Namaste Nepal! Part II

Thursday, 26 December 2013

An early start this morning. Well, I couldn’t sleep well anyway, no thanks to the Indian guests who just checked in the evening before. They were early risers too. After shower and morning prayers, I gathered my bags and left my room. Had requested for an early breakfast as I had a bus to catch, departing at 0730. After a hurried breakfast, one of the guesthouse staff drove me to the bus station. It took us less than five minutes to get there.

I boarded the bus and it quickly filled up. Despite this, we only departed at 0805. Pretty soon, we were rolling through the suburbs of Pokhara and then the neighbouring small towns and villages with the occasional fields and farms. The road was not good and pretty soon we were bumping in our seats. I looked out and saw mud- and dirt-coated trees. Actually, there wasn’t much the locals could do I suppose. No matter how hard they try, the mud and dust would still settle on their houses, their fields, their trees... it was dry season in Nepal anyway.

We stopped by The Original Highway Restaurant at Gunadi at 0930, merely an hour and 15 minutes after starting out, for a thirty-minute mid-morning break. I went down to use the bathroom and checked out the food offered in the restaurant. Nothing particularly appealed to me and besides, I had my own food. We continued our way after thirty minutes and drove on before stopping at Motel du Mugling at 1115 for an early lunch break. We had to change buses after the break as the bus we boarded from Pokhara was actually bound for Kathmandu. We continued our journey at noon and reached Sauraha bus station at 2. It wasn’t much of a station and I was glad when I saw a representative from my guesthouse there (actually, I didn’t arrange for it so they probably either send out someone to wait every day or the other two guests who later arrived had earlier arranged for the pick-up. I got lucky either way).

We arrived at the guesthouse and I checked in. After performing prayers, I walked out to check out the area. Well, it’s really more of a village than a small cowboy town. I dropped by a hut to enquire the activities offered. See, Sauraha is located right next to Chitwan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After a while, I came upon a row of shops and a bloke came over to talk to me. I was apprehensive as I didn’t like strange men coming up to me but of course and I didn’t want to feel obliged towards him for anything. But he very kindly explained to me about the area and brought me to the basic National History Museum nearby. He also asked what activities I prefer and I told him I didn’t want any elephant ride or visit to the elephant centre as I’d read they were not treated right. I also told him I didn’t want to do any jungle walk as I had been bitten enough by leeches back in Malaysia. Nor do I care to go canoeing. The only thing that interested me was the jeep safari. He patiently probed and at one point, I blurted, ‘I’m a city girl,’ as if that explained everything. No, I won’t apologise for this because that’s who I am. I am a city girl and I won’t change that fact. He must have been wondering what on earth I was doing there and I was also starting to wonder the same too. Finally I told him that I would need to think about it and that I would let him know once I’d made up my mind.

I then went to see the river before continuing on the dusty road – actually, it wasn’t even a road. More like a sandy path. You come across the occasional cow and elephant dung and I walked up and down the path before I saw more shops. Oh, so this is the village centre then, I thought. I came upon more restaurants, shops, moneychangers and guesthouses while pondering. Finally, I decided, what the heck. I was already there, I might as well try out some activities. So I turned back and went back to tell the bloke that OK, I’d join some activities. In the end, I signed up for canoeing followed by a half-day jungle walk the next morning and jeep safari in the afternoon. I paid Bishnu $47 in total. Yes, it’s handy to have USD with you. After paying Bishnu and agreeing on the time to meet the next morning, I walked back to the village centre to have dinner. Then I walked back in the dark back to my guesthouse (no, there was no street light). WiFi was a hit and miss and I couldn’t switch the TV on because the power point didn’t work (and even if it did, I wasn’t sure if the TV worked). It was so cold in the room and I was shivering even under the thick blanket.

Friday, 27 December 2013

Woke up for morning prayers and shower. I went into the bathroom shivering and turned on the left-hand shower tap. Cold water came gushing out. I waited a while but still no joy. I turned off the left-hand tap and turned on the right-hand tap. Icy water came out. Goodness me, there was no hot water at all! So the two shower taps were for cold and much colder water! I had a very quick bath and performed ablutions.

I was getting ready when the lights went out. Uh oh, power outage again. I continued getting ready in the dark, groping around. I had a quick hurried breakfast and after breakfast, rushed off to the meeting point. Well, I needn’t have worried. We ended up waiting and waiting for others (we ended up joining another group for the canoe ride).

We finally set off at a quarter to 8. The boatman slowly paddled the boat and I could see steam rising off from the surface of the river. Bishnu explained that the river is warm during the night but cool during the day and I later tested the water and I can assure you he was right. Why, the river water was wayyy warmer than the water in my bathroom. Compared to the icy water supply in my bathroom, the river water was like a semi-boiling water!

Both of my guides are keen bird-watchers and they kept pointing out the birds that we saw along our ride. The migrating birds, the local birds, their nests, their hiding place. In fact, it was a good thing I didn’t sign up for the bird-watching activity because I was doing two activities at the same time – canoe ride and bird-watching! Oh, I also saw a jackal on the bank before it disappeared.

The canoe ride lasted 50 minutes and we got down on the other side of the bank and climbed up a cliff. My guide was explaining something to me when he suddenly stopped, looked to his right, listened hard and then urgently whispered loudly for us to run away. He said there were rhinos coming. I protested and said I didn’t want to go down the cliff (the cliff was steep to begin with) but he hurried me on so I had no choice but to practically stumble down the cliff. We stood hidden behind some long grass and listened hard. We waited about 15 minutes before Bishnu deemed it was safe for us to continue.

We walked in the jungle, at first along the river before venturing deeper in. Bishnu showed me some marks on the ground and told me those were the footprints of the earlier rhinoceroses. There were two, he said, and the male was trying to mate the female. The male rhino had mounted on the female but the female rhino was reluctant and it showed from the marks that the female rhino was trying to walk away with the male still mounted on her. We also saw rhino droppings, deer droppings, tiger droppings (Bishnu poked and showed me the deer bones discharged), tiger scratch marks and urine mark on a tree, a sloth bear dropping (with the heads of black ants and termites in the dropping). Really, you can learn a lot of the animals’ diets from their droppings!

Bishnu then spotted a bird rarely seen in those parts and Thagu (the other guide and keen bird-watcher) and he then took some time trying to take pictures of the bird. Apparently, there were two: one male and one female but the female had flown away. I squinted and looked hard but even with Bishnu’s binoculars, I couldn’t locate the bird at all. It was that tiny.

After a while, we moved on and spotting some grass land, Bishnu went to check it out and then excitedly told us that the male rhino was there. We spent some Kodak moments and then shortly after continuing our walk, saw some stags. Wow! Was I in luck or what. I had earlier seen some deer earlier but they hopping away too quickly for me to take any pictures. We also stopped at one of the observation towers in the park. There was an Italian woman there peering out over the jungle and Bishnu attempted to converse with her. There were some tiger droppings at the tower. Whoa, they went up there too! We rested there for a brief while before bidding goodbye to the woman and continuing on.

We boarded the boat back around 1140 and I rushed back to my guesthouse to perform prayers and have a light lunch. I was due at the meeting place at 1245 for the jeep safari.

We set off across the river after paying Rs20 each for a return boat trip and followed our guide to our designated jeep. I wanted to sit in front so the guide guided me to sit next to the driver in the cab. I enjoyed the safari. Along the way, we saw monkeys, some deer, a wild boar (I missed it though), crocodiles, river turtles, a big monitor lizard high up on a tree, two peacocks and the best of all, a tiger crossing the road about 50 m ahead of us! It passed by too quickly for me to take any picture though. We stopped the jeep where the tiger crossed but couldn’t see it. Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was already 100 metres away by the time we arrived at the spot. In between, we also stopped at a gharial crocodile farm but I refused to enter. Crocodiles are not my favourite animals.

We finished the safari four hours later and walked down to the river and boarded the boat back across. Bishnu met me as I climbed up and asked about my experience. After watching the sunset or what little of it, I went off in search of dinner and eventually had it at the guesthouse restaurant. I spent the evening reading or trying to (in between the power outage) before retiring.

To be continued

Namaste Nepal! Part I

I had promised my niece to bring her somewhere if she got good results in her PMR. However, when I asked my sister while they were in NZ, she said that the timing wasn’t good as they would need to find another school should she not do well in her exam. So that was that and it was two weeks before Christmas then. I quickly considered my options and finally decided on either Nepal or Bangladesh (and why not. If I were to go to these countries, it would be in winter rather than any other time). So I did my research and contacted a tour operator. Liz also gave me another contact to consider and finally everything fell into place. The rough itinerary was done, accommodation was accordingly booked, domestic flights were arranged by Liz’s contact and I finally bought the KUL-KTM-KUL ticket ten days before departure. Oh, some people from the workplace (not my department) were also going to Nepal but I didn’t know them enough and also they planned to leave a day later so I decided not to join them and instead go solo.

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

An early start. Got up at 4 am to watch Arsenal-Chelshit match but retired soon after as I found Chelshit horrible enough to watch. Didn’t manage to sleep though and dad woke me up before 5. Showered and had a light breakfast (whatever I could consume just after 5 in the morning anyway) and after prayers, dad sent me to the bus station. I’d decided to ride the coach to KLIA. I wasn’t in a rush and would still had time to check out the duty-free shops. I never liked spending too long at the airport anyway.

Arrived at the airport before 8 and it being Christmas Eve, there were long queues everywhere, including the bag-drop queue. I decided I’d just join the normal check-in queue even though I had checked in online as it looked shorter and faster than the bag-drop queue. After checking in my bag and getting my boarding pass, I headed to the departure area and yes, did manage to check out the duty-free and then take the aerotrain back to my departure gate.

We boarded slightly later than scheduled but still managed to land on time. I had decided to fly out immediately to Pokhara instead of going to the city and coming back to the airport the next day. I quickly disembarked and made my way to the immigration. I had decided I’d get a visa on arrival instead of applying it before going. It should be a simple process and would be if you knew the procedure: first, get a visa application form from one of the counters set up against the wall and fill it up. Then go to one of the booths just before the immigration counter to pay for your visa. I applied for a 15-day visa and it cost me $25. After getting your receipt of payment, queue for the immigration. It sounds easy enough but there was a couple who were held up for a while at the immigration although they were there before me. After clearing immigration, I went down to the baggage collection. There was a long queue as we had to screen our hand-carry items. Despite all that –filling up the visa form, clearing immigration and queuing for the hand-luggage screening – we still had to wait for our bags to emerge. Urja, Liz’s contact, was waiting for me when I finally emerged from the airport.

Urja handed me my domestic flight and bus tickets and sent me to the domestic terminal nearby. I felt like I just stepped back into 1960s (not that I know how that would be but I guess that’s how 1960s would feel like). I had to wait about 90 minutes for my flight. The check-in desk opened an hour before departure and it was all done manually. But surprise, surprise, the boarding area had WiFi facility so I took the opportunity to check my messages and twitter timeline.

We boarded our flight – only one person can board the short flights at any time (the stairs didn’t look like it would be able to support more than 70 kg) - and before long, all 30 of us were strapped down in our seats, 2 passengers on the right and one passenger on the left of each row. We were given some sweets and a cup of coffee which I refused as I don’t drink coffee.

We landed in Pokhara at 1540 and after collecting my bag, I went to survey my options. I didn’t have any Rupees to my name then, having not changed money at the international airport earlier. I actually thought of walking (it was about 2 km from the airport to my guesthouse) but which way? Then a man called out to me and I squinted, thinking ‘My, is that a taxi?’ Yes, it turned out it was indeed a taxi. He offered to take me to my hotel for Rs300 (USD1 = Rs97 so that’s more than $3). I told him I had no money but he said he’d bring me to a moneychanger. Turned out there are quite a few moneychangers near my guesthouse – no wonder the cabbie wasn’t worried. After paying him, I went to check in at my guesthouse.

After prayers, I went to explore the area and to look for dinner. My guesthouse is at Basundhara Park, the south side of the Lake Phewa and the road along the lake, aptly called Lakeside. There are many businesses along the road: shops, restaurants, moneychangers, hotels and guesthouses. I walked on and on while at the same time keeping an eye out for a potential place to have dinner. I found two halal restaurants but had vegetarian chowmein and cheese and potato momos at one restaurant. I returned back to my guesthouse and turned in before 2130 local time (Nepal is 2 hours and 15 minutes behind Malaysia). It had been a long day indeed.

Wednesday, 25 December 2013

Woke up for morning shower and prayers. Turned on the left-hand shower tap but got cold water so I decided to turn on the right-hand tap and presto! Hot water! Phew! It was winter time in Nepal and it was quite cold. Actually, if anything it was always colder indoors throughout my stay in Nepal. I could walk outdoors even as early as 7 am and not feel that cold but I’d be shivering in my room!

After breakfast and changing rooms (some guests from India were due to arrive that evening and I was warned that they would be potentially noisy. Huh, don’t I know it), I walked out to check out the area in the daylight. Well, it was a misty foggy morning down by the lake. I saw a Malaysian family walking across the street and the dad saw me and we acknowledged each other. I retraced my footsteps of the evening before for about a km before returning back to the hotel as I had a paragliding appointment at 11. Yes, paragliding! Me!

Back at the guesthouse, I discovered that there was a power outage and I had to use the power bank to charge my phone. I tried to read while waiting but the paragliding company called to say that because of the overcast morning, the session would have to be delayed and they would pick me up half an hour later than scheduled.

Well, I finally left the guesthouse around 1130 and was driven to the company office to fill up a form. Among others, I had to provide details of next-of-kin for the company to contact in cases of emergency. I can’t recall if there was any insurance and didn’t think of asking then if insurance was included in the fee. Turned out there was one other person joining: a Chinese bloke who’s a PR in Melbourne. We left about 20 minutes later. Oh and by the way, do arrange your paragliding session yourself because you pay less that way than if you go through your guesthouse/hotel like I did.

We drove up to Sarangkot from where we would take our leap. We had to wait a while for the right wind conditions and direction. John, the Chinese bloke, took off first with his Russian pilot (I was so glad I didn’t get the Russian as he seemed gruff, arrogant and unfriendly. I had Geni, a Bulgarian eye candy. Phew!

I was already feeling nervous when Geni put on my gear on me. It was heavy and weighed me down. It was then when I pondered what I was doing and why and if it wasn’t too late to back out. But hey, I’d already made it all that way, right. Still, I was nervous and admitted as much to Geni. He smiled and said that was normal and tried to encourage me. It wasn’t enough as I couldn’t even move when I was told. We missed the wind and had to wait another 5 minutes. I felt so bad and guilty but was still scared. I’d overheard the Russian told John to walk quickly, break into a run and then jump off. Geni repeated the same to me but I felt my legs like lead which couldn’t move. Then this one local boy grabbed hold of me and pulled me shrieking and screaming and suddenly... we were off! We were in the air! I was flying and floating!

I cannot describe what it felt like to be up there. I felt free like a bird and said to Geni that now I understood why he did what he did. It’s a marvellous feeling and yes, I would do it again (I would still hate having to run and leap off though). We spent about half an hour soaring above Sarangkot and Pokhara and after a while, I even managed to slowly take out my camera and take pictures of the scenery below. We landed on a strip of land jutting into the lake and I could see cow dung as we were descending so I tried to avoid them all. We landed very smoothly and without getting anywhere near any cow dropping. Heh!

I waited for Geni to finish packing up (I tried to help but he said it’d be better for him to do it all by himself) and our vehicle then came to pick us up. John and his pilot had landed further up so we drove for a bit on the rough terrain before picking them up. We drove back to the office to have a look at the pictures and videos taken during our flight and I paid Rs1700 for the CD. I asked to be dropped back at my guesthouse.

Back at the guesthouse, I performed prayers and had some bread before venturing out again. I walked to the lake and then walked along it. I walked to the main street and walked down Lakeside before finally settling for a light dinner at one of the halal restaurants. Had buffalo momos for dinner. Pretty sure I’d never had buffalo meat before!

I walked back to the guesthouse after purchasing some souvenirs. I tried to have an early night but the Indian guests had arrived and checked in and were determined to keep everyone else up.

To be continued

The Year That Was: 2013

UPDATED

It was yet another mixed year. Positives and negatives, happiness and sadness, life and death, new places discovered and old places revisited... I spent even less time on FB and more time reading (or trying to).

Alhamdulillah, I managed to do the following trips, locally and abroad, long and short, as follows:

January: Finally landed in the land of Pharaohs, gazed upon and entered into the pyramids! Experienced night train ride to Aswan and then cruised down the Nile River to Luxor. Visited various temples too and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. I should have visited this country sooner but hey better late than never, right

February: Returned from Egypt; spent CNY weekend in Bandung and Jakarta – brought my niece to Trans Studio Bandung

March: Flew to JB and explored Legoland

April: Flew to UK and Ireland and explored Galway, the rugged beautiful landscape of Connemara and the windy and insanely beautiful Cliffs of Moher

May: Europe: visited the crazy city of Naples and then explored Herculaneum and Pompeii, had fun at the Amalfi Coast and revisited Budapest

June: Train trip to Singapore during the haze

July: Went to watch Arsenal in Jakarta

August: Day trip to Ipoh

September: Spent Malaysia Day weekend in Guilin. Joined a package tour and had a great time (didn’t expect that to be honest)

October: A short break in Penang, discovered a charming boutique hotel

November: Spent Maal Hijrah scaling Mount Bromo before travelling to Malang and Surabaya; another short break in Penang

December: Day trip to Muar (had fun despite it being a hot day and I got stung). Planned on another destination for my end-of-year getaway but it didn’t materialise and finally bought air ticket to Nepal. Visited Pokhara and Chitwan National Park before returning to Kathmandu. So I visited both Naples and Nepal in 2013 heh (OK, bad joke, I know)

I set a target of 100 books but was 3 books short of my target ;( Didn’t manage to watch many movies, mainly because some releases were crap anyway and also because sometimes I just missed them (either from not realising they were already at the theatres until their screening had been withdrawn).

We saw Arsenal overcame the negative spiral and huffed and puffed into the fourth spot. We signed Ozil on the last transfer day and after the initial struggle, we are now top of the league!

My resolutions? A healthy lifestyle and taking care of my respective relationships (to my family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues and of course, God), rein in my temper and to continue to explore the world and push myself out of my comfort zone. I’m not one to go caving, mountain rock-climbing, mountaineering, white water rafting, sailing, abseiling, parachuting, running in marathons (I had done walkathons before), not because I can’t or fear to but because for now those activities just don’t interest me. I don’t have them in my bucket list, they are just not on my list of things to do. Oh I know I can do them if I want to (I’m not scoffing or bragging but I don’t think I’m that hopeless and not to be able to attempt them should I want to), after all I had jungle trekked a few times and entered walkathons before and I know I can push myself to do more but I’m just not into them. But never say never. I just wish those outdoor people who do all those things won’t look down on us who just don’t have interest in those things. My interests lie elsewhere; I prefer exploring old cities and ruins, experiencing culture and appreciating other heritages.

The year and the road ahead will be more challenging than before, what with exercising financial discipline and being prudent but yeah, shit happens and shit is what is happening now. All we can do is never give up hope, fight on, prepare for the worse but hope for the best. Fasten our seatbelts and let’s try to enjoy the ride!

Another Year Has Gone By

Well, another year is ending. 2014 is descending upon us and the whole cycle will begin again. I’m not sure if it’s wise to wish anyone Happy New Year when the future for us Malaysians looks bleak, what with rising prices and reduced subsidies. It doesn’t look like the future is something to look forward to, not when everything is going up, even the blinking electricity, assessment rates and toll charges on top of others. So really, to wish another Malaysian a Happy New Year sounds quite lame.

Anyway. Cik Abang Ollie, Cik Abang Ramsey, the furry LOL cats would like to take this opportunity to wish you a brilliant holiday season and a new year of peace, love, good health, wealth and happiness. Have a red-and-white Christmas, take care if you’re travelling and see you in 2014 insyaAllah.

Muar Day Trip

A friend got married last Saturday in Muar and ZS agreed to drive LL and I down to Muar to the wedding. Nizam had proposed we leave early so that we could have breakfast in Muar and try the local delicacies. So it was an early start for us; we left just after 8 and went in search of Salak Selatan LRT station to pick LL up. Despite the map, we still got lost but managed to reach the station 10 minutes after the agreed time. We drove on and joined the traffic heading south, LL and I busy catching up with each other.

We exited the highway at Jasin and drove on to join Lebuh Amj which leads to Muar town. You come across more traffic lights at Lebuh Amj so that slowed us down somewhat and we finally pulled into Muar just before 11 am. Nizam was already waiting for us at Jalan Salleh and we picked him up. After parking at Jalan Abdullah, we walked to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. It would seem that the locals eat satay for breakfast because many restaurants and stalls serve satay that early in the morning.

After breakfast, Nizam drove us around and showed us the sights. We then went back to pick up the car to Tanjung Emas and arrived just in time to board the boat for the Muar river cruise. Well, might as well act like tourists! (Which we were anyway!)

The boat ride took about 40 minutes I think. It was an enjoyable ride with the light river breeze giving us relief from the midday heat. The river was quite large and surprisingly clean. Alright, yes, the river wasn’t clear but there was no rubbish in it and we could even see some fishermen catching fish. We arrived back at the jetty at 1 pm and drove on to Nizam’s parents’ house to freshen up, perform prayers and wait for another colleague to arrive with her family.

We left for the wedding at 2 (apparently in Muar, guests don’t arrive early at weddings) and arrived just before the groom did. We went to meet our friend and after watching her and husband on the dais, we went to have lunch. It was a hot bright sunny scorching sweltering day and I helped myself to a few glasses of drinks. We left after an hour. I must say I was disappointed with the reception at the bride’s side. We only welcomed by only one member of her family and that was her brother-in-law. She has a lot of siblings and also an extensive number of nieces and nephews but hardly anyone else welcomed us. No one else came forward to acknowledge us, to accept our wedding presents and wedding money or to offer us door gifts of bunga telur. It’s not that I care much about getting bunga telur or door gifts (I don’t eat eggs anyway) but it’s the gesture that counts. I’m sure you agree that it’s the little things that count and that, to me, is one of those things. Plus I don’t want LL to think that Malay weddings are that impersonal or the hosts so thoughtless and inconsiderate.

We went back to Nizam’ parents’ and went to pick the rambutans and pulasans in their large garden. I already have a rambutan tree at home so was not too eager on the rambutans. I headed for the pulasan tree at the far end of the garden and LL joined me. We picked some – all looked red anyway – and was about to say ‘OK, that’s enough’ when I got stung by some insect. Ouch!!! It hurt like hell and I had quick tears forming in my eyes. LL took one look at me and said we should head in there and then and led me in. I applied some sea cucumber ointment on my hands and after a few minutes was able to offer a shaky smile at Nizam’s mother.

We left shortly after (the car boot was full of fruits!) and left to find the famed mee bandung Muar. As it turned out, the locals have it quite late in the day (say what? Why?) and we finally had to go to the food court at Tanjung Emas for our mee bandung Muar. Nizam then took us a for a drive along the sea and then showed us the way to the highway. It was a good 30-minute drive to the highway (!) and it started raining heavily not long after we left Muar.

I must have dozed off because when I woke up, we were nearing Seremban. We were caught in crawl all the way to Nilai and then again after Sungai Besi toll plaza. We dropped LL off and managed to find our way back to KL, thanks to her husband’s rough description.

It was a long day but an enjoyable one. Yes, despite getting stung by pesky insects!

The Good Die Young

My schoolmate passed early last Monday after less than a year of having cancer. I only found out after reaching office and was in shock and disbelief for the better part of the day. I mean, yes, I knew she had cancer and that the cancer made a comeback but I didn’t expect her to leave so soon. My late brothers hung on and fought against it for months before they finally lost to the evil C, so to find that she left only 16 days after doing her CT scan was shocking to say the least.

The prayer shared by another friend: In our sadness with the loss, let’s redha with her passing. She has met her Creator. May Allah accepts her and places her among the blessed ones. May He forgives her sins and accepts her ibadah. And may He grant the strength and patience to her family to accept the loss. Amin.

My late friend left behind a husband and four young kids, three boys and one girl. I grieve for them all. Rest in peace now, my friend. We will see each other again, just not on earth.

Al-Fatihah.

You Only Live Once

The firm had a two-day health fair early last month with participation from various health care centres and hospitals, SOCSO and health care administrator. I went to check it out and had my blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol levels checked. I also went to check my biological age (I did the same last year and my biological age then was 7 years younger than my actual age) and guess what? Despite gaining another year, my biological age is 10 years younger than my actual age. Move over, Benjamin Button! I observed a lot of people younger than me whose biological ages are more than their actual age. Why, a mate who’s 37 is biologically a pensioner. This is all sobering and I vow that I will continue to take care of myself and my health.

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At the same health fair, one of my direct reports found out that she has diabetes. She then went to a private hospital to find out more and was given some medicine supposedly to regulate her sugar level. Unfortunately, there’s some complication because her eyesight slowly deteriorated until she could hardly drive herself to the Komuter station to get the train to work. She suspects it’s the medicine but the doctor was adamant that it wasn’t. Instead, the doctor said the medicine worked as her sugar level reading had dropped from 16 to 8. So she went to the ophthalmologist but after a lengthy check, the ophthalmologist declared there’s nothing wrong with her eyesight. She’s currently on a four-day medical leave (on top of the nine days she’d already taken thus far this year). When she called me this morning, I advised her to get a second opinion. It could be the medicine is too strong for her or not compatible with her and has adverse effects on her. I also told her that this is a wake-up call and that she must take care of herself and her health henceforth. I get that no one wants to be sickly, no one likes to be sick but most of the time, I don’t see this being matched with their actions. This direct report recently told me she couldn’t stop herself from consuming something to which I asked, ‘Do you control your food or does your food control you?’ I’m sorry if that sounded blunt and direct but c’mon. Why do we continually neglect our health? Why do we continually punish ourselves? Why do we stop taking care of ourselves? What’s wrong with embracing a healthy lifestyle? We gain from it, not lose. Isn’t it better to be healthy than being ill and bed-ridden? So what’s stopping us from a healthy lifestyle? And more importantly, why don’t we want to choose a healthy lifestyle? Surely we are strong enough to rid our bodies of toxic, dangerous substances, evil sugared drinks and processed food.

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One of my schoolmates recently found that she had Stage 2-3 breast cancer. She had since then had mastectomy and underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Last Saturday, she went to the doctor for a CT scan and on Sunday morning, was informed that the cancer has spread. Some of my friends went to visit her yesterday (I have long since shied away from FB and hence only found out yesterday via email) and her prospects aren’t good. A doctor friend informed us that my cancer patient friend is in a very bad condition. Her cancer is now Stage IV, i.e., no longer curable. She has widespread metastases (cancer spread)

1. Lungs - fairly extensive cancer spread involving the lung tissue itself and the lymphatics

2. She has some fluid around her heart (pericardial effusion). This can cause her breathing and exercise tolerance to deteriorate fairly badly.

3. Liver - she has multifocal liver metastases (i.e., spots)....so it’s not good. Her liver function is already impaired. She will be very weak due to this and may get jaundice. And if you have liver impairment, you can also affect your renal function (so far her renal function is OK)

4. She has extensive bony metastases (spread too) and one of the vertebrae (bone in the spine) has fractured and collapsed...hence why she’s having back pain. She is at risk of further vertebral collapse/fracture or other fractures elsewhere and this can cause her a lot of pain

5. She has mets to her lymph nodes at her lungs and in the abdomen.

It saddens me to read that and I was quite upset. How dare this evil C disease do this? I have lost 3 of my older half-siblings to the same evil C. My sister was only 29 when she passed.

I know evil C can strike whenever and whomever. But we can minimise the risk somewhat by adopting a healthy lifestyle. We all have a choice, let’s choose the right one. After all, we only live once in this world. Let’s make it a good one.