Very rarely do I actually enjoy ribs. But the ones at Montgomery Inn are so soft and juicy that it falls right off the bone. Typically the BBQ sauce is what's turns me off but here the sauce has just the right sweetness and thickness such that you don't feel like you are a mouth full of sugar paste. Definitely will come to this place again next time we are in Cincinnati.
At Cincy Crab for seafood today. The team has a laundry of must-go places and I'm happy to tag along.
It was very very kind of Jeanne to invite me to a football game. I was reluctant to join her at first because it was an informal corporate gathering. My company has a VIP booth at the TQL stadium and the CIO invited the senior leaders of a special project and their family/friend to the game.
This has to be one of my most memorable experience in Cincinnati and I really can't thank Jeanne enough for giving me the opportunity to be in what could possibly be a once in a lifetime experience of watching a football game in a full stadium. The atmosphere was electrifying, there were crowds after crowds gathered outside the stadium before the game with beers in their hand. There was also a marching troop of the loyal supporters banging drums and taking the atmosphere up many notches.
After a week of having western food I couldn't take it anymore. I needed something soupy and flavourful and with chilli. Asian chilli and not the American chilli. A colleague recommended Saigon Noodle Bar which was near my hotel. Oh thank goodness I gave this a try. The beef broth was superb and the chilli paste (you have to specially request for it) added that much need spice and punch to the soup. I'm pretty certain I'll be back again in the next two weeks to get my mee and soup fix. I give this place 5/5 for being authentic and not modified to the western palate.
I couldn't book my usual stay at Hilton Garden Inn as it was way more expensive now. Even the Hamptons was flagged on the Concur travel as having rates that were out of policy. Thankfully the third Hilton on the street was available. It's more of a homestay hotel with electric stove, full set of dining ware and cutleries, full fridge, dish washer etc. The room was 1.5 times bigger than the ones at the Inn or Hampton.
For me I'm not really into cooking when I'm travelling. It helps to have a stove to heat up leftovers for supper but that's not one of my main criteria to judge a hotel.
What I value a lot is the breakfast. We are not in the hotel room for most of the day so it doesn't really matter if its huge or not. But its important they serve a proper breakfast early in the morning (should start at 6am) since the workouts usually start at 7.30-8am. The Homewood Suites has my thumbs up for serving a decent breakfast spread with hot food and coffee. Will definitely consider this place for future trips to Cincinnati.
Every iteration of the SAP project always starts off with a workout at Cincinnati OH. This time it is a 3 weeks workout with the main group coming in for week 2-3. There was a verbal ask for me to travel a week earlier than the main group but the official word never came when everyone was making the booking. I held on a few days as advised but eventually made a booking for the same 2 weeks. Because I was late I could not get tickets to fly in on the weekends so I was scheduled to land on Monday afternoon. It was only till Wednesday before the 1st week that I was told to make it for the first week. It was a rush to make the travel changes and I had not started packing!
So I got on flight on Saturday night on Korean Air. Transited through Incheon and Boston before landing at Cincinnati at 4pm Sunday. It was a gruelling 28 hours journey. The thing that was noticeable when I reach Cincinnati was that no one was wearing a mask. I decided to take mine off too so that I don't stand out. It doesn't help that I'm yellow skin and it would draw more attention if I had a mask on.
Meimei sharing how 萱萱 manage Siti
Meimei: 萱萱: just now aunty Siti angry with me no reason then I chit chat with her about Hari Raya then she .. Happy already! See! I so clever I know how to make everybody in our family happy!
Yeeyee: Milestone!
Meimei: Siti should be ashamed of herself
Meimei: 萱萱 handling her like she handle 弟弟
Yeeyee: Don't care. I'm proud of 萱萱. Haha
Meimei: Me too!
I'm like
萱萱: I like soto because I am nyaong’s grand daughter
萱萱: and I am like nyama. When we walk to school we like to kick things!
Not cleaning up
阳阳: yea now I can play other toys
Meimei: so you cleaned up those on floor mat already?
阳阳: let me give you a hint
Meimei: *stare at him suspiciously
阳阳: it’s messy and all over the place
Meimei: *argh!
阳阳: laughs hysterically and dashes off
Going all in for the Dragon sisters and managed to get Ling and Dusk in one ten-pull. Spent all my Orundum and Originite Prime and fell short at 230 pulls for the pity for Nian. Oh well at least I got Ling to Pot4!
A rare outing for ice cream at Fat Cat Bedok North. The ice cream and waffles was great. 萱萱 and 阳阳 thoroughly enjoyed it. We seldom come out together for a meal so this was a very special treat in their eyes. I'll like to do this more often, they have missed out on a lot of life experiences due to Covid and we need to make it up.
The meal was marred by the non-existent air-con though. It was hot and stuffy and made it uncomfortable to stay for long. Wouldn't mind coming again but if it's this hot next time, I'll probably pull everyone out and go somewhere else.
It was after 萱萱's swimming class and she was playing at the children's area. I saw her slip down the stairs. I stood up immediately to try and see if she was ok. The landing was blocked by a panel and I couldn't make out her condition from afar, especially with all the water splashing around. Thankfully she walked down another flight of stairs and slowly came towards me.
Seeing that she could walk to me I thought nothing of the fall. But it became clear that she was injured when we proceed to go change and she started taking tissue paper to wrap her knee and feet. It seems she was bleeding slightly due to the fall.
Oh my ... what a brave girl. I would have cried for help at the top of my lungs if it had happened to me. How our girl girl has grown ... on one hand I'm glad she knows how to take care of herself, another part of me misses being the doting father that she looks to when she needs help.
It has been months since 阳阳 had Covid but he never really stopped coughing in the whole time. He would seem to get better for a week and then start on another bout of coughing. He would complain of how 'naughty' the virus is and everyone can sense his frustration because it keeps coming back. I suspect Covid has weaken his lungs and so despite multiple trips to Dr Ang and several courses of antibiotics and nebuliser he is still having remnants of what is known as Long-Covid.
Since western medicine is unable to cure his coughing, we have been bringing him to TCM massage therapy. We are hoping the Chinese dedication can also help to strengthen his lungs and avoid more severe bronchitis. It's not cheap, each session cost on average $100, but we don't have other alternatives at this point.
We've been to 5 or 6 sessions this past 2 weeks and he just started his 2nd course of Chinese medication on Friday. Thankfully he doesn't seem to mind it. Every massage session is a tickle-fest and so it's kinda fun for him? Hahaha We are not expecting miracles but hope this alleviates the coughing bouts he's been through.
It's been 3 weeks since I visited SGH for the results of my MRI scan. It was a mix of relief, anger and frustration. The emotions were so raw and real that I didn't want to talk nor blog about it till now. But I think I'm ready to document it because its important. I hope no one else suffers the same unfortunate fate.
So it all begin at end March and the visit to the Eunos polyclinic for my stuffed ear. Although the doctor specified that my case is urgent, the earliest appointment at SGH ENT was in end May. Fast forward two months and I'm at SGH for my appointment. In the room there was the ENT doctor and also an old Assoc Professor ... presumably an expert in this field and 'training' the ENT doctors of tomorrow.
The SGH training ENT doctor listened to my symptoms, did a preliminary visual check on my ears and then suggest that we do a hearing test immediately so they can judge it better. So I went for the test and wait for an hour for the results. When I saw the doctor again he showed me the chart.
The results were obvious. The hearing on my right ear - represented by the circles in the below picture - were normal. My left - in a mix of X and squares - shows a defined loss of hearing. Not total loss but below the normal hearing decibels marked by the crude line across the chart.
Next he suggested that we start Steroid therapy. However the Associate Professor recommended we do a full MRI instead. Makes sense, I read that there is a 10-20% chance that the sudden hearing loss or Tinnitus may be caused by a growth pressing against a nerve. This time the appointment was quicker in early June and a followup was also scheduled for end June to review the outcome of the MRI.
The next weeks was a little unnerving. Between the MRI and the followup visit there was little I could do except to go for weekly acupuncture at NTU. It helped relieve the stuffed ear but the hearing loss and ringing are still there. I try not to show it by not thinking about it ... but the chance that this is something more sinister lingered in my mind. What if ....
I was prepared .... so I say. I have adequate insurance to cover basic medical treatment, death payouts to fund the kid's education and the family's sustenance for years. But I don't believe anyone can ever be mentally prepared to hear that their life is in peril. Not so much the concern of my own, but the thought that I cannot experience life with Meimei and the kids weighs heavily. Thankfully it didn't come to this.
I was in pins and needles as I entered the doctor's room. It's a different one today, a lady doctor. The Assoc Professor was walking about supervising another doctor in an adjacent room. As the doctor shared my MRI results, an immense sense of relief overcame me. Phew ... no growth or anomaly was detected. It doesn't mean an all clear but it's the best current science and technology can determine.
Next part is where the anger and frustration comes.
Doc: "So Mr Boo, based on the MRI scan there is no indication of anything abnormal that would have caused the hearing loss."
Me: "Ok great so what are our next steps? Can we start steroid therapy?"
Doc: "It's too late to start steroid therapy, it's usually only useful within the first month of the occurrence of the hearing loss"
Me: "Huh? What?" (I showed a full face of bewilderment and shock)
Doc: "The risk far outweigh the benefits at this point"
Me: "But my appointment took two months ... " *extremely frustrated voice
Me: "So there is nothing that can be done? No other treatment options?"
Doc: "Well there is a specialised water treatment therapy ... but it's very expensive"
Me: "How expensive is it? Can we start immediately?"
Doc: "It's a few thousand per treatment ... but eh ... it's also only useful in the first month or two"
I looked at her in disgust ... WTF you tell me this now. Are you rubbing it in that I have missed the golden period to have my ailment treated? I try to keep my cool but my facial expression must have gave it away.
Sensing my frustration, the Assoc Professor came to help the trainee doc.
Assoc Prof: "Many studies have shown that steroid therapy is only effective in the first month" "And even then there are mixed results and not a guarantee that it will help"
At this point my mind was filled with utter anger and frustration. Why the fuck did they - the Eunos Poly Doctor, the Assoc Prof - not start me on the steroid therapy early?! I couldn't think clearly but I kept it in ... there is no point shouting at them.
Me: "So what should I have done? I realised its too late for me to get treatment but what was the right thing to do?"
Me: "I need to know so that if any of my family member, touch wood, get into the same situation, what should I advise them?"
Me: "I don't want them to end up like me and not getting the treatment they need to have a chance to recover."
Assoc Prof: "Go to the A&E. There will be an emergency ENT doc there."
Me: "Huh? A&E? They will give me a course of treatment?"
Assoc Prof: "Yes they will administer the steroid treatment immediately, it's a standard SOP for sudden hearing loss." "And they will refer you to the hospital specialist doctors for followup." "It usually takes at most a week for a patient at the A&E to get an appointment with us."
My mind was blown at this point. I stared blankly at the two. So if I had not been civic conscious and jam up the A&E like we've always been told not to do by medical professionals and health ministers ... I would have gotten started on a course of treatment and seen the ENT specialist just a week in?!!!
WHAT THE FUCK! I got totally screwed over by being a socially responsible citizen!! FUCK THIS!
Doc: "But Mr Boo, at least there is no abnormal growth that might signal something more serious"
At this point I wanted to cry out but managed to held it in.
Me: "Yeah but that's cold comfort right? You'll telling me I could have gotten a better chance at treating this if I had known to go to the A&E ..."
Both of them looked at me and kinda gave me the shrugged look - like tough luck boy ... you have missed the golden period and there is nothing more we can help you.
Doc: "We can refer you to the hearing aid department to try on an ear piece to help with the hearing."
I stared at them with a look of defeat, resigned to my fate that I'll have to live with it forever.
Me: "Ok just help me make a booking? How soon will the appointment be?"
Doc: "Oh they are quite full, probably be another few months"
Me: "A few months?! Ok ok just make the booking... "
After all the nonsense, I'm not surprised its another few months. I had nothing more to say to these so-called medical professional and got up to leave the room. A nurse guide me out and told me I can leave. I couldn't. I just sat at the seats outside the consultation room to collect my thoughts. I called Meimei to share the news briefly.
As I sat there I was filled with anger, resentment and eventually sense of helplessness and defeat. I'm realistic, I recognise that this ailment may never go away. All the youtube and reading points to that. I'm under no illusion that I would have been cured with steroid treatment, but at least there was a chance. So what made me so angst was that I was denied possible treatment simply because of the incompetence of the Eunos polyclinic doctor and a general lack of awareness that I should have gone to the A&E.
This big lie of a call for people not to go to an A&E when there is no life-threatening illness is so damaging to the individual like myself, it borders on criminal! So FUCK YOU Health ministers and whoever is peddling this bullshit! From this moment on, it's all me me me. I have to take care of my own interest because you are going to screw me over and over. A&E are jammed up you say ... well F you for your incompetence! Go build more hospitals! It's your fault, not the people that go there. They are doing the right thing to get help for themselves.
AAArrrrghhhhh!!
萱萱 was home as its Youth Day today and there was no school. Meimei was busy working and setup some music to entertain her. Meimei was working feverish before she notice 萱萱 dancing to a tune. So she quickly grabbed the phone to record a segment of it. It's pure gold ... first time we see 萱萱 dancing with such precise moves and coordination. We knew she liked dancing but nothing as animated as this before. Maybe she does this at school hmmmm. Whatever it is, I'm glad Meimei caught it :-)
First double 6* character on a ten-pull. Too bad it's the same Gnosis though it's to be expected since this is his rate-up banner. I had already pulled a duplicate Saria and a new Archetto in the last 60 pulls. So overall it's a wonderful return. No complains. Hopefully I'll be just as lucky on the next limited banner for Ling.
