It's been a while and hi, Multiple Sclerosis

Hello, dear readers, followers of this blog.

It has been a while since I updated this blog. Many things happened and I simply couldn't find the time to update until today.

If you've noticed, I've changed the header and included a picture of a bicycle. That is courtesy of freepik.com. The reason why I picked a bicycle is because this blog is a journey. It started when I was a university student and now a teacher at secondary school.

I passed the interview at SPP and was placed in the same school where I began my Teach for Malaysia fellowship. To be honest, the fellowship taught me lots, that I'm sure if I wasn't made of harder stuff, I'd crumble because many things happened and I had to adapt.

However, I didn't realize that my fellowship was when my illness would start to progress aggressively. I didn't know that my clumsiness, tendency to fall and back pains since 2014 was the beginning of it. I started teaching in 2015 with high hopes, building relationships with administrators, teachers and students. I wanted to make a difference in the students' lives on top of teaching a subject I once longed to teach: English Language.

Yet in the middle of 2015, things started to worsen. I'd lose strength on my knees. I'd miss out things because they slipped my vision. I had intense pain in my spine and stomach and my limbs spasmed, it was like a convulsion while I slept.

So I went to a private hospital. Had an MRI and had to be warded - I pushed to be discharged the next day. Way too expensive! They said that I had a prolapsed disc and sent me for physiotherapy - for months. I was able to walk after a few months without feeling weak in the knees. Had to rely on crutches though.

Then it came back again in 2016, while teaching. I couldn't walk properly. I went to see my GP, Dr. Joseph Arul and he sent me for another MRI. It only showed mild disc bulge. So I had to go for more physiotherapy, twice a week for 3 months. I could finally walk again after that.

Fast forward to my postgraduate convocation in November. I didn't notice that I was too tired and fell asleep on the wheel. Fortunately woke up and didn't have any accident on the highway.

Then the next month, December, was when I went to New Zealand with my mom, sister, brother and brother in law, together with my aunt, uncle and cousins. We had to stay at Melbourne during transit. I lifted something to put it on the top of a double tier bed. That was when I suddenly fell on my buttocks. I told my siblings to not let mom know about it.

Didn't realize it was the start of a worse attack. When I started as a permanent teacher early 2017, I just had minor pain. But then I had to travel a lot to prepare for the wedding on January 28th. After our marriage, I returned to my everyday life in Sg. Petani, Kedah. Renting a room, travelling to school every morning at 6.30am to avoid the traffic congestion.

Pretty soon, I had major pain that felt like period pain multiplied by 1000 that would appear suddenly while teaching. I lost bowel and bladder control worse than 2016, I had limited vision and poor night vision.

I had to take medical leave almost every week, went to see a doctor every weekend. None of them knew what my problem was.

Then I went back to KL, thinking of going to HKL. So I had to take 4 days MC since I was in too much pain and even some teachers noticed that I was pale. Went to 2 clinics and both doctors wrote referrals for me to go to the hospital ASAP. But then my aunt passed away so I went to Johor. I went down in Johor and couldn't join the funeral prayers.

When I went back to KL and went to HKL on that Monday, 13 March 2017, I was immediately hospitalized due to a pain scale of 9 out of 10.

It was a long month at the hospital. I gained weight at the hospital since I didn't do much - lying down, tested, prodded, went to the toilet, eat. I couldn't walk at all when I was first admitted. Had to rely on assistance.

The 2nd week was when I received the news. After a full spinal and brain MRI.

Multiple Sclerosis.

I pitied my husband who slept on a chair, head on my bed on my first day in the ward, then sleeping on the floor when I finally got the first class ward.When the doctor broke the news, he fell sitting on his bum. Something big, something that changed everything.

You'd be surprised if I told you that I guessed Multiple Sclerosis in 2016 when treatments didn't work on 'PID'. It was by chance when I noticed my toes went up when tickled. That wasn't normal. I know that the normal response would be the toes going down. I was a nursing student for a short while.

So I spent my final week in rehab, the youngest patient there, relearning how to stand and walk.

Now?

I have multiple appointments at the hospital with neurology, ophtalmology (eyes), psychiatry, urology, rehab and occupational therapy. Also on Gabapentin 600, Baclofen, Lactulose and Rebif (interferon beta-1a) sub-Q.

Many doctors wondered how I didn't throw a fit finding out I'm having a long-term disease.I'll share this: ACCEPTANCE. I'm a Muslim so I believe that everything happens for a reason that I might not know now. Perhaps in the afterlife. Redha, we call it. When I teach, I teach because of Allah. Now, I'm fighting back to function because that is a form of jihad!

Alhamdulillah, I found out that I have MS when medication was available for me. I thank Dr. Shanthi, Neurologist at HKL for getting me the quota of Rebif since my Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) is quite aggressive. I saw what became of my brain in the MRI film.They said the inflammation is worse in the spinal cord.

I'll fight. I'll live.

Other teachers told me they had no idea I was sick since I always smiled, helped around even sharing resources and never complained that I was in pain.

That's how I cope. By smiling. By doing what I love.

I believe that I'm tested with this disease in the world, dun'ya, because I'm strong enough. Allah doesn't test more than a person can handle.

When people kept telling me to be positive, my mind went: God, you don't have anything else to say? If I'm not positive, I'd have given up. LOL

So that's it for now. Hopefully I won't have to do plasma transfer sometime soon. The thought of a line on my neck gives me shivers.

Now Happy Iftar, and have a blessed Eidul-fitr people!

P.S. First raya with husband! Love you abang!

Oooh! Summer is here!

Yeah, I know it's already summer before August. Just that this post is so belated I'm going to apologize and give virtual ice cream mochi that I just made yesterday.

I would love to update the blog every now and then but real life comes and pokes its head almost constantly these days.

So... instead of posting the summary of Junketsu Kareshi <9>, I'm being kind of lazy and sick again so I'm just going to review some anime going on this Summer 2014.

1) Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
- This one really is my favorite this season! I'm not joking. Catchy music, satirical story line, funny yet somewhat realistic (in my opinion) at times, and it managed to make me look forward to Sundays here when I can enjoy it among others! If you haven't watched it already, I highly recommend it!

2) Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
- The story is a bit slow and they understandably couldn't stuff everything from the LN despite stretching a couple of episodes to fit each volume. However, I'm actually looking forward to how they are going to play out the Yokohama Soren-hen. It's my favorite arc by far and volume 7 is among my favorite, so I hope they will do justice to it.

3) Kuroshitsuji - Book of Circus
- Been waiting for this arc! Finally they're taking more from the manga instead of that boring 2nd season... since when did Ciel become a demon? The last time I checked (read: lastest chapter), he's still human. Back to this, I love how cheeky Sebastian is in one of the early episodes. Plus, I think this arc is quite faithful to the manga so I'm loving it so far.

4) Psycho-Pass re-edit
- Awesome. Good. Great. All those missing scenes now put into these 1-hour episodes (11 of them?) are like diamonds to me. The extras complements the already existing episodes and make them great. If you're into the philosophers and thinkers mentioned in the series, more are mentioned all thanks to the inclusion of the cut scenes.

5) Ao Haru Ride
- I think I'd prefer the manga more but I'm just going to stick to this just in case. Although I'm not sure why the lead girl irritates me but I'll ignore that feeling and see if I can hold out. It's good though. Just as I thought one Mary-sue might appear, the author douses me with cold water. Much thanks.

6) Free! Eternal Summer
- Since I followed the 1st season, I decided, heck why not?
Yeah, it's okay. Haru as usual being emotionless most of the time but with another character sowing some dark emotions, it's all good. Really. Otherwise, how on earth would I be able to withstand another Gou maniac (brothers too!) and Gou's pursuit of abs and muscles?

7) Barakamon
- It's funny but it also makes you think about certain things in life. Example: people always look up, but they rarely look down. It's true in a way. It's a gem so it might be worth your while.

Others I'm following and may review in future:
- Aldnoah Zero
- Tokyo Ghoul (must watch!)
- Hanayamata
- Glasslip
- DRAMAtical Murder
- Akame ga Kill!
- Persona 4: The Golden Animation
- Rail Wars!
- Re:_Hamatora
- Zankyou no Terror

Summer 2014 proves to be a really good season for anime. The songs played for these anime are good too and some may even be better than its anime. Right now, I'm stuck on this: Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun OP1 - Kimi Janakya Dame Mitai. It's so catchy my brain wouldn't let go of it.

So until next time. Ja ne!

Hey, it's the end of March!

I don't know how I survived these 3 months and with this recurring illness... but I am really grateful for it. Thank God for that.

So!

I can say I have officially worked for 3 months come Monday. So I'm planning on reading up 'A Bear Called Paddington' for the kids. Now I'm on a mission: Find the book and finish it before Wednesday. I am absolutely serious!

Instead, I had a bad headache trying to find the book. Usually I can look up from genre and then author and voila! In fact, I think I have a better time looking for books at the Japanese section. So I ended up buying Junketsu Kareshi volume 8 純血+彼氏 <8>.

The only thing I have to say is (spoilers - please highlight):

Eriya, you really, really have issues.

My thoughts about Eriya in this volume is that he feels entitled, possibly jealous of Aki and he really has no care for others except himself.

What I could get from the volume is that Eriya has had a couple of pureblood slaves like Kana and he'll never be satisfied until he gets Kana. I might be wrong but that's the impression I had.

Go ahead and read it. I don't know if anyone has translated it so ... yeah.
The positive thing about this volume is that at least the mangaka has brought up the momentum. I hope it will be as interesting, if not more in future volumes. =)

We'll see when it comes to that yeah? Until next time!

Surpise! Book haul for March. ^^

Books are peculiar things. They can make you happy, sad, amused, angry, frustrated and so many emotions you never thought you could feel. I once cried while reading 'The Happy Prince'. And books, they have a different story altogether about how they came to be. Sometimes the titles were born from a whim, the books may be written out of desperation, the prose created out of anger and ideas may have come from hope. Books are such treasures that we sometimes have yet to discover the diamond buried in it.

I finally met my friend, Nithiya since we finished college and started working. We're both kind of like 'teachers' now. We both teach kids. We also love books. A trip or meetup at KLCC is never complete without a making a stop (note: looong stop) at Kinokuniya.

So today, there were so many books that caught our interest. If we could, I think we would have bought all the books in the store. I'm serious. We're serial book lovers.

I had to hold myself back. Here's what I bought:
1) Manga: Shitsuren Chocolatier (or rather, my friend paid for it as my birthday present)
2) Light novel: Tokyo Ravens 3 - Chimera Dance
3) I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

aaand! heads up!

4) Junketsu Kareshi 純血+彼氏 Vol. 7 (Yes! You read right!)

I bought 'I Capture the Castle' because it was recommended at the store for writers with writers block. I've yet to see if it's true. (Rating: TBA)

As for Tokyo Ravens LN, I'm buying one book a month. Thanks to my friend, Jian, I didn't have to buy the 2nd book. hehe. I love you. Seriously. (Rating: *****)

I was actually reading Shitsuren Chocolatier while stuck in traffic. Seems interesting. Might follow this one! ^^b Thumbs up! (Rating: *****)

It's been a while since I read Junketsu Kareshi. I actually lost interest in it, but thanks to the cover of volume 7 depicting Eriya and Aki together, I bought it. I am well aware that it's actually time for volume 9 now but really, I fell out of love with it. I'm trying to get back to it... and so I hope the mangaka will make it more interesting.

Here's a pretty spoiler from the volume 7 (please highlight):
(START SPOILER)
Eriya and Aki had a 'conversation'. Earlier, Aki told Kana that he loved her too. Because Kana confessed to Aki that she loves him (upset that Aki's 'fiance' was all over him and Aki was cool with it). So when Aki turned up with Kana in his arms and called out Eriya on the school's rooftop (Eriya enrolled in the same school), Eriya said that Aki was being mean. I didn't pay attention to their conversation but the last page mentioned Eriya saying that the 3 of them are finally together.

Just one thing: Aki, please make up your mind. I get it. You're kinda like the figure that has a precarious situation and lower vampires and other nobles might take every opportunity to bring you down. But please don't play with Kana's heart. You're handsome. But Eriya and Jin are too. 
(END OF SPOILER)

That said, I'm giving Junketsu Kareshi vol.7 the rating: ****

I'm giving this volume a chance because Eriya is now in it. Seems interesting. Hopefully, the mangaka will keep up the momentum and then, there may be a chance of 4.5 stars.

Anyhow... time for me to get back to real life. Work. Work. Work. Responsibility calls.

A Happy (belated) Chinese New Year!

I've been meaning to post a Chinese New Year greeting here but I've been so busy with work. Honestly, I go home, sleep, wake up, go to work. Repeat 5 times a week. I'm teaching new classes lately and it's taking some time to assimilate and getting to know the kids.

Anyhow,

HAVE A WONDERFUL AND PROSPEROUS YEAR OF THE HORSE! ^^b

Here's a bit of a trivia for today:
23 years ago, I was born on the 1st day of the Year of the Goat. So every year, I make it a point to celebrate Chinese New Year on top of my birthday. Each year, it'll be only about 2 weeks apart. Way to make the most of it! hahaha

What's even more wonderful is that I am always blessed with oranges each year during Chinese New Year until my Gregorian calendar birthday.

How great is that!

So here's to taking a break from anime/manga/LN posts. (and I think JLPT results will be posted to my house sometime soon. O_O )

and of course,

Thank you for your support! Celebrating more than 3,000 visits to this blog by giving all of you virtual mandarin oranges! I'll definitely post more manga/LN summary when I have time.

Until then, ja ne!

Comic Fiesta 2013 Day 1 & 2

The annual ACG event of the year has reached an unprecedented close to 40,000 attendance! Congratulations to Comic Fiesta committee as managing that big a crowd really couldn't be easy. Kudos!

This year, the event was held on 21 & 22 December 2013. Despite having pre-ordered tickets, I went to the event late. On both days. Which means I did not get the loot bags we normally get upon entering. Which means I felt sad (still do). Which also means I don't have the booklet to scan this time =( (But that's okay. Karyee has pictures of the schedule ^^)

On both days, I entered at around noon.

Explanation:
Day 1: There was a career fest that I promised my mom I would go to
Day 2: My parents and my brother were busy with their Singapore trip so I looked after the house for a bit and finished some work before going out

Which is why I have asked and obtained the kind permission of my CF Nakama, Karyee so that I can post her pictures here too!

So!

DAY 1

Credits: Karyee

Nothing much happened, except the confusing queue and directions got me in pretty later than I should have. I mean, I was there at around 11am but a misdirection had me waiting outside at a queue meant for normal tickets and half an hour later, I got fed up and asked someone else and was finally pointed to the right direction and claimed my tickets:

I really, really love their ticket design

Since I missed the countdown, I didn't have to squeeze myself in this:

Look at the crowd queuing! It's not even the main entrance!
Credits: Karyee

Which I'm glad for, but sad too.

I was in a rush, to be honest. The only thing I did on that day was drop by Kyu-erien（キューエリエン）'s booth to buy her stuff (as support and I like her stuff anyway) and to see her cosplay, in addition to watching the group cosplay competition. And hang out with CF nakama.

I missed out on this:

Awesome intro! Credits: Karyee

Comic Fiesta gets even more epic each year. Big names coming in this year such as Ikkyu-sensei, Vofan, Yuegene Fay and the returning ones like Redjuice (famous for Guilty Crown), Danny Choo (Culture Japan) and many others. ^^

So here are the schedules for those 2 days:

Credits: Karyee

Credits: Karyee

< (Left) Of course, it's not Comic Fiesta without Coffytiam!

And here's the main stage for CF2013! (Below)

Credits: Karyee

They even have an epic trailer. Please go here to view it. It is awesome.

I don't have pictures of the group cosplay photo taken by myself but here's the loot I got from Kyu-erien（キューエリエン） on Day 1 =)

It's going to be necessary for me to put this at my door prior to recording/dubbing sessions

However, the only photo of a cosplayer on that day that I managed to get was the first picture I took on that day:

Rilakkuma!

Isn't he just soo huggable!

Anyway, I was rushing on that day so I left after group cosplay competition. I heard Danny Choo talking during his slot at 3.30pm though. =)

Just a fun fact: I wore a complete formal on this day. With blazer. It was for the potential interview. Some people might have thought I was trying to cosplay a character. Haha. Either that, or someone might have thought I was sneaking off work attending CF. =P

Credits: Karyee

Since I missed out on quite a lot and didn't take much pictures despite being there, my CF nakama, Karyee, allowed me to post the pictures she took on that day. *Standing ovation, all applause!*

Credits: Karyee

< (Left) This awesome intro to the group cosplay competition just got the excitement mounting.

And these were the judges! (Look right) >

The group cosplay wasn't really memorable but I salute them for trying their best. They're braver than me! (See below)  

Some of the group cosplays. Credits: Karyee

I didn't stay back for the rest since I went to PWTC instead. Ya know, career and all that. pffft. haha

So now we're on to Day 2. (Notice that I didn't cover the performance? I'll do that at the end of the post).

DAY 2

Credits: Karyee

One word to describe Day 2.

AWESOME!

I didn't have a problem with the queue this time. Improved from Day 1. Much relief, thank you!

For the first time, I stayed until around 6pm since my family's off in Singapore enjoying the USS.

Pictures galore!

< (Left) I got this from Mori Mori booth. This is a phone strap of my zodiac. She has lots of other cool stuff and I would really like to own her Steins;Gate items. Perhaps next time!

I got this for free. They were giving these away so I'm gonna give it to Jian since she couldn't make it this year. (Right) >

This is my CF nakama, Karyee. She's good at drawing.
She's also the one taking most of the pictures I am unable to take
and therefore has given me permission to post here. ^^b

Here's a closer look at her drawing:

Isn't she talented?! Me is jelly (Bad grammar intended).

I haven't been drawing for quite some time so all I managed was the bad chibi you see in the picture giving an eye to her pretty fairy (or a pixie?). I'm bad at it but I'm slowly improving. I'm getting better at photoshop painting, though.

Which reminds me that I promised Karyee I would digitally paint this doodle of hers (which she did while we took a break. haha).

I like this drawing. Once I finish my assigned work,
my brain's screaming to draw something. Suenaga Mirai, to be specific.
First, I need to paint this.

Anyway, the following are snapshots of the solo cosplay competition. It was hilarious!

I love the Assassin's Creed cosplayer, Altair. Death by song indeed!

This one is Altair in his first skit. He was singing a song for his Maria.

Then, the finals for solo.

Altair unlocking achievement: Killing 100 bunnies - With a song, apparently.
Credits: Karyee

Altair clutching a bunny on his left and playing his guitar, ending his song with: "Oh bunny, the man who killed all your friends with a song ... is right next to you". Rabbit died.

As the emcees say, 'It's CF. Nothing makes sense.'

I totally agree!

*clutches stomach, rolling in laughter because of his creativity* (I am sad because I love bunnies though).

So the rest of the solo cosplayers in the competition are here:

By the way, the Assassin's Creed cosplayer won. ^^

If you want to catch it (or missed it and want to watch it), watch part of it here.

Did I mention we had Thor and Loki in the house? Only my friend had a picture of Thor only.

Credits: Karyee

As for the rest of Day 2, it was all about taking pictures with some cosplayers. Was it my imagination or did more cosplayers turn up this year on Day 2?

Credits: Karyee
*I'm gushing over Mephistopheles*

I cropped some so that I didn't appear in them. Haha.

And I took the opportunity to take pictures of the displays =)

(Karyee's are included)

A collection of nenderoids, etc. available on display at CF2013.
Some credit goes to Karyee since I compiled hers with my photos.

Before I ended the day, I managed to snap a photo with Danny Choo himself! He was very friendly and sporting about it.

Finally! After so long ^^
Thank you, Danny Choo!

And that was the end of my CF2013 experience.

BUT WAIT!

I promised to cover some performances didn't I?

Alright, I really, really enjoyed the performance this time 'round. 

The usual and we have a new one: One Piece!

Here are snippets of the performances:

*I will upload here once I have time to edit the videos. They're upside down at the moment. For now, I have to focus on editing, translating and dubbing videos assigned before my deadline. Job calls.*

I didn't get to record the whole thing, so if you want, you can catch it on YouTube. I'll be nice enough to provide some of the links =P All these links DO NOT BELONG TO ME. I am only providing them to you so you can easily find them. Please open them on a separate window, please.

This link is obtained from and is available on
Harmonia ACG YouTube account.

Be sure to check them out!

The band One Piece performed quite well. They're an amateur Japanese band. Had fun with this one. =)

They sang songs from One Piece. Please support the uploader 

by visiting his youtube and watching it there.

Here are a few more links:

5 Minute Harmonia - Guren no Tsubasa [LIVE] @ Comic Fiesta 2013

Comic Fiesta 2013 Moves Project Coser & CosDancers

LOVERIN TAMBURIN (I really loved this one!)

Ashita E No Sanka - Bin Yun & Shiomaru (Comic Fiesta 2013) (I really, really loved this one!)

There's also Livetune, which you can catch on YouTube also. I've embedded the YouTube video of ENDGAME Day 2 ft. Livetune here. You can open it on YouTube instead where you'll find CF2013 related videos. ;)

Here are some pictures of the performers:

Bin Yun & Shiomaru

One Piece

So that's it for Comic Fiesta 2013. Now I'm going back to work and hope to see all of you again next year!

2013: An eventful year (Literally!)

So I said 2013 has been eventful.

I meant it literally as many things went on this year.

2013 means many things to me:

1) The end of university life
2) Commencement ceremony of Class of 2013 in December
3) Worked briefly for a broadcast system company from August thru October while waiting for December
4) Sat for JLPT (despite not really studying for it - I'm a self-study candidate)
5) Went for an interview (then called for the second interview) and secured a job starting in 2014
6) First alumni reunion since graduating from university
7) The annual Comic Fiesta
8) and whatever I missed out. Which turns out to include the double wins I got from Animax. Thank you!!

I wrote about 1 & 2 in one post previously.
I'm not going to go into specifics about 3 & 4 (let's face it, it'll be a miracle -and awesome- if I passed it since I didn't do much studying and I didn't attend classes and neither did I hire a tutor).
5? It went pretty well. I had a non-generic interview and I felt like I was having a lengthy conversation with the GM instead. =)
However, my future post would include 6 and 7. Since 7 is the most recent, I've decided to tackle that first. Mainly because I had the most fun in CF for the first time as I got to enjoy the whole day instead of rushing about on Day 2 this year. So the vote for the next post goes to Comic Fiesta 2013 Days 1 and 2. Pictures galore! (although there are about 30 of them only. I'll try harder next year!)

Stay tuned!