Trigger Finger

For more than two months, I had been having pain in my left hand mid finger. Pain would be more pronounced when I tried to close my palm tightly. If I managed to close it into a fist, my mid finger somehow got locked up without it being able to regain its normal straight position after opening the palm. I needed to manually pull it back to regain its normal position.

So one day when I met my cardiologist for regular check-up, I told him that I may be suffering from arthritis because of aging. He asked how I came to that conclusion and I demonstrated my locked mid finger to him. He was quick to point out that it was not arthritis. He simply told me that the tendon in my finger has tightened and a surgery would be needed to cut it. He asked me to see an orthopedic.

 

When I met the orthopaedic specialist, at one glance, he did not hesitate to tell me that I was having Trigger Finger, a term I did not know before. For permanent solution, he strongly recommended surgery which only takes 5-10 minutes.

 

Surgery was quickly arranged. As usual, hospital would optimise such opportunity for commercial consideration: an operating theatre and three nurses in attendance and everybody in full operating attire. True to what the orthopaedic said, the relief was instantaneous. The locking of the finger was gone once the cut was made!

 

Flying Kite with My Grandson

The kite flying session was rather a very short one. When we tried to put up the kite to higher level to catch the wind, the string became detached from the spool and it flew off and landed on top of the roof of the Club House. That was the last time we saw our kite!

Farm Stay at Margaret River

Serene and Meng How arranged for the whole family to spend a weekend at a farm at the Four Elements Farm Stay in Margaret River. On the way, we stopped at Busselton Jetty to have a picnic.

My grandson just loves to chase after birds!

My grandson is an extremely friendly kid who has no fear of approaching stanger to start up a conversation. At the picnic site, he did not hesitate to approach this man who was having a small puppy.

At Busselton Jetty

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Starting a fire.

Having a friendly football session with a kid of a neighbouring farm house.

Sampling all kinds of nuts on display at Margaret River Nuts and Cereals.

At Margaret River Chocolate Factory.

At Clairault & Streicker Wines

At Perth Zoo with My Grandson

We had such great time at the zoo.

Chasing a friendly bird!

His favourite moments were probably riding the "horse" at the carousel and driving the "car"!

Father's Day in Australia

I had the privilege of celebrating Father's Day twice this year, one in Sabah on 1st Sunday of June and the 2nd one on the 1st Sunday of September in Perth.

For Father's Day celebration in Perth, we were treated with a sumptuous dinner by Serene and Meng How at The Quarie Bar and Brasserie.

Three generations - mother, grandmother and granddaughter

Three generations - father, grandfather and grandson. A great photo for remembrance.

Present from Zion Praise House, Perth - a super bright small torch

Present from Basel Church, KK, Sabah - a pen drive

Gastronomy Extravagant in Perth

Our gastronomy extravagant first began with a breakfast buffet at The Gate Bar & Bistro at Cockburn. This is the second time Serene and Meng How took us there. The first was for a dinner in one of our previous trips to Perth. The unique thing about this restaurant is that a play area is set aside at one corner of the restaurant where kids brought along by young patrons with children can enjoy a good meal with minimum disruption by their kids. Two ladies are on hand to take care of the kids. One is exclusively assigned to do painting on the kids' faces. It's truly an innovative idea!

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During our stay at the Four Elements Farm Stay in Margaret River at one weekend, Meng How and Serene took us to a highly recommended restaurant in Margaret River, Knee Deep in Margaret River. True to its reputation, we were turned away when we turned up one afternoon without advance reservation, "Sorry, we are fully booked!". Immediately, we made reservation for lunch for the next day to avoid another disappointment.

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Unlike Malaysia, Father's Day is celebrated at the first Sunday of September. For the Father's Day celebration, Serene and Meng How took us to this Quarie Bar & Brasserie, which is situated a short distance from their home in Success suburb.

  

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Each time we went to Perth, we never missed eating the Fish & Chip at one of the seafront outlets at Fremantle.

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We were privileged to be taken by Meng How and Serene to have lunch at a celebrity restaurant owned by Jamie Oliver in Perth, Jamie's Italian. Apparently, he owns two such outlets in Australia, the other is in Sydney. Business is good everyday. Even at around 5-10 min before its opening at 11am, we had to queue behind 5 other customers who turned up earlier than us.

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Beside dining outside, we did have special meals prepared by in-house chefs. At the Farm Stay, we had barbeque by Meng How.

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At home, my wife did come up with a number of nice dishes: Ngau Nam Mee (Beef Noodle),  braised lamb shank and roast lamb just to name a few!

Chef was busy at work

Cutting up the roast lamb