Dad's gastroscopy (OGD) +《如果我不曾见过太阳》+ lunch with Mike & LL @ Twenty Eight Cafe + FIL’s bday dinner @ Fishmart Sakuraya + "EXchange Season 4" + "Pole To Pole With Will Smith" + dad's Urology visit & spine/leg appointment + first Acumagneto Therapy @ Multiflora TCM Spa West Gate + "Culinary Class Wars 2" with Ian & Linh & dinner @ Seoul Brother
19/1/26 Mon: Woke up at 5.30am this morning so as to meet dad at 7+am at NTFGH Tower B for his OGD (Oesophago-Gastro-Duodenoscopy) with Dr Wong scheduled at 8.30am. After registration's done, the nurse insisted to wheel him in though I thought he can still walk, albeit slower, with his umbrella. There were three others also doing scope at about the same time as him I think.
So I happily walked over to JE bus interchange without realising the library only opens at 10am lol... and I made a U-turn back, bought two egg tarts ($5.67) from Oriental Kopi because "my mouth was bored" since I ate my oatmeal breakfast at like 6am lol~ too sweet for my liking. Ended up sitting in the Admissions office for more than two hours reading a book of short stories YB gave me years ago. It was already 11.50am so I asked the nurse why the nurse upstairs hasn't called me though it was said to be around 11am? She said the doctor had to "review" him before discharging him. So I had chicken rice ($5) at the food court there before the nurse finally called me at 12.20pm.
Went to level 3 and the nurse called me in to explain what happened this morning with the procedures and what to take note before his next appointment since dad cannot remember those details. He underwent moderate sedation prior to his OGD at 8.45am (which dad said he fell asleep lol) and it was supposedly a 30-minute procedure. The scope went to the duodenum and retroflexion was performed in the cardia, they found some food particles (from his 8pm dinner last time, which meant his digestion was very slow even with the 12-hour fasting...) which hindered the doctor and he cannot see "everything", but his previous gastric ulcers has completely healed, and while his duodenal ulcer 1 and 2 has healed, biopsies were still taken. Dr Wong will see him on March 2 for his next consultation, and he also has blood test and urea breath test (which will determine if he needs to be scoped again~) to do one week prior. Wheeled him to the food court for him to have yong tau foo ($5.90) for lunch while I went to the pharmacy to collect more of his medication so they can last till March. There's quite a bit to do before his tests medication-wise, but I'm just hoping things go well so I see less of his appointments on my calendar as time goes by haha. *Only $1.80 for the Grab ride back to my parents' ~ nice $8 off promo haha!*
20/1/26 Tues: Met Linh for Barre-less Barre class with Ice this morning. I thought the intensity has gone up for her class! Sadly, it will be Ice's last lesson next week at TNP because she has found a job with Ciji as their art and seniors' exercise instructor. *Learned from her the new term "young seniors" are those age 45 and above omg... I'm not too far from that lol.*
看完了沉重的《如果我不曾见过太阳》。
很黑暗，也很虐的剧。其实，江晓彤（李沐/柯佳嬿饰）“前身之死”不能怪罪李壬曜（曾敬骅饰），但这个已经很悲观的小子扛下了所有的责任，为爱讨回公道的方式太过极端，但他完全就错了吗？那些高中时期犯下罪错的人不由他杀了的话，表面上看由谁来惩治？
高中原本该是阳光的爱情成了黑暗的悲剧恋人，看了揪心啊。
我喜欢曾敬骅这个演员，帅也可爱，也演得不错，尤其“杀气腾腾”的眼神很可以，但还是嫌他一些眼神，尤其需要soft一点的时候不到位哈哈。李沐和柯佳嬿都演得很好哦！
Rating: 4/5
Did my bi-annual scaling and polishing ($87.2) with Dr Sven Ng this morning, and I'd never seen this tall doctor though he's been there for two years he said. I think all the dentists at Koh Dental are very patient and kind, and they talk to us like we're kids lol. Basically, my teeth looks good on the surface. Dr Ng was careful when scaling my teeth and would reduce the pressure and tell me whenever certain areas would feel more sensitive as some of my gums have recession, and he said it could be due to habits like clenching... well I probably unknowingly do it when I'm stressed... not sure. I told him my mum's looked like that too, and he said genetics play a part too. He also mentioned about all four of my wisdom teeth. Only one on the lower right grew out upright, others are all angled towards the back. It's much harder to clean my upper wisdom teeth because they were way in, and I didn't know they "exist" until Dr Ng pointed out to me using his instrument. He said an electronic toothbrush can help clean those small areas, and he took photos to show me how they are now a bit stained because I couldn't reach them all these while. He's not so worried about having to extract them one day (since humans have evolved to not use them to grind very hard food), but it's more if they affect the teeth next to them if food particles get stuck in between. Also interestingly, I found out I have two "Leong's premolar" (unicorn tooth) I think, which are special type of premolars with an extra "horn" (tubercles) on the biting surface! Well, it's not common but not rare according to him, but the "risk" that comes with them is that the tubercles may break off because of chewing forces, and then the nerve of the tooth is exposed to bacteria in the mouth, which could in turn lead to nerve infection and may require root canal treatment~ ah doi!
Cooked pan mee soup for dinner using the Grandma Ong pan mee I bought on Shopee and added mushrooms, bok choy and pork dumplings. The pan mee was so-so.
22/1/26 Thurs: Brief and slight discomfort during loving-kindness meditation this morning, but I quickly recovered. Felt a bit "light-headed" and tired while walking the whole day, but I hope the body's slowly getting better.
Bought a wooden leg massager ($5) for dad from Taobao and some games. We played a few rounds and it's nice to see my parents happy over "small wins" haha.
25/1/26 Sun: Potato made vermicelli soup with minced pork, prawns, tofu, carrots, bok choy, shimeij shrooms for dinner, and added shredded Japanese cucumbers for some crunch. The soup was full of umami and it was even better with the addition of some chilli oil!
23/1/26 Fri: Good resistance workouts in resistance cardio class this morning. Cooked Grandma Ong’s dry pan mee with celery, pork dumplings, shimeiji shroom, onions and egg for lunch. I liked it better than the soup one because somehow the salty ikan bilis goes even better with dry version with every mouthful.
Potato cooked cabbage, potatoes, carrots and onion soup, with tom yam chicken and enoki shrooms~ sweet and yummy!
24/1/26 Sat: Met my in-laws for FIL's 70th birthday dinner at Fishmart Sakuraya at West Coast Plaza~ we all love fishes so the sashimi were great hehe! I'm glad they enjoyed their beers too. The fried tofu MIL ordered was bland for me though. Costed me some Krisflyer miles in exchange for an $80 meal voucher and the remaining bill came up to $73. *Damn PPPD still annoys me when I'm seated and doing nothing, although I fell I am getting better bit by bit as the days go.*
26/1/26 Mon: Linh had work last minute, so I went for Ice's last Barreless-Barre class this morning. Similar to last week's routine but I thought she went easier on us today haha.
Cooked Grandma Ong’s dry pan mee for Potato to try tonight. Since it was meatless Monday, I used mushrooms, cabbage, tofu, celery and eggs to go with carbs~ and he also prefers the dry version.
Finished watching "EXchange Season 4".
Rating: 3.5/5
27/1/26 Tues: Accompanied dad to see the Urology specialist this morning. According to Dr Hong, his CT scan during his hospitalisation revealed an enlarged prostate, and after her on-site evaluation, she felt a small growth on the surface too. Dad then took a blood test and also the urine flow test. For that, I had him drink like six to seven cups of water as we waited for 1.5 hours till he urgently felt like he needed the toilet. *In the next hour, he "urgently needed toilet twice lo.*
His blood test showed slightly elevated Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) level at 5.65 ug/L, which apparently is common in elderly men, and could result from non-cancerous conditions like an enlarged prostate (BPH), inflammation (prostatitis), or recent infection, or maybe cancer. She said the rate of his urine is slow though, which since dad kept saying he felt okay, she decided not to give him medication to relax the prostate muscles for that. And to rule out the chances of the growth being cancerous, Dr Hong ordered an MRI scan for dad. *Damn he's already used up the limit of $400 for outpatient bills using Medisave for the year when it's only January. Seeing specialists and all those tests added up for sure.*
Finished all seven episodes of "Pole To Pole With Will Smith" on Disney+.
What left me most impressed were the San people and their survival skills. They literally have no time to think of other material things because they spend the bulk of their time searching for their next meal. *They store water in ostrich eggs too wow.* It made me reflect a lot about "my needs" as well, and how "less is more" when it comes to happiness and life. Wasn't an extensive docu-series, but still a great watch.
Rating: 4/5
28/1/26 Weds: I did not need to wake dad up this morning, but he also went out very early for his appointment which was scheduled for 9.35am. He reached NTFGH at 8.30am but he forgot which tower and level he was supposed to go, so he called and a nurse guided him. But shortly just 5 minutes later, he called me again and apparently went up the wrong tower, so I had to remind him to go to fifth floor at Tower A to wait for me. I arrived at 9am and saw him seated.
What's annoying for us was to find out he was actually referred to the wrong department! This young Indian spine specialist asked if his right knee pain was isolated and when my dad said it was so on the top of his knee cap, she said they wouldn't be able to advise for that. Though my dad has bad scoliosis, she asked and since the pain wasn't shooting down to the end of his leg nor he feels numb in the leg, she said he has to go to the "knee doctor" for checks and not them. *I could feel her年少气盛and a bit不爽tone... like she'd repeated that many times. But hey, you're a specialist, and we layman know less no?* Granted she suggested MRI scan for his spine to rule out any chance of it being the back affecting his right leg pain, we turned it down because I want him to see the knee specialist first. We understand if there's any chance the knee doctor said it could be related to spine, he could be referred back. But this is irritating and could have been a complete waste of time and money!
When we walked from Tower A to the bus stop to take bus home, dad couldn't hold it in and peed at one of the traffic junction. I asked if he wanted to go to the toilet right before we left the clinic, he said no, but after 10 to 15 minutes of walking, it happened. Then I thought the sense of urgency could have to do with his enlarged prostate or maybe an overactive blaader who knows? Mum said he has been like that since his 60s, but he would asked to go toilet outside. Probably he was stressed earlier with the information overload in the hospital or with my reminders for him, hence he couldn't hold it in for the first time. It's really quite tiring having to remind him now and then about what and when he should raise out his concerns in public because he rarely takes initiative to seek for help.
Potato cooked carbonara spaghetti with chicken, cabbage, spinach and crabstick for dinner~ thankful for a nice meal from him!
29/1/26 Thurs: Linh and I did Tower in Elsie's intermediate class this morning. It was not difficult but I'm always fascinated by how the moves work different parts of my body! Relaxed in the library for a bit while Linh had her meeting and we ate lunch together afterwards... my average nasi lemak was $6 whoa.
Dad shared a bit about his meet-up with his friend Ah Tan this morning and it was nice to hear some updates from him. Good dinner from mum as usual but it's funny how she permed her hair but it turned out too short haha!
30/1/26 Fri: Went for my first session of Acumagneto Therapy at Multiflora TCM Spa West Gate because dad transferred his package to me. Vivian was my therapist, but I don’t really like the “negativity” in her words. She said my womb area was cold, the left and lower back is tight, and that my lower spine is slightly slanted to the left (I don’t know how true but I do know my left “S” line looks more pronounced probably because of my weak QL muscle)… and somehow a few times it ended with something along: “if you don’t take care, you will suffer when you are old”. Well, doing their business I know. She used the essentials oils and energy repair cream my dad bought from the other branch to massage, before using the magnetic fork to do deep massage. I felt the areas very warm after a while and honestly, was slightly giddy for a moment or two even when lying down, not to mention I had to adjust breathing now and then with my chest pressing against the bed for 55 minutes. Flipped over the last five minutes and I felt so much better because the bed had heater too. Was led into the “sales rep’s” room because therapist’s comments were what was sold to my dad might not necessarily be the most effective in my case (and they dare say different treatments so pricings different… kns my dad bought the cream and oil shouldn’t customer have the right to decide how and which part of their body to use it on? They were supposedly only helping to “apply” the cream for the customers I was previously told, so outright dishonest business!) but the sales rep was useless and I disliked her from the start. Anyway, she could probably sense I’m not keen in purchasing and didn’t even bother to sell lol. Not that I want to know their ridiculous pricings after knowing what my dad bought tsk.
I do feel more energetic after that in the afternoon as I was clearing up our bomb shelter. It must have worked to circulate my blood and reduce the “floaty” feel (hopefully resolved PPPD~), but I have to see how long this effect last and do a few more times to see. *Well... the "energetic mode" lasted till evening that's it haha.*
I stir-fried spinach with shimeiji shrooms and the crabsticks with onions and eggs while Potato helped with pan-frying the pork dumplings! He added starch water to make the tuile but probably too little starch, so didn’t quite work out.
31/1/26 Sat: PotaTOHs spent about two hours wiping our windows for CNY and finished watching the second season of "Culinary Class Wars" with Ian and Linh tonight!
Choi Kang Rok was really quite the surprise element… no one can guess what he’s making lol. Culinary Monster was creative and surely one with potential.
Rating: 4/5
Four of us chanced upon Seoul Brother at Bukit Timah. My seafood jjampong ($20++) was quite good and the lighter soup based meant one won’t get sick of it that easily. Potato liked his kimchi pork stew ($16++) and Linh liked her beef stew set ($16++) too. Ian had seafood soon dubu. We all enjoyed the kimchi pancake ($24++) which was crispy, but I would have prefer it to have a bit more “flour” to it. Downside to that place is the lingering BBQ smell on our clothes. *Should not have drank oolong bubble tea at 5pm omg... I probably only slept a bit close to before sunrise!*
1/2/26 Sun: Ian and Linh were nice to bring us two bottles of CNY tidbits they bought from JB this morning. Potato cooked buta don with vinegar rice for dinner and it tasted exceptionally good tonight! The cabbage, carrot strips, pork belly slices, egg and enoki shrooms were perfect, albeit he would have liked for the garlic taste to be stronger.
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