Heart Infection a.k.a Infective Endocarditis

This must have been the 3rd time I'm hospitalized in my life and I definitely hope it's the last time. This is also the longest time I've been hospitalized and guess what? I still have 2 weeks to go. 

It all started with me feeling tired and getting chills every night. Little did I know that these were the symptoms of infective endocarditis or more commonly known as a heart infection. For those of you guys who don't know, I was born with a congenital heart problem. 

I have a bicuspid valve which means that one of the valves in my heart, namely the aortic valve has only two flaps instead of three in a normal person. So instead of having the Mercedes looking valve, I only have a pathetic looking two flap valve. 

For people like me, I'm much more prone to infections in my heart, especially on my valves. I would have never thought that this would happen to me just cause of several episodes of fever and chills. The greatest worry was that I lost all my appetite and almost became anorexic. I lost a whopping 10kg in a month and that was when the red light came up and after the non stop nagging from Petrine I finally got to see a doctor.

 So I was admitted and they found out that there was some bacteria that had formed a vegetation on my valve and it was almost half the size of my valve. A normal valve is about 2cm and my vegetation was almost 1cm. 

Luckily that wasn't a clear cut sign for immediate surgery but surgery is probably required in the later parts of my life. I really don't want to go through another surgery because ultimately the risks are pretty high and I'd have to be on life-long medication once I'm operated on. 

As of now, I'm going to be on 4 weeks on inpatient antibiotics which meant that I'll have to be hospitalized for 4 weeks and the doctors will have to take things from there. I'm pretty glad for Petrine who visits me religiously bringing me the best food that I could ever ask for. 

Of course not forgetting some of my friends who have visited me as well. I only got to snap a picture with Raphael and Calvin though. 

Other than the 4 hourly anti biotics, I'm pretty much fine. For you guys who are intending to visit me, I would urge you not to because the hospital is full of germs and it's really bad if you have a low immunity system. I appreciate all the get-well-soon texts and I hope to get well soon too. It's a good break from the mundane working life but it's not the kind of break I would like to have. 

Punggol Ranch x Horse Riding

Celebrated my 2nd anniversary with my beloved Petrine at Punggol Ranch. It's a newly built horse-riding stables where you can basically mingle with horses, take horse-riding classes and even just feed them. On top of that, they have a chalet which is in the shape of little cabins on their compound. 

Inspired by the ancient chinese shows where the actors and actresses are always riding horses on the greens, I decided to give horse-riding a try. Booked a 2D1N stay from www.deal.com.sg coupled with 3 joyrides at Punggol Ranch. 

Being only officially open in April 2013, this place is relatively new and the cabins were really up to standard. 

Totally felt like a cowboy with Texas-themed room. The pictures are probably self-explanatory. 

I think we got a family room because the entire place was vacant and it did scare me a little bit to realise we were the only souls there in the middle of the night cause I don't suppose any staff stays there and their reception was not manned after 8pm. 

Some tips: Never go there on a Monday because every Monday is the horses' rest day and also their famous eatery, Bacon & Booze is closed as well. Nevertheless, I did enjoy a little peace and quietness. 

Horse riding in progress! The joyride lasted only about 5 mins max but it was thrilling enough. 

* Look! No Hands! *

Even though there was this horse guy leading the horse all the while, the initial part when you get on the horse was just plain scary. There isn't any seatbelts kind of thing and half the time I was just wondering if the horse will reject me and kick me off. 

I really wonder how the jockeys ride their horses so effortlessly. 

Had a really memorable experience at Punggol Ranch and I'll definitely be back to check out the other facilities that are coming soon like Combat Skirmish. I just hope the journey wasn't so far.

Staycation at Venue Hotel

Hello guys, I just had my staycation at Venue Hotel and it was the best staycation I've had. I wouldn't have expected such great satisfaction from a boutique hotel like this. I generally do not have great impressions about hotels that were built as shophouses initially but this one changed me totally. 

I took the premiere room which was really unique cause they have a bathtub right smack in front of your bed. Being a great fan of bathtubs I wouldn't let this chance slip out of my hands right? Where else can you find a hotel room in Singapore with a bathtub for only $150? Oh right, a night's stay in their premiere room only cost $150. Probably the most well spent $150 for a hotel room ever.

The first thing that impressed me was the lobby. Just look at the exquisite design of their lobby, looks nothing like a budget hotel at all. I didn't really believe the pictures I saw from their official website and agoda.com but the entire design just overwhelms me. To top it off, the front desk staff were really nice and always had a smile on their faces.

Here's a picture of the awesome bathtub I mentioned! I guess this hotel is meant for couples and not friends because there's isn't much privacy especially when you have to bathe in the bathtub right in front of the bed. But fret not, there's also a standing shower in the toilet.

One thing that puzzled me was the translucent sticker on the toilet's glass doors. It was in such a weird shape and it doesn't provide any privacy at all. I'd rather they put it completely or remove it. I was shitting on the toilet and I realised that you can actually look through the door pretty easily cause it isn't completely covered. I would rather they remove the sticker and let me watch tv while I shit.

This is how the toilet looks like from the outside. 

Toilet amenities are pretty decent and I was actually scared they didn't provide toothbrushes. I'm glad they did and I love their design so much. In fact I like anything that's black and white and simple. 

Not only is the hotel room awesome, the location is awesome as well. It's situated in Joo Chiat Road, somewhere I've never actually been to in my life. Had a great time exploring the neighborhood and uncovering the secret food places. Highly recommended for a staycation right in the heart of Singapore for poor chaps like me who can't afford to go overseas! 

Did I mention that Old Airport Road is just a few stops away? We stopped over for some brunch as well and the Lor Mee was just plain awesomeness. 

Can't wait for our next overseas trip together with my beloved Petrine! ♥

Movie Mob

Looking for a place to chill with your girlfriend? Wait no longer! Start going to MovieMob! So Petrine and I went to MovieMob yesterday. What exactly is MovieMob? It's this big screening of movies and you can just drive in to watch the movie, for free! All you have to do is tune your radio to the frequency that they will tell you and tadah, you are ready for a movie under the stars.

This was our view from inside the car. The screen looks small from the picture but trust me when the movie starts, it's really clear and you don't have to worry about being blocked by other cars. The marshallers will position you properly when you park your car. The general rule is that all cars are forbidden to move once they have secured a parking lot. 

Just look at the amount of cars there. Oh it was held at F1 villlage yesterday, it's somewhere near Garden's By The Bay. As this event is sponsored by Honda, almost all the Hondas got priority seatings so they were all in the first few rows. 

Here's a picture of me awkwardly posing with the entrance. 

Before the movie started, there was also a car-boot sale going on for dirt cheap prices, mainly clothes and car accessories. People would usually bring their own food to the movie but fret not, there are also booths selling hotdogs and popcorn if you forgot to bring your own food. 

What is you don't own a car? There is a lawn specially reserved for people to spread their mats and enjoy their movie in the open. Nonetheless this whole event is an interesting concept and I think I'll be going to enjoy more free movies. Yesterday's movie wasn't that good cause it's "The Adventures of Tin Tin". Didn't really understand the movie but I'll be looking forward to upcoming events!

For more information, check out MovieMob at http://moviemob.sg or http://facebook.com/apemoviemob !

Just for laughs. 

Happy Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Happy Valentine's Day to my beloved girlfriend, Petrine. I love you so much. ♥

People spend their valentine's day at expensive restaurants and stuff, guess where Petrine and I headed to? Justacia, the number one budget place for us to chill. Our favorite activity is to talk and we spent several good hours talking over free flow ice cream and drinks. Perfect way to spend a budget Valentine's Day. 

5 things to do with your girlfriend.

Valentine's day is coming so I though I'll just do a post about my girlfriend. My girlfriend, Petrine is the most important person to me. I spend most of my time with her than anyone else. Many people often ask me, how is it that you two are always spending time with each other and not get bored? So here are 5 things that I do with Petrine.

1) Take a walk along Singapore Flyer

I bet many of you haven't been to this little stretch of paradise. It's just right under Singapore Flyer and it's really nice when you go there at night just to enjoy the sea breeze. Besides, there are lots of food there and if you like hawker food like me, there's a food trail there just to reminisce the good old local hawker fare.

2) Buffets

Eating buffets can be an awesome date. We used to eat at least one buffet every week. Afterall, love is getting fat together. Our favorite buffet is definitely KISEKI and that's totally what we are going to eat on Valentine's day. 

3) Play games 

I don't mean asking your girlfriend to play dota with you, but of course if she does that then good for you. Both of us are avid iPhone users so most of the time we play iPhone games. The bad news is, I've never won her in any games so she has all the bragging rights. There are so many iPhone games, and we can just spend an entire day trying to beat each other's highscores. 

4) Planning overseas trips

2012 was an awesome year to go overseas for us cause we both had practically nothing to do. I was waiting for NS, she was waiting for uni. We just planned trip after trip and I would say we were pretty addicted to travelling. But of course, all the places we traveled to were just in the region. So for 2013, we're just looking forward to the end of NS before we can head out to our backpacking trip in China that we've planned for so long. 

5) Clubbing

 Many people would be so taken aback that I club with my girlfriend, alone. So it goes like this, we would pretend to be strangers at the start and then after that get to know each other. It's fun in a way you'll never expect. I mean afterall, even if you go with your friends and your girlfriend, chances are you'll be dancing with your girlfriend so it makes no difference if you just go with her alone. I don't really like the idea of going to a club without my girlfriend so most of the time I just bring her along or just go with her alone. One of the most interesting things to do with your girlfriend. (Y)

Actually I was about to do a "10 things to do with your girlfriend" but I'm too lazy to continue. There are actually a lot more things you can do with your girlfriend, take exercising for example. Thus, it's never too boring to spend everyday with your girlfriend. After all, you do want to invest your time in someone who matters and will be there your entire life. Happy early Valentine's Day everyone. 

Marriage

This post came pretty late, but I'll like to congratulate my brother who got married like half a month ago. I was pretty sick on that day despite getting that special chance to book out from camp and attend his wedding dinner. The sad sad thing was, I got to the hotel and had a really high fever of 39 degrees and I knew I had to go to the hospital cause I definitely couldn't maintain throughout the entire wedding dinner.

Nonetheless, I'm pretty awed that my brother is married now. It suddenly dawned on me that I'm pretty grown up too and I should start looking into marriage. My brother and I have a age gap of 7 years and I really want to get married at his current age or even earlier. That all boils down to financial situation I guess. I'm 100% sure of my stable relationship and what's holding me back now is the money.

Although I've made up my mind not to hold a wedding dinner in the future, I'm still not sure if I'll change my mind at the last hour. Wedding dinners are such a waste of money, of course there are cases where by you actually earn from the red packets people give, but that's only if you're really lucky. So I've made up my mind cause my wedding is to be about me and my wife.

So we'll probably going travelling around the world for a month or two. Imagine all the money saved up from the wedding dinner being channeled into travelling expenses. That's the dream wedding for me, to be able to be in so many countries with the love of my life and I shall work to achieve that.