Maintenance inside and out

While Ross headed to Miri for the day very early this morning, I stayed in bed for an extra half hour before getting up and dressed in time to get to Prince Court Medical Center for my Well Woman check-up at 7.30.

Going through the usual rigmarole of sanitising my hands and wearing my pink sticker to show I was clear of Swine Flu, I headed down to the Executive Health Department. I was met by a nurse who registered me, explained the procedures I would do today, showed me to the changing room and asked me to pee in a cup - good start!

From there I was led to the laboratory where they drew a lot of blood for the numerous blood tests - cancer markers, HIV, glucose, blood work, venerial diseases etc. I was also given an eye test checking for colour blindness and my general eye test. Next was weight, height, waist to hip ratio and lung capacity test. The last test in this batch was a hearing test.

After all this, I waited in the lounge for the radiology department to open so I could go and get my chest X-ray, ultrasounds and bone density scan. I was escorted to the department and changed into my pink "scrubs" and fluffy robe! First was the chest x-ray then I went to the MRI department for the bone density scan. Next was the ultrasound of all my internal organs and my boobs. Then this stage of the check-up was done.

Back in the Executive Health lounge, I waited for the doctor for the next part of the exam. The doctor asked me some standard questions and then gave me a pap smear test as well as an abdominal, chest and breast examination.

I left the doctor and next up was the stress test - i.e. running on the treadmill to measure your heart. The nurse explained the procedure, hooked my up to the electrodes and then took my resting heart rate and pulse. Then it was onto the treadmill. The machine spends three minutes at each level and with each level increase, it gets faster and the incline gets steeper! The aim is to get to at least 85% of your target heart rate (220 - your age) and then continue onto 100% target heartrate if possible. My target heartrate was 187. It took me about 9 minutes to get to 85% and I managed to go 2 minutes longer until I got up to Step 4 and 95% of my target heartrate. By this time I had to hold onto the hand rail as the slope was pretty steep. I had 6 minutes to recover before the test was over. If you ever wondered what your heart looks like when it's working hard - see the photo of the ECG.

This was the last test in the check-up. I took a shower, ate the lunch they provided me and went out to Coffee Bean (which was in the hospital) for a cappuccino and to wait for my results. Before I knew it the nurses came to find me as all of the results were in. I met with the doctor again and she took me through everything. All my tests were in normal ranges. The only thing that came out of the tests was that my good versus bad cholesterol showed an indicator of becoming higher in the future. Although my bad cholesterol was 2.9, well within the recommended 0 - 3.4 range, the doctor said that the international gold star standard to avoid heart disease was less than 1.9. She recommended I take fish oil supplements, oats and muesli daily and also a supplement called Lecithin. She also said I should cut down on red meat and seafood. I was suprised about the seafood as I didn't think this affected cholesterol and I eat quite a bit!

So I walked out of the clinic 4 hours later with a clean bill of health. I drove to Pavilion for my hair appointment and although I was early, I hoped I could get in - but no luck. Instead I went to Parkson and managed to walk in to Benefit for a brow and lip wax! Certainly a way to kill time. I walked out in time for my hair appointment at The Belfry. I changed from my other salon, Andy Ho, because I wasn't happy with the colouring that they do. I met Marc who put highlights through my hair and definitely toned down the yellow colour left behind from the other guy. I walked out with a better head all round :-)

I went up to the next level and went to the gym for a great workout. I pushed myself on the cross-trainer for 45 minutes before getting on some of the weight machines. I ended with some stretching which felt great and I left Pavilion with new hair, eyebrows, lips and hopefully a better body :-)

Before leaving, I went down to Sumo Sushi for a quick bite and pretty much gorged myself as I was so hungry! I went home and caught up on my blog, did some washing and have a feeling it won't be long until I am in bed.

Not much on the agenda today

This morning began with me heading to the gym. On my return, I ran myself a bath and while it was running had breakfast. After satisfying my hunger, I soaked in the bath for quite a while trying to rejuvenate my sore bones while keeping my foot out of the water!

Once dressed (obviously!) I drove over to Pavilion to have lunch, wander around the shops, book into a new hairdresser, buy some movie tickets and do some more food shopping. I also bought myself a new watch at Fossil. I had been looking for a white watch for ages and finally found one I liked.

By the time I had done all that it was 4.30 and I headed home. Ross blew in the door just after 5, quickly got changed and headed to the gym for half an hour. We then headed back to Pavilion to catch a movie - State of Play with Russell Crowe. What a great movie! It had been a long time since we had seen a good crime/ thriller at the cinemas.

We headed home after the movie but on the way we came across the BMW exhibition at the bottom of the mall. The new Z4 convertible is my new car of choice (if I had a choice!!) - see photo. At home we cooked up some fish cakes (Weight Watcher's recipe) to snack on for dinner. They were really good and so simple. I simply chopped up a chilli, some coriander and spring onions. Popped them into the blender with some fish sauce and the fish. blended it until smooth then made them into little patties and cooked them!

To the gym... again

I woke up late this morning after a wonderful 11 hour sleep! Ross was up and out before the sun even rose so I took advantage of the peace and quiet. When I finally did wake up, I had some breakfast and then headed to Pavillion to go to the gym. It had been a week since I went and worked out on the machines. After 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer, I hit the weight machines for another 30 minutes.

I went to shower and realised that I had forgot a towel so I had to dry myself with my tracksuit pants - not cool at all! Also not that absorbent as they are 'climacool' and designed to repel sweat! Anyway, I made do with my makeshift towel, got changed and went to Dome for lunch were I caught up on my blog and did a few other things online.

From Pavillion, I drove to Great Eastern mall to run a few errands and do some shopping. By the time I had finished there it was already 5 - amazing how time flies! Ross came home about 6 to find me in much better shape than yesterday. I cooked prawn and asparagus pasta in a cream sauce and we sat on the balcony to eat and catch up on the day over a glass of wine - a nice evening!

As we sat outside, the sky turned this amazing shade of pink behind the towers. I know the photo looks surreal but this was the true colour. I never get sick of looking at those things!

A full day

As usual, this Wednesday started early with me picking up Sonja to head out to FRIM. We picked Julia up on the way. Every week we go and they charge us a different amount to enter the park. This week they tried to charge up 15 ringgit - the most we would have ever paid. Sonja had a bit of an argument with the gate guard and we ended up paying 7 ringgit which is pretty much what we normally pay although last week it was free!

We did our trek up the mountain and down again and today it actually didn't feel too bad. Perhaps all this exercise is starting to pay off? Don't get me wrong, I was still drenched in sweat and we stopped on the way up but I actually enjoyed it today.

We dropped Julia home so she could head out to do her dress shopping - she still doesn't have a dress for the ball on Saturday. Sonja and I drove back to Stonor, had quick showers and then walked over to the Prince Hotel where the American Women's Association Spring Bazaar was being held. Debbie, the lady I met at the Oilman's Dinner, was working at the White Elephant stall so I thought it would be nice to pop by and say hi. Of course, I couldn't find her!

Sonja and I wandered among the stalls for an hour or so. We both bought things from a stall selling silver jewellery at really reasonable prices. I bought a chunky ring and thick silver hinged bangle. I also bought a plate that looks like the Monopoly game board - don't ask me why but I did. I thought it might be fun to use at the bar or when we have games nights.

From there we went to Pavillion for lunch as we were both starving. We ended up at Tony Roma's where they do a good value lunch deal. For 17 ringgit I got a cup of soup, a chicken salad and a never ending drink. And it was good!

Sonja and I wandered the shops, had a coffee and changed our hair and makeup appointments to be a bit earlier. Today's photo is of a car that was in the foyer of the mall. I have no idea what type it is but thought it looked kinda cool.

By the time we walked home, it was 4pm. When Ross came home from work, we watched American Idol and then drove over to KLCC for dinner and to pick up my dress for the last time. We ate at the Korean BBQ place and it was fantastic! They had this seafood pancake that sounds aweful but was dfelicious with small prawns, vegetables and I think potato all kind of fried together - yum! The fried rice and the grilled beef were great too.

Downstairs, I picked up my dress, tried it on quickly - it's ok but still not perfect. But it will do. Then we headed home.

Start of the week

I woke up about 9.30am and headed to the lounge for breakfast while watching Project Runway. From there I took myself down to the gym and worked out for just over an hour.

By the time I got back upstairs, it was midday. Sonja text and asked if I wanted to meet her for lunch so I showered and walked over to KLCC. We ate at Dome and then went downstairs to look at shoes to go with Sonja's dress for the ball. She ended up buying a pair with jewels down the front - gorgeous! The photo is of my big hoofer next to another pair of shoes that Sonja was trying on. She has tiny feet! Size 6 compared to my gigantic size 10 - made me laugh.

From there we walked over to Pavillion for a coffee and also to see if we could find a place to do our makeup for the ball. We booked appointments at MAC for Saturday afternoon - the last thing before the ball.

We walked home and it was quite steamy so we put our togs on, grabbed our sun loungers and headed to the pool. Maddy and Ian joined us and we floated about for an hour or so. On the way out of the pool I joked with Sonja that we will end up as twins at the ball as we are getting our hair, makeup and nails done together. A bit like the Stepford wives however she said more like the Stonor wives!

I had a bunch of potatoes that were on their last legs so while Ross was at the gym, I looked up a potato, corn and ham soup recipe from the Weight Watchers site. It was fantastic! I think I will be making that one again. Luckily there is some left over for lunch tomorrow.

An enjoyable day

I woke up at 10am (after Ross rolled in at 1am!), had some breakfast and headed straight to the gym at Pavillion. I did some cardio and weight machines for an hour and a half. I toweled off the sweat and did a quick deodorant spray before going down to the Benefit Beauty Bar at Parkson's to get my eyebrows waxed. I figured while I looked a wreck, I might as well go the whole hog!

At home I made a salad for lunch then headed down the pool. I floated around in the sun reading my book for about and hour or a half.

After a shower, I tidied the house and waited for Ross to come home so we could watch American Idol. After seeing Danny get kicked off, I used the leftovers of last night's salmon to make a salmon and asparagus pasta for dinner.

Ross was having a shirt made for his dinner suit so we headed to Great Eastern Mall to pick it up. It looks great with his bowtie! So we are all set for the ball tomorrow night.

(Blue is making an appearance in today's photo)

Still working on the computer

This morning began with me trying to fix up my iTunes library on the hard-drive. iTunes can't seem to pick up all the songs that I have and I can't find all the files. It took me hours to try and move all the files into one folder and I got pretty fed up with it all.

I took a break when Ross came home for lunch and then went back to it with still limited success. In between cursing the computer, I had a break by doing some sketching - something that I had wanted to start up again for ages. I pick the metal cage that holds a candle to draw and managed to get the basic shapes sketched out. Next step is to finalise the shapes and start the shading. I really enjoyed doing it after so long!

Ross came home to start his long weekend early and we headed over to the Pavillion to see what options were around for dresses for the ball and bow ties for Ross. We didn't find anything too promising in the dress department but we did find a shop full of bow ties.

Before we went shopping, I loosened Ross up with a pint of Hoegarden at La Bodega. We always laugh over the size of the pint glasses that they serve it in. The waiter then came out with the mother of all beer glasses - a 3 litre monster of a glass! He told us they normally only give this out when there are more than 5 people drinking the beer. I think Ross will be bringing a few mates with him next time just to get that photo! Apparently, you are supposed to link a bunch of straws together and stand on a chair to drink from it!

We had dinner at the little teppenyaki place in the food court - it was really good! - then we headed home to catch American Idol.

Year of the Ox

So yes, again I am talking about Chinese New Year. After Ross and I took Black and Blue to the boarding cattery (they left us with a few scars just to have something to remember them by!), I spent most of the day in the spa. Ross bought me a fantastic package at Kanebo Spa which included hot stone massages and facials. I walked out after 3 hours feeling brand new!

On the way back to the car, I noticed that Pavilion had put this lucky bull outside. Apparently you touch his head for good luck and prosperity - I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Ross and I spent the afternoon finishing packing and showing Brian's parents Earl and Mary around our flat where they will be staying while we are away. We then headed to the airport to fly to Aus...

More on Chinese New Year

Ross and I spent the day tidying up the place after the family left last night and getting ready for our trip to Aus tomorrow. As with any vacation, a bit of personal maintenance was in order so we headed to Pavilion - Ross for a haircut and me for some other bits and pieces.

As mentioned in one of my last posts, the city is gearing up for Chinese New Year. In the mall today we watched Chinese drummers perform. It was pretty cool hearing their beats reverberating through the entire mall!

I also took a video but because I am not that bright I filmed the whole thing sideways! Shame, because it was quite good too.