H1N1 and I (Part 2)

.... Thank you for coming back for the part 2 of my H1N1 journey :D

To continue from last post.. :D

I got off the honest taxi and headed home. My plane was early for almost an hour, so I was home at around 7:30am.

Since the normal doctor's clinic doesn't open until 9am, so I was able to chill out at home and raided the fridge for breakfast! :D

I was thinking, hey awesome, no fever = no H1N1, but I will go see the doctor nonetheless because my throat was really sore and the coughing was quite bad. :D

I entered the doctor's clinic at 9:15am, my introduction to him was, "Hi Doctor, I just came back from USA this very morning and the airport staff checked that I was okay to see a normal doctor such as you." :D

He immediately measured my temperature, to my surprise, my temperature reaches a low 98.9. Without further examination, he immediately told me I should go visit the special H1N1 clinic for safe measure. :D

So, off I went after 3 hours :D Well, I need to shower and pack some important things such as my camera, cell phone, and a bottle of water. :D In case I have to die in a hospital of H1N1, I will die clean. Camera is something of a must have when you want to record your own death of course. :D hahah

Those are the things I remember to bring. The most important thing I forgot though was my HKID card!!! :D haha So I was made to wait at the clinic for 2 hours to wait for my dear Mom to bring my HKID to me, further exposing her to the risk of catching H1N1. :D The fact was, I was too lazy to go back home to get it :P

The clinic was all decorated in red, like a very serious business there. :D

The nurses there all worn protective gears! :P

When I was waiting at the clinic, only another guy was there waiting to get treated. I don't think this swine flu is as serious as what the government think it is anyways.

Anyways, at the special clinic, my temperature had somewhat risen to a 99.3. By the time I saw the doctor and she measured my temperature again, it was at 99.9.

So, my temperature was rising and the doctor decided I should be treated just like a H1N1 patient.

The examination process was more thorough than a normal flu. Lots of questions was asked such as whether I was pregnant or having any hidden long term diseases or whether I was allergic to different things. :P

Here is my mom waiting for me at the clinic.

I was getting a bit sleepy by the time, so I didn't quite remember what she asked me. The only thing I did remember was the nasal probe!!!! From here on, I will refer it as "Alien Abduction Nasal Probe!". Let me show you what was done to my nostril!

Here, you see me, head leaned back a bit. The nurse has this plastic strip like thing about 1cm round and 6 or 7 inches long shown here in red. She inserted this probe into my nose and very gently said "relax, it's gonna hurt a tiny little bit".

What a liar!!!!! :D It does not just hurt a tiny little bit!!!!! Imagine having a childbirth through your nose!!!! :D Except, for childbirth, only hurts one way!! But alien abduction probe hurts both way in and out!!!! OUCH OUCH OUCH! :D

In a scale of 1-5 painfulness, I say it at least score a 6!!!!!

I know, I know, I am just a wuss, a big cry baby! :D But truly, it hurts like hell. :D I was going like "ou ou ou ou ou ou ou" aloud the whole 3 minutes the nurse was raping my nose! :D

The mucus was collected for testing. It's gonna take 3 days to know whether I really have H1N1. So the doctor there prescribed me 3 days off so I don't spread the flu to others except the people who live with me, namely the senior LaBeans. :D

Also, I was also given my Tamiflu dosage and some other flu medicine. This is the first time I had visit a government health care clinic. So now, officially, I am in the system of public health care. :P

A funny thing happened before this clinic visit was over. The doctor forgot to write up the doctor's note for my 3 sick days. So, I had to go back up to ask for them. The nurse asked me which room did I visit to see the doctor? :D I forgot..

I was so dazed after the alien probe, I said "hmm.. I didn't see a doctor, I got probed in the nose very painfully and just collected my medicine."

The nurse said, "Huh?!? It cannot be, you must have seen a doctor before we probe at your nose!! Are you serious?!"

I was so sure I didn't see any doctor before the probe, so I said, hmm. no no no doctor... just probes. >:D

After about 10 minutes of fuss and buzz, I finally cleared my head and pointed at room A and said, Oh yeah, I kinda saw a doctor who asked me lots of questions in that room.... :D

The nurses looked at each other and laughed in relief. :D


After 3 days, I didn't get any calls, so I was officially discharged from my quarantine. But my flu wasn't cured and the regular doctor wrote me up 2 more days of sick days. :)

This entire H1N1 experience was quite interesting. I hope I can call this a 'once in a lifetime' experience. :D After all, I don't want aliens probing into my nose again. :D OUCH :~D

- THE END -

H1N1 and I (Part 1) :D 豬流感與我

First of all, welcome back to my Gazette! Thank you for my friends who left me 10+ comments to urge me to write again :D

There are 2 things to celebrate in this post! :D

1) I survived a H1N1 flu scare! :D It turned out to be a false alarm after all. hehe
2) I am finally well enough to write this 400th post for my blog! :D

Now, As you all know, I went to US of A for 3 weeks. When I returned with multiple symptoms of flu, I was treated like a walking blubber of plague who threatened the entire Hong Kong population. :D

You will find out what my experience of the HK gov's H1N1 contingency treatment to the like of me. :D It will be a bit long, so bear with me :P

Upon my landing at the HKG airport, I was required to fill out a Hong Kong entry / exit health declaration form. I was not quite in my right mind at the time, so I didn't save myself a blank copy or take any pictures of the said form. But my folks, who happened to travel to China often, saved my day. :D

Here is a Shenzhen version of the entry / exit health declaration form.

BTW, feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge them :D

So, I carefully selected "cough", "Stuffy Nose", "Fatigue", "Sore Throat", "Headache" "Runny Nose" and "Muscle and Joint Pain" on the form.

When the health officials who guarded the customs check out point saw my form, she yelled to her senior, "Boss!! Red alert!!! 大佬, 見紅呀!"

Then I was ordered to put on a mask, then shuffled to the 'dungeon' (basement :P) of the airport and to see a doctor! :D hehe I must praise the boss' handling though. He was alerted, but calm when he escorted me to the dungeon.

I striked up a conversation with him, asking him whether he has encountered people like me a lot or am I a very very special rare case? :D To my disappointment, I was not very unique. :D hehe. He even comforted me by saying, "how often do you get a doctor check out on you for free!? :D Don't worry, if you have the H1N1, we will take you to a hospital right away!".

However, at the time of this encounter, I was the only person waiting in the dungeon, so I still think I was quite special. :D Temperature was measured hastily in the first station, and then I was lead to the real doctor.

At the time, he gave me some leaflets about what to do in case my symptoms worsened.

This is the leaflet to tell you which special clinic you should head to for special treatment in case of having a fever. :D

Since I didn't have a fever at the time, the doctor advised me I could go home and spread my common flu gem to whoever I feel like. :P In the mean time, he suggested I should see a normal doctor about my flu. That's what I did. :D

I traveled home by taxi that day coz I figured, if I did have the swine flu, i better just spread it to 1 taxi driver than to a bus full of people. :D My coughing was quite bad at the time, I bet the taxi drive was ultra scared. :D So when the ride ended, I tried to give him a hefty tips, but he refused. :D Such an honest guy!! :)

That's not the end of my journey of course, stay tuned.

To be continued...

Ninja MonkeyMan and Kunoichi LaBean! :D (Part 2)

Let's continue with our Ninja training. :D

This is our weapon! The chopsticks, white cloth and bamboo mat :D

First test is to order drinks! :D

This is Mike's Ninja-Toh. It's a minty peppery drink :D Very manly!!

Then this is my girlie Ninja-sha :D It's a strawberry slushy with champagne. Who wouldn't live a glass of fruity champagne while dinning with the one you love? :)

This drink was so delicious, sweet and bubbly, I want to learn to make it myself! :D

Mike is examining our long scroll menu. :D Before we visit the restaurant, I have done some research. It used to have this thing called a "training course" which is $5555 yen. But when we visited there, the training course was gone, so we ended up ordering the "Special Course instead for $7777 yen. :D

I read some reviews before we went to the restaurant. I have read reviews about how bad the foods are and how small the portion is. Initially, I had doubt about whether it's worth it to try this restaurant, but being the brave Ninjas we are, we decided we should try and rant about it later. :D

The appetizer, Shuriken star-blades grissini. :D I just call it "ninja star cookies" :D

The cookies weren't that special if it was not because of these foie gras dip. :) I love foie gras. :D So creamy, so rich. The star shape help add some character to the dish. :D

Our Ninja Master cooking the hot rock soup for us. :D

The clam bomb explosion!

Ninja MonkeyMan and Kunoichi LaBean! :D (Part 1)

How can I not write about the highest point of my Tokyo Trip?? :D Mr. MonkeyMan and I have officially become ninjas in Tokyo :P

Well, for me, a female, a Kunoichi :D

Come, take a Ninja training with us. :D

Finding the restaurant was a mission in itself. The first thing being a ninja is to always prepare yourself for your journeys. :D Since I forgot to print a map out before we left Hong Kong, I had to take a picture of the map of the Ninja Akasaka Restaurant the night before we dined there. :D Good thinking there... or else, we'd probably won't be able to make it to the restaurant on time.

We had gotten to the Akasakamituke subway station about 20 minutes before our dinning time. However, we weren't quite sure of our location, so this map didn't help us much at all. :D

Fortunately, we had encountered a helpful young man who speaks perfect English. :D He overheard our conversation and sensing our sense of lost and confusion, he approached and offered his help. :D

Love these Japanese people! Everywhere we went, no matter whehter they can communicate in English, they are always polite, helpful and cheerful! :)

Wielding the the knowledge of the young gentleman's direction, we reached our Ninja training ground (the restaurant) in time! :)

Once we arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by the hostess who called our Ninja to train us! :D

This is a video of us passing our training trail :D Let me apologize for the darkness, my silly giggles and shaky 'live TV' style video capture.. :D haha

We were seated in a secluded room which was decorated like a Ninja straw hut! :D It was soooo exciting to wait for our Ninja Master! :D

To be Continued...

I caught a cold!!

I caught a cold or a flu!!! In USA!!! Might be H1N1!!!

So, pardon me if I didn't update the blog!! :D

Dying!

Expert Seamstress is Me! :D

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

I am such a spoiled brat when it comes to doing needle works.

I hate doing needle works! :D It's just not very enjoyable to me. :D Whenever I lose a button or need something mended, I just let my mom do the dirty work for me. :P

Now that I am with my boyfriend who is a conservationist, I have to spoil him and do things I normally don't do.

The other day, he assigned me a mission impossible: Mending a Perfectly good pair of Jean's Holy Pockets! :D

Here is the end result :P

I want to say the randomness of the stitches are due to I want to give it a random artistic feel to the pockets. :P Also, it's to show off how many different kind of stitching style I can do! :D

HAHAH :D If you belive the above, good for you. :P

To do uniformed stitches needs lots of skills and concentrations, which I have none. :P haha It's amazing the patching is secure and now it's able to give the pair of jeans an extended life. :D

Labean's Kitchen - Spicy beef shank in summer squash 麻辣牛肉南瓜盅

About a year ago, I had this awesome dish at a restaurant in Hong Kong which serves a Taiwanese cuisine.

There was one dish that really caught my parents and my attention. It's a spicy beef in pumpkin dish. I have been meaning to make it myself for a long time. But I couldn't find the spicy sauce (麻辣汁) anywhere in the supermarkets back home, so I wasn't able to try make it. :D

California's Chinese population is so diversified, you pretty much can find any kind of exotic things in the Chinese supermarkets here. :D And to my surprise, I located a 麻辣 hot pot soup mix pack and I figured I could use it! :D


Last Thursday, Mr. MonkeyMan and his pals came over for dinner, so I made them my guinea pig.

First we have to prepare the beef shank. Using my mom's gift to Mr. MonkeyMan, the vacuum pot, I cooked the beef for about 6 hours in the soup mix.

For the squash, I just wrapped it in tin foil and bake it in the oven for about an hour or 2.. :D

When the squash and the chunk of beef is ready, just cut the beef in cubes and stuff inside the squash.

After you stuffed the beef inside the squash, I just rewrapped it and put the whole thing back into the oven. Bake for another 1/2 hours or so just so the squash would suck up the spicy juice. :D

Peel the skin of the squash slightly to serve. :D

It was quite a success. We didn't finish the squash the same day, but we had the left overs during lunch the next day. :D So yummy :p

Tibits of my Vacation. Duckings and Mama Duck - a follow up :(

It's a sad day today. :(

Remember the ducklings and the duck mama a few days ago?

Today, I only see the mama duck around.

After talking to some residents living near our pool this morning, we both agreed something might have happened to the baby ducklings.

A lady I talked to said that there were complains about the ducks the last week. She said that there's another lady loudly complains about the ducks and threatened to "relocate" them!!!

What does relocate mean? We are not sure. If it was a successful relocation of the whole family, why would mama duck swim alone this morning?

Where are the ducklings??

I feel sad looking at the duck today, so lonesome, no more babies.

There was a post at the pool:

"We have contacted animal control & wildlife services regarding the ducks. They suggest that as long as the ducklings can get out of the pool or spa, they should be left alone".

I guess some people didn't read this note!

I will check on the ducks tomorrow to see if the ducklings come back.

Fun in Santa Cruz!!!

Just this Saturday, we went to Santa Cruz, famous for its Boardwalk Park on the beach.

It happens to be the celebration of the 85th year old of the Giant Dipper there. A 20-ish minutes fireworks was planned for the night. :)

I happened to be there during the event!!

This is the 2nd time I see fireworks with my bare eyes instead of on TV! :D How exciting!!

Here are some movies I took. :) Enjoy!

Tibits of my Vacation. Duckings and Mama Duck :)

Yesterday, when I walked by the pool, I saw a family of ducks swimming and sunbathing in the pool! :D

I wanted so much to go in and take pictures of them close up, but I didn't have my normal camera with me and truly don't want to disturb the mama duck training the baby ducks to swim.

Mr. MonkeyMan's friends were coming over for dinner too, I figured I didn't have much time to go play with them anyways.

So, I only observed them for a little while and took a very remote paparazzi picture of them. :D

Thank goodness I have my cell phone as a backup picture taking device! :D

My Birthday Present (Belated report)

I am gonna be home alone all day today because Mr. MonkeyMan's work gets a bit busy. He has to work extra hard today so we can go to Santa Cruz tomorrow to enjoy a day in the sun and sand.

I saw a set of British coins on his bed stand which was the same set he got me for my birthday last year. :)

To say it's my birthday gift is not entirely true. :D It's more like my dad's surprise gift than mine! :D

My dad is a crazy coin collector, so when he saw this special set, he quickly assume it's for him and hastily confesticated it! :D

I finally have the chance to look at it closely today. It's such awesome design!

To find more information about this set, you can go to the Royal Mint website.

Blueberries Roasted Chicken

Sour fruits are so good for cooking. :)

I made this tender Blueberry chicken the other night. :)

This is very easy to make too.

You just marinate the chicken in herbs and a little bit of wine and vinegar for 1/2 a day first. :D

Then, before you put the chicken in the oven, just stuff them with some blueberries. Bake for 1/2 hour (small game hen).

It's all done! :D

It was so good, Mr. MonkeyMan even asked for a second!! :D I am so proud :D

Tibits of my vacation: Mickey Mouse Taro!! :D

Hehe. The bag of taro I bought at Ranch 99 has one come with the shape of a Mickey Mouse! :D

I am gonna auction it on ebay and get stink'in rich! :D

Oysters, Strawberries and Salmons! Oh My!

Costco is such a lovely place. :D This weekend, Liza took us to Costco to shop for food! Things are so cheap!!!

A jar of fresh oysters (about 20 pieces) only costed $10.99

This is what we had for lunch. :D Ginger and Green Onion Oyster stir fry. :) I only used about 10 pieces of oysters for this meal. :) Just a simple lunch.

A big box of strawberries (like 4x the normal store bought size) only cost $9.99 a big box!

Huuuuge box of wild salmon only costed $36.76 which I divided into 10 meal sizes portion!! :) Even cooked some tonight and it was so supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!

This is our dinner tonight. :) It was soooo soooo good!!

Fun weekend!!

My laptop isn't so trusty anymore. Somehow, the wifi seems to be wonky, so I wasn't able to update the last 2 days. :)

It was a fun weekend indeed.

Satruday, Liza, Mr. MonkeyMan, my god son little Colin went to have lunch at a Puerto Rican restaurant for lunch. :) Then, we soak in the cool salt water pool at liza's backyard for an hour or so. :) Colin was so energetic in the water! :D Afterward, we had a seafood feast! :D

I cooked: Spicy drunken clams; ginger and green onion crab, deep fried oysters, spicy duck tongue in oyster sauce. :) My cooking got rave reviews that night.

Sunday, Mr. MonkeyMan and I went to the newly renovated Academy of Science in the Golden Gate Park!!!

This is the re-entry seal of the Academy of Science in the Golden Gate Park. I highly recommend this place for a fun full day!

It's soooooo much fun!!!

Tibits of my Vacation. Heart Shaped Bruise :)

Heart Shaped bruise I got. :D

A mysterious bruise appears after the 1st night! <3 :D

Chilled cucumber in seasme oil and vinegar 涼伴麻油青瓜 (2 June)

:D Going back a couple days. :D

On Tuesday, I tried to make the 'Chilled cucumber in seasme oil and vinegar" dish the first time.

It seems it's not as good as the ones I had in restaurants. But I think the taste is close. :D I just need to cut the cucumbers in thick strips instead of slices. :D

The major ingredients to make this include:

Vingea, saseme oil, finely chopped garlic, a little bit of balsamic vingea (for the hint of sweetness).  Mix them all up and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours.

It's a very refreshing summer dish. :D

Tickle's Take Out. (4 June)

Today, I am gonna meet with my best pal, Liza. :D My god son's mom! :D

So I won't be having lunch / Dinner with Mr. MonkeyMan. :D Giving him some alone time.

But of course, I wouldn't let him forget me... :D So I have prepared some take out for him to bring to work. :D

Zucchini and prawns stir fry. :D

pork chop with carrots and broccoli and herbs. :D

What's for Lunch/Dinner?! 3rd June

Today's menu:

Lunch:

Chicken roll with salsa sauce.

The chicken is rolled with avocado, cucumber, carrot and mushrooms inside. I seared it on the pan for 5 minutes on each side and then put it in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. :D It's quite easy to make.

For the salsa.. It's even easier. I used Mr. MonkeyMan's store bought salsa and added some carrots and fresh cherry tomato in it. :)

Although, my rolling skill needs to be improved, all in all, it tasted excellently. :D

Dinner's Menu:

Steamed garlic shrimps. :D

This one is even easier to make. :D No techniques at all! :D but then.. I put in love to cook it, so it's extra awesome. :D

I cut open the shrimps on their backs, so it rolls up nicely like those you can find at restaurants. :D hehe

Good old Singapore Airline.

I have safely landed in SFO! :D

It was such a pleasant flight I must write about it. :D My prior expectations of the Singapore airline has totally changed! :D

The plane is highly upgraded compare to the ones I took back in 2006! :D And due to the H1N1 flu, the flight wasn't fully booked. :D I even get to sit next to nobody. :D

Now let me give you a report of this flight. :D

1. Wide seats for my fat wide ass :D
2. Personal entertainment system
3. Electric outlet to recharge your laptop!!!
4. Vast choices for your meal
5. Haagen daz Ice Cream Treats!
6. Personal socks and toothbrush provided
7. A health care pack provided upon entrance
8. Seats are actually reclining, not just the seat back.
   

Now if you are interested in the details of above points, read on. :D

1. Wide Seats for my fat wide ass. :D

Ohh.. my butt is not tucked in perfectly in the seat. :D I actually have some wiggle rooms while I was sitting. It could be because my fat wide ass has become narrower due to weight loss.

But this theory is highly unlikely because my ass does not know what weigh loss is and definitely doesn't know how to grow narrower overnight. HAHAH :D

2. Personal entertainment system

I think this is a must have item on the list for an airline to qualify as a good airline.

It has 100+ movies in the system to let you choose. Some of the newer movies I was dying to see are also listed!

Too bad the flight only lasted less than 12 hours, I only had time and the energy to watch one, "The Watchmen". So awesome! :D

3. Electric outlet to recharge your laptop!!!

But, hey what would I do with my laptop on the plane? :D there isn't any internet services on broad.

4. Vast choices for your meal

It's so lovely that I get to preselect my choice of meal before I fly. :D There's the non-carb option so I selected it. :D

Here's the dinner menu.

Steamed salmon and chicken are the meats provided. Along with some carrots, beans and fruits.

And then, there's breakfast. :D

A very simple scrambled egg and bacon breakfast. The black stuffs are mushrooms. :)

5. Haagen daz Ice Cream Treats!

Need I say more about this point?!?! :D

This treat totally defeat the purpose of seating a non-carb meal! :D HAHAHA

6. Personal socks and toothbrush provided

7. A health care pack provided upon entrance

The thermometer seems quite interesting. :D

8. Seats are actually reclining, not just the seat back

I have no picture to show for this..

Unlike other airline's seats, reclining just for the back, it also adjust the seat too. So the position you sit in is more comfortable.

I must say this is the first time I fly without a back pain when I get off the flight. Excellent deign!


All in all, I would fly again with Singapore airline again. :D If their mileage program is not as stingy, It'd be my favorite airline of all time.

Fly Fly Fly!!!

Live from HKG airport, gate 17! :D

I am waiting for my singaporeair flight to SFO!!! Boarding in 1 hour 20 minutes.

Gate 17 is the most boring gate area in HKG. :D

Old Lee just complained to me that  I haven't written any blog posts in the last few days. :D

Last few days was quite hellish at work and slept wasn't very good. :D

Hopefully, this 3 weeks of vacation would recharge me.