fly us away...

After much searching, we finally bought our air tickets - OUI! So we'll be flying on Saturday, 13th January and will reach Singapore on the 14th. So take note, you guys.. get the banners, confetti, flowers, red carpet, etc.. untuk tetamu terlambat dari negeri Panchis.. hehe. Well we hope we'll make it to Singapore as planned this time around, insya'Allah.

We're really looking forward to see all of YOU soon!

destination paris

Another vacation, you ask?.. nope, we were in Paris today for a doctor's consultation. It's the final step to determine the kinda medication that is best suited for me and also to get to the (much deeper) bottom of things and find out the cause of my stroke. Since the hospital in Paris has a much more sophisticated equipment to deal with the analysis of blood and all that, I was referred to the Paris hospital by Dr. Bakir (Bakri? :).. the doctor who followed my case in the hospital here).

So I grudgingly dragged myself out of bed at 5.30 am this morning.. we slumped in the back of the cab by 6.30 am and reached our destination at 8.45 am for the 9 am appointment. The meeting lasted for about an hour or so and after the bloodsucker had taken around 16 tubes of my blood, we left the hospital, jumped in the cab and endured the 2 hours ride back, dozing off every now and then. The meter counter read an astounding 308.80€ when the cab sailed to a stop at the foot of our apartment.. we've travelled in total, a distance of 320 km in one morning. And thanks to the social security system here and my hubby's company insurance, we didn't have to draw out a single cent.. everything is taken in charge, due to the nature of the trip.

That was the first time both of us reached Paris by car. Compared with a train ride, it's effectively much more convenient and comfortable though not necessarily faster (due to Paris's infamous road congestion) and plus, it can cost you an arm, a leg and some toes. So our preferred ride to Paris would still be the much less convenient but reliable train system.. unless they're on strike.. which would leave us with not much choice other than the cab.. which would then leave us with a beat-up wallet.. which I hope would never happen.. ever.

I had a really good surprise upon reaching home and found out that I've got a snail mail from far away Singapore. It's a birthday card adorably hand-printed by my 2 darling nieces, with greetings from Omi and family.. it's simply priceless.. thank you, you guys! :D

buon appetito!

I've been wanting to eat risotto fait maison (homemade) for the longest time and I've finally snapped out of that hankering mode, bought the right ingredients, put on the toque and worked the kitchen. Since I'm feeling Italian-ish today, I went all out and did the full spread. I started with an antipasto platter, followed by creamy-licious risotto and a classic Italian dessert - the heavenly tiramisu. I've just found out that tiramisu means "pick me up" referring to the two caffeine-containing ingredients, espresso and cocoa.. very apt. And making your own tiramisu is much easier than I thought - you just need the right ingredients and a light hand.

I'm really thrilled with the outcome of my cooking. I love trying different kinds of food and I think when you make it with your own hands, you'll appreciate the food much better.. and not to mention the satisfaction you'll get when the food turns out looking good and tasty. What could be more better than having an Italian dining-in with the company of Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Jean Reno on a frosty autumn evening...

i've been radioed

So I was in the hospital the whole morning today. I went through yet another test.. for like the umpteenth time.. it seems endless and I'm beginning to feel like a lab rat! I've just gone through a small bowel radiography.. another probe to find the cause of my anemia. It's an X-ray examination of the upper gastrointestinal system. As opposed to the more invasive tests like the endoscopy and colonoscopy, this one was a walk in the park.. well I was sitting/lying down most of the time, more like.

All I had to do was to swallow a few cups of a contrast material called barium (a water soluble iodide).. kinda resembles an unappetizing milkshake - chalky-ish taste laced with vanilla flavour, to make the intestines show up clearly on film. I was then asked to lie on the X-ray table while the radiologist took pictures of my small bowel.. various films were then taken at 15 minutes intervals. The test is over once the liquid barium has passed through the small intestine.

So my morning was basically spent flipping through magazines in between posing for the lens on the table - "nice".

it's your party...

Shahreil, Boboy, Boy, Maman, Abang Boboy, Shah,

Many different names, still one person

That's my little brother.. not so little now

Used to be the baby of the family

(title taken over by the 2 little cuties now)

Sememangnya masa kecik-kecik dia kiut

tapi bila dah besar, miut.. tak seberapa kiut lah tu

All grown up into a young man now

Tapi masih ada ciri-ciri zaman kecik-keciknya

It's always good to keep the child in us

Strive to be a better person but never change

cause we love you just the way you are

Happy 26th, Shahreil Bakri!

it's my party...

On the contrary, I didn't have a big party bash here (dah tua pun.. tak payah party-party).. instead, I spent a quiet, cozy evening in with dear hubby. So it's my first birthday away from Singapore. Although I had to slog in the kitchen on my birthday, it's well worth it... on the menu was smoke salmon, escargots, scallops with tapenade paste spread over sautéed potato and a luscious chocolaty nougatine treat to top it all off, accompanied with fizzing champagne. I've also concocted a fruity cocktail similiar (or almost) to the one we had in Paris.

Thanks to dear hubby, my tummy is happily indulged with all those delectables.. quelle merveille! (marvelous!).. and I'm being endlessly spoiled with not one but a few gifts. I'm one happy woman, I am :) Merci chéri!.. and thanks to my family too, for the lovely card with its award-winning, perfectly rhymed witty message.. so I've decided to share it with you:

Oh Cik Julie,
Paling suka makan kari,
Nasib baik tak basi,
Kalau tak mencret berkali-kali,

Oh Cik Julie,
Hari ni hari yang kau dilahiri,
Oleh ibu kita bernama Suli,
Sampai lah ke hari ini,
Kamu menyambut hari jadi,
Untuk yang ke 33 kali.

road to recovery

I'm sure by now everybody who knows me is aware of the incident that had happened to me a while back. It has been slightly over a month now since it happened and I'm happy to say that I'm well on the road to recovery and am doing really fine, Alhamdullillah. It was indeed a great shock and a terrifying ordeal for my dear ones, especially so for me and my hubby. It came like a thunderbolt and the first couple of weeks had been one hell of a rollercoaster ride for both of us.

It was a really difficult and trying period for me.. I was emotionally and morally drained. It wasn't easy to be far from my family at the state I was in.. but I have the most wonderful husband who takes very good care of me and who's constantly there by my side every single day throughout my (long) stay in the hospital. He is my pillar of strength who keeps my courage up and warms my heart and makes me happy.. he makes it much easier for me to deal with my situation. I'm truly grateful to my dearest hubby, family, relatives and friends for their prayers, support and encouragement for my quick recovery.

I've regained all my mobility now though it's still not up to 100% yet.. certain things take longer to recover. I'm most grateful to be able to move about normally now.. it was a really scary thought to not be able to move on your own and be constantly dependent on the people around you. The basic daily things we do become a great struggle once you've been hit by a major sickness like the one I had. You'd realize then just how precious your health really is. I'm really fortunate to be recovering speedily. When I first got out of the hospital, carrying out basic tasks like making yourself a cup of tea or folding the laundry, takes twice as long but it's by doing things like these that I'll keep on fine tuning on the motor skills that were lost on the affected area and I've had huge improvement since.

After 3 weeks of hospitalization, I've lost 3kg, had what seems like gallons of blood taken from my body and gone through a battery of tests; the most horrifying being the endoscopy (ECG) where a long cord the diameter of your index finger is thrusted down your throat, making you gag constantly throughout the whole process and leaving you with a bad sore throat after.. never would I wanna go through such a thing again!

French doctors make me nervous sometimes but they're really nice people who take good care of their patients. You would expect the doctors here to be able to communicate in English with their non-speaking French patients but their English is like my French in that I understand the language much better than I speak it.. but with my personal translator at hand, we're able to understand each other better.

Having gone through a major thing like the stroke made me more aware of the sickness and have more empathy with those who had been through similiar path or are going through it. Though older people have a higher risk of getting stroke, it can happen to anyone in all age groups. So the best preventive measure one can take from being hit by a major sickness is by taking extra good care of one's health (if you smoke, quit) and lead a healthier lifestyle cause that's the most valuable asset you can have in life.


"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not."
- Mark Twain