Surgery

Jan 9th, 2010 by papabear

That is a big word. Most people would try to avoid it at all cost. My last surgery was about 3 decades ago where I had to go for the circumcision… Adoiiii!!!!

This time around, it was nothing major though. I had this little lump on my back just below the neck. It was growing and getting bigger and Diah was doing everything to get me to remove it. There was no pain but just a small bump… Small compared to the size of my body. Beruang ni kan… So, one fine day, I went to seek medical advice about that thing…

It was called a cyst. It was the sebaceous kind. It was not life threatening but it could grow and grow. I would not want to end up like the Hunchback of Notre Dame and so I opted for the removal of the so called sebaceous cyst by surgery. By the way, the hunchback stuff was just my imagination kicking on some extra juice as the specialist did not even go that far.

So, on Saturday, I went in. Nervous giler! Doctor Jamal asked me whether I wanted to stay awake throughout the surgery or get myself knocked out. I chose to stay awake and not miss the moment of feeling helpless on the operating table at the mercy of the surgeon… Cis! I must have been watching too much of Grey’s Anatomy…

The administrative processing before the surgery took about 2 hours since they had to get the insurance stuffs all sorted out. Then I was rolled out on a wheel chair to the operating theatre… What a weird feeling. I have never been wheeled around before and it was really a mixed feeling… But that was simply procedure… Macam tak best sangatla naik wheel chair when kita boleh jalan jer…

Once in the operating room, I was put face down and the doctor explained to me each and every step that he took. There was no pain except for those few anaesthetic jabs. Furthermore, Doctor Jamal kept me entertained throughout the procedure.

He made a horizontal cut and removed that alien. It was round in shape, kind of squishy and about 1 cm in diameter. Just look at the picture below. I asked to take it back for souvenir. Ada kenangan masuk dalam blog… The whole thing lasted only less than 30 minutes and then I was wheeled back to the recovery room.

I had to wait for the insurance processing again which, took another couple of hours. Luckily Diah and Pasha were there with me waiting for the discharge and lunch was served as well.

Later that evening, we were allowed to go home…

Lastly, thanks to Diah and Pasha for waiting patiently and the doctor and staffs of DEMC for a job well done!

By the way, what is the Malay word for that thing ya? Bisul? Bisul painfull and can picit2… But not this one…

Time to go Home

Jan 4th, 2010 by papabear

We left for Dumai on the 3rd around noon. The thought of having to go through the roads again was enough to make us feel tired even before the journey started… Banyak lobang dan lama dalam kereta….

Anyway, we stopped for lunch in Kandis, at a roadside restaurant called Bersama. They served nasi padang and some of the gulai were spicier than the nasi padang that we are used to but tasty enough for me. I loved it. Maybe lapar punya pasal kot…

On the 4th, we left Dumai for Melaka. Nothing much about the ferry ride home but when I tried to start my car that was left at the jetty for 5 days, the battery just went flat.

I called up Etiqa Auto Assist and rescue came in less than 1 hour. That was the second time I used their services and so far they had been quick in coming to the rescue. I used to subscribe to AAM but not only I had to pay for the membership but also the time that they took to attend to my problems were always more than 1 hour.

Why should I pay for late service when I could get better service from Etiqa and it came free with the car insurance? Promosi sket…. No lah… saja lepas geram kat AAM… sombong…

Anyway, we got home safely and now looking forward for our next mini vacation… Bila ada budget la….

Akung is 62

Jan 3rd, 2010 by papabear

The plan: Diah would bake a cake and at 00:01 hours, we would be having a family birthday candle blowing session in the comfort of Papa Diah’s bedroom in Dumai… Plan tinggal plan…

The actual: Diah managed to bake a delicious cheese cake, decorated it in our Rauda hotel room in Pekan Baru. At 00:01 hours we sneaked into Papa Diah’s room with the cake and “Selamat Ultah Akung!!!” “Happy Birthday Akung!!!”

It was Akung’s 62nd birthday. The cake was his but the candles belonged to Pasha. He must be the one blowing the candle and nobody else.

Later that morning we went out for breakfast. Pasha was somewhat grumpy that morning. He did not want to go for breakfast. In Fact he did not want to go anywhere as he was looking for his aunties instead and he missed home in Dumai.

“Ini bukan umah kita…“, cried Pasha earlier that night at Rauda…

Luckily after breakfast, I managed to buy him a Playhouse Disney magazine from a magazine kiosk on the other end of the restaurant’s entrance. Should have checked that place out first and we could be having a peaceful breakfast… Marah betul Pasha pagi tuh…

Anyway, may all Akung’s wishes come true! Amiin…

To Pekan Baru

To Pekan Baru

Jan 2nd, 2010 by papabear

Sita had to go back to Jakarta on the 3rd and the only flight available was from Pekan Baru. Out of the blue, Papa Diah told everyone to pack up and get ready to go to Pekan Baru. Alamak! There is nothing wrong with that city but to get there, which is only 200+ km away from Dumai, would take us about 5 hours by road.

Diah, Ruri and Sita

The reason for that was simply the condition of the road, which was mostly made of single lane, two way roads with lots of potholes. Some of them looked more like mini craters made by some meteorites where they were way too big to be called potholes. So, bila jalan banyak henjut-henjut and goyang-goyang kiri dan kanan…

On top of that, there were lots of trucks and buses plying the same route making it a rather challenging task for drivers. If I were to drive there, I think it would take me at least another 2 hours extra. Penat weh nak potong lori dan bus yang berlambak kat jalan tuh…

One of the trucks loaded with logs... Scary!

Look at that truck. We drove passed it as quickly as we could since we do not want to be there when the truck suddenly decides to topple or the logs decide to make a run from the truck. Kes naiya nanti!

Anyway, we safely made it to Pekan Baru. Yay!

The lontong of Dumai

Jan 1st, 2010 by papabear

Lontong Gantino is the must have breakfast for us when we are in Dumai. Our trip would not be complete if we missed it. You could never get any lontong any better than this one. For those who are wondering what lontong is, it is actually rice cube or nasi himpit la orang sini panggil.

That’s the entrance of the restaurant. Nothing much on the outside but what’s inside is something that we would be craving for once we are back to Malaysia… Meleleh jugak la air liur bila teringat…

It comes in two versions. The first one as shown above is called lontong sayur. You can see the rice cubes in thick, yummy gulai nangka (gravy made with jack fruit as the main ingredient). This is Diah’s and my favourite version. I love to add some keropok jangek, the bubbly stuffs that you can see at the top of the dish, into mine.

And here is the lontong pecal version. Still have the gulai nangka but topped with bumbu pecal (peanut sauce) along with some noodles and little red crackers.

By the way, Diah normally helps herself to two serving of the longtong. Muat pulak tuh perut dia….

Where is the hotel?

Dec 30th, 2009 by papabear

We decided to sleep in Melaka before the trip to Dumai. Well, the trip was originally planned to be today but then since I just found my car key, we missed the ferry… Anyway, instead of having to wake up very early and drive to Melaka tomorrow, the better thing to do is to just go to Melaka now and get a hotel and take our own sweet time tomorrow morning.

After surfing for a budget hotel, yup, budget tak cukup so sebelum budget lain lari, kena la cari budget hotel kan kan kan…, Diah found RS Park Hotel. I called up the hotel and one Miss Hanim told us that the hotel is just at the back of Mahkota Parade. Sounds easy enough to find… Tetapi…

Pasha took a long nap after lunch and we only left Shah Alam after 5 pm. By the time we got there, it was already 8 something at night. I am not a fast driver and I like to make a few stops here and there hence the 3 hour drive… 90kmh tu dah kira laju dah tu…. We went to the back of Mahkota Parade and look for RS Park. Tak nampak pun? We could not find it and that one Miss Hanim did not pick up my call and out of over confidence, we did not copy its address and by this time…..

Pasha: “Papa…”

Papa: “Ya Pasha.”

Pasha: “Ni udah mayam…” (it’s already night)

Papa: “Ok…”

He repeated the above for about 20 times with a 10 second break before he went “Papa…” again. Imagine that while you were frantically trying to locate a building in the middle of an unfamiliar territory…

Tried to locate using Gamin GPS… That place was not even in the list… Cap ayam ke tempat tuh?

Tired, disoriented and unable to focus in between “Ni udah mayam…”, we found a little hotel called The Motel. At RM68, we settled in for the night…

In the morning we saw the hotel and it was not really behind Mahkota Parade… It was just across the street from where we stayed… Cis…. Banyakla dia punya belakang Parade…

Found my car key

Dec 30th, 2009 by papabear Edit |

Yup! I found it! Well,actually the woman who mend a drink stall at the UOA food court found it. Alhamdulillah!

The picture above is specially for Lollies who was wondering how in the world that a car can be started and stopped without using the key. You just need to remove the metal piece where you normally slot in your key and the white thingy is what was left after the piece was removed. So dah kira bogel la tu… Then you just need something, such as a screw driver to put on the black circle so that it can be turned. Turn clockwise to start and the other way to stop. Senang je kan?

Anyway, back to the missing key. The next day, before going to get the key set replaced, we (this time the whole family joined the search) had decided to make another visit to the food court at UOA as it was already closed the night before. Tak puas hati punya kes la ni. I went straight to the last place that I stopped on that fateful evening.

“Ada orang tinggal kunci kereta tak?“ I asked a woman there.

“Adaa…” and she gave me the key!

“Thank you very very very much!”

Lega gila rasa masa tuh. Since I got back the key and there was no need to get a new key set, we drove over to Ah Heng’s workshop. Ah Heng was the guy who macgyver-ed the ignition system. Since he dismantled it, it was best that he put it back together.

In short, after a brunch at Q-Bistro, the car was up and ready…

Last but not least, thanks to Inar and hubby for helping us in getting the car temporarily fixed while we looked for the key. You guys truly rock!

Jangan lupa check your spare key ha!

Mana Kunci Kereta?

Dec 30th, 2009 by papabear

Kata orang malang tak berbau. Sekarang aku tau, kunci kereta hilang pun tak da bau… Yang ada bau cuma bau minyak hitam kat badan mechanic Yang datang bukakan pintu dan buat temporary start stop untuk engine. So, kereta boleh jalan tapi pintu tak boleh lock la…

Mechanic ni pun satu. Masa call dah cakap nak kena ganti the whole lock, dia kata bolehhh… Masa dia sampai, dia boleh pulak kata..,

“Sekarang kita kasi start, esok lu bawak mari kita punya kedai pasang itu lock..,“ sambil tersengih…

“Aiaayyaaaaaa…. itu macam ka? Ini malam tak boleh buat ka?… jawapku.

“Boleh, kedai akesori sebelah saya punya kedai ada buka.” kata dia.

Aku pun ikut la dia. Siap masuk Smart Tunnel lagi tu. At last masuk juga aku dalam Smart Tunnel. Tak da la nampak smart mana pun… Anyway, aku sampai kat kedai dia, orang aksesori cakap, mana ada parts malam-malam ni. Esok ada la…

“Aiaayyaaaaaa…. itu macam ka? Ini malam tak boleh buat ka?… jawapku.

Nak buat camna lagi… bawak balik la kereta kat rumah. Nasib baik kat rumah ni agak safe sikit so boleh la tinggal kereta kat luar tak yah lock…

Trip nak gi Dumai hari ni pun kena postponed ke esok… nak buat camna lagi…

Now nak gi cari and pasang lock baru…

December 2009

Pasha Kemana aja?

ke mid valley berdua mama doang..


dinner di House of Sundanese Food

Store Location:
Ramlee Mall (412)
Phone Number:
603-2166 2272 / 3 / 5
..

ke sekolah..


ke playground deket tasik shah alam..


dirumah aja maen komputer..


maen thomas ama..


maen tiup lilin..


jajan di shushi king..


liat adik baru di belakang rumah..


ke kawinan di botani park..


ke zoo negara ama adam..



Cake mama bulan ini..