Unlucky 7th lunar month? Stress.

Was it an unlucky 7th lunar month for us? First, I was hospitalised for viral infection, Pappy was even worse - business not only slowed down, his car broke down after sending Des to school, his specs dropped and was stepped on by somebody and he was in the hospital twice.

The 7th lunar month on the Chinese calendar is aka the month of the hungry ghost. Friends and relatives believed Pappy 'bumped' into 'dirty things' and dat was why he was so unlucky (or are we being superstituous?).

Pappy has gone thru all the necessary medical examinations and even went to pray to the deities in one of the temples recommended by a friend but he still felt uncomfortable. Uncomfortable in the sense dat there was still something irking him. So how?

He told me he went and prayed to 'change his luck' and not to pray to drive away the dirty things. He still felt there was something bothering him. He called his friend again and off they went to pray to 济公 (aka Jai Gong, Buddha Ji, Master Jhi, Mad Monk ... whatever). The 济公 immediately told Pappy dat he definitely had bumped into dirty things and 'they' were still bothering him. So, the 济公 prayed for Pappy and told him everthing will be okay. Pappy came home, burnt the amulet given by the 济公, into a cup of water, sifted the ashes and drank the water. He was even advised to brush the ashes on his chest (huh?). Well, he slept soundly dat nite (he was snoring the whole nite and surprisingly no tossings).

Was Pappy really disturbed by the supernaturals or was it, he was always thinking he was uncomfortable and dat was what has been stressing him out? After praying, he felt he was protected and feels at ease now. I won't stop him from going to pray if dat will make him feels comfortable and alrite. But after praying in 4 different temples, he's still like dat.

Well, I don't know, I guess it's up to one to believe. Or is it dat everything's not in the rite place since we shifted over to this house and since Des started school or is Pappy psychologically not well? He used to sleep soundly thru the nite but nowadays he'll be awake at least 2-3 times and dat means he doesn't get enough of sleep.

My analyses in green: I was hospitalised for viral infection (I ate something not cleaned properly), Pappy was even worse - business not only slowed down (I guess the whole market's like dat, esp. during this festive season), his car broke down after sending Des to school (oil filter spoilt, time's up after 5 years), his specs dropped and was stepped on by somebody (he was careless, he left the specs on a pile of papers and somebody removed the papers without realising the specs was there) and he was in the hospital twice (due to stress). And I'm sure he's having phobia about what happened and dat's why he's not confident in most of the things he does.

I, his family, friends have been advising him to RELAX but his answer was "it's easy for u all to say".

He has talked about his problems and we'll try our best to solve. He's worried about his business and us, he feels tired easily nowadays, cannot drive or even sit for too long, sometimes no appetite, feels okay at one moment but suddenly will feel uncomfortable/uneasy. I'm trying to find someone to send and fetch Des to and from school. If we are still in our old place, I don't think we'll have the problem cos we have many friends there. I don't know what's really disturbing him? Should he go and see a pyschiatrist (sooner or later I'll be the one going instead :P but no worries, I'm still sane at the moment) or should we shift back to our old house?

A note to Elaine:
My MIL called and told me dat a "Mrs. Wong" knows me and would email the details . I was cracking my head who "Mrs. Wong" is. So, u were the Mrs. Wong aka "Leng Jai Ah Ong's" wife whom my MIL was talking about. What a coincidence and a small world! Hahaha!

Thank u so much for recommending the acupunturist to us and I've advised Pappy to go and see her (acupunturist) asap. In the meantime, I still strongly convince him to continue taking his medicine from the doctor and maybe he should go and see a pyschiatrist.

Is there anything wrong with her?

This morning I went to the school's office to see Des's class teacher, 魏老师。She told me Des doesn't like to answer questions. I was dumbfolded for a while. Then only did I realise what she was trying to tell me. During the recent oral test, Des only got 1 mark out of 5! 魏老师 said she even went to the extent of scaring Des dat if she wouldn't open her mouth to answer, teacher would have to give her a ZERO. Dat would bring her grades down just becos she failed her oral test. *sei hmm sei*

魏老师 told me the questions she asked were very simple and general questions, like, "what are u going to do when mommy said she's having stomachache?", "what must u do when mommy cuts her finger?" 魏老师 said Des wouldn't answer. Oops, Std. 1 students have to do this type of oral tests? Those are general knowledge questions, moral questions or what? Oh dear, I think I'm a bit outdated.

My girl doesn't know how to answer or was she scared or she doesn't know how to answer in Chinese? I know Des is scared of answering questions which she's not sure of. Sometimes I've to assure her dat I won't scold her if she has a wrong answer, only then she'll try. She's a chatterbox in the house but in a crowd, she's the opposite. At home, she's a different person. Sometimes I've to ask her to shut her mouth and I don't want to hear another word from her. She'll be asking this and dat until I get fed up and ordered her to stop else I'll tape her mouth or I'll get the cane (which she's very scared of). But alas, I'll get a moment of silence only ... *boo hoo hoo*

When she's with some kids she's not familiar with, she can isolate herself and won't join them in the fun. Yes, she will cling to me like a koala bear or she'll just stand and watch the kids play. She'll only play with her cousins and friends she knows. She's not the friendly and sociable type. I've been trying to let her mix with kids but she doesn't like the idea. She's scared of 'rough' kids too. She will ask "mommy, why are they so 'chou lou'" (rough in Cantonese) ... sigh ...

She has a mouth like a kerang (clam). She has not, on her own, call "auntie", "uncle". She has been reminded every now and then when she sees my friends, she has to call "auntie" or "uncle".

I guess I've to brush Des up with not only general knowledge but everything in general. She's so blur blur and I guess she's too dependent on mommy doing things for her and she's scared of doing things on her own for eg. when we were in a restaurant, she wanted to watch the fishes in the aquarium, she would want either Pappy or me to accompany, she just wouldn't go on her own; she wouldn't go to the washroom alone; she wouldn't sleep alone; she wouldn't dare to go any further from us to get things; she's just not independent. Too pampered, spoilt or over-protective?

Very embarrasing to say dat Des cried for 6 months (yes, almost every day) going to school. She broke the school's record to some one who cried for 3 months. She was okay during the 1st week of school but the ordeal started the following week. She even told me she didn't want to go to school.

魏老师 did praise Des has improved a lot compared to the first few months when she entered school. She dared not do anything the teacher told her to do and dared not go to the school's office to pay fees, toilet, library, bookshop alone. She always persuade Christine (her best friend who's a very independent girl) to accompany her.

I know 魏老师 'forced' her to enter a story telling competition which she refused to take part but after much coaxing from me, she said she would try. I din see how she performed but I know she did her best cos she had been practising hard at home, trying to remember the Chinese characters which I wrote in 'han yu pin yin' for her.

I know it's quite difficult to deal with kids like mine and I would like to thank 魏老师 for being so patient and tolerant and I really hope the other teachers will be patient and understand too.

How come some kids are so independent and brave? Were they trained or it's in their genes? Pappy and I are not the talkative and sociable type and I'm not the brave type too. Is there anything wrong with my girl?

Update on Pappy's condition

Thank u so much for everyone's concern over Pappy's condition.

So many friends had so many suggestions - go for tests, check-ups and some even advised him to go and 'pray pray' cos this happens to be the 7th lunar month (ghosts' month) for fear dat he might have 'bumped into' some 'dirty things' up the hill.

He went thru 2 ECG's (electrocardiogram), blood, urine tests and found nothing was wrong with him.

After much persuasion and not to waste time any more, he finally went for a more thorough check-up in Tong Shin hospital. He was 'forced' to go by his youngest brother and sister. I did advise him but he was like 'turning a deaf ear' to me and 'dilly dallying', so I had to text his brother and sister for help.

His heart and lungs (and whatever) were x-rayed and results were - there was nothing wrong with him! And there were no blockages of air passages as suspected earlier. The specialist finally found out what was wrong with Pappy. He was over-stressed and had, what was termed as, a PANIC ATTACK! I later checked from the website for panic attack/panic disorder - here. He had ALL (not one less) of the symptoms!

The doctor gave him 'Xanax' (anti-anxiety medicine) for a week. I know what Xanax's for cos I took those pills when I had post-natal blues. His next appointment will be in a week's time. If his condition is still the same, he will need to see a psychiatrist! *crossing my fingers, toes, hairs* I've oredi advised him to relax and forcing him to bed, latest, by 11 p.m. (he normally goes to bed at about 1 a.m. becos of his work).

Praying and hoping everything will be alrite.

p/s: To Ah Bun (BIL) and Janice (SIL),
Thank u so much for heping in advising Pappy. Janice, thank u so much for lending ur chauffeur to drive ur brother to Tong Shin hospital. Actually, I did not wish to worry u, Auntie Ma or Ah Bun but I felt dat I had to inform u all as u are Pappy's closest family.

A Good Deed and A Close Shave with Death

Have to jot this down before I forget but I don't think I will forget the latter incident. The two incidents happened in a day but didn't happen to me but to Pappy!

The first incident was after shopping in Tesco and while we were packing our groceries into the car boot, I noticed a black object on a trolley beside our car. I went to the trolley found dat it was a wallet but dared not touch it. I told Pappy about it and he went and picked it up and found out it had an ID card, driving licence, credit cards and some cash (a ten dollar note and a few RM1 notes) in it and they belonged to a young man. Pappy checked his ID card and found the address was in the same garden as the supermarket.

I told Pappy to put it back or to hand it to the guard or to the reception counter for fear dat the owner might be frantically searching for it. Without any consideration, Pappy took the wallet and off we went to in search of the address. He said it was of no use handing the wallet to the guards.

When we came out of the supermarket on the way to find the address, what caught our eyes was the road sign which we were about to search. We went down the road to find the house number. When we found the house, we saw a couple coming out of the house and Pappy got down from the car and went to enquire from the couple whether anyone lost his wallet. The guy recognised the wallet and told us dat the wallet belonged to his brother and immediately called his brother. I guess the brother din even notice his wallet was missing. After having handed over the wallet to the rightful owner and of course not without the 'thank u, thank u', we went off feeling very satisfied. We 'saved' someone from having the trouble to go thru the reports. A good deed done indeed.

Now for the 2nd very happening incident. Pappy recently had this interest of 'climbing hill' in the forest at the back of our apartment. He usually goes with his friends or Des will tag along with him. Yesterday his friends were busy and his daughter had no interest in tagging along, he decided to go on his own. As I was cooking, I received a call from him and he sounded he was in difficulty. He said he couldn't breathe and felt faint at that moment! Immediately all the 'bad thoughts' came into my mind. He told me to contact our doctor friends, Dr. Loh or Fanny (Christine's parents), to ask them what he should do. I immediately called Fanny but she wasn't sure what I was trying to tell her and she passed my call to her hubby. He said he wasn't sure the situation Pappy was in but he did tell me to advise Pappy to lie down. I called Pappy again but couldn't contact him and I was oredi in tears *blek*. Dr. Loh called me again and told me he was coming over.

At dat moment, Su Chung (Pappy's hill climbing companion) called and told me Pappy called him and he said he was going up the hill to find Pappy with his friends. Upon hearing dat, I heaved a sigh of relief, knowing dat help was going to Pappy.

Dr. Loh and Fanny came over and immediately they drove me to the bottom of the hill. Luckily Elyss was around and helped me look after Destinee. I met Su Chung's wife, Chew Foong, who told me a few guys had oredi gone up to find Pappy. These guys were quite familiar with the tracks of the forest. Everyone there was consoling me and I was trying very hard to hold back my tears, not only was I scared and worried but was so heartfelt by the 'warmness' of the people. The sky was getting dark which made my heart thumped faster.

Dr. Loh tried to contact his friends to bring a stretcher cos Pappy couldn't move. Luckily we were able to contact the helpers up the hill and were informed of the situation every now and then. I was informed dat Pappy was conscious but just couldn't move, he had cramps in his hands and felt faint when he tried to get up.

One of the helpers contacted Pantai Hospital which was the nearest but was told they wouldn't come as they were not specialised in climbing hills *duh*. We had no choice but to contact the Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat and later we contacted HUKM where Dr. Loh and Fanny work. I tell u, they were so efficient, they came in about 10 minutes. As there was a gate which separated the road and the hill, the Bomba couldn't come in and Dr. Loh ran all the way out to direct the Bomba the way. A few minutes later, another 'pi po pi po' sound was on the way and dat was the ambulance from HUKM and Dr. Loh got to run all the way out to direct the ambulance again. *phew*

A few firemen and a paramedic made their way up the hill with the direction of one of the climbers and I waited down the hill with, at dat time, so many people. It was oredi pitch dark when we look up the hill. A few minutes was like a few hours to me! Someone finally came down and told me everything was fine and the firemen were trying to get Pappy down. Everyone there was consoling me not to worry and everything will be fine.

We waited for about, I really didn't know for how long, seemed like ages to me. And suddenly everyone was shouting 'coming down oredi, coming down oredi'! Pappy was carried down on a stretcher and was on drips. Quickly he was transferred into the ambulance. I noticed dat it was like a scene from the TVB series, 'Lit for hoong sum' (Burning Flame). I even noticed everyone was putting their heads out of their apartments. Oh boy, what a scene!

'Pi po pi po' and we were on our way to the hospital. Pappy was pushed into the emergency room and I went to register him. Dr. Loh and Fanny came later to accompany me. As they were familiar with the hospital, they tried to get their doctor friend to help 'look afer' Pappy. As it was getting late (I looked at the clock on the wall, it was oredi 9 p.m.), I told Dr. Loh and Fanny to go back and I would update them on Pappy's condition.

Su Chung called and asked me if I needed help but I told him, everything was fine and I would call him if I needed his help. I called Elyss to tell her we had reached the hospital. Fanny called again whether I needed them to drive me back, I told her I had contacted Elyss.

I went in and out of the 'treatment room' (don't know the exact term) to see how Pappy was. He looked okay and was very consious and even told me he was hungry (huh?). Only did I realise I too haven't had dinner yet. After waited for about 2 hours for the result of the report, Dr. Zeehan (I hope I got her name correct) came and told me there was nothing wrong with Pappy, his blood pressure, heart condition ... whatever ... they tested was normal and was allowed to be discharged. *yahoo*

Elyss came and fetched us and finally we were back home at about 1.30 a.m. after supper. We got help from Eugene (Elyss's hubby) to drive Pappy's car back from the bottom of the hill.

Pappy went to the office this morning but came back later and said he was not feeling well. I told him to rest cos I know he had a sleepless nite last nite and so he's resting at home now.

Phew! What an experience for us!

I was so helpless at that time and was like 'kelam kabut'. I really would like to express my thanks to everyone from the bottom of my heart who chipped in to help esp. to Dr. Loh and Fanny, Su Chung and Chew Foong, Elyss and Eugene and the climbers. THANK U SOOOOOO VERY MUCHIE!

"Conned" by online buying

I wonder how many of u out there order/buy things online? Just a piece of advice, never order from this website:

http://www.berrybunchbox.com/grocer/index.php?main_page=index&zenid=49a0ce3442cdac93ea28f83b6451148e.

Seller's Name: Md Adlin Abu Bakar

Seller's Email: isam@berrybunchbox.com
Boxkeeper name: Sherry Anis

I just received a message from my sister, June. She felt she was 'conned' by this "BERRYBUNCHBOX". On 13th August, she ordered some stuffs thru this website and paid USD73.89 plus delivery charges and was to be delivered to someone in KL on 15th. After 15th, no news, she emailed the person and was told to allow them more time. Fine, they were given 2 days to deliver the stuffs. After 2 days, still no news, June emailed them again, this time no reply. There were no phone numbers to contact. She emailed a few times but din get any replies. Sensing something was wrong, she contacted paypal (cos she paid thru paypal). Paypal promised to investigate. So June waited until she received this message from paypal today:

"We have completed our investigation of this case. We attempted to process a refund from the seller's account to your account. Unfortunately, the seller's account does not contain the funds necessary to cover this refund. We were able to recover $0.84 USD. We have taken action against the seller and are working to recover the remainder of your refund. We will contact when we have more information."

TNS lor, NO MONEY IN THE SELLER'S ACCOUNT! Only recovered USD0.84! Is June going to recover her full refund? Money's not really the big problem but to be 'conned' of about RM259 ......

Those ppl are still updating their website cos we noted different special items are on the list compared to the time we went in to check. Shows dat these 'CONPERSONS' are still up to their business - 'conning' ppl out there!!!

I'm not saying all online sellers are 'bad eggs' but, fellow bloggers, do be careful the next time u do online purchasing!!!!