g6pd

deficiency of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (g-6-pd) is an inherited abnormality which may provoke the sudden destruction of red blood cells leading to some very undesirable consequences because this enzyme is essential for ensuring a normal life span for red blood cells and for oxidising purpose.

guess who i know has this deficiency? ;)

dear eric who is hospitalised at sgh now has it.

something that i found out today. he was up and chatting with his sister when i arrived. from what i know, his blood pressure is still elevated although x-ray has shown his pneumonia to be improving. 2 ultrasound scans have also indicated normal-sized kidneys which is reassuring.

he complained about the potassium chloride solution iv which he likened to a hard, stinging pinch. having had 2 dialysis sessions so far, with the 3rd one re-scheduled, he's up for a kidney biopsy tomorrow. hopefully, that will provide more insight into what's ailing him.

before i left, i passed eric something to keep him occupied. :P

let's hope he gets well soon.


* g6pd deficiency information from www.g6pd.org

eric's down

received an sms from jeffrey this morning saying that eric is hospitalised and had to have dialysis. gosh! this sounds so serious...

going to visit him later at sgh to find out more.

good offer

would you book your air tickets 9 months ahead?

yeah, i admit it's kind of crazy... but i was totally tempted by the jetstar sale that i booked the return tickets to bangkok for august next year! it's only $97 inclusive of all fuel surcharges and airport taxes and it's for the national day weekend. with the $6 facilitation fee per ticket, it's $103 to bangkok and back.

it's the cheapest ever that i've seen for jetstar. so how not to be swayed by the bargain prices? absolutely irresistible.

and i got my mum & sis in on the craziness as well. :)

roaming dinosaurs

eric won some $300 worth of vouchers for double o at robertson walk from one of his racing competitions and invited us to share his bounty tonight.

janet had suggested a 'guys' night out' event for the 'nightlife-deprived' husbands. :P tracy and doris were there too since both of them don't have to put any little ones to bed. sl was invited to help consume copious amount of alcohol because eric and doris had found out that double o drinks are really cheap. only $6 a glass or $24 for a jug of housepours.

we estimated that we could get 50 glasses or 12 jugs. but why would we need help since there're tracy, doris, thomas and jeffrey? that's because eric is banned from drinking by tracy. he had been feeling unwell and had slight pneumonia but insisted that we do not re-schedule.

tracy said eric lost his temper and looked like he was going to have an heart attack when she broached the topic of a re-schedule.

sl & i met tracy & eric at the door. i got free entry before 10:00pm with compliments from safra. doris said she felt weird queueing at the safra line with the nsfs. jeffrey and jason also felt out-of-place when they queued to get in 'cos the crowded was overwhelmingly young.

we sat at the section with the pool tables with 'live' music. the band wasn't outstanding. sl commented that the lead singer didn't bother to dress up at all. none of us got drunk or even high since the drinks were kind of weak according to jeffrey and jason. jeffrey claims there's only orange juice in the screwdriver and insisted that the whisky green tea only had green tea.

sl & i begged to differ. we thought that the whisky was quite strong and can't really taste the green tea. it was nice catching up with everyone. the guys were less distracted without having to look out for their little ones. a pity john didn't join us.

altogether a nice and pleasant night with the jcgang sans the 'mothers'... until jason's friend remarked to him 'eh, dinosaur also come clubbing?' while we were leaving double o. :P jason said his ego was completely deflated. hehe...

the 'dinosaurs' wrapped up the night with good old bak kut teh at the junction of mohammed sultan and river valley road. yeah, we're carnivores. :)

president

how often do you have to meet the president of the company as part of the interview process?

my sis asked me whether i had applied for the vice-president post... haha... i wished i could. :P

ceragon

have you heard of a company called 'ceragon networks'?

family outing

don't know what possess estee to organise a family dinner and bowling session today.

i couldn't make it for the early dinner since i've already made my bella appointment much earlier and i wasn't inclined to change it at the last minute.

i joined them after a quick bite of my favourite 云吞面 at the marina square food court but i didn't play since my hip is still hurting. i didn't know how i manage to do that but i highly suspect it's due to my unergonomic use of my laptop on my bed. :P

in the end, only estee, wilson and jan bowled while mum, dad and i watched on. the bowling ball went left and right initially eluding the 10 pins. hehe... told estee to practise on the wii at home but she didn't listen to my advice.

their game improved slightly for the 2nd game. for the record, wilson was the winner for both games.

then it was desserts at swensen's, estee and wilson had supper too... :)

canele

the latest addition to the chain at shaw centre. canele is popular for their macarons but i don't really fancy them.

i ordered the 2 slices of cake to share. the strawberry shortcake and triple chocolate cheesecake.

Fresh strawberries layered with crème chantilly and Japanese shortcake laced with kirsch.

hmm... didn't know the cake is soaked in brandy. no wonder the cake is rather moist. i like the generous layer of fresh strawberries. a pity that they weren't sweet.

Walnut chocolate fudge cake, chocolate chip cheese cake and dark chocolate chantily.

the cheese was rich and creamy well-balanced by the chocolate cake and cream so this slice of triple chocolate cheesecake wasn't heavy at all.

between the two, i would recommend the latter 'cos i really wished the slice was bigger. :)

new project

check out my new project using scrap blog...

this time, i used the photos taken during my tioman diving trip earlier this year with ky.



hmm... this is fun :)

scrap blog

inspired by janelle's scrapbooking but decided on the online version for less fuss and more fun...

check out my first attempt using a template for janine's birthday party. :)

bear show

estee asked me to accompany her to the singapore teddy bear show 2008 at the arts house because she doesn't know where it is.

it's just a small exhibition organised by making our own bear [moob] which i later learnt is started by my secondary school classmate, isaac kong and his wife in an article in today's papers. didn't say 'hi' to him since he was busy fielding enquiries and he didn't seem to recognise me.

bear-making seems so interesting... shall i learn how to?

mac party

not the cool apple but the golden arches that is the favourite of all kids. which kid doesn't like french fries? i can't resist them nice and hot either. :)

it's janine's 6th birthday party at ang mo kio avenue 10 but guess who couldn't make it? eric who literally lives a stone's throw away from the party venue. oh well, jeff is away on business too.

the birthday cake looks fabulous and gorgeous, right?

it's a dream come true for janine i suppose considering her current love of disney princesses. yes, janelle and janine are best friends who have long planned to visit disneyland together, way before john or johann even thought about it. :P

check out the fun the kids had here, adults included too.

see if you can find the picture showing joshua 'cleaning' the cake knife. haha...

北京

the most expensive olympics to-date was held there in august this year.

back then, not even ph knew that she'll be working there for 2 years. was supposed to have dinner with her tonight but she couldn't make it because of a family dinner so we had drinks and desserts with her instead at new york, new york.

here's wishing her all the best in china.

obama

today is a historic moment in the history of US. a minority is elected to the most powerful seat on earth. but growing up in multi-cultural singapore, i find the whole issue about his race a bit 'blah', kind of making a hill out of a molehill.

my dad asked if obama will be able to solve the current financial crisis plaguing the US economy. i don't think so. not that the new president-elect is incompetent, but the scale of the problem is too complex and has reached a global proportion.

standchart marathon

it's 1 month away to my standard chartered half marathon and i'm not prepared! oops... :P

i've not even done the 2-hour run suggested by ts.

gosh, i need to run more this month.