Hot hot summer is here to stay!!

With the current hot weather with temperatures rising - it's really hard to stay cool even in one's house.

I dont know about you but I have this habit of keeping water containers in the room, about 3 of them. It could be just a cup or glass jar cos I have this notion that the presence of water could cool the room.

Just like a display case in a watch shop with spotlights on, staffs will keep small cups filled with water in them which works in the same theory.

Another benefit, which may not be so apparent can be seen in M. Night Shyamalan movie SIGNS (2002) as apparently the aliens in that movie are terrified of water. So it was good fortune that Mel Gibson's daughter like to keep cups filled with water scattered throughout the house.

Jokes aside, I do notice that on really hot weather, I have to top up the water more often as they tend to dry up faster so who's to argue that my method does not work ;D

Dont take me for granted!

As I grabbed a tissue in the car and I noticed my sister had kept an air sickness bag there as well. It was taken from MAS from her recent flight to Kota Bahru.

Was pleasantly surprised to find it there as most of us do not give much thought to such product. I mean when was the last time you or anyone you know uses such bag.

But she reasoned that you'll never know when someone in the car might have the "urge" to vomit. This is especially true for people who hardly travel in a car... err.. I am glad to say no one in Malaysia or Kuala Lumpur I hope.

Anyway I recalled a story related by a friend on how he had to send someone (from Myanmar or Cambodia) from KL to Port Dickson. Throughout the journey he could not turn on the air-con and hence drove with windows opened.

Not only that he had to occasionally pull over to let the passenger recompose himself. So he said that day he broke all speed records as his only aim was to reach Port Dickson in the shortest time possible.

But with the rise in modern living, the only place still supplying these bags is in airplanes. Not sure about cruise ships but the other time I took boat ride from Phuket to Phi Phi Island they only supply plastic bags and "minyak angin" dabbed on a piece of tissue. Such a drag..

So the next time you see an air sickness bag, take a moment to appreciate it. You'll never know when you'll need it but when you do, you'll need it like NOW!

Happy Mother's Day!

It's mother's day 2011... If you are a lazy procrastinating person like me then you would not have made any dinner reservation for this special day.

So to my utter embarrassment we had to celebrate the special occasion in KFC as most of the restaurants have long waiting queues.

Thankfully my mother was ok with it (most probably cos we were all a bit hungry having walked around the shopping centre looking for a respectable place to eat) but not without a stern reminder that we have to make it up to her THIS year.

So to all mothers, Happy Mother's Day but seriously we dont need a special day to celebrate and thank you cos everyday to us is mother's day!

My Thank You Note

This is also quite overdue like my dental appointment.

First and foremost I thank God for the gift of sight as I recently joined the Blind leading the Blind charity walk on 17 April 2011. It was quite an unnerving experience so am very glad that the “blindness” was temporal.

I salute those disabled participants who lead the walk. It’s tough not being able to see 24/7.

During the blindness somehow there was the tendency to tilt your head downwards. Perhaps it’s a natural instinct cos somehow with this head position we think we can capture the surrounding sounds better.

Good thing the organisers were not mean and evil cos they chose a very safe and flat area for the circular walk back to MBPJ (Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya or Petaling Jaya area local authority).

But for the organizers to run this event again next year, there are many rooms for improvement but if its sole purpose is to create awareness of the hardship which the blind face, then succeed it did in achieving this objective.

So I will keep all the grouses and complains to myself as they are nothing in comparison with the gift of sight which I freely enjoy every day.

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Secondly I would like to thank AmBank Malaysia for rewarding me with a brand new latest Dell Mini notebook. I was one of the 3 lucky winners in a credit card competition.

It was a very timely prize as I have been thinking of getting myself a computer once I move house and lo and behold I got one for free.

Though I ran into some problems with the original unit, I am very thankful to Ms Grace from Ambank’s customer service department and members of her team for solving the problem for me.

Now my life richer and happier and I am proof of the statistics which report that a credit cardholder will be loyal to the Bank of their first credit card.

Oral Check Up - CHECKED

Finally after talking about going to the dentist for the last 6 months I got around to doing it today!!

I was really apprehensive about the whole affair and my imagination sort of ran wild – often thinking of the worst case scenario… but thank God there was only one cavity (so fire away the confetti cannon – it’s time to celebrate)! Hooray!!

But I really pity the dentist cos my last appointment with any dentist was like 2 years ago so she had to work harder to dislodge all those plaque. She even showed me a piece. Shame shame on me I know!

I tried to justify myself by explaining that I was consistently going for dental check up with a Dr. ABC every year. So I was really confident of my oral health until one day I woke up with intense pain. So I felt betrayed for being made to suffer with major inflamed tooth despite my best efforts. To top it off Dr. ABC did not do a good job on the root canal procedure cos sometimes I feel heat sensation which I should not have felt since technically there are no more nerves in the tooth.

So for a while I was without any trustworthy dentist until now. Now that I have found Dr Kok, I will be going for my scaling again cos I have receding gums problems in a few teeth which are possibly due to:-

a) gum disease – but this would affect all the gums and not several parts OR

b) wrong brushing method ie must be from top to bottom and not too hard OR

c) plaque built up.

Since it’s more of the latter as evident from my sensitive gums – some parts are red, swollen and bleeds easily, I think I will do myself a favour and go see a dentist every 6 months or so instead of 12 months.

So if you would like to make an appointment with Dr Kok, listed below is her name card. She is very patient and answered all my questions from tooth whitening to whether drinking vinegar have any effect on the enamel.

BTW my total bill came to RM200 which includes scaling and filling (in white/yellow colour) for a molar (include anesthetic injection).

Note that her clinic is on the 2^nd floor (back portion) of Menara UOA and beware of the sudden “curb/step” besides the stairs. I nearly sprained my ankle but thank God I had the agility of a dancer and the grace of a gazelle so as not to create a scene right next to the dentist office.

When I commented this “accident” to them, I was told that I was not the first. Tsk tsk tsk… something should be done by the management before a real accident happen. They should at least stick some yellow fluorescent warning sticker right before the step.

In the meantime cheers to good oral health and on my next visit there in October, I hope something will be done about the accident-proned zone or “Kawasan Kemalangan”.

Matsumoto Kiyoshi and 3M Bandages

Recently ran out of bandages and I am a Doraemon-kind-of-person, so what is a first aid kit without any bandage right.

So there I was in Watsons, my favourite hang out place - I can just go into every Watsons outlet which I come across - I don't really know why but there's such an attraction.

I encountered the same attraction in Matsumoto Kiyoshi chain outlets in Japan.

There is just so much to see and explore in a pharmacy / drugstore / daily personal store. I can spend hours inside them. How I miss this blue yellow red sign! I hope one day Mastumoto Kiyoshi will come to Malaysia but at the momoent Watsons is doing a decent job bringing a lot of popular Japanese and Korean over the counter brand.

Anyway there I was looking at bandages in Watsons and bought a box of Nexcare 3M.

VERDICT? It's not waterproof as claimed.

The colour is better compared with Watsons own brand transparent bandages cos the cotton part for Watsons' was white so when you use it, the white part of the bandage stood out.

Well since this is a 3M product - I expected better quality but the bandage are too rigid and before long you will have gaps between the bandage and wound. No wonder it took such a long time for my wound to heal.

3M should make the bandage thinner so that it would adhere to the skin better.

Being a firm supporter of 3M quality products I checked their USA website. Hmm... strange that the bandages sold in USA are different from the ones being sold in Malaysia. Their designs are so innovative.

I wonder if it has to do with Malaysians consumer mentality of only buying cheap products. Sigh...

You can check out US design in this link http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/WW_Nexcare/FirstAidProducts/Products/Bandages/AdhesiveBandages/

The differences are so apparent...

Verdict:-

For our Malaysian design - not recommended. I mean just look at it! Need I say more?

Cuticle oil - OPI vs OPI (and MUJI)

Tried OPI's cuticle oil cos I always have dry hands since OPI is known as THE brand for nail polish so perhaps their oils would also be good.

First tried the bottle one. So far the oil is good. No greasy feeling but problem is with the bottle it tends to leak - not a lot but still for the price you are paying any leakage is not good.

So tried the gel type. No leak whatsoever. Very portable and again no greasy feeling. Fragrance is very mild and good. To get better results would be to use it twice a day but I'm just too lazy so I only use it once a day. 

VERDICT
Both the bottle and gel type are quite lasting even though the gel pack is smaller, it lasts cos it doesnt leak and it's really concentrate so a bit goes a long way. So I will definitely recommend the gel Cuticle To Go.

Apart from OPI I have tried MUJI's cuticle oil but I must say OPI is definitely better. The only plus point for MUJI's is that the applicator is shaped like a cuticle pusher so it's a real time saver.

For those hoping to buy OPI's products at wholesale prices, please feel free to email me at turkuaz201@gmail.com for a contact in Sungai Wang, Kuala Lumpur.