The wonders of Google

It's amazing who and what you can find via Google. It feels like the world and all its information is at my fingertips by just typing a few keywords and pressing on the 'search' button. Of course, that means the good and the bad, and more than two sides of the story, pros and cons, the real truths and the real untruths are readily available. The reader has certainly got to be smart enough to differentiate them, although it could be difficult sometimes.

Today, I found an old friend from my school and church days in Melaka simply by 'googling' his name. He is now an Associate Professor at the Malaysia Genome Institute based in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Malaysia National University) in Bangi. Way to go, Lionel!

I'm on this quest to re-connect with old friends from my school days since the gathering of a bunch of us recently. It sure looks like those in academia have been pretty easy to find. Last week, I found another friend via Google after a tip-off that he has a blog named after our Chinese zodiac (monkey), and he is a post doctoral researcher at Harvard Medical University.

The internet is a great tool!

Cholesterol

I got my blood test results this morning (see earlier post). It looks like the Tham family gene for elevated cholesterol level continues down the family tree. In the past, and also now, I've registered a total cholesterol level bordering the high end. Although my HDL (the good guys) level is strong, my LDL (the bad guys) is even stronger, thus giving a total cholesterol reading of 5.7 (<5.2 is normal).

So, I guess I've to consciously do something in my pre-menopausal years before it gets worse. At age 50 or so, I'll be at equal risk with males in similar condition to suffer heart disease. At least now, my estrogen is protecting me (I think this is one of the rare occasions I'm thankful for this hormone!).

Sigh, looks like I've to work some exercise time into my already busy and haphazard daily schedule....And also watch what I eat; less fried stuff and my all-time fave seafood :(

Getting older isn't fun as the body becomes less efficient. I'm beginning to miss my 'wonder' years of my late 20s and early 30s. Looking back, it's amazing that I survived those GI Jane days of fortnightly hiking, camping, canoeing, swimming, jogging, jungle trekking trips in Port Dickson. Those were tiring but really fun times. And it was all in the name of work! (ex-Phileo guys and gals, you know what I mean!)

Eugene thinks I could join him on weekends at the gym. I'm not sure about that. Maybe I'll start with walking up the hill across the road and doing a few laps in the pool.

Hot weather

The weather here is bad again. No rain. Afternoons are the worst when the sun is literally scorching hot. Hotspots have been detected again in the Sumatran forests and Penang is already experiencing another onset of the haze. I guess it won't be long before KL is hit. I worry for Caitlin as she is always sensitive to bad air and hot weather due to her eczema and weak respiratory system.

The high temperature is also making me lazy and irritable...

Good old friends

Last Sunday, I attended a gathering of old school friends dating back to the 1980s. It came about from a rare visit home from two friends who married each other eventually. Judy and Simon (and their daughter Sara) now reside in the States. We, the 'boys' and 'girls', were a fairly crazy bunch of teenagers back then. Our links to each other were through inter-school activities (we attended all-girl and all-boy schools then), tuition classes, church and for some of us, we eventually became classmates or schoolmates in Form 6 (pre-university). We lived in small-town Melaka then where the various schools were in close proximity and the well-regarded tuition teachers were only a handful.

The girls were a close-knit group in MGS (Methodist Girls' School), displaying what I now call the typical traits of teenage girls i.e. sharing secrets, comparing notes on our crushes, boys, TV shows, songs and other girly stuff. Meanwhile, the boys were also typically their teenage-selves with their own crushes (on some of us!), pranks and etc (I could actually write a book about all the 'etc'). They attended GBS (Gajah Berang, meaning 'angry elephant' school...I went there for Form 6 and till today, I don't know why that school is named such - hey boys, care to shed some light?).

Fast forward 25 years later and there we were, at Desmond's house in Bangsar, KL on a hot and humid Sunday afternoon. After the hugs and introductions to our spouses and kids, the decibels increased and it sounded like we were back to those good old days. I think most of us were reminiscing and laughing about all we did back then and at the same time exchanging info about what we've been up to all these years. We also shared info about other mutual friends. There was so much to catch up on and so many people to talk to that time passed so quickly. I must say I didn't get to really talk to some of them.

Would this be a start of maintaining our contact with each other again? Do we have to wait for some other friends to return from a faraway land to get together again? We girls briefly shared an idea of a reunion next year, our big 4-0 year...Is one year's notice enough? If there is consensus, we could start discussing this seriously.

For the record, those who were at the gathering were:

Ng Sim Kong & Vivian Yeo (& daughter and son)
Lennie Chen (& wife Linda and two daughters)
Desmond Ch'ng (& wife Ghee Keng and son and daughter)
Randy Chitty (& wife Jacqueline and son)
Simon Wong & Judy Ng (and daughter)
Ganesh Nallathamby
Ann Marie Chandy
Loh Foon Fong (& boyfriend John)
Anna Tham

Signs of aging

I used to do yearly blood tests to ensure I was in good general health but not for the past three years. Preoccupation with work, family and other stuff somehow took over some priorities obviously. For the past few weeks, I had been contemplating an update on my health status since I had been getting aches all over more frequently - backaches, shoulder aches, headaches and aches from old injuries to my knee and wrist.

Last night I decided to see a doctor for the blood test this morning after an excruciating headache. Okay, I am a stubborn mule and love to play Dr. Tham whenever I can to save a trip to the real doc. I simply hate the waiting, and who knows what microbes you may catch from other 'co-waiters'.

This morning I waited for 20 minutes before my number was called. No hitches in the doc finding my vein and sucking my blood out. The last bit called for a weight check. The digital weighing machine read 51.4kg. I was surprised although I knew I had put on some weight since quite a number of pants have suddenly become too snug for comfort. The last time I went past 50kg was when I was pregnant. Never in my life have I gone past 48kg at most all this while. And those of you who know me, know that I lose more easily than I put on.

After noting it down, the doc said, "Try to maintain it at 50". I voiced my surprise that I weighed that much. To that, he said, as we get older, we tend to put on easily as our metabolism slows down. He then continued with the advice of three square meals, no snacking in between, some exercise... Yes, he's right -- as we get older...

Grey hairs are sprouting and the body gets tired easily. Memory loss becomes more frequent. I need to check my eyesight next. I stopped using my short-sighted glasses/contact lenses for at least one and a half years and never bothered to question why. Now I guess I should as signing a bill or credit card receipt requires a step back from the usual distance...maybe that is contributing to the headaches!

I subconsciously expected to experience all these past 40 but my body has decided to start at 39. Wow, aging is becoming real to me!