Yvonne Foong -

Was home checking out some stuffs when Li Ann came over and we went to Sunway Pyramid, window shopping for a few hours. She spent me dinner at this Penang Street Restaurant at Sunway Bouvelard. I ordered Penang Tom Yam while she had Laksa and yuuum! I was tearing tho' cuz I can't take hot but luckily, we shared a bowl of cendol drink so I didn't vomit. Li Ann is working part-time at the same restaurant currently, as well as Ker Shin and hey! this time she recognised me as Yvonne instead of Oi Wan. *phew*! I think we shopped the whole complex we even went down to izone where I saw Wei Kin coaching this girl I think was Lyndsey, his gf. I stood there looking at him for some time. I think he saw me, so Li Ann and I went into the rink and at that time, Wei Kin was off the ice, sitting down near the skating school. He saw me approaching so he waved at me. I sat down next to him and had a very brief conversation... Wei Kin: Hello, how are you? Me: I'm fine, thanks. U? Wei Kin: Me too. You're having your exams? Me: No, I'm taking SPM this year. So.... Wei Kin: Oh yes...yes... Me: November... (Then there was a short pause) Wei Kin: I'm with her because she's my cousin.(while pointing at the girl beside him) Me: ?????????????????? (So I just smiled as though I understood and walked off) Thinking about it..maybe that wasn't Wei Kin. Wei Kin has this weird English accent and he doesn't. But then...he looks exactly like Wei Kin!!! Who da hell was that?!?

Today was a loooooong n tired day! Elena, Luanne, John and me drove to Midvalley Megamall at 11 something but only arrived there at 12 something after waiting for John to meet up with us near my house. There were a few traffic jams, not severe but it slowed us down and by time we reached there, it took ages before we found a parking lot. There were SO MANY people in the mall. We first headed to the hall where we met Bing Chien and a few others, but the shutters were still closed so we went for lunch. And here came another problem. The restaurants were all full!!! We were at the McD near the anchor and it was packed so we went up to the one near the cinema and this was full too! On the way we met lotsa people, most current and past students of my school. It was better than CNY. After hopping around for sometime, we decided to eat at this restaurant outside the mall. I had a slice of raspberry cheese cake from Secret Recipe...YUM! After eating, Elena and I went back to the AXN hall and met up with other xfresh crews and members. Did some "hello..bye bye" thingie. Luanne, John, Patrick and Jason wanted to watch Identity but the tickets were sold out so we joined them to play pool. We were there for the next few hours. Albert, Faris and a few more joined us too. I played a game where I teamed with Elena against Faris and Luanne and WE LOST! Then, about 4 something, we went to the AXN hall again and there we sat chatting for some time until everyone got bored and at 6 something, decided to go 'yam cha' at the foodcourt with Daryl and Shaz. There again, we got bored and decided to leave cuz Elena wasn't feeling well. I was at her house until 10pm. Surprisingly, Elena drove all the way back independently while she got all haywired when the rest were with us. Hmmm...I went scouting the boards and found no drawings by Fenix. Hmm...must correct my glasses. I got this ragnarok free sample and HEY! I play no computer games! Ah WTH... Ragnarok was indeed the biggest promotion today. I think the fun only began when we left cuz there were lotsa anime competitions going on besides the cosplay. And finally...I know who Lionel is. LOL!

Thanks Lionel and Lisa. Ah well...I guess it's my nature to yabber. I can't remain silent for too long or my mouth stinks! Anyway... This is a very interesting article you guys should read. Do You Like Me? Its about making people like you. I think 9w1 is more like me. Right? right? right?

Nowadays, I almost loose the mood to blog. I do still feel like blogging but the purpose it not the same anymore. Back then, I was very eager to write my daily encounters here cuz I know someone will read it. But now... it's just Elena and sometimes Serah, Lisa and other affiliates. Maybe I could use my health issue as a reason. I've blogged too many passive entries that I regret now. If u've ever bothered checking my archives, almost half of it was deleted. Maybe it's my nature to remove all the bad memories. Perhaps it's about time I grow up and change my blogging style. I should quit whining in here and keep all problems to myself. Maybe I should...

Tomorrow is the literature trial exam. The day after that is maths.... though I don't like exams, nobody does, but at least I have things to look forward to. Times pass faster this way with everyday being a new beginning. I always say the internet is a good source of knowledge, but maybe not. For the vast information the internet provides, relatives from all over 4 continents know what NF is about. And that sux really....because everyone, including my mom, rather I not study further, go for holidays and enjoy life. But mom, so what if I have NF? I still need to live, be human and do my part. So what if I might leave tomorrow? I still need to live today. Just like everyone has to. Sides, I don't want to turn into a non-working success. I have a pair of hands to contribute to the society. Why can't I do what I still can? AND I DON'T NEED A MASTER OR PHD TO SUCCEED BEING A PSYCHOLOGIST!! Goodness gracious....I don't even neccassary be a psychologist even if I study psychology. Ah...but then...to study psyc. here, I've to travel tens of kilometers back and forth everyday and wake up in the wee hours which I probably can't unless my spine becomes inmune. blargh... so what am I going to do?

Distance Education(DE) is very new in Malaysia. I've only came across The Open Univ. of Malaysia and Unitar who are HE bodies offering DE. Courses offered by these two institutions are all commerce or computing related, nothing of my kind. Recently, I came across this well-accredited college based in London, who offers the course I'm interested in with a good bargain. But then, is DE really for me? DE provides me with flexible study time which I need very much. Mom thinks I should go for on-campus studies. She feels that the course I intend to take needs a lot of practical work, which is true, and DE would be a problem for this. Also, she knows I'll get bored staying at home in the long run and going to college gets me happening and I can meet people. *sigh* why am I home today? After being persuaded by Albert, I was thinking of going to the XFresh gathering this afternoon. But then, I've no one to go with and Elena's....where is she again? So I'm staying behind doors today. But will probably attend next Saturday's cosplay at Mid Valley. Now...should I cosplay someone or just be who I am?

Reading William's latest post about advertising gimmicks reminds me of the latest Ikea catalog arrived in the red box yesterday. It was taken in by someone else in the family and placed downwards on the antic chair. On first look, I thought it was another UK university prospectus which I don't remember ordering. But when I turned it over, the big IKEA word was clearly visible to me. To the eyes of people like Cheryl, the items sold at Ikea are ever unique and fascinating. I used to think so but now I realised the European display setting, or now William says, Swedish. Their furnitures and accessories may look appealing but not all can be fitted into our Asian homes unless the entire house is of European architecture. Most furnitures in Ikea are made of wood and as far as I've noticed, the interiors of western homes are mostly wood. The Ikea showrooms are also small and compact like those of European homes. In Malaysia, or in my house maybe, Ikea furnitures will give my home a lot of empty spaces. Ofcourse, if carefully planned and designed, Ikea can definite create wonders. Elena, Li Ann and I went to NAGA DDB at 5pm with our invitation letters only to be told that the forum is actually TOMORROW! We can go tomorrow in the hope that Elena will get to use the car. Only 6 XFreshers turned up/got the wrong information. The rest were probably informed correctly. We had dinner at Secret Recipe, Sunway Pyramid and I had cheese cake again, but a different flavor. It was good but not the best. After eating, we went to Sasa upstairs and the sales assistant helped me find a suitable lipstick color. Phoebe said skin or light pink colors would suit young people like us. That doesn't apply on me as the dull color makes me look sick. After trying on more than 5 colors, I chose the best one which was a dull shade of pink applied with a touch of lip gloss. I've got History exam tomorrow so...CHIAOZ!

Had my BM trial exam today. For paper 1, I wanted to do question 1 which requires us to write an article on, "Keluarga yang bahagia melahirkan remaja yang sihat." I spent about 15 minutes thinking on how to begin. So I skipped that one and do question 6. It was a continuous writing essay. I made up a nightmare where I was transported from my bedroom to another cartoonised world. In this world, I met A(I'm not gonna tell who) who was HARRY POTTER!! kekeke!! I went on elaborating how stupid my friend looked and realised, "shit, I never read about Harry Potter" so nvm...since nightmares are meant to be weird. I laughed at A and discover I was CINDERELLA!! "ofcourse i'm not so perasan lar...I just keep on thinking about this XFresh member who went to Benedict's birthday and called himself Cinderella cuz he's to go home by 12am". Next, came B(another fella) looking all black, riding on a black horse stabbed A in his chest and killed him. B is another friend of mine and he's Nazgul from LoTR. LOL!! Then...I woke up. Ofcourse, it wasn't only that lar...it comes with lotsa elaborations, it exceeds 400 words. Speaking of dreams, I had this dream few nights before. I dreamt of a few snakes on my bed. They were thin and long snakes and they're white color, one with a tad of neon blues, and another neon green. The blue one was gliding towards me as i backed up for help. Then a guy came in front of me, swapped the snake up with his hand and killed it. The thing is...WHO IS THIS GUY?? I forgot...I only remember about the dream a day after. They say dreams of snakes are significant to real life as it resembles or foretell things. But WHAT? BTW, here goes a picture of Jie Yow, behind him was the playground that we litted up on mooncake festival. There were othr pictures too....but still with Elena. KEKEKE

This afternoon, a friend pop me a question, "could we die young?" Statistic shows that the life span for NF patients are most likely to be shorter than other mundane humans. But with today's advancement in medical treatments such as surgery, radiation and drugs, who knows, we may even live to see our great grandchildren. It was quite silly for Keisha to think that we might die in our 20s. She wants to become a genetists in the future and conduct researches on NF. They(the sciencetists) probably found a cure before she makes it to university. (She's 14 now, sitting for the SAT examination 3 years later) 10 years ago they thought NF was another disorder and now they've clearified that and 5 years ago, they didn't know what caused NF but now they identified the gene. Look how fast human progress!

It's almost 2 am now and I can't seem to fall asleep. I just got back from Kafe 7 with Elena. Earlier tonight, I was playing lantern at the playground with Elena, Cheryl and Jie Yow where we also met Cheryl's friends and Yewin with his bunch of uni friends. We went to Yewin's house before that but he wasn't home. The park was very beautifully litted tonight with lotsa candles, just like every year. There were a lot of people, mostly college students. We manage to 'conquer' quite a good spot and litted it up. We also took a few photos. It was almost 12 when I suddenly had to urge to go to the loo so Elena and I went to Kafe 7, for the toiiet which followed by the usual drink and pool. We also met Yewin and his gang as well as Kenneth there. Funny thing, among my friends, most of the nerds study art subjects in college while the punks go into medicine. I mean they're punks and nerds in college, not in school. The punks become nerds after school, and same goes for the other. Just like Yewin and his friends. They're currently medical students in IMU, but we caught them clubbing at Kafe 7 tonight playing foosball! Haha! Earlier today, Phoebe cooked me Macaroni and Cheese for lunch at her house while John spent us cakes from Secret Recipe for....tea? I had cheese cake again, but today was a plain cheese cake. Yum! At about 5pm, we went to Elena's place for while and I went home at about 6pm. It's not the best day....but ok lar... I took some time out to miss call a couple of friends while at the park. Surprisingly, only one who called back, Swee Hong. I also called Owen in Sabah but he switched off his phone. Oh well....probably having some privacy with his new girlfriend. LOL! This goes back to the origins of Mooncake festival.... nay, don't wanna be long-winded. So, that's all lah.

God must be thinking, "Yvonne is so resilient, I'm sure she can take more hardships". The many manifestations of NF was well informed but it happened sooner than expected. I saw the doctor today and we went through the most recent MRI scans taken in July. Holy crap....2 new tumors are detected whch totals to 4 tumors in my brain, currently. The Unilateral Acoustic Neuroma(AN) had turned bilateral, meaning there is now a tumor on both acoustic nerves. The other is quite a large tumor near the cranial of my brain, at my forehead. Everything is within the brain so don't worry, I won't turn into a flower horn fish. har har har har.... But I've a feeling that there are other tumors as well, growing in different legions of my brain but it goes unnoticed unless I scan my whole brain in one go but it probably leaves the doctors puzzled, the amount of scans would be a heap. It is quite fascinating to learn about the different behaviours of tumor. Like my AN, it's benign. According to statistic, it only grows at approximately 1mm a year but mine is faster, probably 1cm. The tumor near the cranial is also benign, but it grew so fast that it became malignant. Last year, the scans showed possible signs of tumor growths in these two areas and now, 1 year later, it's so big that the doctors are 100% certain that they ARE tumors. Every new doctor I meet throughout the ordeal is sure to exclaim, "I've never seen anything like this", "this is interesting" etc. But I say, it's not interesting AT ALL!!! But surely, the doctors' chances of meeting an NF2 patient like me is only 1 in 40,000 births. *sigh* This is what we should call a rat race, not people climbing the corporate ladder everyday. I only human forced to fight against time. In my oppinion, we should first deal with the left AN by surgery or radio surgery, because it is the last hope of my hearing. But it is also very important to deal with the right tumor as it is already compressing my brainstem which distracts the oxygen flow to the brain. This explains the chest pains when I breathe and the difficulty swallowing certain foods. But this is better now because this tumor has been reduced in size in my last surgery. Speaking of that, my surgeon told me that majority of the tumor was removed leaving only a small portion on the nerve. But 5 months later, the scan showed that the tumor is about the same size as before, only a little smaller allowing the brainstem to shift a little back in place, but not completely. *sigh* Now, there are a total of 6 detected tumors in my auditory nerves. Remembering what Sudesh once told me, "Most kids my age are enjoying teenage". Maybe, I can still enjoy myself and shall mock the faded blue of the adults' remoter heaven.

This was quite a long day. Elena picked me up at 11am from my house before fetching Ai Vee from her house in USJ but some craps went between and we only managed to meet up with Kenneth 1 hour later. They were sorry for him so we hurried but when we arrived, he was enjoying himself at the arcade! We bought the movie tickets for PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN, played a game of pool and went for lunch downstairs after that. We also met up with Patrick(Elby) and had a brief chat with David's friends, oh no, it should be Kenneth's friends this time. The five of us then resumed playing a few games of pool until 3pm when the show began. At first I thought, "why da hell must we watch this" but as the story went on, I was thrilled. It's kinda funny. When the movie finished, Ai Vee wanted to go home so we accompanied her to the bus stop. Kenneth offered to send her home and pay for the cab but she insisted taking the bus so there we sat for quite awhile, waiting for a bus until Kenneth got fed up, I think (his sudden abruptness), flagged down a cab without sending her home personally, as mentioned. Elena and I were about to continue shopping when Ai Vee called and...she forgot to take her keys from Elena!!! and worse of all, Elena did not drive to Summit today so Benedict had to come and get us to Ai Vee's house. After returning her the keys, we picked Phoebe up and went to Sunway Pyramid for dinner. We dined at Secret Recipe and GOSH! The Cappucino Cheese Cake is DELICIOUS!!! Then, we went to Lifestyle and Phoebe got her mom a bottle of perfume for birthday. We then drove over to Kafe 7, met up with Patrick and played pool AGAIN!! Since he's returning to UK soon. And guess what? He's doing Engineering at Bath University! Haha! What a coincidence. I thought Bath wasn't a well known city and not many would choose to go there because of their sandwich year which is compulsory to some courses and optional for others. It's now 11pm, I'm home with a sore foot and tired back AND I've to see my new surgeon-in-charge tomorrow morning!!! matilar....

I went to the park yesterday evening with the newspaper and sat there for 2 hours. And guess what? I met Ee Von, Joey and their mother there! I'm so happy to see them. Ee Von has turned over a new leaf. Before this she was one miserable and pessimistic girl who thinks everyone dislikes herself and have no confidence at all. Now, she's as cheerful as ever. Now I see that they're much more joyful. I'm so glad! They say...never count your eggs before they hatch. Very true indeed. I told my mom that I'd be sleeping throughout the Moral exam. But instead, I spent the whole 2 1/2 hours writing non-stop I didn't even get to sleep a bit! The whole class was looking at me like I was a whacko or something. But really, there were SOOO many things to write I just don't have enough time! They should give us a full 3 hour! Oh Gawd! Lawrence Ng is so kawaii and a gentlemen in HH2. But he's so apek-like in another show, Food of Love. Or something like that. He plays the role of a chef with ill-temper but cooks the best food around. Many people tend to take what I write in my blog. In fact, the Yvonne in person is a far cry from who I am online. Certain things I mention here will never be heard in real, and vice versa. I confidently say, my friendship with Alicia is improving but not as the same now. Though we've no more ill-feelings for each other, but a gap between us grew and we're no longer that close anymore. Here, I'm stating the fact, not yearning over anything. Because I seem to like my new lifestyle. These days, I cook my own meals, read the papers everyday, revise on some school studies, come online... everything done alone and I'm fine with it. No more yabbering on the phone for hours saves my ear a lot of energy. Instead, I switch on the Hi-Fi which the music reaches all four corners of the house. As for Elena, I don't usually speak to her unless we go somewhere together, meet online or see each other in school. Singledom is not so bad after all...

WHEEEE!! My Hosting Company is UP! My target is business and corporate companies for now. Please visit my new Webhost-Shop. For more information....plz visit my store and purchase a package! I really need that extra penny you know. hehehe... ah! It also comes with mySQL databases. HEHEHEHE!!! I can place for 2(two) more links on my navigation bar at Webhost-Shop so I'm giving that space out for free to the my first two clients. I've always wanted to do something like this. I even started one some time ago but scraped it soon after cuz I was too lazy to design the website. For now, the price might be a little high, ($50/year for 400MB)but I'm planning to lower the price when the business makes high profits in the future. So..first things first. PROMOTION! Well, I'm an art student and have absolutely no experience in the business industry. So, would someone suggest something? To all kind souls out there. Please...please....please...place my store's text link at your site. The effort is greatly appreciated. ^_^

Did you notice that I wrote something wrongly on the sidebar. This blog started in September 2001 but I stated it as "sept '02". This is a memorable date because I went through countless ups and downs alongside this blog when it first started. Unfortunately, most of the archives dissappeared as changes were made to my account and to blogger. Today, I read in the newspaper about the recent electric cut in the Northern states due to some technical problems. Come to think about it, it has been a long time since such thing happened in my neighborhood. Most of the time, it came during the night. It is not a problem to me at all because we have a big garden that makes the air cooling and besides, we city people get lights all day that some even have the lights on when they sleep. So being in the dark on such occasions is thrilling. Accept for one time, it happened while I was bathing alone upstairs and I very shocked. LOL! I liked it when you people comment on my posts for it assures me that there are people out there who cares and bother to drop by and read. Yaccs went down and was not up for a few days now because the breakdown happened on Labor's Day for the country that the server is in...so you know.... How I wish everyone uses broadband and attends to their PC 24/7. Everyone goes online at different times and it is so difficult to bump into someone you wish to speak to other than Friday nights, weekends and sometimes, public holidays. I'd come online when the person I want to speak to is off and I will plan to come online again later. Then dark angel will speak to me, "Who the hell he thinks he is, worthy of my previous time?" Everyone seem so busy especially now during the examination season. PMR is next month and SPM only less than 3 months away. Speaking of that, I've my Moral trial exam on Thursday!!!! Wargh!!! After one week of holiday next week, all the other trial exams will be here! Oh but hey, I always wished they'd come sooner so it ends quicker~! Heeheeeheeheehehehe....