once upon a norza

fonejacker cracks me up...seriously!

Taking cold-calling to an artform, the fonejacker is a man on a mission. He's addicted to making prank telephone calls, taking on various guises and voices to satisfy his need to confuse anyone at the end of the line.

Aisyah loves cheese. She loves it that she asks for it almost every morning for breakfast. She will chant, "cheeth, bwead, cheeth" till we gave her a slice of each.

The usual cheese we eat is Cheddar and has quite a high content in sodium.

"Salt plays a substantial role in cheese making. Salting serves a number of functions; it speeds up the drying process, heightens the cheese's flavour, helps the rind to form and slows down the proliferation of micro-organisms. Each type of cheese has a specified salt content."

from cheese.com

Manufacturers put sodium in their foods to make them taste better. I love foods that has just enough salt in it....more than sweet as a matter of fact. When I got married, the kanda's family used so much less salt in their diet that I think the food cooked by my mum-in-law was really bland. But I became used to this and I realised that a lot of orang kiter loves to have their food more salty than usual. This is something we should all become aware of. High salt intake is directly linked with high blood pressure. So the safest way for us to find out how much salt is inside our cheese is to read the labels before getting it.

I had a great time cycling this evening after contemplating whether my back can handle it. But I did it. Apart from the 'jelly legs' and my sore bum (I need to change the seat!), I managed to cycle from home to Bishan Park which takes about 15minute to reach. Ok, at least that's a start. And Bishan Park is H U G E with lots of greenery. I even saw the Aramsa Spa there.


It feels great to cycle again and to feel the wind in my face as I cycle. I don't like to cycle having nobody around me though. It is unnerving but I’m relieved when I saw quite a number of joggers and more cyclists this time. I was tired and I figured that 'slow and steady wins the race' even though if the only race is between my brain and my body. At the rate I'm going, I don't think I can join any of the cyclists at togoparts. It will take quite a while for me to build my stamina.

But I know that I need a pair of decent cycling shoes. And add a cyclometer and a bottle cage to the shopping list too. Oooh, I've also just gotten a 2nd hand Rhode Gear Limo seat for Aisyah so she'll be riding with me one day...insyaAllah. Aisyah will need a helmet, that's for sure...but I don't think I'll be needing one because I'm already drawing attention riding my bicycle. hehe.

Just for "posterity sake", I received this sms from Lela which makes me grin from ear to ear this morning.

"I dreamt of you, aisyah, ur mom, me and my bro...we all go China...hahaha..of all pple..of all places..."

I have been having weird dreams too lately but this one sure beats all. lol!

It is human nature to look to the past, to the roads we've travelled, to what has so far defined us. But only by leaving our past behind can we then push onward, into an unknown tomorrow, into the dawn of a new future, into the light of a new beginning.

I'm not a teevee person but this is one show I love love watching and I can't wait for their next season. And you know what? Heroes is coming to Singapore, Vivo City to be exact, at the end of this month. Peter Petrelli's fans will be disappointed because he isn't coming but I bet the presence of Hiro Nakamura will be just fine. :D

It's been a week now. I'm feelin much much better after resting at home and the siram-menyiram sessions + the limau nipis (lime) with a bit of kapur (to take away the pain) + buah pala (nutmeg) treatment (to tone down the swollen part). It's amazing what Malay traditional methods of healing (I'm not talking about bomohs/witchdoctors here) can do to you and it definitely beats being drowsy the whole day from popping in painkillers. When I had swollen feet during my pregnancy days, I applied the buah pala that was grated with some drops of water on the feet and the swelling subsided after a couple of days. They also say limau nipis with kapur can help to make trim down the bulge on your tummy. Maybe I should try that one day. heh.

Anyway I can move around without looking like a zombie and I can do simple household chores (read: dishwashing and floor-sweeping). I still can't bend down without flinching in pain or walk too fast. But Lela mentioned that every cloud has a silver lining and I chose to believe that. Thx, bud. :)

I am also grateful to have so many good people around me. Thx to the kanda for being there, my mum who's helping me to look after Aisyah, my dad and adek who's entertaining Aisyah *heheee* and my parents-in-law who helped a LOT in keeping the house spick and span. And also thx to the visitors *hugs to the smallpeeps!* and visitors-tak-jadi...mummyjam and lynna who came to the hospital 'lambat setapak' and found bed 20 empty and chegu+rida who wanted to visit me but I had to do my urot session that night. hehehe. I received many well-wishes through the sms *makes me feel popular...haha*. Thx hor. May He bless you all with good health for many years to come...insyaAllah.

Health is indeed wealth.

People has been telling me that I will need fractured ribs will at least need 6 weeks to recover. This means I won't get to look after Aisyah for at least another month. *sob sob* What's worse, I'm inflicted with violent coughing fits and every time I cough, I get a new education in the meaning of pain. I sure hope this runny nose don't make me sneeze anytime soon. Having a broken rib is painful. Breathing, turning or twisting to reach something are all made with an effort.

The most agonising period is when trying to sleep. Since my fractured rib is on the left, lying on my left brings out the most excruciating pain. These few days have been tough for me. I think I am suffering from a bit of insomnia too. I wake up in the middle of the night with a stiff neck and back because I've been lying on my right for too long. The most comfy position for me is not to lie down at all and sleep semi-upright in with 2 pillows below my neck for support. The less pressure put on the my ribs the less pain there is. Waking up is another story altogether.

I had a hard time getting up from bed this morning after I fractured my ribs two days ago. Just one day before the accident, I was enjoying a ride on my bicycle from my place to Bishan Park before going to my mum's place to fetch Aisyah. The next morning, my legs gave way when I woke up and I crashed to the floor but not before I hit my ribs against the sharp corner of my bed. I lay slumped on the floor, immobilised in pain. Fortunately the kanda hasnt gone to work and he helped me up.

We rushed to the GP who referred us to TTSH for some xrays and I had to be in the observation ward for 24hours. I was placed with 3 other patients with different cases. One had been having diarrhoea for 4 days and was dehydrated. The other two patients had bad cases of asthma.

Now I'm back at home with an ugly bruise and i cant move myself without any pain or even find a comfortable sleeping position but I'm glad that the fall didn't injure my kidney. I was only given some painkillers which makes me very very drowsy. They say the cracked bones will heal on its own. I'm walking very slowly and I look like one of the zombies in the 'Deadrising' game kanda plays on his xbox360. heh.

I dont know when i will recover to carry Aisyah again though. She has been sent to my parents' place because she will surely ask me to carry her or bathe her when I'm around. Only saw her on Monday after my photography assignment last sunday. Missing her so so much. :(

Yesterday was a productive day. I cleaned up the house, edited the photos, did some groceries and even bought a pair of walking shoes and a bodypac to replace the kanda's tattered deuter bag. By the time I got back home, it was already 4pm and after I had my chikin rice, I cooked dinner. Dinner was some chikin dish which tasted and smelt a lot like ayam ungkep dish my mil used to cook. But the recipe I got from Chef Wan's book was called something else. I love his recipe books although some said the ingredients given in his books were not concise but I've tried some recipes from his cookbooks and so far they were ok. Aisyah was at her nenek's place so I can cook more complicated dishes like yesterday's. heh. With her around, it's just simple stir-fried dishes or steamed fish for our meals.

I hope today can be a productive day too but looking at the way things are going, I think it's one of those days that I don't feel like doing anything. I've done the necessary chores and maybe I'll drop by Adelphi later to get a good album for my portfolio. Well...maybe.