Star Trek 2009: Review

I can't really describe the feeling. It was so damn good! Maximum impact!! The movie affected me deeply that I went shopping and bought presents for everyone!!

Got myself a Master Replica Luke Skywalker's light saber......VERY VERY COOL!!! Check the video...make sure you have your speakers on! Peeeerrrrghhhh

Another childhood dream comes true. I can stop thinking about lampu kalimantang...hahahaha

Bought Zidani a TIE fighter that comes with huge wings and Raidi now plays with a V-Wing star fighter both from Hasbro...

Im happy to see you happy..heheheh

My next target would be the Imperial Shuttle, AT-AT and the Snow Speeder. I have big projects going on here...I want to re-create my favourite movie scenes!! hehehe

The Star Trek movie summons out my Star Wars obsession....the force is definitely strong in here...

Bali trip

The day after I came back from JB/Nusajaya, I went to Bali with Ayu. It was my first visit to Bali and also my first flight on Airasia. My view on low cost flying? Now everybody can fly! Including infectious germs. Good thing they 'fog' the cabin with disinfectants before take-off. Funny how some people thought it was part of the airline's gimmick and special effects. Btw, I never thought I could eat maggi 20,000 feet up in the sky. I'm sure it will make you feel at home right away..hahaha.

We stayed at Barong Resort in Ubud. Most Malaysians like to stay in Jimbaran, Seminyak or any other places closer to the beach. But I don't like crowded beaches and I want to stay near the padi fields. Ayu didn't like this idea. To her we could always go back to Kedah to look at sawah padi. I told her Kedah doesn't have padi bukit.

entrance to our villa...and the public pool

Villa comes with private pool...

I was shocked to see this boutique next to our hotel...Ayu was drooling..

Ubud is located about an hour drive from the airport. As soon as we reached the hotel, we knew we picked the right accommodation. I won't say much, just look at the pictures. The hotel's location is midway along monkey forest street. The public park is 100 metres to the south and the famous Ubud market is 100 metres to the north. Ayu was extra excited because Uluwatu boutique is just next door. Tak ku sangka...

the famous Ubud market... beli kain...

If you like arts and handicrafts, then Ubud is the place for you. We could have spent whole 3 days just exploring Ubud. But since it was our first trip to Bali, we hired a car and a driver to experience everything we could. So we went to all the usual tourist spots. We were very very close to wake up early in the morning and scale up a volcanic mountain to catch the sunrise. But it would be too much for both of us.

buffet lunch with a view...we wanted to climb this mountain, tapi takut tak larat..

sunset at tanah lot...

Good thing we made the trip short. Not that I didn't like the place but the longer we stay, I'm not only burning my pockets, I might burn my pants and underwear to ashes as well. Unless you have deep pockets that run through your legs, 2 nights are just right to keep it within reasonable budget. It depends on what you want to do really. I wanted to look at landscapes and Ayu wanted to shop in markets and bazaars. At Ubud, we both got a bit of what we wanted.

kopi luak anyone? seafood lunch at Jimbaran beach...Ayu had lobster that day...

Weather was sunny and it hasn't been raining for quite awhile. I don't like the idea of wearing shades. Everywhere I go (not just Bali), I want to see landscapes as it is, in it's glorifying natural colours. Unfortunately this comes with an expense. It was here in Bali that I first noticed something peculiar with my eye sight. After we came back, the symptom persisted. One visit to the specialist, I was diagnosed with retinal detachment.

It's unfortunate for this to happened and it took away some excitement after coming back home. But I'm thankful that it happened now for me to treat it early. If not I wouldn't have known both of my eyes are affected and its too late for any kind of treatment. Anyway, Bali was a good trip and we will definitely go back one day. To me I can say that literally, there was more about Bali than meets the eye!

Retinal detachment: update 2

It has been 2 weeks now since I underwent the scleral buckle surgery. I'm in the path to recovery and it has not been easy for me. I had to take pain killers for the swelling especially at night. I felt strong headaches and my eyes were super sensitive to light. Cleanliness is paramount. Ayu bought me a whole box of steriled cotton swabs. She even instructed the maid to change the bed sheets every day. With all the hassle I caused, at times I felt that I should have stayed at the hospital for recovery.

During recovery, I slept for countless hours. The body is recovering and I understand now why Doctors instructs patients to rest post surgery. I thought I would be forcing myself to rest or sleep. It's amazing how the body just shuts down and went into recovery mode and I felt really tired from it. I was close to hibernating.

I went for a follow up check up last Wednesday and the doctor said everything is looking really good. The detachment had been corrected and holes and retinal tears had been properly 'closed'. That was good news. Full eye sight recovery will take time though and they told me to be patience. There's 85%-90% chances that I will get back my previous vision. It won't be the same definitely and I do have to change my glasses later to adjust to this new condition.

Today I have a silicone rubber ring permanently sewn around my left eyeball. It's amazing to imagine how surgeons with very steady hands operate on organs as sensitive as the eye. My experience in the OT is definitely something..hehehe. I wasn't on GA you see so I could hear everything. Very nervy I tell you.

Alhamdulillah the surgery went well although it took longer than expected. Just as they push me out of the OT, I said thank you to the whole team. I was not only being thankful, but I don't want them to think or treat me just like another piece of 'eyeball'..hahaha.

Thanks to everyone for your support and well wishes. My parents have been very supportive. They cooked lunches and dinners and delivered it home. The boys have been understanding too. I have to say that it's good to see Ayu managing the household. Well, she's OK with it as long as she has my ATM card..hehehe.

To my great great great grand children who might be reading this one day. If you are developing eye sight problem and the doctor asked you whether you have family history of eye complications, you can say that 200 or 300 years ago, your great great great grandfather had a history of retinal detachment. I'm giving you all the facts here. My doctor did asked me the same question and I have nothing to back up my answer. The defect is hereditary. So you might as well take preventive measures and go for regular eye check up.

Hmm..come to think of it, wouldn't it be good if we have a life long database that collect and stores family healthcare records?? Do you realise how our medical records are kept in different places and imagine the difficulties in sharing or cross referencing these records between medical institutions and practitioners? Imagine how much medical insurance costs can be lowered if all records are kept centrally by a trustee and only the rightful owner of record has the authority to share this information? Haiyaaa..I'll blog about it later laa...I'm beginning to 'detached' from the topic...

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