Day 11 - House-bound activities

June 24 (day 11 of Cycle 4)

1.Panforte De Sienna - Exp 12/2000 (Bought in Sienna Italy in Aug 2000)

2.Turkish Delight Lokum with Double Pistachio -Exp 2000 (Bought in Istanbul 1999)

3.Tapenade of Green Olives, Lemon, Garlic - Exp June 2000 ( Bought en-route Italy/France/England 2000)


4.Abba Laxpastej Salmon spread -Exp Jan 2007 (Bought Ikea KL s'time in 2006)


5.Harissa Le Phare Du Cap Bon- Exp Nov 1999 (Bought at a Moroccon Restaurant in Paris while consumed with ambition to try out at home the exotic lamb cous-cous Morocco is famous for)


6.Several vacuum packed metal containers of Emborg cheeses-Brie/Camembert/Rocquefort - Exp ranging from 2003 to early 2007 bought during supermarket trips in various supermarkets in KL)


7.Wasabi - Tube - Exp 2001 ( bought in Tokyo in 1999 when after a few days of hotel and Japanese food, I needed something spicy to lace my snacks in the hotel room)


8.Garlic Paste - Tube - Exp 2001 ( bought in Italy during EuroCamp camping trip with sister's family in 2000).


9.Tomato Paste -Tube - ditto-

10. Lots of bars of chocolates, candies, fudges, all expired in 2000-2006.

11. Lots of herbal and food supplements ( thankfully with more shelf life butI had to stop taking them so as not to clash with my chemo regimen for now)

12.
All the above are still unopened and look brand new and inviting still as they were lodged somewhere deep in the recesses of my refrigerator and my brain. The whole lot filled a nice little basket and could be dressed up into a nice hamper....to be given to someone contemplating suicide or sudden death?


I came back from my morning walk with the Sunday papers and found Vik my helper laughing helplessly. I had told her to empty the fridge of all its contents so that I could go through and sort out what needs to go as the fridge was beginning to be cluttered. My instruction was anything raw (fruits or vegetables ) that do not look fresh, just chuck them in the bin and for packed items, toss out anything that has expiry dates before June 2007.


She found it really amusing that I have so many interesting items in the fridge "tapi semua tarikh mati, Buk!". The older the item, the funnier it was to her and she would scream " Buk, tanggal 1999 pun ada, Buk....!". Anyway, I now have a bagful of absolutely normal looking souvenier food items from trips abroad that would have been absolutely scrumptious had I the time to enjoy them ( I would have bought more than 1 and given away a few to friends and family upon return from the trips and the ones in the fridge are my own allocation). I will decide it I give them to Alam Flora or have a "Try If You Dare" party at home one of these days.

My friend H came by for breakfast. We had been planning to meet up for a while and when she heard that I was craving for Beef Serunding and Kelantanese Keropok, she came by to bring some. In return, I treated H to a Kopitiam breakfast at P.Damas, 2 eggs perfectly half-boiled and roti kahwin with a cup of steaming Hainan coffee.


I spent the afternoon catching up on my reading and browsing through the Sunday papers. Another old school friend came by to visit and it was another round of catching up on what's been happening and juicing up on the latest gossips and happenings in town. Hubby just bought her a birthday gift and she was testing it out on her own...a tow toned red/black Mini Clubman that looked really neat as she is rather petite. She had lost her sis-in-law to BC and shared her story on that. It was quite sad as that was about 6 months after she had a baby and even though the doctor estimated that she had 2 years before succumbing to the disease, it had metastasized and she did not respond well to her treatment.


Vik, my helper prepared some tempe-based snacks which was quite delicious and the snacks kept us fueled for rather interesting debates and discussions too sensitive to be captured in a cancer-related Blog. Except for prayer breaks, we really yakked our lives away as though there is no tomorrow, and
Vik kept topping up the table with different snacks as though to keep us going. It was after Maghrib when we dispersed and I decided that I should not go to the weekly Pasar Malam in Bangsar. The fridge inventory this morning indicated that I have enough stock to last for at least another week of cooking. Besides, I really should avoid going out too much when my body is without boosters at its lowest wbc period.


I stayed in to plan for the week and hope to go to the NCSM building tomorrow to catch up with Adeline Joseph and meet up with whoever might be in the support center tomorrow. I also want to find out if anyone has any plans to provide some support to actress Azean Irdawaty, who had recently been diagnosed as a Stage 3 BC and due for mastectomy at KLH this coming Wednesday. It doesn't sound like she has insurance and her mention in the Sunday papers that as an actress she has not been provided with Socso and EPF options, so I hope the financial situation will not cause her additional stress. I can imagine her anxiety and how worried her children must be. As a fellow BC patient, I pray for her that the operation will be smooth and that her recovery speedy so she can proceed with her chemo. If by any chance I meet her and find out that she is not using a chemo port, I will certainly share with her my personal experience of Thrombophlebitis.