One of the worst days ever - Brian shot!

Today started like a normal day. We woke up late in the morning and I realised that my leg had a major infection from where I had epilated yesterday. One whole strip on the right side of my right calf was covered in large pustules. I knew immediately that I had folliculitus again like I had when I got my first tatoo.

Ross took me down to the A & E at Prince Court Medical Center and I saw a doctor who prescribed antibiotics, antihistamines to take away the itchiness, antispetic cream to apply on the skin and pain killers. We got back home in time to catch the start of the AFL Grand Final.

Ross had invited Brian over to watch too so we gave him a call and he said he was having breakfast with Sonja and Emma after they had walked FRIM and he would come over when he got back. So Ross and I continued to watch the grand final and I even managed to find Australian party pies for half time.

The game finished and we were just hanging out when the intercom buzzer rang. We assumed it was Brian but we were suprised to hear Emma on the other end saying that it was kind of an emergency and could she come up.

All sorts of things ran through our heads but when Emma came off the lift and said that her dad had been shot it was the last thing that we expected. It took Ross and I a few seconds to realise that she was serious and to pull ourselves together to work out what she needed us to do.

We jumped in the car and headed back to Plaza Mont Kiara where they had been having breakfast. Apparently, as they had been walking back to their car, they saw an old lady being mugged by a guy wearing a bike helmet who was trying to steal her bag and really hurting her in the process. Brian ran over and pulled the guy off the old lady and as he ran away, Brian chased him down and started beating him. Before they new it, the robber had pulled a gun on Brian and had let off one shot into the air before aiming at Brian's chest and pulling a second time. After the robber had jumped on his bike and fled, Sonja had compressed the entry sight to try and contain the bleeding while Emma ran upstairs to get help at Starbucks. She managed to run into two Australian paramedics who had an office in the tower above the carpark and so after assessing Brian's condition, they ran upstairs and grabbed their equipment and managed to administer oxygen and fluids to Brian while he still laid in the carpark. They also had their own ambulance which they called and after 30 minutes since the time he was shot, Brian was taken to the University Hospital where the top cardiothoracic surgeon had been summoned and was there waiting for Brian.

With Emma, we managed to pick up Sonja's valuables and their car before heading to the hospital to meet up with Sonja and find out how Brian was. They had him waiting on a gurney on the cardiothoracic ward while they waited for an operating theatre to become available. Ross and I went in with Sonja and Emma to see Brian who was still conscious but in a lot of pain. He even joked with us about missing the football.

From there, Ross took Emma to the school to pick up Maddie and bring her back to the hospital and I stayed with Sonja while we worked out what was going on and what to do. The girls came back with Ross but by this time Brian had already gone into surgery and would be in there for a while. Ross took the girls home and again I stayed with Sonja to wait for results from the doctor.

Emma was pretty shaken up by the whole thing which was to be expected but particularly because while she was in the carpark looking after her dad, a person rang her pretending to be the police and asked her lots of details including her personal information such as her address etc. She soon found out that this person was a reporter pretending to be a policeman and she was scared that someone would track her or her family down.

After about 2 hours of surgery, the doctor called Sonja in and explained that he had fractured 7 ribs and had punctured part of his lung. They were worried about the amount of bleeding but they would keep him in ICU to assess the bleeding and keep Brian on morphine for the pain before doing a thorough cat scan on Monday. Sonja spent a few hours sitting with Brian who was still conscious before we finally decided that it would be best if she went home to her kids. We left about midnight.

I finally got home to see Ross. We hugged each other and broke down after all the drama of the day. Brian was doing ok but still no where near out of the woods yet. It really makes you stop and think about your own life...

A great start to the 4-day weekend!

We woke up about 9.30 this morning and made smoothies for breakfast before heading to the gym for a workout. It was the first time I had done a proper workout on the elliptical trainer for weeks so I was sweating up a storm by the time I finished! It felt great to stretch my body out properly again after so long.

From the gym, we showered and walked over to Pavilion for brunch before heading to Low Yat to do a couple of things. Unfortunately, the service at Dome was aweful and we had to wait for ever for our meals as they had stuffed up the order but they did give us a free coffee.

At Low Yat we hit the first store selling HTC phones to see if the Hero was in stock. The guy only had one piece in stock and it was the white colour but he said he could get the brown one here from PJ in an hour so we left him and went to do a few other things while we waited for the phone to arrive.

I had brought the old laptop with us to try and get the memory upgraded. I took it to our usual place but the guys there weren't the normal guys I had seen befroe and weren't really helpful. They said that the memory chip (a 256MB) was too old and that the new cards were not supported by the computer. It's a shame because we could have upgraded the laptop to 4MB of RAM but instead we have to leave it at 256KB.

Anyway, we left them and headed to our usual Superstore as I wanted to buy a new webcam for our computer at home. I also managed to convince Ross to buy a Logitech Universal Remote which I almost bougt him for his birthday this year. So we walked out of there with a specky webcam, the universal remote and a free 8GB thumb drive!

From there we headed back to the HTC store where the guy said it would be 15 more minutes. We asked if we could look at the white handset but he said it had already been sold - seems like the phones were walking out the door! They have just come into stores in Malaysia this week.

We went and had another coffee while we waited and when we went back we picked up the phone. They threw in a screen protector and an 8GB micro SD card as well. So we walked home with some new toys to play with!

I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with my phone while we watched sport on the TV. First the Union game between Aus and NZ, then the disappointing Collingwood/ Geelong game and finally the Broncos/ St George elimination final. The only break we had was to go and pick up some dinner from California Pizza Kitchen.

I managed to completely update my phone with all my contacts and set up the 7 home screen to my liking. It is a VERY cool phone (see photo) and the Android interface is amazing. Better than the iPhone :-)

So today was a great first day of the Hari Raya Aidilfitri long weekend. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri everyone!

A productive and busy day

This morning started by me meeting Julia at her place around 8.15. We went and had a coffee before heading to netball. It was the first time I had played in quite a while and it was great to see the girls again! It was incredibly hot though and so by the time we finished I was exhausted.

We headed back to Julia's place and I jumped in the shower while Julia was kind enough to make scrambled eggs for breakfast. I scarfed them down before heading out the door to make it to my beading class in time.

At beading class, I met Hester and realised I had forgotten my tools so luckily she was kind enough to lend me hers for today. We made two rings today (see photo). They were both very different and quite easy to make. Again, I can imagine making them out of quality beads and they would be great. I really liked the purple and green colours in the woven ring and I can imagine Swarovski crystals for the starburst ring.

I finished the projects about 1pm and drove to Ikano to meet Sonja for lunch at Dome. After lunch we headed to Strip! for our waxing appointments. Afterwards, we popped in for a quick 30min foot massage before each heading our separate ways to go home.

It started to rain as soon as I got in the car and the traffic was so bad it took me 1 hour 15 mins to get home where it would normally take me 20 mins. I was not too happy by the time I got there. Ross was already at home when I arrived and we watched the AFL finals game between Brisbane and the Bulldogs. No real surprise the Bulldogs won.

I was absolutely shattered by 8.30 so I headed to bed.

A good start to the weekend

We both woke up about 8.30 this morning and we made smoothies for breakfast before heading out and about to do a few things. We drove over to Pavilion and went Hugo Boss to try and get Ross' watch repaired. They were really good and since it is covered under warranty they will fix it for us.

After, we had a coffee at the Coffee Bean before walking down Bukit Bintang to try and find a 70s/ 80s costume for Ross for next weekend. We ended up at BB Plaza and although Ross has an afro wig, we couldn't find anything 70s; it seems the 80s are back with a vengence fashion wise! We didn't really find anything that we liked so he will have to go back tomorrow.

We picked up some groceries at Mercato before heading home again. We spent the afternoon watching AFL again and relaxing. About 4, Ross headed to the office to pick up his computer and came home with a beautiful bunch of flowers for me (see photo)! We did a few chores around the house before watching the tri-nations game. It was nice to see the Wallabies win!!

We cooked up burgers and snags on the BBQ for dinner before heading back inside to watch the last AFL game of the day. A great start to the weekend!

Total veg day

Today I spent the entire day pretty much on the couch. I woke up at 10.30 after having to wait up for Ross to let him in when he rolled in just before 1. Luckily, I woke up in time to let the wallpaper guys in who arrived at 11. I had some breakfast and watched some TV while they wallpapered the dividing wall between the dining room as the gyprock kept cracking.

Ross came home for lunch with a pretty rotten hangover. We spent some time together before he had to head back to work. I dropped him off at the office and then spent the rest of the afternoon under the blanket on the couch watching pretty crap TV! Black spent most of his afternoon on my lap and Blue spent his afternoon outside in the cat tunnel.

About 5 I thought I should really start pulling my finger out so I prepared a veggie curry and let it cook while I headed to the shower. With my PJs on, I finished getting dinner ready and ate it while watching the first AFL finals game between the Crows and the Essendon - great game!

Ross was out at another work Buka Puasa so I watched the game by myself. He got home about 10 and we watched the last round of the NRL before I headed to bed.

Today's photo is of the construction site. See the last photos on May 2 and July 30.

A completely chilled out day!

Ross took the day off today and we spent the whole morning lazing about the apartment - wonderful! About lunchtime we thought we should probably head out to get some food so we walked back to the Soup Spoon to try some of their other flavours!

In the afternoon, we watched football pretty much for the rest of the day. I took a nap for a few hours and woke up about 4. We decided not to go out for dinner tonight and Ross made pasta for us which we ate... in front of the TV! We watched the AFL and the NRL and then fell asleep.

A bit of pampering

This morning I woke up to have breakfast with Ross and then fell back to sleep until 11! I think my body is trying to fight off this sinus infection that keeps trying to break through. Anyway, by the time I did a few things around the house, had a shower and talked to the cleaners it was already 2 o'clock.

I thought I should get off my butt so I packed my book and walked over to KLCC. I thought I would try to see if I could get in for a nail appointment at the new salon - The Nail Parlour. I went straight up and they could fit me in straight away. I opted for the hot mud mani/pedi with masque (even though Ross and I just had hand and feet treatments on Monday in Broome!).

The treatment began as normal with a soak of my feet, then she scrubbed them with an exfoliating scrub before applying a red mud all over my feet. They were then wrapped in cling wrap and placed in these hot electric booties (see photo)!

While my feet were heating up she moved on to my hands. She did the same treatment there and before long I had these massive mittens on both hands - not easy to read a book with those things on!

Back to my feet and she went through the normal pedicure routine and soon I had gorgeous coral coloured toes. Back at my hands, she removed the mittens, washed and moistuised my hands before getting on with the manicure.

When she was ready to paint my fingers, I moved to the manicure desks out the front where she applied the nail colour. I sat by the drying machine for a while before I was ready to leave. I was pretty impressed by this treatment as it was about the same price as the spa treatment at my old nail salon but was alot better. The only thing I didn't like was that she cut my cuticles too short and so now I will have to be really careful that they don't dry out and split. There is one more nail salon I want to try before I commit to any so we'll wait and see how that goes.

By the time I walked out of there it was already 5.30. Ross walked up to the park and met me and we walked home together just in time to start watching the footy. We watched until quarter time and then started thinking about making dinner. We decided to make and BBQ some beef kebabs and I made a mango and corn salsa to go with it. At half time, Ross fired up the barbie and we sat outside looking at the towers enjoying our meal.

Back inside, we caught the last quarter of a pretty dismal game between Carlton and Collingwood. We watched Boston Legal and then decided it was time for bed.

Just chillaxing!

We rose about 10am after last night's frivolities. After a bit of a slow start, (although Ross and I did manage to get to the gym) we drove to Great Eastern mall for breakfast at Alexis - awesome! We did a bit of shopping for a big Vietnamese cook-up tonight.

Back at home, Ross and I spent the afternoon trying to pack for our trip to Aus while trying to watch the AFL match between St Kilda and Geelong - great game! About 5, we started to get dinner prepared. Dee and I thought we would try to replicate some of the dishes from our trip to Vietnam. Dee worked on the stuffed snapper, Ross and I worked on the beetroot and goat's cheese salad as well as the grapes wrapped in goat's cheese and pistachios.

We waited while 'Kevin' the Snapper cooked on the BBQ (see photo). Dee, Ross and I enjoyed an great meal with a lovely bottle of wine while watching the towers. After dinner, we relaxed on the couch for a while before heading to bed. Dee's last day in KL...

Health and Fitness check:

Weight: 71.8kg - put on 1 kg in a week! - too much booze :-(

Exercise:

- Weight machines: 35 minutes
- Walking on treadmill: 20 minutes
- Elliptical trainer: 30 minutes
- Misc. walking in Hanoi: a lot but obviously not enough to compensate for the food and booze!

A pretty mundane day

I woke up around 9 this morning and organized the house so it was ready for the cleaners to come in this afternoon. I caught up on things online, had a quick shower, then drove to KLCC in time for my check-up with Dr. Guru. He took the dressing off the wound and was quite happy with how the wound is healing. He also said that there is no need to continue with the freezing. I just have to keep the wound clean and not go swimming for a week to allow a scab to form. I am happy that this is over and done with!

I rang Ross on my way out of KLCC and picked him up for lunch. We drove to Great Eastern and had lunch at O'Briens - a good sandwich place. Ross also dropped into the tailor and picked up his pants that he had made and a shirt that he had altered. We picked up a Starbucks and I dropped Ross back at work.

From there I headed out to Mid Valley mall to look for tank tops and a T-shirt for Ross. We are going to make tour T-shirts for our road trip up the WA coast so Elyse, Dee, Ross and I will look like the Wiggles in our brightly coloured matching shirts. I will iron on the logo this weekend.

I drove home in the rain and got in about 3. I spent the afternoon on the bed watching TV with the cats until Ross got home at 6. We made gourmet pizzas for dinner (although we had to ask Brian if we could cook them in his oven as ours stopped working!) and I whipped up a batch of Pina Coladas (see photo) in time to watch the AFL. A lazy Friday night.

We were supposed to have a golf lesson tonight but it has been changed to Sunday. Probably a good thing as it will give my foot an extra couple of days to recover.

Dragonboats

We had a slow start to the day this morning after the relatively late night last night. Ross cooked bacon and eggs for brunch about 11am. I remembered that the Dragon Boat festival was on in Putrajaya so we showered and took to the road.

We had never been to Putrajaya before so we entrusted the GPS to get us there. Stupid machine wasn't working properly so we had to rely on our memories and the highway signs but we found it city pretty easily. Putrajaya is a "planned" city a bit like Canberra with a lot of government ministries etc. It is a unique city in its architecture as well. However, today, there weren't many people around - don't know if this is the norm or not.

We drove around for a while trying to find the dragon boats and luckily we heard an advert on the radio telling us which precinct it was in. After that it was pretty easy to find. We parked the car and walked down the the huge man-made lake system where the races were being held. We worked out that we had missed most of the races as they had happened in the morning but we had about 45 minutes to wait until the last three races of the day.

We wandered about the stalls and across the other side of the lake where there was a newly opened resort called Pullmans. It seemed empty but looked beautiful. While we were walking along the promenade, a little ferry pulled up to dock and we realized that this was the scenic lake tour boat. Something we need to try next time. We also saw that there was a bike path that ran throughout Putrajaya. It would be great to bring the bikes down, ride for a while and have a picnic by the lake.

We walked back to the grandstand and took our seats for the final races. They were all pretty close and actually quite interesting to watch. I was amazed how fit these guys and girls were! They certainly made it look easy however I am sure that it is not!

After the races we left Putrajaya and drove to 1 Utama to buy snorkels and fins for our trip to Langkawi next weekend. We had some lunch first at a groovy sushi place called... Sushi Groove :-) Excellent sushi! We picked up a Starbucks and wandered amongst the throngs of people trying to find the scuba shop that we remembered seeing.

We found it and bought some decent masks, snorkels and fins. While we were looking for the scuba store, we came across a home improvements shop where we found a great shower head - almost like a rain shower I guess. So we bought it! On the way out, we did a hit and run at Cold Storage to pick up some essentials. By the time we left 1 Utama it was already 7pm - incredible!

We were home by 7.30, installed the new shower head to enjoy a shower, made a chicken salad for dinner and vegged in front of the Saturday Night footy match - Brisbane vs Carlton.

A typical Saturday

Despite the late night last night, Ross was still up at 8am to watch the rugby (no surprise!). We had taped the AFL game from last night so we spent the morning on the couch watching a great game between the Kangaroos and Collingwood.

I went over to KLCC to try and look for more dress options. I spent a couple of hours over there with little luck however I did come home with a couple of tops. Ross was still on the couch when I got home.

In the afternoon we watched more AFL before heading out to Great Eastern mall to have a look around. The evening was spent much the same way - watching AFL - before we headed to bed early.

Today's photo is of the construction site across the road. Ross had a good idea to take one photo a month to compare the progress - let's see the difference next month.