nonya culture

Nonya culture, east meets west. Food loving blog.

Monday 29 April 2013

Mysterious Abdominal Pain

Cramping in my belly alarmed me. The pain came suddenly and left just as quickly. I felt totally fine was second and bent over in pain the next . 

This happened 3 times in my life and always in the O&G ward of a hospital. Twice in labour and once when I had a major infection near an ovary which could have cost me my life.

The next morning, I felt fine and went to work as usual. The pain hit once. I ignored it. It returned with a vengeance, so I gave in and called the hospital to fix an appointment . I was lucky. They had a slot that very afternoon .

The gynae examined me and ordered an ultrasound scan. The results were clear . The problem didn't reside in this department but as the area was clearly tender she referred me to the A&E department to see a general doctor . 

When I saw the price to go through A&E I balked. If I could bear the pain a little longer it might go away.

The next day, I saw my family doctor who also couldn't trace the problem without the proper tests. I needed endoscopy and x-ray.

Today,  as both doctors strongly advised, I went to A&E and had the full suite of tests done .

The X-ray showed my colon was too full if shit. So it's 2 days of laxatives and stuff to clean out the gunk , before another appointment for a scope to ensure there's no growth inside. 

In other words , once I'm home I'll take me media and camp in the loo.

Looking back in our traditional diet. We hardly eat any veggies. All our dishes are meat based, eaten with white rice and possibly a small dish of sambal kang kong hardly anyone touches . We have chap chye at best which is mainly vermicelli and a few slices if carrots and cabbage .

The nonya diet is a low fiber one .
So it's payback time.



 

I eat more veggies these days so I'll take this as cleaning out the past gunk for a healthier future.


Friday 12 April 2013

Memories of a world of books

When I was a little girl, I loved reading. Mom and dad were teachers and dad was both the school and church librarian.



My early memories were of pure delight when dad got home with huge brown boxes packed with books, each telling a wonderful story which would transport me to a fantasy world.


Yes, there was lots of work to be done. Each book had to be processed for the library. Pockets were stuck on each book. Cards had to be prepared to go into the pockets. Slips of paper stuck to each book to record the due dates. All that was necessary so that the books could be loaned out. We all pitched in . The best part was we got first pick of the best books.

That was in the seventies.

In 1996, I married a fellow book lover. We lined our home with shelves to hold our combined book collections.



We have kids. Our favourite place for family hang outs was Borders. We'd park the kids at the children's books section where they can browse and read. If they're good, they get to choose a book each which we'd buy to add to their collection.


We grown ups pick our books and read near them.


Those were the days I worked from home. My Internet business paid our bills so both parents were always there for our kids.
I miss those good old days.

Yesterday, my hubby brought me out on a Friday night date. We went to Kenny Rogers at holland. I love their chicken .


It's a cosy place. What I liked best was the shelf of books, holding entire series with different series to satisfy various literary tastes. Especially for kids.


It felt like home.

Sunday 7 April 2013

Natures Home Spa: Fruit Facials / Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) Masks Recipes

I used to make my own skin care when my kids were little and I was paranoid about using anything artificial. Back then, I'd make my own face masks from fruits.

Lots of the hot beauty ingredients originated from nature. AHAs are naturally occuring acids found in fruits, sour milk while BHA can be extracted from sugarcane. These have been used for ages to slough off dead skin cells, unclogging pores, treating acne and revealing the soft young skin hidden underneath.

Found this blog by Anna which brings back fond old memories.

Natures Home Spa: Fruit Facials / Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) Masks Recipes

Here's an article I wrote too on the different fruit facials for your skin type, be it oily with acne or dry and delicate.