2 more days and we’ll be in for another start of a brand new year. I think this year went by really fast although it seemed as though it’s the same for every year but personally for me, it does feel like 2009 was a quickie. Probably due to the crazy events that’s been going on in my personal life. I was just browsing through my old archives on this blog and just reading bits and pieces of what i jot down throughout the year. That’s one of my favorite thing to do at this time of the year actually. Just scroll through the stuffs you jotted down before and do a bit of a reflection on it. One reason why i don’t see myself closing down this blog is because i feel a chunk of my life has been written down here. The good and the bad moments of my life. I should really look into extracting some stuffs out and making it into a hardcopy just in case Blogger decides to shut down all the free blogs. 2009 has been quite an eventful year for me in a not so good way that i’m actually really really h...

Well in case you haven't seen, my relationship status on Facebook is no longer single . I still find it funny how our lives are all revolved around Facebook whereby if it's not on Facebook, it's as if it does not exist in reality. Although it has only been days since the 'official' announcement on Facebook that "Ronald Cheng is no longer listed as single status" (which never quite make the cut to my wall page by the way) , reality is that between the girl and I, we've been together for more than 5 months. Yes, yes i know some friends of mine might find it incredibly annoying and irritating that i may not be 'friend enough' to tell them this news when it happened 5 months ago but the whole decision of just keeping the relationship on a hush hush was really because the both of us just wanted to get through this first on our own without getting 'constructive criticism' on how our long distance relationship will never work out. So, i wo...

Sending my warmest thoughts and wishes from Traverse City, Michigan to all of you reading this blog. Have a Merry Christmas whether you are with your loved ones, friends or simply spending a quiet one. Do know that you are loved. “He is the reason for the season”

It's been a while since i've touched my camera but i think these pictures didn't turn out too bad. Anyway, here's some shots of Lake Michigan from Grand Haven's perspective. It's probably more beautiful during summer time with all the brown sand by the beaches and stuffs but this is the first time i've seen a beach by the lake all covered in snow and it looked pretty in white too so i'm happy. :) 3 more days till Christmas!

After 2 days of flying like crazy, i have finally arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan! It's my first trip to the States and everything seems surreal here. Stuffs that i used to watch on movies, the culture, the people, the snow, the weather, all those that was once fantasy and a dream for me are like literally around me right now. It's just crazy. I'm really having a blast right now surrounded with wonderful people who are just absolutely amazing. Although the funny thing i noticed ever since being here though is how the animals are attracted to me. LOL! My first experience of doing multiple transits and flyover wasn't too bad. To be honest though, the only thing i was really paranoid with the whole flying bit was not being able to make it to my final destination. One more tip, if you are flying and you do listen to music, the 2 songs that i've decided to take it off my iTunes playlist is Jason Mraz's "Plane" and The Moffatts' "If Life Is So Sh...

It's going to be my first holiday trip to the States. Filled with excitement and nerves due to the crazy amount of transits but it's all going to be worth it by the end of the day. Where exactly am i going? Well, you'll have to find out soon. :) I'm just ecstatic that i will have my first white christmas of my life this year. Have a happy holiday everybody.

I finally made my way back to Auckland over the weekend and funny thing about this trip back was i never realized how painful your butt can get when sitting on a 10 hours flight? Seriously, my first trip to Auckland wasn't too bad nor was my return trip from Auckland to Singapore but it's just this trip when i flew back from Singapore that made me feel like i had a full butt workout from sitting too long. Stood up on the flight for an hour or so didn't really helped much either cause the moment i sat back down, i felt the sore on my butt. I also bought of one those neck rest support pillow from Changi since some people recommend them when flying long haul flights. I still think i can sleep slightly better with my neck falling back and forth instead of having something to support your neck. At least when you're falling asleep without that neck support thing, you know you were having a good sleep when your head falls from one side to the other that shakes you up. Haha. It...

So i’ve got a friend’s friend who is going to be stopping by Brunei for a transit from New Zealand. Since Bruneians are quite rare in the land down-down under and i tend to brag about how awesome my country is, i was quite happy to hook up this friend of a friend with some of my friends at home to give this person a taste of my country when this friend of a friend asked me for this favor. I couldn’t help but giggle a bit when i read this message she sent me on FB; If anyone of you are planning to do transits in Brunei, please be aware that the following response may be yours if you’re thinking of ‘clubbing’ in Brunei.   Welcome to Brunei my friend of a friend! :)

It’s been too long since my last update. No doubt Singapore has totally left me uninspired but regardless, coming back home to Brunei will always give me that warm feeling in my heart. But the funny thing about coming back home is getting repeated questions by people asking “So when are you going back?” . A friend sarcastically passed a remark the other day saying “Sounds like everyone’s pretty keen for you to leave again!” Then again, i am sure everyone’s just asking for the sake of asking. It’s just one of those question where you cannot avoid asking once you touch on the subject. Just like asking newly weds when are we expecting little babies the day after their wedding day. While it feels really nice to be home, a bitter feeling is slowly starting to sink inside me when you look at what’s going on around you and suddenly feel that your home doesn’t feel like the home you grew up in anymore when you were younger. Your family isn’t complete. Your role being ‘someone’ in the family ...

My brother is finally discharged from the hospital! The hospital organized a mini celebration with the other stem cell transplant patients today. Sort of like a birthday party. We even sang a birthday song. Right now, he will be waiting for his next appointment with his doctor to see what else that needs to done next. Throughout this whole ordeal in the hospital, we also had the privilege to cross path with another fellow Bruneian who has been in Singapore doing his treatment for quite a while. Bro & Desmond Praise God for a breakthrough. It's been tiring for my mom and frustrating for me as i'm not exactly the biggest fan of this country but i am extremely happy to see my brother out of the hospital. Do continue to keep him and Desmond in prayers.

I took a week off from Singapore to unwind myself in Bangkok, Thailand last week. It was my first trip to Bangkok and much to my surprise, things aren't as horrible as i had in mind. It's quite pleasant other than the weak free wifi services offered (quite surprised that there's actually free wifi provided) and the occasional mis-communication with the locals here. Here are some lomo shots from my new toy, the Diana+. Ah, the joy of shooting with plastic. Not as easy as i thought though. Still need to figure my way around it. Definitely had my fun in Bangkok for the first time. I think it's by far the cheapest place to shop for good quality and fashionable clothes.

I’m lovin’ it…

Hokkien; 'siao' English; 'crazy' Dusun; 'lului' Cantonese; 'sot' Mandarin; 'xen jing' Malay; 'gila' I think the chemo also killed some of his brain cells.

When i need to travel, this is what i will tell them.... When i am back in uni, i will tell my friends... When i buy something, i will take this out and let them know...

What would you do if you have one million dollars? What would you do if you have all the money in the world? What would you spend on? Those questions always pop up every now and then between friends. Either you did the asking or you've been asked. I used to say if i had all the money in the world, i'd spend it on all the things that probably all of you have ever thought of buying. Yeah, all those stuffs that you're thinking of right now. But now if you were to ask me that question, i'd give you another answer. If i have the money, all i wanna do is take my mom for a good long vacation. I'll take her to all the places that my dad once promised her he'll take her once he retires but too bad he kinda retired a bit too early . I just think mom needs a well deserved break after all that she's been through. Taking time out from the constant updates on my brother's condition i just want to brag about how amazing my mom is. If someone were to ask me to describe ...

I came across this article while reading The Straits Times today. I thought the information are very beneficial for those who are curious about the health care systems in different countries. What happens if a healthy person breaks a leg in the US? - At the hospital emergency room, her leg is X-rayed two views for about US $30 (SGD $43) and radiologist fee of US $100 to US $200.If it is a simple fracture, the cost of having an orthopaedic surgeon tend to her would be about US $3,000 to US $4,000. But a more complicated break would mean operating room, hospitalisation and medication fees of about US $15,000. Follow up visits and physical therapy would add US $200 to US $300 a session. - If she has a private insurance policy, the provider picks up in full or part the bill depending on the policy. For example, the monthly premium for for a 45 year old person ranges from US $60 to US $600, depending on the amount of co-payment. - As she is under 65 and healthy, she is ineligible for Medic...

Big guy finally walking on his own after months of not being able to walk! God indeed is awesome. Other than having some uncomfortable feeling on his right thigh which is still swollen, he seems to be doing well. For those who do not know, he's been bedridden since he's gotten here so that was almost 2 months but his whole leg swelling started a few more months before that. All in all, he hasn't been able to walk properly for almost 4 months so to see him up and limping around today is really a good progress! Another thing that you might need to know is that from now onwards, bro will need to use tight spandex for a long long long long time due to his lymphedema. This is to prevent his leg from swelling any further so the only solution for now is to wear tight spandex to compress it. So far he's been having good appetite after his first round of stem cell transplant. Until his cells count increase again, he's going to be doing his second round of stem cell transplan...

For some reason, whenever i see Wu Chun talking about Brunei or promoting Brunei, it makes me feel proud. No, i'm not a fan of his Fahrenheit band but the fact that he represents Brunei so well and talks highly of my country, the country i was born and raised, it really does give me that pride to be a Bruneian! Kudos to Brunei's only international star. Then again, they do have quite a number of catchy songs. LOL! And he's like the guy almost every Chinese is related to...well most!

Bro successfully completed his stem cell transplant today just about an hour ago. Physically he seems quite weak and tired. It's going to be a rough couple of days / weeks especially once his cells starts working in his body. 1 down, 2 more sessions to go for the big guy. Currently his heart rate is a bit low which is scary for me especially hearing the heart rate monitor beeping and then making some ringing sound when it's much lower. Average person's heart beat per minute is 60 - 100 if not mistaken but his is around 45. Keep fighting brother!

Today bro will be doing his first out of three chemotherapy until Saturday. After his sessions of chemotherapy, they will proceed on with his stem cell transplant. Do pray for all his sessions to run smoothly and that he won't feel much of the side effects because the nurse mentioned that this upcoming session of chemotherapy is going to be very different from all the chemotherapy he has done. Meanwhile, here's an update on how bro's leg look like. You can see that his right thigh is still huge. Mom decided to take 2 weeks off from Singapore to take a rest although i know mentally, her mind will still be constantly worrying about my brother's condition. So far day one without mom at the hospital wasn't too bad. I think i can manage handling the big guy. I mean worse case scenario, i'll just ditch him and let him fend for himself. Haha. I kid, i kid. But indeed it sure made me realize a whole lot what mom had to deal with and go through when she was here all alon...

My brother's eyes "shoot bird" (hokkien; pa jiao) as he would like to describe it. So bro had to do his stem cells transplant for the third time tomorrow. Initially, we were hoping it would be a one off thing but the targeted amount of stem cells count during the first transplant was only half. Doctor was aiming at 10 million cells but there was only 5 million so bro had to do another one today. After 7 tiring hours of doing another stem cells transplant, the results showed there was 4.3 million cells so doctor suggested for a final one tomorrow just to be safe that there will be enough cells to be put back into his body when he's gonna be on chemo again. Well in all honesty, my brother's really frustrated at the whole outcome because he's really feeling tired with this stem cells procedure. Then again, it's not like he have any choice because his life pretty much depends on this whole thing. It's pretty hard to go on telling him over and over again t...