0 (Waiting to be) discharged

Last few moments in the hospital ward. Document procedures sure take long! Just had my last meal, again from the Western selection. "Cream of green pea soup; Slow braised minced chicken caccitore and vegetable." A wee salty overall and had the "canned" taste, from the tomato sauce to the pea soup. But lately salty food has been appealing to me (usually not the case). - baaad. The oatmeal this morning was slightly thicker, an improvement from the watery version I had a few days ago. Their "peach compote" ended up as half a canned peach, and the lemon ricotta was non-existent. But I can do without cheese in my oatmeal, thank you.

Anyhow, my latest weight is 33.3 kg, meaning I gained ~2.5 kg over 6 days, which averages 0.4-0.5 kg a day. Is that too fast a rate? But I'm happy and feel better. No more bak chang feet though now the swelling has decided to hit my abdomen - BIG TIME. I'm like an underaged 4 month pregnant woman. Hope this issue reverts back to normal soon and is not a symptom of another condition!

Happy to be outta here!

0 Doughy, carby, chocolatey

Things have been busy lately, but it's the repetitive-kind-of-busy, which means not much progress made on the lab front. At least I've managed to clear 90% of confocal imaging, which was my target set for 31-12-12. I'm really quite sick of lab now; what's keeping me sane is knowing that it'll all be over in a matter of months time. It's so near yet so far. I know all this will pass in a whiz, yet during this period of time there's still the data to process, thesis to write, poster presentation. These very thoughts scare me.

On the food front, things could not have been better. I take every meal, especially breakfasts and Sunday dinners, as an opportunity to exercise creativity. From Christmassy oatmeal themes featuring s'nog (soy nogs) and homemade cranberry sauce (above) to pools of hot mole chocolate made with good quality dark chocolate like Godiva and Fauchon (below).

Today's breakfast theme - triple chocolate & banana (from bottom up): seared 'nana coins; Rude Health The Oatmeal cooked in water with a nugget of Justin's chocolate almond butter stuck in the core; topped with hot chocolate mole sauce made with soy milk, protein powder, square of Fauchon 65% coffee chocolate noir, chocolate mole powder and extra coffee granules.

This week I also bought Rudi's cinnamon raisin bagels which I had for a quick lunch today before going off to Middle Earth. Mouthfuls of doughy carbs paired with mushy avocado and flakey salmon = pure satisfaction.

Dinner was aloo matar gajar, basic indian curry with potatoes, peas and carrots (translated in that order). I added carrots for extra bulk. Alongside I had a hunk of Curry Times' curry bun, which was filled with even more potatoey goodness, and I must admit, their filling was much tastier than mine. I loved the soft sweet white bread bun. Doughy carbs again!

It's yet another eventful year gone by. I'll be ruminating on the changes and challenges I'll like to take on for 2013 as I reflect on events of 2012. Maybe a dedicated post tomorrow, if I can fit the time in.