Very likely not

We are still undecided on our trip end of this week. A bit too afraid to go but feel that it is such a waste as we have to forego the airticket that we paid for. Feel so sad ler .. but what to do. Dont wanna be the one to force the trip cos if anything happen, I will be blamed for the rest of my life!

On the other hand, our neighbour's son has been affected. He is down with A(H1N1) and I think they have quarantined him at home in a room. He is about 7 years old I think. Where did he get it from? I never had a chance to ask. Just heard it from my MIL. Have not seen any of them outside at the garden or fence area, so no chance to ask them directly also. See, they never travel but also at risk. So at the end of the day, sit her or sit there, also at risk if we are not careful about hygiene right???

Temporary Solution to hair-loss

Exactly 6 months after giving birth to my lil one, I experienced hair loss. It must have started off gradually and I thought then that it was "normal" to experience hair loss after childbirth. But I am still having this problem and my son just turned 2!!!!

I used to experience heavy hair loss every single time I washed my hair. They come off in big bunches! Scary! Every single time I brush my hair, sure there will be at least 5-6 strands of hair on my comb, plus another 5-6 strands on the floor. Then when I tie my hair after combing, a few more will drop off. And to untie my hair, a few more will stuck on my hairband. And if I tie & untie my hair say 5 times a day .. I dont even dare do the calculations !!!

My SIL recommended me to use Rene Furterer Hair Tonic from Sasa but Sasa Malaysia does not import them. So I ended up buying A'Kin shampoo & conditioner for sensitive scalp.

I have now used up about half a bottle. I still experience hair dropping while I wash it but far less. When I dry my hair and comb it, there is usually about 2-3 strands of hair on my comb and say 1-2 strands of hair on my hairband. I feel much better now. My hair feels good! It is soft and manageable too probably due to the conditioner.

I paid RM56 for both the shampoo & conditioner after a 31% discount. Normal price is RM40 for each of them. I will continue using it see if can help me solve my hair-loss problem.

If you guys have any sure-works solutions for hair-loss, please do share it with me please ... please ... please.

Getting better

Lil one seems happy again. He is back to asking for "milk" whenever he is a little hungry or we are late in giving him his usual meals. Last night, he had his milk at 11pm then went to bed. At 2am, he woke up screaming for milk! Then at 4am again he wanted milk! And I could not sleep after the 4am session ... shit.

I am having cold sweat every now and then. Fever is "gone" but its "still there" .. you know what I mean? I think I need to take some traditional chinese medicine instead of those from the clinic. Eerrgggg!!!

Mommie Down. Daddie Out.

Yeah, I'm still down . with flu, sorethroat and fever. But Daddie is out .. yeah, out of town .. having a good time for a week! Aaarrggggghhh!

Lil one has been much better these few days. We are still inserting anemas for him to clear his bowel. Sometimes on alternate days, to see if he can clear his bowels on his own. Laxatives are given on a daily basis to soften his stools.

He still cries and runs about until he "does" it. Although he does not cry as "torturously" as before, it still makes my heart feel achy whenever he needs to "poo". Maybe he does not like the feeling of wanting to poo, or his dislikes the "tummy ache" feeling. I really dont know. Just wished he could communicate with me better.

No long post today. Did not sleep well last night. Breathing with my mouth open. Bye.

Treatment for Retentive Constipation

In a very short span of time and after a crash course from my lil one's new paediatrician, we learnt that the treatment for retentive constipation in toddlers consist of 3 phases.

Phase 1 - immediately empty his bowels
Phase 2 - keep bowel empty, repeatedly
Phase 3 - bowel training

Phase 1 which lil one is under-going now, he has prescribed a series of anemas to make him empty his bowels. This is pretty painful as the stools have been in there for quite a number of days and it has hardened to almost pebble like. The longer this problem has been around, the longer it takes to clear off old stools as they can stored up high in the colon. Therefore may take a week or two or longer, depending on each toddler's history in this issue.

In Phase 2, he has to take in some laxatives to make his stool soft so that he will not feel the pain when he has to clear his bowels. This will make him feel more confident and comfortable of the whole "poo-poo" business. After a week or two (depending again on each toddler's history on this matter), he may be able to poo-poo by himself without having to withhold it for fear of pain.

Phase 3 would be the hardest part as in how to make him understand the importance of clearing his bowel each day and make it a pleasant experience for him. I have thought of making it a fun experience during bath time to encourage him to sit on the potty. We bought a kiddo potty lid to put on top of our adult toilet bowl. I tried it ones and he did not like it previously (before we started this process) so I will have to try it over and over again now. I also bought some colourful writing pens which can be scribbled over tiles and easily cleaned after that for him to have more fun time in the bathroom. I bought it online from here. Other than this, I have to consistently come up with something new cos my lil one gets bored very very easily. Hopefully by then, he has grown up a bit and can communicate with me better (he is learning to say more words now) and thus, this whole process can be a nicer experience.

We have also stepped up in feeding him more fibre. He loves prunes and raisins but just like everything else, he gets bored very very easily. So now we feed him freshly juiced apple juice, dried fruits and apricots in addition to his almost-daily dose of fresh papayas. We took off yoghurt from his daily diet as we were told to reduce on milk-based products like milk, cheese or yoghurt. Poor lil one .. he loves his "ice-cream" .. at least he thinks it is ice-cream ... cos that's what we told him .. hahaha!

We learnt a lesson

Vomits.
Losing weight.
Swollen abdomen.
Pain & bleeding with bowel movements.

This is exactly what is happening to my lil one. I never knew that a simple problem like constipation can lead to a bigger problem. We noticed that he started vomitting again after stopping for a few days. Although his appetite is not back to normal, we thought he was doing ok, but we were so wrong. I am glad to have found a good paediatrician near our home.

Lil one has had constipation problems every now and then. He would normally "poo-poo" everyday but once every few weeks, he will only do it the 3rd day. By that time, its hard as a rock and when he needs to pass out, he seems to be too afraid of the pain. We noticed that when this happens, he would try to hold it back if he could. Otherwise, he would be screaming his head off running up & down until it happened.

Last week was the worse of all the previous happenings. He started vomitting and had fever. We suspected the normal viral fever. But no, it was not.

The doctor told me that all the above are signs of retentive constipation. He has prescribed a series of enemas and laxatives and also recommended us to go through a special program to encourage lil one back to his normal bowel movement behaviours.

We started his medication today and he did his business 5 times! Mom told me he was so tired and worked up that he has now developed a fever, which is expected. Mom gave him paracetamol just now. Hopefully when I see him later today, he will feel much better.

Mommie & Daddie came tumbling after ...

Yeah, that's what happened. My lil one has yet to recover and both mommie & daddie fell ill. It was due to food poisoning and both of us had to stay up all night taking turns visiting the toilet! We were both suffering from diarrhea and were puking non-stop.

The worst part is .. my mom was also feeling ill so I did not want to trouble her to take care of lil one that Thurs night. I felt a little funny right after a light dinner at her place. An hour later, I started to get that "funny" taste of saliva in my mouth .. you know . the one that taste a little salty and you feel as if you are a little bloated and uncomfortable but the time just has not come to puke .. that kinda feeling?

When we reached home, I just dumped lil one to my SIL and ran upstairs to bring out whatever that was waiting to be brought out. But ar ... aiyoh .. both "up" and "down" also come out ... feel sooooo terrible and sick! This happened for another 5 times before it was time for lil one to go to bed. Thank god he behaved that night and went to bed not too long after I gave him some diluted milk and pat him to sleep. But it continued for me till 1am.

Then at 2am, I saw hubby going out of the room and coming back 10 minutes later - shirtless! I asked him what happened. He pulak told me he had to puke but decided to do it downstairs as he did not want to wake up the lil one at 2am. Poor hubby. We both had another round at 3am. We decided to take some chinese medication and half a glass of 100Plus, then settled for bed. We managed to sleep till 5.30am before lil one kicked up a mini-fuss. Before you know it, its time to wake up for work.

I decided to take the day off with a visit to the doctor after I catch some sleep at my mom's place. So tiring and my bones all over my body was like crushing down. Hubby managed to attend a meeting in the morning before he "surrendered" at lunch time. We both went to the doc and went home to rest. Then as usual, we headed to mom's place in the evening to pick-up the lil one. Thank god he was feeling much better by now .. but I still dont know why he still pukes in the middle of the night. During the day he seems ok.

Glad is was the weekend as we did have some time to recover and rest before starting the work week again. Even now, tummy is not feeling too good. Much better though. Hope life would be normal again soon.

Traditional Thai Massage @ Sunway Pyramid

Ever since childbirth, I have a back ache. And as lil one is growing, carrying him constantly does not help ease the pain. And now lil one is 20 months and still insist on carrying him! I have tried several times to either talk nicely to him, raise my voice and scold him and even tried diverting his attention to other things if he wants to be carried. All 3 tricks works but depending on his mood. Sometimes, none of them work, so we have to carry him for a short while.

Anyway, wanted to recommend you my usual massage place. Its called Arokaya, located in The Marrakech at Sunway Pyramid's new wing (LG Floor). They offer traditional Thai massage. All their masseures are from Thailand and some of them speak simple English and Mandarin too.









They have special "happy hour" prices everyday before 12 noon. Its really worth it! We usually go on a Saturday morning. And last week (since I was on leave .. yeay) we dropped by on Monday again. And after 10 session, you get a free session too!

We were there 2 or 3 weeks ago since I suffer from a really bad bad pain. Well, not exactly a back pain but more of a hip bone pain. I kept telling her that my hip bones hurt like hell .. and after a few seconds of massaging, she told me its not the bones .. its the nerves thats causing the problem. She continued massaging on the painful area .. boy it hurt quite a bit .. but after a few minutes more on the same area .. I stopped feeling the pain. And this relieve lasted me till now, so I was so darn happy that day.

So I am going there again next week for "maintenance work" ... if you know what I mean. Wanna massage it more often so that the nerves will function back like normal. Hopefully.

And while you're here, don't forget to try their foot massage too if you dont like a full body massage .. their magic hands can work wonders!

Which Diet Works Best?

I know! I know! Everybody who has seen me since I gave birth advises me to spend some time for exercise and watch what I eat. This is because I didnt only fail in loosing the pounds that I gained during pregnancy, but have been putting on weight as well since childbirth! I really dont know why this is happening to me (despite having limited sleep every single night since lil one came along) but perhaps the disturbed and lack of sleep that has caused my body system to go tipsy turvy? Well, at least this would be what I would love to think!

I tried dieting for a while sticking to low carbs and high on protein, then I got fed up. Then I started on a meal replacement diet and that didn't work out as well. So I got fed-up and decided to surf the web to find out which diet works best for my body. And guess what! Viola! I found the perfect place!

This place provides pretty much information of how each diet works. We have all heard of the Atkins Diet and WeightWatchers among others and what this site provides in their indepth review of each of the diets that is in town and how exactly it works best. Not only that. It also provides various different categories of diets, for example, meal based diets or calorie-counting diets, etc. So you get to read in detail how each works and then decide if that is the one you can follow through and sustain. Dont forget to browse through its many healthy recipes too as we all deserve a nice meal every now and then without feeling guilty, right?

I think I will take a look at this further and see if I can digest this into my current work and babysitting schedule not forgetting I finish work at almost 8pm everynight! But we got to start somewhere right? Good luck!

Barcoding indicating country of origin

This is interesting to note. Each bar code has a unique code to show its country of origin ... as in where it is made from.

It is said that China has got 3 codes which is 690, 691 and 692. The example shown here is from Taiwan with its country code as 471.











Will check this out when I do my grocery shopping this weekend!

Alkaline Water

So how many of you already have an alkaline water filter at home? Hands up please.

I knew nothing about this until my boss asked me to get an alkaline water filter for the office. I never knew what "alkaline" water means cos I never previously bothered enough to find out about it. All I know and heard before was simply water filters, RO water, "energy" water, etc but alkaline water was something new to me.

It is said that from all the food we eat which normally contains a high level of fats & sugar, this makes our body acidic and hence, leads to many kinds of illnesses. In order to balance it out, someone out there came out with alkaline water-producing filters. I think there are several brands out there and they dont come cheap. The one we bought for the office costs more than RM2,000.

I have been drinking it for the past 3 months but honestly, I dont notice any change for the better in me. However, my office driver did give his to his dad (in his 70s) to try and he said that his dad feels much better as in less body aches and pains - wow. So now, he dutifully fills up bottle after bottle to take home for his dad every day - which I totally dont mind (*smile*).

I might really consider this for my new home next year. If anyone knows of any other brand (other than a japanese brand) please do let me know. I heard there are cheaper China-made brands but a bit cautious of them unless its recommended by friends. So do let me know ya?

The Health Plan

To be fair to my readers, let me share with you my health plan for the next few months.

First of all is a calorie count. Any saint person will know that if input is more than output, sure fat lor, right? So, for me, I have to cut down on my daily calorie intake WITHOUT compromising on my health in terms of the right vitamins, minerals, and what nots.

Secondly, is enough water to nourish the body internally. After all, our bodies are mainly made up of water, so its only natural that we have enough of it inside us to allow our body to function optimally.

Thirdly, of course the word is exercise! I would love to go back to my good old days filled with extreme motivation to spend hours in the gym and on the yoga mat. But hey, I really have had enough of that lah. I dont know why but I just hate the sight of the gym and the sweaty humid yoga rooms! Moreover, only gays go to the gym these days!

Honestly, this exercise part a bit "susah" for me with my little boy around. He clings on to me like a leech when my mom is not around and once he does that, I cannot go anywhere. Well ... hmm... maybe chasing after him in a mall would do the trick as well huh ...hehehe.

So what do you think ... boleh maintain kah this plan?

Type 2 Diabetes

The reason for particularly highlighting Type 2 diabetes is because both my mom & mother-in-law suffers from this.

Generally there are 2 types of diabetes, Type 1 & 2, and what it basically means is that those who suffer from Type 1 are insulin-dependent while Type 2 is non-insulin dependent. There is a whole lot of detailed explanation which you can find here should you wish to know more about it.

This will be a pre-warning to all of us at home as we sure do not want to suffer from it as well.

As a start, we will have to consume less refined sugar products such as store bought cakes, cookies or even rice or noodles which is our staple food. It may be difficult to eliminate this all together but we have definately reduced the amount we consume daily. We have also increased our vegetable & fruits consumption. Although fruits are good for you, try to avoid those with high sugar contents such as grapes and strawberries. On a daily basis, enjoy a piece of papaya, banana, or an apple or pear. I love pineapples but I try not to have it daily though.

Other minor little modifications in our lifestyle include reduced sugar in our coffee or even sometimes, no sugar at all. Reduce the number of cups of beverage from 3 to 1 a day. Whenever possible (which is almost impossible now) is to fit in some exercise. Walking in the mall is our dose of this! Well, at least we are walking instead of sitting down at home, right?

We cant really avoid processed food altogether and we cannot afford organic food all the time, so we have no choice but to live with what we are today and just try making minor changes where we possibly can. And oh ya, dont forget to stay happy & smile always!

What's happening so far ...

Hmm ... let's see. Well, for one, I am visiting the toilet at least 10-12 times within my daily 10-hour work schedule during the weekdays.

This "extra curricular activity" kinda keeps me busy and sometimes, I even feel a bit "fed-up" cos it eats into my busy schedule at the office especially when the bosses are in that week!

But looking at it positively, hey, detoxing should be good for a 30+ almost 40 year old body huh? After all, never really made an effort to take care of my body all these years ...

So, hoping for more improvement .. slowly but surely (hopefully!).

Water Therapy

Over and over again, my mother would remind me to drink lots of water everyday when I was young and at school. And now, more than 30 years into my life, its my hubby who always reminds me to drink more water everyday! And guess what, I too, now remind myself to feed my son more water everyday - hahahaha! Silly eh?


But you know, water is so plain. So dull. Tasteless. But yet some people swear by being healthy and strong by just drinking enough water each day to flush out toxic from our body created by all the food we eat everyday.

Since last Friday, i decided to do something to improve my health and it is only right I start with drinking "enough" amount of water each day. Doctors and articles from magazines or the internet would advise you to drink 8 glasses of water each day ... but the point it, they never mention what is the size of the glass! A glass in china could mean a tea-cup and a glass in US could be a jumbo sized Coke????

So, according to my health plan coach, she recommended me 3 litres of water each day. And this measurement of water is for MY body according to MY health plan. So dont follow me blindly okay? If you need to know how much of water your individual body needs, let me know and I can seek my health plan's coach to guide you as well :-)

I have been a pretty good girl ... ahem ... since last Friday. It was tough the first day cos I never never drank so much water in a single day. But it got easier. Yesterday I managed to finish 1.5 litres in just 2 hours. Good eh? I dont know why but I just drank & drank cos I felt like it.

I promise to do this everyday if possible and make this part of my lifestyle. So why dont you too do something positive for your body today?

Yes, its time!

Yes, its time to do something for myself. And I have decided. I will start today.

I am determined to at least do this for one month. See if it works. According to the program, I will need to stick to this routine for at least 5 mths to achieve the targeted level of fitness.

I have no choice, really. I HAVE to do something to maintain my health ... its really going down the drain and its scary!

Shall I give it a try?

There are all kinds of supplements in the market these days. I, for one, is not a believer of any kind of supplements ... cos i just dont like to swallow them. Even if they taste good.

Hubby suggested I should seriously consider doing something about my current physical condition. I mean take some supplements or take something healthy to help me and keep me going strong. Ya, I know but what?

Hubby told me about his colleague who has got severe medical conditions like asthma and high cholestrol. She has been "sick" for quite a number of years until she started taking this particular supplement. I can't recall exactly but I think she has been on it for 6 mths or so now. Guess what? She feels fantastic! She's healthy and good and she even stopped her medication! Wow ... really? Hmm ... I feel a bit suspicious now. What is it? Another MLM product? Well ... but I still need to do something for myself. Right now!