Hazy

We recently had a horrible horrible haze here in South East Asia, caused by Forest Burning in Indonesia. which got me to go through my eye drops like there was no- tomorrow.. .in fact I went through more eye drops in that one week then I had done in the months since being here.

Now, I hadn’t been able to find the drops I use here in Malaysia, but luckily a Malaysian friend of mine who was visiting the UK was able to bring me back a batch as back-up

However, it got me talking about Lens and Eye care routines...

I use these drops when my eyes are irritated whilst wearing my contacts.

There are of course other options out there, which I have tried aswell, (blink, the brand I use do actually sell bottles, but not the vials I use… which gives me much better portion control as such)  and so I keep coming back to these... another issue is that the products I use for lens care aren’t as easy to get here in Malaysia.. so I’m at the mercy of others with getting them willing enough to bring some back from the UK... and so far they actually are….

Maybe I should adapt and start using the products I can find here, but its tricky, as you might appreciate Eyes are sensitive, and once you have something that works for you and keeps your eyes “calm” its best to stick with it..

For instance, the daily lens cleaner I use is free from preservatives and basically makes my contacts feel cool and clean.. Just like they came out of a refreshing cool shower... and the other ones I used I find them oily, and "filmy" it might be just me, but hey... i have to wear them i guess.. so whatever works for me right???

Another instance is as well, that in my case we are talking RGP (Rigid/ “Hard”) lenses, and most regular products you find in shops here are for soft lenses, so sometimes its about looking a bit further as well

In any case.. These are my products of choice...

Regard K - RGP Lens Solution

"Regard K is the world’s first preservative free multipurpose solution for rigid (hard) contact lenses. It’s also one of only two preservation free solutions on the market today - the other is 3% Hydrogen Peroxide.
Regard RGP K offers a high level of disinfectant that ensures all debris, dirt, grit and impurities are removed from gas permeable lenses without damaging the surface. You can expect to experience a high level of comfort from Regard RGP K solution, as its preservative free formula is more eye friendly, especially for those who suffer from sensitive eyes, as the preservatives in traditional solutions are known to cause irritation." 

Progent-Menicon-Intensive-Cleaner RGP Cleaner

"Menicon Progent - is a weekly protein remover, disinfectant and intensive cleaner compatible with all RGP contact lenses. To ensure excellent comfort and prolong the life of your RGP lenses it is recommended to remove proteins with Menicon Progent weekly, Menicon Progent is a solution particularly recommended for cleaning and removing proteins from the surface of the lens by simply soaking them in the mixture for only 30 minutes periodically. The efficacy of Menicon Progent lies in its strong, rapid action against all the organisms likely to contaminate lenses, including bacteria, moulds, yeasts, viruses and Ancanthamoeba trophozoites and cysts."

Blink Contacts Vials

"Blink contacts vials are eye drops that help you capture the feeling of a natural tear by using a preservative free formula to create a smooth and soothing protective shield on the eye that provides a long-lasting comfort.
Blink Contacts eye drops can be used by both soft and rigid-gas permeable (RGP) wearers.
Each pack contains 20 convenient sized vials that you can keep in your handbag, at work, or even in your gym bag. Each vial contains a dose of 0.35mls."

The Road Ahead

This week marks my one year anniversary being in Malaysia and a year and a half since returning to work after my Vision issues.. what a difference a year and a bit makes...

where initially a couple of weeks after returning to work i didn't really see a proper future where i could work regular, i couldn't even work for more then a couple of hours a day, and as for social activities i could not even get my head around as to what i could and what i couldn't do.. and looking back now, i can see so much has changed...

there is the Physical evidence....

but there are definitely some big Mental and Cultural changes ... and its just been one massive journey... a journey i've been glad i went on... and although even a couple of weeks ago i was ready to pack it all in and go and just live in my parents attic, which just confirms life is about ups and downs more then anything else.... its been a journey worth traveling...

So guess i'm just going to focus on the road ahead and see what happens........

"The road ahead is empty

It's paved, with miles of the unknown

Whatever seems to be your destination

Take life the way it comes, take life the way it is"

Leisure sickness

Over the last 18 months since having started work again i've spotted something weird... My eyes do get sensitive and irritated, but mainly during time off... as like my body is all fine during the working week, but when its weekend, it can relax and play-up.

Something I definitely noticed over the 4 day long weekend here last week during Raya, the end of the Ramadan Period.

I had had a very full on week leading up-to these long weekend was really looking forward to some time off, and maybe even go around town and play tourist a bit.

But when I woke up on the Thursday morning I knew I could cancel all my plans… my eyes were red and irritated and sooo over-sensitive to light the only thing I could do was stay in bed, keep the curtains closed and dig out my eye cooling masks and eye-patch….

I’ve had this before, having to cancel on a bike ride or road trip, or even a evening get together, but not as bad as this...

In all fairness, it did end up getting better toward the end of the day so I did venture out for some food with a friend late at night, but did have a repeat of over-sensitiveness the following day again…maybe the “haze” that’s been pestering East-Asia lately might have made my eyes temporarily more sensitive or something, but yeh, this time it just lingered quite a bit longer than normal

It sort of reminded me about a couple of times when I was younger and would go on holiday and get a heavy cold or flu or something…….

And it made me wonder if it really was similar or just something I thought id remember…

So I looked for it on the good old internet, and it actually does exist, Its called “leisure Sickness” a phrase coined by a Dutch psychologist

I found 2 interesting links on this, and it talks about that this does tend to happen more than thought, and it sort of put it towards a hidden sense of duty as well….

Seems my parents raised me well on this one then… maybe too well… as im damn sure rather would have played Day Tourist in KL instead of spending it with my eyes covered in bed listening to yet another podcast or something.

 

Phuket.... lets go.

My professional background is Luxury hotel management for many years, and have recently venture into Hotel Software consultancy… and with that it means I’ve spent a lot of time in Hotels and Hotel rooms…

Having said that however, it was still nice to get invited on a small trip to Phuket with my Buddy Huai Bin.

Himself and 2 other bloggers were invited to experience the newly refurbished and re-launched Outrigger - Laguna Beach Resort in Phuket. And I was allowed to come along for the ride.

Having sort of Lived “out of Suitcase” for most of the previous year whilst working and settling in Australia and Malaysia it was nice chance to have a break and actually have space in my Hotel room….(I had in all honesty already had a nice little 3 day break in Bali in December with a good friend, but this wee trip to Phuket was free d-:  )

When invited to go on these trips you are kind of expected to review the place you stay at as well, (when I was in Hotel management myself, we used to have bloggers and Journo’s over frequently in the hope they would score us favourably… and since I only worked in excellent hotels I can tell you that Favourable reviews were always on the agenda.. ;-)  ) Luckily I wasn’t asked to participate in reviewing, I was just enjoying the stay … IT was up to my travel companions to blog about our stay… and here and here are Huai Bin’s review…

 At the same time, I did think I wouldn’t be a wrong thing to put my thoughts on virtual paper so to say.. .

Initially I thought I had the perfect angle… “The Vision challenged experience” see how things go when you sometimes have some sight issues… how do hotels accommodate for that etc?… then I thought about it and laughed out loud….

Why would I do that… ? So far, my entries have been about , getting on with it, not letting limitations get the best of you… so would reviewing a hotel on how it handles the “less abled ones” be a thing to do in my case? Nah… never….

And rest assured… the hotel didn’t limit me in anyway… all was nice and even, and smooth, no potholes or level floor changes I could trip over… the only thing that caused me grieve was some sand from the beach (when I was on the beach) that blew into my eye and started irritating in between my contacts and I had to take them out… wow… nothing to do with the hotel anyways.. More with my own stupidity for not wearing shades (-:

So then what? Judge it on my professional experiences? Yeh, why not? …well…. I got to a conclusion on that as well….. the NOT that is…. Its work!!!!!! I’ve spent the bulk of my living/working hours since 1995 inside a hotel in one way or another…. So when I’m at a nice relaxing resort… do I want to start taking notes? Nah… not really… .. (or at least, not for now anyway)

I can tell you it was nice and relaxing though… that I had some great food, one of the longest breakfasts I’ve had for a long long long time, (and that says a lot for someone that doesn’t really do breakfast in the first place)  I can tell you that the Night market in Phuket was amaaaaaaazing, and that I had a great Thai massage in a rickety old Beach Bar from a lovely little lady that tortured me and my feet…. But if you really want a review…. Read the ones Huai Bin did…

To Blog or not to Blog

I was invited by my friend Haui Bin to join him on a visit to Phuket, he is a very active blogger with a large following in Asia.

I had met him via Suanie from Suanie.net, who previously had been introducing me to the Blogging culture here in Malaysia, she as well has a large following and on these blogs they write about food and products, general aspects of their daily going’s on etc… and as such they get invites to newly opened or re-launched bars and or restaurants, product launches and more… this also includes Hotels and Resorts on occasions and whereas I had joined Suanie on a Restaurant re-launch tasting and event once, this time Huai Bin had a spare space for someone to join on a trip to Phuket and I was the lucky one. (See my next post on that specific trip itself….)

These couple of outings have been a bit of an eye-opener for me.

(yep, given that this blog is mostly about my eye –sight.. this is a pun indeed… a bad one at that, but still…)

Blogging encapsulates soo much its an interesting thing to observe.

So many people have different reasons and different approaches.

I have friends that blog to just get “things out of their system”

I have friends that use it to chronicle travels

I read blogs on “Lifehacks” TechieStuff” “Android Phones” and many other stuff.. for either info or an opinion on a subject I guess..

I started writing my blog because I was initially frustrated about not being able to find out much info about living and experiencing Keratoconus… in the hope that by writing my frustrations and experiences down, I might be able to make someone else’s situation easier to navigate…or alternatively for them to use it as a tool to make others understand what it is we are going experiening, and that its not just a matter of getting a new prescription for your glasses…

(I know for instance that my circle of friends and family have approached me with different responses from:

 “Wow….. that made me cry” and “Man, I never realised it was this bad” to compliments about my style of telling my story.)

In all honesty, whilst hoping it might help others, I also have a very selfish point here and that is….to get my frustrations “out of my system” as well of course..

  

Then again, when I first signed up for this blog in 2005 it wasn’t to do with any of my eye problems( i didn't have any then), it was a vain and failed attempt to write “HotelBabylon Style “ about my experiences in the luxury hotel industry where at that stage I had been working for about 10yrs.

It turned out that at that time in my life that definitely wasn't the thing for me to write about, and although currently I can still come up with plenty of stories, and maybe one day might just do so, at that stage I gave up quickly and retired the blog so to say.

It wasn't until a friend of mine pointed out that maybe blogging about my Keratoconus experiences wouldn’t be a bad thing I decided to see if the bloglink actually still worked after all those years, and as we know, nothing disappears on the internet, so here I was able to re-instated the blog as such, gave it a bit of a face-lift, and started writing..

So far its been a good (and at times cathartic) experience, and although I do have moments where I can’t think of what to write, and admittedly do run out of things to write about KC wise,  then again, when there is something to tell, I always will…

That’s why my experiences with the bloggers I mentioned at the beginning of this article, were so interesting…

For instance, initially I was kind of bemused by the taking of pictures before eating a dish from many different angles to just make sure it looks good on the blog, to taking photos of the whole hotel room and hotel and surrounding area’s from different angles, once again, to make it look great for the blog…

And props to them for having made this a semi source of income, as I saw for instance that during our trip to Phuket, it wasn't all just fun for Huai Bin, it did involve quite a bit of time spent on updating his Blog and his Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Foursquare feeds…

So, although it might all look like a Jolly.. these guys take it serious and are indeed providing a professional service in way to inform us, the public, of whats out there…

As for all the picture taking that initially bemused me….I started thinking….. its exactly what we do nowadays already when we go on a trip or evening out… taking pictures of out meals, or the place we stay at anyway..

So maybe, when I don’t have anything interesting to say about my adventures in Keratoconus land, I could write about other experiences… or maybe not…. Maybe I should just give it a go and see what happens…in any case, given my vision, my pictures might end up a bit more blurry then theirs..

Good Coffee: Cheaper than prozac

As a Dutchman i've grown up on Coffee around me a lot....and as the title suggests, its a good tool to keep sane... (-:

Here in Malaysia I went straight for the Starbucks, as that's the easy option I guess.

However, I quickly adjusted to the local variation  Kopi ((o) ais ) but 2 of my friends on separate occasions have introduced me to a small coffee chain in KL that's called Artisan Roast
(with what i just found out a link to a coffee place in the UK aswell..
UPDATE... Its actually in my Beloved Edinburgh, right near where i used to live in Bruntsfield... http://www.artisanroast.co.uk/ check em out)

In any case... they have 2 great relaxing places in KL one in a busy mall and one in a more urbanised area ...

I have on a couple of occasions really enjoyed their coffees and latte's and even what I reckon is one of the best cheesecakes i've ever had in my life.....

and suddenly I discovered the other day that they have just opened a place next to the office where i'm currently based. so I couldn't resist and got myself this...

Zongzi / Bak Chang

The other day I was handed a little leaf wrapped parcel by a friend of mine, saying: “here, you’ll like this…. “

And me (not owning a verbal filter sometimes…..) saying, hmmm, thanks, but eh its evening, why are you handing me breakfast?

(I was referring to Nasi Lemak a dish wrapped in pandang leaves and mainly taken for breakfast in Malaysia)

My friend laughed and said “noooooooo its not that… its something else completely…it’s a very traditional Chinese dish…”

“Its something called BakChang”  and she proceeded to tell me the story of Qu Yuan a famous poet during the Chu Dynasty as legend goes (according to various sources on the interweb and of course my friend who gave me one of these)

The Bak Chang is a traditional Chinese rice dumpling usually available around the time of Dragon Boat Festival.

Like many Chinese festivals and their associated foodie traditions, there is also a legend surrounding the origin of this yummy food.

The story goes that Qu Yuan tried to warn the King and his fellow countrymen of the expansion of the neighbouring Qin kingdom, with little success.

When the capital of the Chu kingdom fell to a Qin general, the patriotic Qu Yuan was supposedly so overcome with grief that he drowned himself in the Miluo River. The Chu people threw packets of rice  (the Bak Chang ) in to the river  to keep the fish from feeding on the poet’s body. (i have also heard a version where it was meant for feeding him in the afterlife..)

Bak Zhang or Zhongzi as they are known today, are made with glutinous rice with a variety of filling, then wrapped in bamboo leaves, bound and tied together in a bundle and consumed once a year on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

Although I was out by the exact day I was still in on the exact week, and went to try this last night…

As you can see it looks kinda lush, and that it was…

Quite filling.... that’s the glutinous rice itself I guess.. but very flavoursome and tasty….

Bring on next year