Yau from Singapore

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My friend Yau came down to KL yesterday and I got to meet him at Lot
10 where he was with his gf. I didn’t have time to talk much though,
because of work but I’m glad to meet him finally. πŸ™‚ It’s always good
when people who have something in common talk. It was great. The shot
was taken by the Lot 10 security guard and it’s very blurry, sorry
about that. It tends to happen when people press the shutter release
instead of tap it (causing shake).

Anyway, I have much work to do today, I’ll reply the comments during
the next update. Thanks for all the well wishes, I’m fine now (bar a
distinct lack of serotonin). πŸ™‚

Klinic Bangsar Baru damn expensive – RM 150!

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Klinic Bangsar Baru @ Bangsar Telawi

I was feeling sick yesterday morning, feeling much better now
though. I couldn’t make it to work coz I kept on throwing up (again),
so I went to see a doctor. It was the Klinic Bangsar Baru at Bangsar
Telawi and I noticed that they’re panel doctors for companies like
Telekom, TV3, KLCC, NSTP, Tenaga National etc etc but I also saw the
word POLIKLINIC and where I come from (Sibu, Sarawak), policlinics are
cheaper than either private practises or GH. I was about to be shown
the errors of my ways by the policlinics in KL (second time this
happened, the first was bearable though).

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Nothing funny, unfortunately.

Anyway, I went to this doctor and the waiting room was empty since I
went at noon…told him my symptoms – constant throwing up, can’t get
anything down – not even water, vertigo when not lying down, diarrhea,
migranes (he didn’t give me anything for this though, dammit ;)), etc
etc. He asked me a few questions about this and told me to lie down on
the bed so he could fondle me a bit. Oops, give me a checkup I mean.
Well, after a bit of prodding here and there, he said that my body
temperature is very warm and he’ll like to give me some antibiotics for
it.

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Enclor Capsule 250 mg – Chloramphenicol
Antibiotik – Perlu Di Habiskan
Antibiotic – To complete course

Doctor: Hmm…how are you going to swallow the pills if keep on throwing up?
Me: That’s a good question. I guess I’ll just force it down and keep it down.
Doctor: Oh, I’ve got a better idea. I’ll give you an injection in the buttocks, just pull your pants down a bit.
Me: Erm…..

I couldn’t very well back down, and I figured an anti-emetic wouldn’t do me much harm so “OK”, I said.

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“Vomit” – no it doesn’t induce vomiting, it’s just an anti-emetic pill. KL doctors like to name their packs this way too.

Doctor: Right, I’m going to give you one shot in the left
buttock…here it goes. Okay. Hold this (cotton swab) right here while
I get another syringe.
Me: Another syringe?!?!?!
Doctor: Yeah, I’m giving you 4 medicines in two syringes. The
one I gave you just now is to stop you from vomiting and to harden your
stools. Now this one I’m giving you is an anti-biotic and (something
else I forgot).
Me: Er…*cough*…an antibiotic…is that really necessary?
Doctor: Of course it is, I’m giving you a course of antibiotics,
starting with this shot. This is a strong one, not one of the lesser
ones, this would be more effective.
Me: Right…..
Doctor: Okay, I’m injecting this one into your right buttocks, hold still. OK, hold this right here.

…….

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The interestingly labelled “Guts”. No, I don’t think it’s Marinol. πŸ˜‰

The doctor called me after the IM injections (I was still lying on
the bed as per his instructions) and TALKED for at least 20 minutes
about people from Sarawak he knew, even went through this guy who had a
daughter who was also in Melbourne and now working here. I nodded and
smiled politely and thought about how to raise the issue regarding
my…ah, migranes. Unfortuantely, the doctor didn’t let me get a word
in sideways so I gave up on that.

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“Diarrhea” pills.

Anyway, the doctor wrote me a sick cert/medical cert and off I went
to wait at the dispensary. Here was where another interesting thing
happened. The nurse called me over to the counter and on the dispensary
table laid two small plastic containers – one with a mix of colorful
pills (about 5) like the ones they give out at psychiatric wards and
the other with some thick milky substance (milk of magnesia).

Nurse: Wait ya, I’ll give you a drink of water.
Me: Am I supposed to eat all these?
Nurse: Yeah, here’s a glass of water.
Me: Can’t I eat these at home instead?
Nurse: No, you’ll get some other meds to bring home, these are the ones you eat here.
Me: Erm…okay…

…….

Nurse: Okay, here’s your bill sir. RM 150 please.
Me: I’m sorry? How much did you say it was?
Nurse: 150 dollars.
Me: Right…
/me looks into wallet
Me: I don’t have RM 150. Is there an ATM nearby?
Nurse: Yeah, walk straight down and turn left.

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Milk of Magnesia – certainly need it for my heartburn after the bill.

I went to withdraw some money, which left my bank balance at RM 2 (I
shit you not – good thing we get our monthly paychecks tomorrow) and
paid the clinic and left with a bunch of medications which I have no
intention of consuming. No, not even the antibiotics. I’m protesting
against the completely non-judicious use of stronger antibiotics when
the lesser ones would do just fine. I should send veritas over since
this doctor is so keen on giving out “strong” medications…he’ll
probably give veritas oxycodone (Oxycontin) for his headache. πŸ˜‰

Anyway, I went home and noticed that either the cupful of medication
or the things in the IM shots interacts with certain sedatives and KO’d
me for the rest of the afternoon. I woke up at nearly 7 pm and felt
fine again.

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RM 150 “only”.

RM 150 for a doctor’s visit indeed. I didn’t even get anything nice! Ouch my ass hurts.

I swear all those tablets, injections and liquid administered parenerally made me feel sicker.

Oh yeah, I passed by Taryn (one of my coworkers, except she’s my superior) this morning:

Taryn: Hello, so have you recovered?
Me: Recovered from what?

Someone please give me a very hefty kick to the ass…

Good thing the situation was salvaged when I IM’d her later to
explain that I thought she meant “recovered from the weekend” instead
of “recovered from my sick leave”.

I’m exhibiting all my medications (I brought them along) on my desk now for all to see and also so I won’t forget again. πŸ˜‰

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My Sijil Cuti Sakit.
Sijil Cuti Sakit = Certificate Holiday Sick (direct translation). It’s a medical leave cert.

Streamyx

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Streamyx by tmnet. I finally have broadband again. I’m on an ADSL
connection now, the technician just came today after I applied for the
Streamyx Basic 88 package (with the 384 kbps downstream and 128 kbps
upstream) two weeks ago and it just got activated today. I was actually
thinking about the Streamyx Basic 128 (with 512 kbps download and 128
kbps upload + free tmnet hotspot) coz I figured the hotspot (WLAN
roaming) would do the blog good, but unfortunately my paycheck would
rather I pay RM 40 less per month, coz that means more for other
expenses. πŸ˜‰

I will update again later and reply the comments, dinner awaits…

Karipap – 3 for RM 1

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Curry puffs – This stall outside Wisma Antarabangsa and Kenanga
International sells things like fried noodles, fried bee hoon, nasi
lemak etc, but I was throwing up the whole of last nite (pictures would
be up later ;)) so I got some currypuffs instead – RM 1 for 3!

Reply comments later okay? Work hours starting soon, better get started first.

sixthseal.com’s Mailbag (18/09/2003) – First Edition!

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Photo taken on the bus while going back tonight.

This is going to be a new regular feature on sixthseal.com now, so I
urge people who mail me to put “Private” or something along the lines
of that if you do not want your mail to be in the “sixthseal.com’s
Mailbag” Thursday posts. Of course, I will exercise discresion on my
part, I would NOT be posting too personal emails or emails which I feel
would violate or compromise any of us in any way, but just to be
certain, make it clear if the lines are ambiguous.

Anyway, this will be up every week on Thursday night (so you can
read it on Fridays) – featuring 4-6 of the not too personal and usually
site related emails that either me or veritas get during the weekly
period and do not have time to reply. Of course, it will not run if
there’s not enough emails, but there usually would be…God knows I’ve
been Mr. Tardy in replying emails, I just don’t have the time with my
job, and I figured…my blog is rather public, so this would be in line
with that and by doing this, I can reply the mails and make a post at
the same time. πŸ˜‰

P/S – Due to the volume, I cannot post every single mail. My
apologies. It would usually be 4-6 mails with a new photo which is
somehow related to mail or contacts.

From: Azmyl (**********@yahoo.com)
Date: 18 Sep 2003 03:26:18
subject: Hi!

Hi there Huai Bin!

My friend Alex(‘technolahgy’ fella) referred me to your site(s)…very interesting stuff!
Very scholarly i must say (I hear you need donations?)…[Edit:
Deleted sentence to protect sender’s privacy.](I was in Perth and
Melbourne but now back here in KL). Hunter S. Thompson THE man.

Anyways, I play music (Alex is in a band with me) and i dunno whether
the samples on the site would complement these excursions but do check
it out (http://yat.ch/mc) and my solo stuff(http://yat.ch/yunor) .
Plus, there’s a gig this weekend in Damanasara (i’m playing drums for a
friend’s band called Ben’s Bitches, http://yat.ch/bb) so do drop if
you’re free. I believe you’re acquainted with Grace? I’m not sure if
she’s going but do mail me back so i can mail ya the details.

cheers,

Azmyl Yunor

Huai Bin: Hello, thanks for your kind compliments. I might
drop by if it’s close to where I live, barring the statistically
unlikely event where my gf and another two of my housemates win a
contest which will take us all to Genting. Where is the venue?
Anyone who’s in the area, go and check them out!

From: Mike (********@ptd.net)
Date: 16 Sep 2003 04:24:52
Subject: You’re awesome.

I read your reports on doctor shopping. Funny shit. All the shrinks in my
area are complete benzophobes. If I’m lucky, I’ll get five or ten .5 Ativan
once and once only, so I have to hit the GP’s. I found an Angel in town that
whipped out the script pad and gave me 90 .5 Xanax with 2 refills. Holy
shit. I almost couldn’t contain my composuer. On my way to the pharmacy I
had one of the fucking biggest fucking grins on my face, but I killed it
before heading in to get it filled. Problem is now both pharmacies in my
hamlet have my insurance info and catch me red handed if I refill too early,
so I have a script for 90 .5s with no refills and a empty bottle with one
refill of the same until I can get to an out-of-town pharmacy. I’m seeing a
new GP this week and I’m aiming for Klonopin. Hopefully, the pharms will
dish this out despite the Xanax since its used as an anti-convulsant. I’m
also on Lamictal for mood stablization, but it’s really an anti-seizure drug,
so it might look good. Some tips I learned:

DO’s have more education than MD’s. They try to treat “the whole person” and
are genreally more approachable. Kiss their asses and let them know this in
a dumbed down way. “I’ve always preferred DOs (Hell pronounce it life the
verb “do”) than MD’s.

Feigned ignorance is always bliss. My favorite line when the doc mentions
Xanax is “Uhh, I don’t have heartburn. Hurrrr.” (Zantac, heh)

If the doctor mentions an antidepressant, tell him you’ve tried it already and
haven’t had luck with it. Same goes for BuSpar or those horrid
anti-psychotics everyone seems to dish out these days.

Have you tried online pharmacies from Mexico? I’ve heard success stories from
a lot of people, but I always have this mental image of the DEA kicking in my
door and throwing my ass in the slammer.

Good luck in your future benzo quests.

veritas: I’ve had the same problem lately…doctors have been
stingy with the benzodiazepines, but I’ve found one today that was
quite happy to script me whatever I wanted. πŸ™‚ Regarding online
pharmacies, I wouldn’t dare risk it in Malaysia. IIANM, US citizens are
allowed a 3 month supply from online pharmacies though so it’s worth a
try. Good luck!

P/S – Yeah, I can relate to that big ass fucking grin you get when you pull off a big one. πŸ˜‰

From: S & P Lee (****@shaw.ca)
Date: 18 Sep 2003 12:45:21
Subject: Howdy

Nice website! Interesting to read your “story” about yourself.
Sounds like you are on the right track to success in life. Keep it up!

Just for your information, I finished Form 5 in Methodist Secondary
in 1974 – you can figure out how old I am. At the time, we could not do
half of what you have done.

Best wishes,

Patrick Lee

Huai Bin: It’s always good to hear from someone from Sibu and even better to hear from one from the same alma mater. πŸ™‚

From: Olivia Tay (******@yahoo.com)
Date: 16 Sep 2003 03:59:14
Subject: Hi…

Dear Huai Bing,

Hey, i think this is really a surprise for u…. u still remember me,
Olivia Tay from Sibu too? We were once Sunday School mate and i’m from
SMB Methodist too… I dunno whether u remember me or not, but it was
really a coincidence tat i found ur cool website from the net while i
was surfing the net for my assignment…..hahaha…. funny eh?!

Well, it’s really a nice website u got there and i din know u like to take photo πŸ™‚

And i also saw Karen’s birthday photos too….she’s still the same if
compare to the last time i saw her….haha…. plz send my regards to
her if she’s still there πŸ™‚ thanx.

Anyway, won’t talk much… Jus hope u remember me….haha…. if can πŸ˜›

Take care!

And all the best

Cheers,
Olivia Tay
(regards from Johor, Malaysia)

Huai Bin: Yeah! I remember you from Sunday School back at
Wesley Church, what a coincidence. πŸ™‚ It’s great to hear from someone
back in the days, wanted to email you back but at the time I was
working through this rather thick functional specifications document
that was tying me up at work. I will reply properly this weekend.

Mail of the Week:

From: Nancy (********@comcast.net)
Date: 17 Sep 2003 21:05:01
Subject: Your self

I found your site by accident while researching a narcotic that my primary care doctor gave me for pain. (Talwin).
Just had to send a note to express my admiration for your writing. I feel like I am reading a really neat novel as I read it.

I am a grown -up which gives me the excuse to say to you,
please be very careful with your remarkable self. Your thinking, your
perspective, your mind-blowing wisdom and insight make you a really
valuable person. (Sorry, but the truth is that some people do seem to
have more value than others. Nonetheless, I feel guilty about the way I
always value those with high intellect over those who have been given
other gifts.) There is so much you can do with your life given your
obvious intellect and talents.
Enough! Keep on truckin’ (an expression from the 60’s when I was young)
Sincerely,
Nancy

veritas: It is mails like this that makes me put up with all the shit that I get for being veritas. Thanks, Nancy!

So what do you think of this “sixthseal.com’s Mailbag” feature?
Good? Bad? Gross violation of an unwritten rule of privacy? Comments
would be appreciated.

KL air pollution

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The atmospheric conditions today made everything smoggy this
evening. The photo was taken at around 6 pm today in front of Suria
KLCC, I’ve never seen KL this polluted before…the traffic made things
worse with the vehicular exhaust output, it was surprisingly smoky this
evening. Personally, it’s the first time I’ve seen it this smoke
filled, perhaps it was coz of the humidity today. Interesting, but not
enjoyable for a pedestrian…

Big banana

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Yes, a photo of a huge, thick, and long yellow (with black spots to
boot) banana. I just learnt today that these bananas are edible
(without cooking). I’ve always thought that these bananas needs to be
cooked (in goreng pisang) before it’s edible, but apparently not. The
banana is courtesy of Janet, who got it during the TGIF meeting last
time and gave it to me because I have to eat dinner leftovers as lunch
everyday because sixthseal.com is running over bandwidth every month
(I’m already over this month). Sorry for not updating, I’m working on a
ColdFusion and SQL Server thing that I’ve just sent to QC, it’s been a
long week…

Telekom Malaysia – very efficient one!

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You know hor…I applied for a phone line some time ago and a scant
week later, some char bo called me and said my line is ready. Wah piang
eh, so fast, I thought needs months to apply for a phone line, but
apparently ah, here in KL it only takes one week! Yes, I don’t kid you
lah, it’s really that short. And hor, and hor…I had to call them
using my Digi Prepaid line to some 07 number to check my registration
status a couple of days ago.

Anyway, that girl ah, she’s like “tunggu ah, sebentar
lagi”…”tunggu ah” for so long. Na beh, she runs on a different time
scale than mine, her “sebentar lagi” equals RM 15+ in credit talk time.
I tell her…you call me back lar, but she “sebentar lagi, sebentar
lagi” onli. This Telekom service – best in Malaysia, I tell you!

NEwayz, I only got into a Kedai Telekom at that Raja Tulan road this
afternoon and they said “system down, cannot process order, banyak
soli”…wah lau, why like this one ah? But me also not gong one, I
said, I WILL WAIT TILL THE SYSTEM IS UP and I took one of their black
Hacks sweets from the courtesy jar and sat there for like 5 minute and
then they told me, oh can process order now. See…

So…after paying RM 135 to Telekom Malaysia Sendirian Berhad, I’m
waiting for the subcontractor to come and install a phone line to my
room (extra charge coz subcontracted out mah). Like this hor…once my
home line and ADSL is up, I can use the Apache httpd.conf file to
er…disallow (not ban hor, ban very pai tiah, it’s “disallow”) my
company firewall’s IP address to access sixthseal.com and castitas.com
so that PEOPLE WON’T SAY LIM PEH IS BLOGGING DURING WORK HOURS since i
can’t even access it myself when the IP is on the disallow list.

(shh…i tell you a secret ah, actually hor, no body said that lah,
it’s coz i want to keep my work life and private life seperate…dun
want people going through my site and think me and veritas is the same
person. aiyoh, how can people can think that, i also dunno lah…you
look at veritas, seem to have good ENGLEESH, talk like what, so CHEEM
while lim peh (lim peh = me in hokkien) doesn’t write like that. i can
barely write proper sentences, reli struggling already lah, much less
things like wat banzai banzo or bensoh that that veritas keeps on
saying…i dunno lar, we write so different, dunno how you guys can
make that mistake lar…really lah)

also, lim peh coming in to work tomorrow. yes, tomorrow sunday, i
know, but me got work to do and here got free coffee. (actually i just
want to escape from mass…sien lah, sit there for one hour and
half)..hehe! oh ya, if my gf is reading this, i’m kidding hor, i have a
monday deadline to meet so i have to work ya. i want to go church, very
fun, but got work lah, so sorry cannot…my mom tell me guys must
concentrate on career. i dun want to be si kin nah, so i listen to her
lor…

Dragon fruit photos

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Here are my photos of this fruit which has been previously been
mentioned by many other bloggers. I got a couple of this at the Bangsar
pasar malam (only open on Sundays) – AFAIK it goes for RM 1 each to RM
8 for 10. The interior looks like this:

dragonfruitskin.jpg

The skin is peeled from above, it’s like a banana in that sense, no
need for knives or peelers. Here’s what dragon fruit looks like after a
couple of bites:

dragonfruit.jpg
The inside of a “dragon fruit”.

Anyway, I have much work to do, will have to come in tomorrow as
well…my apologies, castitas.com is not launching anytime soon, there
are some legal issues I will have to check out before giving veritas
the green light to mass post his considerable backposts (all with
photos). Malaysia is not very friendly to recreational drug users, and
I heard during mid autumn’s eve dinner last night that I may be liable
for posts made on my site so until further notice, veritas would not be
posting…sorry about that, I have an ass to cover too.

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