Decision made

Well, I've decided about 2 weeks back that I'd be going for the operation. Although I was having 2nd thoughts about the op since the doc said that facial damage will be about 10-20%, but I think removing it is better than leaving it in my head. What if it grows as big as a melon ? It will squish my brains and eyes to 1 side !

Also, the alternative medicine that I was taking doesn't seem to be having any effect as all. Since last Sun, my left ear feels "blocked", a feeling akin to being on high land or when you have flu. I was a bit worried after the 3rd day so went to UM to see a doctor. Unfortunately, the group of docs I normally see had changed their shift from Wed/Fri to Tue/Thu. But I figured, what the heck, just go see one of them.

After waiting 1 hour, it was finally my turn. The doc did some tests using the tuning fork, then asked me to go do some auditory tests in Pantai because the machine in UM is under repair.

However, I decided not to do that. Instead I waited until evening to find out if the Prof Prepa was on duty. Upon finding that he was, I left at 6pm sharp and went home to collect my ah ma and the patient card.

I reached there around 7:20pm, and registered. After waiting a while, I went into the room. He checked my ear and said that my ears looked very clear. I can actually see in on the monitor. It was clear and clean.

He said it's probably due to the tumour. Then he sprayed something into my nose, and asked me to go outside and wait for a few minutes. After a while, he called me back in again. Then he poked a camera down my nose !

He showed me that the tumour is pressing against the tube, and he said that after removing the tumour, my ear's hearing should return to normal. Then I asked him again about the operation. He said that the facial nerves damages should be temporary, and for first 2-3 weeks, I won't be able to chew properly, especially on the left side.

I will probably be given 4-6 weeks' medical leave by the doctor. I will make sure to rest properly before going back to work, since I had been working so hard lately. I rarely leave the office before 8:30pm ! Therefore, it will indeed be a good time for me to take a well-deserved rest (well, at least I think so lor....)

I will be working until 28th, admitting on 29th and on 30th, the doc will be performing my operation. After that, I will be given medical leave for 4-6 weeks, depending on my recuperation progress. Of course, the longer the better ler ! Hehehe.... it IS a MAJOR operation, not to be taken lightly. However, the doc seemed pretty confident about the op, so hopefully everything goes well.

Hong Kong - 1st Day

I went to Hong Kong with my sis and my 2 nieces, Ade and Evelyn from 18th March - 22nd March. We took the 9am flight from KLIA on Cathay Pacific and we will be staying in Hotel Kowloon in Tsim Sha Tsui area.

I saw Mr. Magorium's Emporium on the flight to Hong Kong, and watch Beowulf on the flight back to KLIA. As for the food on Cathay Pacific, seems that the fish fillet rice was terrible, because the fish had a very strong "fishy" taste. However, my omelette and hash browns were quite nice. I gave the Kit Kat and Yogurt to Ade and Evelyn. On the flight back, they also gave us Nestle ice cream. Yummy.
This is the plane we flew on. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, we can see that the sky was not very clear but the weather was cool. The Hong Kong airport was huge, with shops everywhere. Even their shuttle train were longer than the one in KLIA.
At the airport, we went looking for the agent and for the shuttle bus to take us to our hotel.
Upon arrival at our hotel, we went to check in. The hotel lobby is quite nice, and it is just next door to the Seibu departmental store. We booked two rooms since there were four of us.

The hotel rooms were small (the norm in Hong Kong) but quite nice and clean. It even had a small LCD TV (to save space). When we turned on the TV, there was a greeting to welcome us to their hotel. Talk about maximizing the use of technology !
After a while, we decided to go out and have a walk around, to try and recognize some landmarks. We saw a McDonalds nearby our hotel and immediately felt a bit hungry, so we wandered in to have some food. Sis was hankering for her porky bun. Hehehe....

The McDonalds in Hong Kong are much nicer and had a lot more selections. They have cakes, sandwiches and salads aside from the normal fare. They even have capuccino and lattes.

We ordered a lobster soup, and a Ham & Cheese set. The lobster soup was okay but a tad salty. The Ham & Cheese burger was delicious !

After the meal, we then made our way to the Avenue of Stars. Instead of going the short way, we took the long way there since we were still unfamiliar with the roads and directions. Finally we reach the harbour and saw the Hong Kong skyline, but as you can see, it still looks blurry.
There were also displays of Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying and Ni Ni around the area.

We continued along the Avenue Of Stars and took some photos with the various items and props. Hehehe...



We walked around the area and took some photos of the night view of the Hong Kong skyline.

At 8pm, we managed to get some seats to watch the Symphony of Lights show, where the lights on the buildings across the harbour changes according to the music played. Very nice and indeed spectacular.
After the show, we went in search of a place for dinner. In one of the departmental stores, they had 2 very nice antique cars on display.
Finally we decided to have dinner at UCC Cafe since it was Evelyn's birthday. The food was quite nice.

After dinner, we decided to go to the recommended Sweet Dynasty for desserts and supper. It was located at 100 Canton Road. We ordered some porridge and also their walnut soup, tau foo fa, mixed fruits sago and honeymelon sago. Everything was tasty and their porridge was so smooth and nice.

On the way back to the hotel after the desserts, we passed by a Hard Rock Cafe and also a big Louis Vuitton shop.

We reached the hotel around 11pm. Tomorrow, we decided to go to Disneyland so as to beat the weekend crowd.

Hong Kong - 2nd Day

We decided to go to Disneyland on a weekday, so we spent the whole of our 2nd day in Hong Kong there. We decided to go for breakfast at one of the local shops nearby our hotel before beginning our journey to Disneyland.


We ordered chee cheong fun, porridge, wantan mee and beef ball noodles. The food was quite good, and the coffee was nice.




After breakfast, we took the MTR towards Sunny Bay. Once there, we boarded the MTR that will take us to Disneyland. Even the trains' windows had the famous Mickey Mouse symbol and the train's interior was very different from the normal MTR trains.
We reach Disneyland around 9am. Seen here is the entrance to the Hong Kong Disneyland.

On the way in, there was a very nice fountain with the many figurines of Disney characters around it.
Even the tickets are so nice. Each one had a different Disney character on it. However, Disneyland only opens at 10am, so we sat around on the benches outside to wait for the doors to open.
Around 9:50am, we started to queue at the entrance. When the doors opened, the workers checked everyone's bags. Initially we thought they wanted to consfiscate all the drinks and food that people bring in. But it wasn't that because they allowed those who brought food and drinks to pass through. Hmmmm, wondered what they were looking for ? Weapons Of Mass Destruction ? Or are they planning to consfiscate all the Bugs Bunny, Tweety or Snoopy that people bring in ?

After we passed through the gates, we took a photo of the big Mickey with the Disney train station in the background.
On our way inside, we saw a Pluto character and went to take a picture with it.

At the Town Centre, we quickly went to queue for a photo with the stars of Disneyland, Mickey and Minnie. Nice leh....
Altogether in Hong Kong Disneyland, there are 3 "lands". There's Tomorrowland, Fantasyland and Adventureland. We went to Tomorrowland first, and went queuing for Space Mountain. It was a very exciting roller coaster ride in the dark. You feel as if you're really in space, with all the stars zooming past you. We went on the ride TWICE but sis decided not to go again. In fact if I had the time, I would have gone on it a few more times !!! Sis waited for us at the Comet Cafe nearby.

After that, Ade, Evelyn and I tried the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. It's a very kiddy ride, where you sit in a "car" and you can use the "gun" in front to point at shoot at the bad guys to get score points. Ade scored the highest followed by me.

Then we collected sis from the cafe and went to see Stitch Encounter. There are sessions in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. We decided not to wait for an English session, so we just joined the Mandarin one. It was a very very funny show, with the cartoon Stitch interacting with the audiences. Very enjoyable indeed.

By the time we came out from the show, it was close to 11:30am, and the Golden Mickeys show begins at 12pm, so we went queuing for it. The thing about all these resorts, you have to queue for everything, and they don't provide benches for you to sit while waiting. Sigh.......

The Golden Mickeys is an "award show" for the Disney characters. Quite entertaining.

After the show, we decided to have our lunch as our stomachs were beginning to growl. Although the food was not that great and quite pricey, we really liked the utensils. Just look at the bowl. It's side handles had Mickey's symbol on it. Nice hoh ?

After lunch, we then went to watch the 3D Mickey's PhilharMagic show. Again, a very enjoyable show with the storyline about Donald chasing after a magic hat and getting into all sorts of trouble.
In the theater, as we waited for it to begin, I suddenly had a whiff of eggs and when I looked around, I saw an old aunty peeling an egg for her lunch. Hehehe...
Ade and Evelyn went on the carousel after the show, then it was time to get back to the Main Street for the 3pm Disney Parade. Instead of walking, we decided to take the train from Fantasyland back to the Main Street.

In the train, we had a glimpse of the whole of Tomorrowland.
We managed to get some seats for the Disney Parade, but I sat with Evelyn while sis sat with Ade right across the street. While waiting for the Parade to start, I dashed into Mickey's House and took some photos.

There was this couple sitting next to us from UK, and they had adopted a very cute African kid. He kept pestering his dad for popcorns, then he also played with Evelyn and myself. Very nice and friendly kid, not the least bit afraid of us at all.

Just before the parade started, some very stubborn woman and her daughter decided to stand right in front of our seats to watch the parade ! Even though many berated them, they refuse to move ! Talk about rude people ! So in the end, Evelyn and myself had to resort to standing on our benches in order to be able to take some decent photos.

After the parade, we went back to Fantasyland and saw "Merlin" near the carousel trying to find a "king" to pull the sword out from the stone.
From Fantasyland, we went to Adventureland. We went on the Jungle River Cruise, which had queues for English, Cantonese and Mandarin. We chose English of course, and it was the shortest queue ! Hehehehe.....

Quite an interesting ride, and our boatman kept saying "Say goodbye to those on land, it may be the last time you see them !". We passed by "elephants", "crocodiles", "hippos", and even a "danger zone" where there were geysers made by an angry "God".

Then Ade and Evelyn decided to take the river cruise to Tarzan Island. Sis and myself opted out as we didn't want to climb up the Tarzan tree ! My legs just couldn't take so much walking and queuing. Instead, I went in search of the Jumbo sausage. It was quite delicious.
At 5pm, we all began queuing for the Festival Of The Lion King show. We had to wait for 1 whole hour, and I can tell you, my legs were so tired. Made me wish I had brought along Yoko-Yoko to apply !

Finally at 6pm, we were allowed to enter the hall. Finally, we have places to sit ! The show was quite grand and elaborate. It was about Simba reminiscing how he became the King of all Beasts.
By the time the show finished, it was already closed to 7pm. Since the fireworks starts at 8pm, we decided to go back to the Main Street. We saw the Disney workers pulling the line to demarcate the border, and we managed to get a place just behind the line. Finally, there's no way anyone will be standing in front of me and blocking my view !

Sis, Ade and Evelyn decided to go collect the photos taken with Mickey & Minnie in the morning, and to pay a visit to Mickey's House. Since I had already been there, I became the designated seat reserver and bag watcher. It was really boring sitting there. Luckily I had my iPod with me. The square began to quickly filled up with people who wanted to watch the fireworks.
Finally at 8pm sharp, Ade and Evelyn managed to come back just in time for the fireworks to begin. It was really wonderful and spectacular, unlike the lousy one we saw in Putrajaya last year. Really worth the wait.


After the fireworks, we went shopping for souvenirs as a remembrance for our visit to Hong Kong Disneyland. I wanted to buy a very nice Mickey lanyard, but unfortunately, they were all sold out.

For our dinner, we decided to go back to town for dinner. Unfortunately, the shop we chose wasn't that great. Food was ok, but the coffee was not nice at all. We saw quite a few tables ordering some crispy fish skins, so we also ordered them, but it was so-so only. The noodles, rice and porridge were quite okay though.

After dinner, we went to Sweet Dynasty again for desserts before heading back to the hotel and dropping off to sleep. I practically smoothered by legs with Tiger Balm after taking my bath to try and ease the pain. (No Yoko-Yoko ma, use Tiger Balm as replacement lor....). It helped a bit, but not much.