Only New Mall is Exciting

Before Compass One was opened, Seletar is always so busy and the cars have a long queue to get into the carpark.  Nowadays, no more queue.  In fact, Seletar has to entice customers with free 2 hours parking for $30 spend.  Although I usually forgets about this "benefit", I queue up for my free carpark as another customer asked the cashier where to go.  I hate queuing but it is fine for me nowadays as I am more relax about time and not in a rush.  Rushing about is bad for the heart.


So no queue for carpark, no queue for Song He bak kut the, only queue for free carpark.  The time has change when competition heats up.

Credit Card Compromised

One of our credit cards was compromised!  A number of transactions had gone through.  But a large one notify us.  So we called the card center.  There were a number of transaction that went through at $1.40 which is US$1 before the big transaction.  So the syndicate must have tested the card to make sure it is live and transactions can go through before making big purchases.  The purchases were all done on the internet.  One puzzling thing is the transactions went through without an sms to put in security code.  So far, every time when we buy stuff via internet there is a requirement to enter a code send through SMS.  So the security system of the credit card may be compromised as well.

So please watch out when you get unusual transaction on your credit cards.

Solar Water Heater

At 70% heating capacity, the solar water heater works fairly well.  It just take longer time for the hot water to reach the shower head.  The water pressure is also low as it just gravity feed.  My boys are getting used to it as they still forget and tried to switch on the electric heater.  I will see how much electricity we will save using solar.  Only two bathrooms.  I am quite happy that my dream of saving the earth or least reducing my carbon footprint has another dimension other than my green car.

B2 is Home!

At 9pm, the doctor come and see B2 to check that he is ok to go home.  The endoscope showed that he has bleeding in the esophagus and he as esophagitis.  Tissue samples were removed for testing.  So he will have to go back to the doctor for followup.


All 3 boys are using water from the solar water heater. The pressure is lower but the water is much hotter tonight.  This time I did not drain out the hot water for testing.  I am glad the solar water system is getting up to speed.

B2 Warded in Khoo Teck Puat

B2 was on night shift and he vomited at midnight with fresh blood.  So he went to hospital and was there for observation.  I woke up at 4 plus to pee and saw the whatsapp message B1 left and called B2 right away.  Then I left for KTPH.  The doctor brief me on his condition.  He had 12 leads ECG done and it showed depressed ST segment which is an indication of MI.  So he ward him for telemetry ECG.  But when he get to the ward, a different test was order.  He needs to do endoscopy to check on his stomach.  At night, when we visited, the endoscopy was abandon as he still have food in his stomach.


Beside B2's bed is an Indian who kept insisting someone tied him up.  He is a crackpot. Then further away is 3rd where a Chinese man was warded for more than 20 days.  I chat with him a bit and learn he had a brain surgery and his leg cannot walk anymore.  He is a 36 years old daughter who is single and a son 32 years old who is married by no kids.  Both his kids refuses to visit him.  Daughter did not give him allowance either.  He is quite sad and upset.

Solar System Completed

Finally, my solar water system is completed.  I have turned off my electric heater.  The water is completed only this evening.  So two toilets do not have hot water right now.  Hopefully, the sun is out tomorrow and my water will get heated up.  This project is so stressful because the house is messy and dirty for a few days and I have to do major cleanup i.e. mop the floors and the staircase twice.  It is back breaking work.


Since 6 tubes are broken, I have only 70% heating capacity.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Small Shrimps are Back!

This morning fishermen and other visitors informed me that the sea was red with the tiny shrimps.  I caught some for my arowana.  It has a good feast of all the fishes.  I caught a different fish and should have separated it because it died when I reached home.  I think the shrimps overwhelm it by absorbing all the oxygen in the water.  I notice most fishes do not survive when I put in a lot of shrimps.  So I will have to separate them if there are a lot of shrimps.


It is so good to live near the sea where fishing is available.  This hobby brings me back to kampong times.  We can catch some bugs or fish from nature and play wholesome games instead of watching Youtube or TV.

Good Plumber

It is important to get a good plumber.  My plumber while fixing up the level 3 toilet damaged the valve.  It was late, he has a wedding dinner.  So he abandon the job and now my level 3 toilet is unserviceable.  I have to wait till Tuesday or Wednesday if he is available to come back to fix it. 


Like any project, many obstacles to overcome.  First the broken glass tubes, the level 1 connection was abandon as he was unable to drill through.  Now level 3.  It is important to get someone who is really good but unfortunately, so far when it come to plumbers, we do not have much luck.

Connecting the Tank

Today my plumber is coming to fix up the tank to my hot water system in the bathrooms.  The sky is gloomy, I hope he can still do some work to connect up the tank.  At least he can work inside the house and leave the external work if it rains.

My wife on the other hand is quite concerned with the dust the work will cause.  Plaster and concrete dust are next to impossible to clean.  It will take a few days of intensive cleaning to get our place in liveable condition again.

No. 1 Nasi Lemak

B1 has lesson at 12noon, so we go to Adam Road Hawker Center for lunch.  Our favorite No. 1 nasi lemak has only 2 persons in the queue.  So I was happy.  Then I notice on the menu board there are two prices.  One 50cents more.  I did not ask and just order my usual "Special" which has everything in it.  This time I noticed the serving is less and ikan bilis is missing.  First the achar went missing and now ikan bilis.  Serving looked sparse for the biggest and most expensive set.  The taste is still ok but I am disappointed.  This looked like another of my favorite stall will have to drop to eat if choice is limited stall. 


The other nasi lemak stall next door still have a good queue.  I wonder if I have crazing, I should switch to the other stall.  Changi Village popular stall, International Nasi Lemak has long queue.  Price is only $3.50!

Gurney Drive at Compass One

I like Gurney Drive on level 3 in Compass One.  It is Penang food.  The chendol is delicious and enjoyable.  It is also sweet and matches my sweet tooth.  I tried the rojak.  It is good but not as good as in Penang.  B3 at the Thai Apple Chicken and he has stomach upset after the meal.  B1 ordered Kungpo Mantis Shrimp.  The mantis shrimp tastes good.


Gurney Drive has become my "Approved Supplier" as the food quality is good and price is reasonable equating to good value.

Feeling Like Crap! Or FLC

No joke.  This is actual medical term!  I was up at 4am.  So I turn on the TV as usual.  Usually I watched the NHK World or Bloomberg.  Nothing interesting, so I switch to Channel 5 and get what...
Dr. Oz is on.  The subject is "gluten-free" which people pays huge premium for.  There is gluten-intolerance and wheat allergy.  If at eat bread or noodle and you feel like crap, it is gluten intolerance.  Now, I know the correct term.  Although I don't think I am suffering from gluten intolerance.  More on just my kidneys are not doing well.

The other reason I think may be the antibiotics and painkillers.  It is also possible that it may be the aftereffects of propofol or general anesthesia I was injected weekly.

Anyway, I believe I am recovering and feeling better everyday.  Soon, I will be back to normal.

Solar Water Heater Progress

My two boys helped lift the water tank to the frame.  I am happy I can set up it by ourselves.  It takes trial and error to get the assembly right.  Now it is ready for hook up to my water system.  I called the plumber this evening as he promised to come this week but have forgotten to give me a date.  Now he promised to come on Thursday or Friday.  This is how it look like...

Appetite is Back!

Finally, I am beginning to feel normal.  For the past 3 weeks, after every meal, I felt bad.  My head hurts but it is not headache.  I cannot concentrate.  Look sleepy although I am not sleepy.  It is general malaise.  Now I understand the importance of well functioning kidneys.  When one is swollen, the feeling of being unwell and yet not knowing why.  When driving, the pressure on the back is quite clear but do not know.  Always guessing it may be backache.  It is nagging feeling.


Now that I went through ESWL and double J catheterization and enormous discomfort and pain, I learn more about kidney treatment and recovery.  I belong to the "stone club" as the wife of my urologist puts it.  My urologist get his stones blasted every 5 years.  I may have to do the same in future.

Solar Water Heater Frame

I managed to set up the solar water heater frame.  It seems a little flimsy to support the water tank as the water tank is 100 kg empty.  It is 250 litres capacity, so this means the total weight will be 350 kgs excluding the solar tubes.  I will be tightening all the bolts and nuts and then mount the tank.  After that I have to wait for my plumber to come and hookup the water.  Then I can hook up the solar tubes.  I am looking forward to commissioning my solar water heater soon.

Solar Water Heater

I bought a solar water heater from China and it arrived last Friday.  The water tank is heavy, 100kg.  Luckily, our estate is painting and I ask the supervisor for help.  So he assigned two men to carry the water tank up.  I asked for one additional man as it is quite heavy.  But actually two men is easier as I found the third man was more off a hindrance than help. 


Anyway, now the water tank is up and I am ready to fix up the unit.  Unfortunately, some of the solar tubes are broken on the way here.  So I am asking for replacements.  The water heater is actually quite cheap, about US$600 and shipping cost $200.  Fixing up the plumbing to my bathrooms cost $2,800.  So the total cost is approximately $4,000.  Then I will be able to use "free" hot water for my boys' toilets.  Unfortunately, it will cost too much to bring the hot water to my master bedroom toilet as well.

Dinner with Veggie In-Laws

The Wifey has to help her parents to do banking stuff.  So she asked them to come to the Waterpoint Mall.  There are banks and resturants in this rather big neighbourhood mall.  My in-laws as you know are vegetarians.  Luckily, Din Tai Fung which is a Taiwanese restaurant chain has good understanding of the requirements of Chinese vegetarian.  My in-laws are converted to this form of Taiwanese religion.  There are some peculiar idiosyncrasies.  Garlic and onions are not allowed but eggs are fine.  Certain greens are considered non-veg.  The logic totally befuddles my scientific mindset. 


To me, plants are veg and animals are non-veg.  To this Taiwanese religious sect, some plants are non-veg but eggs are ok.  The belief is strong and their rationale and reasoning is peculiar.  Onions and garlic are considered toxic to their vegetarian diet.  No scientific study.  Just some explanations which the followers just blindly obey.

Happy as a Lark!

I am still feeling the effects of propofol.  However, very very happy that the catheter is out.  It is actually quite hard.  It seems like many people have no problem with this catheter in them.  I am definitely not one of them.


So after the removal, I went to Chili's to give myself a treat!  Now Chili's has set lunch at a more reasonable price. I went there about 1 pm and the place is well occupied although there are some empty tables. 


I always like American style restaurant.  The food is substantial and taste is good.

Removal of JJ-Stent

I am looking forward to this morning.  I went to see my urologist yesterday and he ultrasounded and found my right kidney's swelling is gone.  It is back to normal and I can get my JJ stent removed today.  Hip hip hurray!

The stent is a real bother.  It hurts a lot.  My brain is zapped and I am in constant pain.

Happy days will be back again soon.

Galaxy S7

I was waiting for the Note 7 relaunch but the news yesterday and this morning dash my hope of getting Note 7.  So I get a Galaxy S7 to replace the Note 4 that was damaged by sea water.  The S7 comes with free VR or virtual reality goggles and 128G memory chip.  The phone is also smaller and easier to handle.  Only missing is the pen function which I like.

Happy Coffee Shop at Blk 432 Fernvale

Mummy wants a break.  So we eat out for dinner.  I decided to explore the new coffeeshops that sprout out in the new estates since Boh Tong rave about some of them.  I am not sure the address so we go to the first one we see and that is Happy Coffeeshop in Fernvale.  I think it is Blk 432.  Anyway, we had fish and chips for $6 which has 2 tiny slice of deep fried fish filet, some French fries and a small dollop of vegetable salad.  B3 ordered soup with plain rice, one of his favorite meal.  The soup is full of lotus roots and some bones and tiny weeny bits of meat.  I had bak chor mee, "Malaysian Style".  It comes with two meatballs, two slices of lean meat and some minced meat.  It is not so appealing as in the picture of Boh Tong's blog.  Mummy bought fish soup and she is not so happy with the yellow color flour coat of the deep fried fish slice. 


So the meal is alright but we are not likely to go back to Happy again.

Laksa Yong Tau Foo

This morning, mummy woke up early to buy fresh groceries to cook.  At first we thought we will go to Chinatown but change our mind and exit at AMK Ave 1 instead and go to the wet market in Ave 1 and Ave 10.  The yong tau foo is quite good there.  We bought $14 worth of yong tau foo and a complete pack of long tau pok for $3, beansprout 50cents and 1kg of thick beehoon for $1.80.  Using the Laksa kit from Prima Deli, she cooked up a big pot of laksa gravy with fishballs, taupok, beancurd and ngoh hiang. 


The laksa was delicious and we have it for lunch and dinner.  Yummy and excellent value!!

Night Out!

This evening we had early dinner.  B2 has night duty.  So we drop him off.  B3 has a free cup of Boost drink.  So we look for a Boost outlet to claim it.  It is only valid today.  But no Boost outlet in Northpoint.  We decided to go Bugis Junction.  CTE was heavy in traffic.


Mummy also want to have a chocolate cake.  So it works out fine.  Bugis junction is so busy at night.  Maybe because it is Saturday.  We rarely go out at night.  The few times we were out, the nights are vibrant.


We had a good time as B1 went to library and found a book that is relevant and spent time reading there.  Kinokuniya has some interesting new books but I did not buy any as I have many new books waiting for me to crack open.

Compass One

B3 final exams is over.  He is very relaxed.  He was all stressed up and working hard for a couple of weeks.  It is good to see him finally studying hard.  Hopefully, his results improve. 


Today, we went to Compass One (formerly known as Compass Point) for lunch.  Compass One has a lot more floor space and food outlets.  No anchor tenant like Metro.  Seem like the library is coming back.  Gurney Drive, a Penang food restaurant is not bad.  B3 had rice with mantis shrimp in black pepper sauce.  Mummy had Penang Hae Mee.  I shared chendol with them.  The chendol is excellent!  The Hae Mee broth is very good too.


I will go back to Gurney Drive to eat as I did not have appetite due to heavy breakfast and pain in my abdomen.

Anti Colic

My doctor prescribe anti colic to ease my pain.  It did not help much.  In combination with Acorsia, and after maybe half an hour, I feel a lot more comfortable.  My right kidney swelling has reduce.  So my doctor pronounced he is happy.


Meanwhile, I will have to put up with the pain until he decides to remove the J-stent.

In Pain

My right kidney was still swollen after the ESWL.  So the doctor suspect that maybe the stones are stopped halfway and blocking the kidney again.  So he schedule me for surgery on Saturday.  The surgery is scheduled for 11am.  When I checked it, it became 11am.  It was just a long wait and I have to fast after dinner.

I don't feel hungry while waiting.  I think it is the stress of going for operation.  The doctor said no stones.  However, he insert a double J tube.  I was under general anaethesia.  I felt sick for a few hours after the surgery.  GA is no good for the body.  Although I have not recovered by 6pm, I still decide to go home.  I was so sick and in car and throw up when I reach home.  Resting at home for half hour, my cold sweat went away.

For the past three day since the surgery, it is painful to pass urine.  My urine is full of blood.  It looked a little scary in the beginning.  Every morning, it is very bloody.  By afternoon, it looks like Pink Lemonade!

The tube is bothersome and cause me to have permanent tummyache.  I tried going to the toilet many times with no joy.  But sometime, it works!  However, my stomache remains.

I have been to surgery every week for the past 3 weeks.  Last Saturday was the worse as I had to go under GA.  Propofol is not so bad.  Recovery is pretty quick and no nausea.  With a J tube in my right ureter, I have permanent pain.

Doctor said I have to have it in there for 6 weeks.  I am not sure if I can last this long.  Hopefully, my right kidney recovers earlier.