My little Froggie

For those who follow my facebook would know that recently my boy has adverse allergic reaction to certain food substance.  The current suspects are either artificial flavour or colourings.  Which is a big headache for us as almost all the food here in Thailand contains them. 

The rashes normally starts from the mouth and then spreads all over the body.  The recent attack was so severe that Boy boy was admitted to the hospital in Chiang Rai.  That was 2 days before my trip back to Maesai.

He's now more stable and we are very careful on the food we place in his mouth now.  Its a bit of a problem whenever we eat as he is quite a greedy little bugger.  If we don't give him some, he starts to complain... Anyway, this is also a little blessing in disguise as the reaction scares the hell out of my wife and so she stops feeding my kids all those junk food.. :P

He's still a bit sticky to mommy now (as usual for kids when they are not feeling well) but at least he allows me or my mum to carry him around.  Much more mellow then his sister. 

Ah boy now can crawl and sit but not for long.  His crawling style is like doing push ups... hehehe damn funny and he gets active when he's on a bed or on soft ground.  Once in a while, he positions himself like a frog and starts to leap forward.  Can really "jump" quite far leh..  A bit scary when we see him to that but he seems to enjoy doing it.  I tried capturing this on video but its so fast then I still have not get  the footage....

All in all, wish to thank all my concern friends on his status.  All is well here in LOS and we are still waiting for my wife's status..  Seems like we are still in the queue as they have not processed my wife's village yet.  Our hopes are not that high (since its more than 3 months) but still just hope that day will come sooner or later.

Busy Weekend

Last weekend was full of activities.  I was working Night shift all the way since last Wednesday.  Our office will be renovated and our data centre was shifted to a new location (actually just next door)

It was hectic.  All sorts of issues,funny incidents and bloody cock ups... Anyway, the official shift was on Saturday and since I was on night shift, I managed to "siam" (escaped) this major event.  Instead of catching some Zs during daytime.   I made a mistake and went to the airshow 2010.  Main reason was to see the A-10 Thundervolt II.  My all time favourite war plane :P  Its pretty cool but I got sun burnt... :P

You can check out the photos from my facebook by clicking on the photo below.

Singapore Airshow Album

So came back from the airshow, took a bath, rest a bit and went back office to work.  Wa... Office was in chaos and there were serveral issues. 

On Sunday, our HK team decided to have a little steamboat party in office as it will be the last time we get to see our office as the whole room and furnitures would be tore down for something new.  Took my Diana F+ and instanx back to shoot some Polaroids for the event.  Then we started to do some "creative" stuffs by posing in silly positions... 

Steam boat event at office with Diana F+ and Instanx back

Over in Thailand side.  Wife complaining ah girl very naughty :P Used the scissors to cut our kitchen table cloth.... We had a short video conference and I tried to chat with her but she seems a bit nonchalant.. not sure what really happened.. Need to find out more.

Ah boy can crawl liao and not feeling that well.  Wife said they are doing the buring again (same old shit we get here from Indonesia) and its getting worse.  So ah boy has started coughing on Saturday and a bit feverish today. Wife sent him to the clinic again... hiaz...

2010 seems like not a very good year for us.  Chinese New Year is coming, hopefully can bring us some better news....

Siburin Hosiptal

My daughter is born in Overbrook Hosiptal which was quite a big hospital chain in Thailand. Its the oldest private hospital in Chiang Rai. There is a gahment hospital in Maesai but I would strongly advised not to go there unless you are really broke...

This time around, we chose Siburin which is a new and growing hospital chain in Thailand. It's also in Chiang Rai so we drove there in our new car. Girl girl and my mother-in-law also came to help. We checked-in on the 16th evening as the procedure will be on the 17th morning. The standard rooms were all taken so we were give a choice to upgrade our room to the special suite for an additional of 400 baht per night or upgrade to the VIP room at 1000 baht per night. It was a no brainer so we took the special suite. The room is very clean and spacious. And I will gladly say its as good as those private hospitals in Singapore. (You can see for yourself in the pictures). There is even a fridge with mini-bar on it. You could also order food over the telephone to be delivered to your room at any hours. MAcham hotel with room service liao :P. And its not that expensive. 35 to 40 baht for a Pad Thai or fried rice.

I was expecting to spend about 40kBaht for this whole thing. I have heard that price has increased and I only paid about 28k for my daughter's procedure. So I guess in this newer and better hospital it should be more expensive. Overall, the bill is 37k baht. About $1600 SGD in a private hospital in Thailand. Its $400 plus more than what I paid for my girl but we also stay one more night. Total of 4 days 3 nights (whereas girl girl only 3 days 2 nights).

I kind of understand now why a lot of foreigners actually came to Bangkok or Chiangmai to have plastic surgeries. At this price and service, its again a no brainer. :)

Suppose to be in Thailand....

I am suppose to be in Thailand yesterday. But due to my recent operation. Wife and my mum (or actually my whole family with exception from me and my girl girl) were strongly against my trip. Alas, going to miss my girl girl's 3 year old birthday on the 18th :(

Xinhui is not happy of course, she has been looking forward for me to come back. Wify and I tried to explain the situation to her but she does seems to understand that much. So face black black for a few days....

Everything changed when our brand new car (Toyota Vios) arrived on the 15th. Girl girl very happy and wife is taking the new car for a spin everyday to get used to it. And she seems to forget about me not able to come liao. Jia lat :(. I am recovering very well actually. I have been taking some brisk walking sessions almost every 2-3 days. I also have been actively going out to run some errands and meet up with my photography Master's wife recently to discuss on some future ventures.

So all in all. My MC will be over soon and I will be back to work next Wednesday night.

Scarred for life! Part 3

Day 3 night at the hospital was horrible. It was hot and humid and I feel cold and hot and the same time. (Think its because my body is repairing itself). Next morning the surgeon came and saw my wound and said I could go home. Whoo pee. Though he also damn funny. Pulled of the bandages and dressing and exclaimed "BEAUTIFUL!" Huh.. what the tulududu... He saw my face and quickly say "Oh I don't mean the scar itself but how its healing."

Anyway wait for mum and took a cab home. On 7 days antibiotics course and 2 weeks of MC. I tried to move as much as possible to get more blood circulation. Friends also called in to ask my condition and again, wish to thank you all for your concern. I am really getting better everyday. (Just completed a 2km slow walk along East Coast Park).

So what now? No more gallbladder. There are a lot of myths surrounding that one could no longer eat fatty food. On the contrary, this is not the case as bile is created by the liver. Not the gallbladder. The functionality of the gallbladder is to store the extra bile produced by the liver. So in the event that you eat fatty food. It will release the bile juice into the intestines. Still, it is advisable to cut down on fatty food to prevent cases of diarrhoea.

So far I have not eaten anything oily yet so I can't really tell. But I do notice I tend to go to the toilet more often as digestion within the intestine has gone haywire.

With this I conclude these series. I think it will serves a good chronicle for myself on this dreadful experience and as a reminder: Health is more important than anything else for anyone. You can be rich but if you are not healthy, you won't enjoy it anyway.