my dearest opening his present. Other than sushi, I gave him the shirt he's wearing [forced to wear on the spot] and a Hugo Boss cologne. Him being a practical man, I don't know what I should buy as a present already. Clothes aren't so practical anymore since he has enough of them.

We had our dinner at FeedLot Steakhouse Bar and Grill. They serve really expensive beef there. So it should be good. The ambience of the place was quiet and romantic, since there were only a few people in the restaurant. He ordered a striploin steak ($45) with truffle fries (as a side, +$10) while I went for a simple sausage spaghetti ($18). And not forgetting the coke ($5).

The steak was awesome, even to me, a person who doesn't like beef. Truffle fries was just meh. I don't know what's truffle fries supposed to taste like but I won't spend $10 on that fries again. My spaghetti was nice but not fantastic. I will probably not eat there again, unless I'm a steak or beef lover.

We walked around at Tanglin mall before heading for some desserts. At Upper Thomson, we settled on Little Pancakes.

The mini pancakes were warm and yummy! Worth a try. Although I still prefer pancakes for breakfast or brunch instead. I will try their all day brunch some day- Eggs, pancakes, potato salad, veg, sausages, vege... Drools. I love American breakfast style.

Happy Birthday Dear.

For the peace of mind

The awaited appointment date is today.

Last year August when I had my chicken pox, I felt a lump somewhere at the neck area. I asked the doctor then, whether was it due to my chicken pox virus, causing the area to swell. He said probably. 5 months later, the swell is there still. I went to the polyclinic doctor in February for consultation. She said it's probably just a swell in the lymph node, which is normal. She suggested giving me antibiotics to see if the swell goes down but then the swell has already been there so long so its most likely of no use. Hence, for the peace of mind, I wanted a referral to Tan Tock Seng hospital for a thorough check. 

The doctor today is quite a jovial and fun person. Not those stern and scary ones. After examining that lump, he gave me two choices. Since it's only about 1cm big, I could either go for regular checkups or take some samples of the tissue to check. But its been there for about a year already I should just check the tissues. He needed to do the scope thingy again [last year November I had a nose check at ttsh too, outcome: allergy rhinitis ;(]. Paid $98 dollars again for the use of the equipment since its after 6 months since the first usage. 

The scope is like a long device, the tube will be put into each nostril to observe the inside of the nose and probably even further down? The doctor sprayed something to both the nostrils [not sure if its anaesthetic but I feel slightly numb in the nose and throat] before inserting the tube. It went in the right side first and its so icky because you feel something in your nose. A little bit painful. Fear and tears built up in me. The doctor, upon seeing my panicky face, assured a faster examination on the left side. Okay done. Measured blood pressure and proceeded to the other room. 

Few minutes later, the same doctor came over. This time he needed to get some sample tissues from the lump. I sat there, bf standing further in front. Anxiety and stress piled up. He disinfected the area, with anaesthetic too, den using a needle (should be), he poke poke and poke. It's a bearable needle poking pain. Then, the other female stuff said it was'nt enough. So there was a second poking session. And the third. The third was much much more painful. I had to close my eyes and breathe but tears were building up. At the last part, my body winced involuntary with the pain. After it ended, I cried. Although it was not extremely painful, I just cannot seem to control the naughty teardrops. The doctor also consoled and apologized to me haha. Thankful for bf who was with me throughout the process, making it less scary.

Results come out two weeks later. The doctor is positive that everything will be fine, especially given my age. We shall see.

I cannot stress enough the importance of health. Cherish.