Our Unintentional Buy.......

The one thing that you normally do when you have too much time to spend in KL is normally shop. I was doing the same during my 2 months break. Fortunately or unfortunately, I kinda bought a house.....yes a house. I always wanted a new MPV but due to the needs and pressure from you know who, I ended up with one of the most expensive purchase in my life.

We loved the location and funny enough Mama was even more excited than I was. Maybe because she was not the one owing the bank.

We just pray that they will complete the project......

The lady boss admiring the layout

Part of me now belongs to the bank...don't ask which part....

My Domestic Engineer signing the S&P...........

I think we fell for the show room

We will have to learn about minimalism as it is indeed a tiny property. Good enough for the kids when they need it. Ironically, once my office heard about this new buy, some of the folks went ahead and bought from the same project. Only bigger and more expensive units within the same block. It accidentally became an Expedia Hostel...........Only mine was the bangla unit...

Well, let's revisit the site in a year or two.....What a buy....what a buy......

The Gift of Life.........

Never will I ever imagined it will came down to this. While I was told that it should be alright for at least 15 years, all it took was 15 months. I was the final stage of renal failure for a couple of months already.....

What has that taught me? Life is all about making choices.....Family is the utmost important aspect in your life....real friends will know when you needed them.

I was still going to work as usual back in October. Riding my bike to work, travelling around for meetings and events. All that with my eGRF lingering below 10. (Anything below 15 is end stage)
I was the lucky few that has the very most important ask from a renal failure patient, I have a DONOR!....

Not only that, I had an appointment penned for 7/11 for the transplant to take place, 5 potential donors from my family actually passed the initial screening test. They all did it out of love for my loud and bad mouth. Papa decided to go ahead with the procedure after discussing with us. Words cannot express how thankful and indebted I am for my father's deed. Not only did he raised me up to the man that I am today, he gave me a piece of himself when I needed it most.

For every surgery, every nights in the ICU, every needles, procedures, follow ups for the past year and a half, this 7 hour long surgery doesn't seemed to bother me much. I'm more concerned if Papa can get back to his Dunhill Lights after the surgery, which he should after a couple of days. On the eve of the surgery, we were both admitted to UM Medical Center.

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See....I was all ready to go........It could not get any worst than it already has.....

Papa was playing chill with his wifi modem and online entertainment.....

Not sure if it's a good thing, I was kind of used to the needles and equipment in the ICU....

Papa was all in his pink after the surgery.....Thank God......

The surgery went by without any issue......I'm very thankful for that...

PW should be more relieved that I was after what we had been through since April 2016...

On the 4th day, I'm up from the bed. 9 days in the hospital and off to home.....

If you have been on my journey since April 2016, you will understand it when I say that recovering from a kidney transplant is not as challenging as you think. As my diet is not as strict as it was, I'm starting to eat food I've not tasted for a while. To top up to that, I'm working out again. It was a huge part of my life until the eventful day, at this rate, I should be riding my bike in a month or two. Golfing is just months away. In 3 days, it will be T + 60......YAHOOOO........another milestone.

Before the transplant.......

After the transplant.......

I gained 7KGs in less than 2 months....3 more KGs and I'll be back to my old strong self

All these made possible with the relentless support from The Lims. My parents for their support and kind understanding all these while. JieJie and the Gans for coming over so very often, making sure we had everything sorted out. KitKit for supporting the family while I was away. PW for being such a strong pillar in getting me back to where I am.....I could not have done this without all of you.

My company in particular has been remarkable. Giving me time to get back to work TWICE. The team which is like a family to me, has been constantly making sure that I was not swallowing nonsense when I was in the office. They were like these sugar-rushed minions when I tried to eat stuff off the chart. The flexibility and support is something I don't think the other companies can match. #VivaExpedia.

Not forgetting my buddies. A close few would had known how hard it was for me for the past 2 years. They had been the few to walk my journey with me. Their support and contacts have been the icing on the cake.

Finally, the most important of them all....Papa aka my gym buddy for his Gift of Life. 1 kidney each from now on. Thank you.........

JD's First Sports Day..........

I'm blessed with the opportunity to witness this event after my crazy medical episode earlier.
And JD is blessed with the sports blood flowing in him too and based on the family history, this guys should excel in sports.... I always believe in 70% talent and 30% hard work in sports.

Being his first event, the entire family dressed up in yellow to mark our support to this lil man.


* All ready for the 50M dash.......


* Posing for this epic shot.........tried buying 4D with his participation number, no luck to that....



* Even JS was excited as it was his first experience in an actual stadium too.....



* Observe right......That's My Boy..........



* 2nd runners up for Primary 1 category..... not too bad for the first try. Slight encouragement yet not enough to bloat his ego.....He claimed he was strolling without speeding during the race.....yea right......yea right.....

A 2nd Chance To Life...........

Everyone has a life story to tell, some as short as a simple 2 pager while some can be trilogy. To be franked I was hoping for a trilogy. Mine almost ended exactly 3 months ago.

18 April 2016 - Beautiful regular Monday morning, after downing my regular watermelon & green apple juice accompanied by my soon-to-be last stick of Dunhill lights at my garden. I was getting ready to get to work after a couple of weeks of travelling. (Yes, been home only for 2 days). Out of nowhere, my beyond fantastic life came to a stop! It all started with a chest pain.......I puked, I puffed and I managed to get dressed. Called up PW and then the ambulance, get to the front porch and wait for them to come get me. Lucky enough PW got home within 10 minutes and sent me to the next door (yes, next door!!!) hospital.

What Happened???
After a series of tests, I can now share that I had a cardiac arrest. Shit happens and was told that I survived a less than 1% odds being alive at this point. CPR doesn't work, my heart decided to stop for 2 minutes and they had to deliver a defibrillator shock to get me back. And NO, I DID NOT MEET GOD so stop asking. By the time I got up and realized I'm in the hospital, I knew the road to recovery will be tough one.

* Cardiac Arrest is NOT a Heart Attack..... Now we know...

First selfie after coming back from 'The Other Side'......

My first ambulance ride.....knowing me, I discharged myself and requested for a transfer.....

What's Next???
After transferring myself to a private facility, I've decided for yet another life changing decision. To have an ICD implanted to avoid sudden death from a future cardiac arrest. Short to say, having an airbag installed into your body......No one can ever imagine the crazy events that follow what we thought was a simple implant procedure with 4 weeks recovery lead time.

This is my implant....and ICD.....short to say, I'm a car with an airbag while most of you don't. Get the point? 

I've once again decided to move about.....got myself discharged yet again and  setup an appointment with the 3rd cardiologist I came across that month...

Photo taken during my first procedure, an angio on the 19th of April.....Having your family especially your parents pushing your sick bed into the operation room is really heartbreaking. And no one expected Mama to be pushing me 4 times in a month........the agony.....the wait......

Summary of Events!!!
1. Cardiac Arrest 18th April
2. 2nd suspected MI attack 12 May
3. Medical Officer accidentally punctured my artery on my right arm.
(Lost pulse with amputation option to follow)
4. Misdiagnosed and given wrong medications for a period of time (It's medical, not math I supposed, everyone playing a guessing game)
5. Transferred to Government CCU under incubator and given 48 hours (Make or byebye ultimatum - can you imagine the agony and suffering the family had to go though?)

Summary of Treatments!!!
1. 4 surgeries in a month (angiogram, ICD implant, compartment syndrome surgery (twice)
2. Bed ridden in CCU (3 days + 3 consecutive weeks)
3. 4 Different hospitals (3 different ICU/CCU)
4. Received 12 defibrillator shocks in a month

My pills are like tic-tac.......as long as I can get back to my normal state, no tic-tacs is going to scare me away..

Road to Recovery!!!
When the doctors told me I might need about 6-9 months to get back to normal state, I almost slap that joker and gave myself 4-5 instead. I've been driving for a couple of weeks now while was told to drive after 6. After the series of mishaps, do you think I will let a bunch of medical expert dictate my life? ^_^ HELL NO!!!!


Family, Work & Friends 
Many has no idea what happened to me lately as I was laying really low to get my recovery plan accelerated. I never thought that these events made a man out of my little brother (KitKit).....Never really thought of spending so much time with my parents these few months (Yes, they moved in at least for now)....Never knew PW can be such a strong pillar (She can't even park her car properly).....The support from JieJie & JieFu were tremendous (despite JieJie heavily pregnant) they ran around the state asking for opinions from specialists causing hoo-haa in hospitals,,,,,The Sims from all over the world (my spiritual pillar cousins) and everyone spending time to come visit in waves. My boys........my 2 beautiful boys......for all these perks, I WILL BE BACK in great shape soon.

I spent quit a fair bit of my time at work as I really love what I do....this time around, my company is showing its love back.....same could not be told to all the one I recently left. With my peer constantly checking on my well-being and family needs, my director flying over a couple of time to assure me he has got my back and all I need to do is rest, my team's regular visits just to make sure I'm not missing out on anything. What more can I say?? VIVA EXPEDIA!!!!

Many of you will know that I have a close knitted cycle of friends back in my hometown. If you mean something to team, all you need to do is to lay low, they will sense something is not right and come get you. Kenny and gang managed to find out and did all they could to help. Gotten myself a private wheelchair to ease my earlier commute around. Dropped by for a chat and throw in support with regular checks... (HaiKun said I'm the luckiest jinxed bastard ever)

Thank you everyone.............

I would like to believe I've been through the toughest phase of life in the last 90 days. I'm not afraid of the toxic effect due to the steroid treatments, nor the lost of muscle mass (I'm a proud fit man remember??  ^_^ ), the tedious physio & occupational therapy sessions for months etc.

The picture in white rope was Mama's bday present this year, heart wrenching but that's all I could afford back then.....

 I can be agitated and short fused but they tolerated me these few months. Gave me encouragements and tried their best to get me back on my feet. Nothing is going to take away the life I worked so hard for. I WILL be back in no time.....gonna update some recovery progress soon......I'm working out every day now.....slowly but surely.....driving myself around town again....next up, getting myself fit again for my BIKE.....

I Love you all so much........

Bali (yet again) with Expedia

Expedia Inc.....where do I start. Ohhh right, this is my new job this year. I gave up 3 other offers to join a company I hardly heard of. An industry I have no idea how it works and not to mention giving up sign up bonuses from the other offers. Well I'm too tired setting up shared service, I don't particularly want to get my hands dirty again in the software industry nor am I interested to continue my trait with the airlines for now at least. Expedia seemed to be a better choice.

8 months down the road, it IS the best choice so far. The company is actually full of optimistic leaders, and the best of all my Director is one of the those role model you'll get only in fairy tales. I'm loving my job yet again.....

We had a company offsite back in June for the APAC team, not too keen on the destination as I vowed not to go back due to the 'Land of Thousand Temples' prank pulled by my cabby 8 years ago.

Thexre you go.......Westin Bali...........

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That's my director on the stage.........Damn, this guys speaks better in public than I do.....

Only did I realized that my position in the company entitles me for special perks.....hmmmm nice...

We had this national dress code thingy.....lucky enough it's close to Raya.....managed to grab one of these Baju Melayu at a discounted price....of course my buddy Bob loaned me the additional stuff....

Well the Koreans here are not the old uncle Roy or Sam that I'm used to back in Samsung.......

The giant on the left, Miro....my new bff in the company...he is huge, loud and he talks alot....well he drinks a hell lot too....

They used to call us the Siamese twins back in the KL office.....I just can't see the similarities expect for our curly hair....but he's blond and I'm not.....duhhhhhhhh

Another good thing bout this trip was you'll get to wake up with a massive hangover by the beach......VIVA Expedia....

My new team right here....used to led the amazon warriors back in AirAsia...this time a pretty good mix of course male dominated for a start.....good bunch of chaps I must say....made my life way easier.....

A trip is never a trip with its local cuisines......there you go, my last meal before departure....

 I've been receiving feedback from the people around me on how happy I look lately.....I guessed it must be due to the unnecessary job stress from my previous job. I'm now home most of the time, the company is treating me good, the boss is approachable......I having the best time of my career life. Let's see how this one goes.....the longest I hope......

Now Everyone Can Fly....Goodbye....

I'm now into the 6th month of my new job.....and yes, I'm no longer with the Red Army aka Allstars aka AirAsia. Time do flies......fond memories, crazy times and tonnes of air travelling.

I experienced first hand on how an actual setup is done....the scale-able one to be precised, unlike the earlier one I tried many many years ago.....from office renovation, furniture testing, hiring by the hundreds, remote operations, starting up new processes, laying off and to top it all.....I traveled so much on AirAsia flights I can remember the exact flight number by route and what songs they'll play in the flight.

* The MAN himself......he's sharp, easy-going and a little sarcastic.....

The amount of exposure I've gotten from these 2 years are indeed overwhelming in a good way of course....I guess the old lady was right after all (my ex-boss now), endure this for a couple of years, it will change you forever but what she didn't prepare me for was the enduring part which includes her.
Still I cherish the opportunity and glad to meet most of the people I met there.....a bunch of good people.....and then, surely there are a few deadwood or hopeless chaps along the way hehehe.....

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Travelling has been limited to South East Asia all the time...well that's where we're operating from anyway.....it was Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Chennai, Bangalore and a lot of the first 3....Bangkok in particular...I remember staying in Bangkok for 3 months only to fly back during the weekends....7/11 dinner....drinking with office kids in my room.......catching a cab to Mega Bangna......I survived that all thanks to the great people along the way.......my later traveling to Bangkok was better because we relocated to a more happening area...and of course special thank to my Platinum Guide buddy of mine for localizing me the right way.....

Great view, nice people and fantastic food.........

Through thick and thin............

When everything was up and running, I just felt that it was time to move on. I'm not ready to pick up a role that a 40 year old would do and slowly fade away nor do I want to grow old and grumpy like my ex-boss.......Also I gave up my time with my boys for 2 years and now it is time to make up for the lost.

Lastly.....I wish for nothing but the best for the brand.......a great time I had indeed and the utmost honor in knowing the folks there.......I'm moving into yet another genre unknown to myself......so far so good....I'm having the time of my life for now.......hoping it stays that way for years.....

Our Hero........

My younger boy is in school at last...well nursery actually.
I should be the proudest Dad ever because this is the first guy who breaks the family tradition of......"CRYING"......I have no idea about Papa (He doesn't talk much when he was that age, Grandma once told me they thought he was mute), so I would recon the trade started from me....I was emotional once.....hehehe

PW and I hid ourselves so that this lil fella has no idea that we were there. We're just trying to avoid the mistake we did with JD a couple of years back.

Note: Lots of ARROW to ease you guys from locating our Hero..... ^_^

* Looking lost.....has no idea what was going on...

* He's relatively quieter when with strangers...blessing in disguise....

* He saw someone PUKED!!!!!! kaypo-ness is in the blood......

* There you go...my Hero....he made it to Class Monitor by now.....unbelievable...