Kota Kinabalu Noobers Trip 18-22/5/2017

Last year May, we randomly booked our air tickets to KK, Sabah for year 2017 ! So here we are !

18/5/2017

We landed safely on time and collected our rent car at the airport entrance.

Rent Car : SAGA FLX @ RM 510 nett for 4 days 3 nights. Paid another RM200 nett deposit upon collection, will refund RM200 when return.

We went Gaya street for early lunch @ 金沙園生肉麵 while waiting ailing flying from KL to KK, landed at 11am, delayed around 1/2 hour.

Picked up ailing at airport then went for another lunch at Fook Yuen Cafe & Bakery. Bread and egg tarts okay, others soso.

We stayed at apartment booked in AirBnB. A very cosy place with beautiful simple interior design. 2 bedrooms with 3 beds, can accommodate 5 persons. :) It's located at Lorong Bunga Kiambang, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. They used self check in so we didn't meet the owner in between our stay. Water pressure very low since we're at 2nd floor, cannot 2 persons bath together. No water at all. 

RM 324 nett for 2 nights

Went Imago KK for some shopping.

Had RM 12.80 per scoop ice cream at Camaco, too pricey. First and last time.

Went October Cafe for a drink.

Address: L13, 13, Jalan Dewan & Lorong Dewan, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Went Tanjung Aru for sunset ! Breathtaking !

Had our dinner at Little Italy. Foods were nice but very expensive. Also first and last time.

RM 161.15 for food and drinks.

19/5/2017
Today is island hoping day ! We sign up the package to 2 islands - Sapi and Manukan.

Island package - RM37 / pax
Rent Snorkeling sets - RM10 / pax
Banana Boat - RM30 / pax
Island Entrance Fee - RM 3 / pax (paid once for both islands)

Get on speed boat on 930 am and headed to Sapi Island. Snorkeling and banana boat !

Only managed to take few photos of the fishes in the sea. I bought the water proof cover for my iphone and my nex. Still worried the covers not so water proof though. Luckily everything okay. Sea wasn't that clear too.

We supposed to switch to Manukan island at 12noon, but the banana boat man delayed our time. We requested to play banana boat at 11am, but waited until 12noon. And not only us, but a group of youngsters (8 persons) and a group of malay family (4 persons). So we have to wait all of them to play banana boat before we can back to Sapi Island. 

It was my 1st time playing banana boat. The boat man will asked if we wanted to "terbalik" our banana boat. Of course, my friends all said yes. He drove us to the middle of the sea and start playing around 5 minutes, then "terbalik" us into the sea. It's quite scary because I don't know whats under me in the sea. Shark? Jellyfish? Lol. It's quite fun. 

By the time we back to Sapi Island already 1230pm. Called the lady at Jesselton Point counter and told her what happened, she contacted the boat man back to pick us and sent us to Manukan Island.

Back to Jesselton Point @ 2pm. Went lunch @ Fatt Kee Seafood Restaurant.

I ordered the original soup without tomato, I requested only fish slice and fish balls, charged me RM 13.80 per bowl. Waiter said because I select which ingredients I want so it's more expensive. 

Back to our apartment to bath, wash all the dirty salty clothes and rest. We went movie at Suria KK. 29+1. A story about a woman who is almost 30 years old. 30 is a scary numbers for some women. Followed by the symptom of aging from a teenager to a 30+. 30 is just a number anyway for me, see how you treat it only. Life goes on.



After movie, went for seafood dinner at 大茄來海鮮餐廳.

Food and Drinks : RM110.50

20/5/2017
Kundasang today ! Breakfast at Kedai Kopi Jeong Hin (永兴茶室). Wanted to try their buns but not available. Ordered mee kolok and coffee / lang coffee.

Took around 1 and 1/2 hour to reach Pekan Nabalu.

Signature smile from movie 29+1.

Then we went Desa Dairy Farm since our check in time is after 2pm.

Queue up to buy milk and gelato ! Long queue.

Where the cows kena squeeze milk hahaha. We came at the wrong time, milk squeezing only start at 2pm.

Enjoyed our milk and gelato at the viewing bay viewing nothing.

We also went feeding the baby cow and goat.

Went to cow barn to see cows. All so huge.

Entrance fee : RM5 / person
Gelato : RM5.30 / cup
Milk : 500ml - RM3.79 (Original) / RM4.40 (Chocolate) / RM 6 (Coffee)
Milk Feeding : RM 1.50 / half bottle
Grass Feeding : RM 1

Heavy rain after this. Went Kundasang to have our late lunch at KFC and buy veges for tonight steamboat at our hut. 

The road to Little Hut is not very good, stones everywhere, make sure to be careful when drive. Reached our beautiful hut after the bad road. Checked in at 2pm+. We're staying at Little Hut (Bizza Hut) @ Kundasang. 

When we reached and done our check in, this is our view.

This is their receptionist counter lol.

Gathering area below our hut. For steamboat and BBQ.

Can't stop looking at the Mount KK.

The road to our hut and the background.

The fog around our hut. Very cold.

Our Bizza Hut with the view of mountain from bed.

As it's raining and we don't want to go out anymore, so we started our steamboat dinner at 345pm.

Night time, after everyone bath, we squeezed in the sofa bed and watch movie together.

And maggie cup for supper !

21/5/2017
I set my alarm to wake up at 530am to see the beautiful Mount KK.

Weather is super cold in the morning at only 6 celcius.

 Continue our steamboat leftover last night for breakfast hehe.

Clear and clean everything then checked out. Otw down to town stopped at Kundasang for photos.

Reached Gaya street around 1030am for Sunday Market !

The entertainer dog.

After Sunday Market, we had lunch then check in our stay @ The Crown Borneo Hotel. Room is small, bed is small too. They gave us super single and single bed for 3 persons.

RM143 / night exclude breakfast

Ailing done her packing then we went Ice Dream for tea before send her to the airport.



We ordered only a set of waffle with ice cream to try because we can't wait to go our next cafe opposite Ice Dream - Furball Heaven !!!!!

They have 6 in house dogs welcoming us and walking around the cafe. Guests can bring their own dogs over too. Super cute. All of them are very friendly, and very minta manja.

Photos from Furball Heaven's facebook. 

Sent ailing to airport, we went Imago KK again for shopping and dinner. We had Sushi Zanmai for dinner. Cheap price with good quality of foods.

Back to hotel after dinner and went for foot massage opposite our hotel. We had 1 hour foot massage. And I slept through out haha. Too tired.

RM40 / 1 hour

22/5/2017
Checked out hotel and had breakfast under our hotel. Roti Canai. Our flight to Miri is on 845am and reached around 925am.

Bye KK. till we meet again.

Living with a Hypothyroid Wife

I was reading some article about hypothyroid and saw this article. It's good to let others know and I think why not share it here for my own reference or any other people out there who might need this info.

Unless someone lives in your shoes it is hard for them to understand what hypothyroidism does to you. I have no doubt there are many people in your life that don’t get your experience with hypothyroidism. Perhaps sharing this article will help them understand your experience a little better.

Written by Palle Flodgaard

My name is Palle, and I am married to Helle Sydendal, the author of From Hypothyroid to Healthy and an advocate for hypothyroid patients.

Following my wife’s work as an active patients’ advocate, meeting thousands of patients and their relatives at her lectures and other engagements, I can’t help but notice the similarity in people’s stories.

However, one thing has struck me the most: so many are struggling with various issues in their daily lives – especially in their family life and work.

At the lectures, many people – mostly husbands – have asked me how our marriage has survived this far, how it was like for me to live with a woman suffering from hypothyroidism, and how they can support their wives.

Hypothyroidism can be hard on a marriage

For many patients, hypothyroidism can be a cruel illness to live with, especially with all its horrible symptoms. However, if you add divorce and/or maybe job loss to that, it makes it even worse – I have met a lot of people in that situation.

And there is no doubt that hypothyroidism can be hard on a marriage. As a husband, you will probably hear about this illness a lot because it affects all aspects of your life and that of your wife. Besides, you might already be a little tired of listening to her complaints, not to mention that it might not always be interesting talking about the disease.

But don’t give up just yet, as there is hope if and when she gets the right treatment.

Let me describe some of my experiences in living with an undiagnosed, later undertreated, and finally well-treated thyroid patient.

She was sick for years before she was diagnosed
First of all, I now realize that my wife had already the symptoms of hypothyroidism from the time we first met. She was always feeling freezing, always needing an extra blanket or a thick down jacket even in summertime. That was how I met her – she needed my warmth.

As years went by, more and more symptoms became known. Not only did she gain weight, she was also sleeping a lot. She suffered from preeclampsia when she gave birth to our boys.

But at the time, I didn’t know that Helle was actually ill – I just thought it was all part and parcel of getting older.

But Helle herself was convinced that something was wrong with her. Finally, she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and was told that she needed medicine for the rest of her life, but that she would feel well again, and that her symptoms would eventually disappear. Sadly they did not.
I didn’t really realize she was sick – I was busy

Don’t think for a moment that I was actually much of a support at the beginning, even though Helle was by then already diagnosed. Sure, I knew she was sick. But I also knew that she was on medication, so she should be alright, and so I thought!

I was too busy and caught up with trying to manage both my job and almost all the housework at home like doing the dishes, preparing dinner, doing the laundry, cleaning, picking up the kids from kindergarten and school, and fixing the old house we had bought – all at the same time. I was too busy to really be conscious of my wife’s illness.

She was sleeping all day

Of course, when I had the time I sometimes wondered why my wife was always sleeping when she came home from work. Sometimes she would sleep until the next day when she had to go to work again. I wondered why she suddenly seemed to have problems with her employer – she used to be a highly valued employee who was entrusted with a lot of responsibility. She used to argue even with the Boss when he tried to interfere with her work – and more often than not she’d get her way. But suddenly, all her spirit was gone.

She forgot everything

I used to wonder why she kept forgetting everything – all the time: purse, credit card, cell phone, shopping list, where she was, and where she was going. Time and time again I would get phone calls from nice people who had found her credit card or purse. She had to have a new credit card – (and all the other cards) all the time – including new codes, that she could never remember. And new phones – we’ve spent a fortune on cellphones.

Sometimes my wife would call me from some place where she had ended up while driving home, having forgotten where she was. Or, she would tell me that she was late because she had to pull over and take a nap.

She gained and continued to gain
She also gained even more weight – a lot of weight, even though she was always following a serious diet. I couldn’t understand why. However, I did not really think much of it. After all, she had given birth to my two beautiful sons. Maybe it was only natural. It didn’t matter to me – for I love my wife.

She was seeing doctors all the time
In all this, she saw her doctor quite often and later some endocrinologist – I honestly don’t remember the details. She would often complain to me about her weight gain and about her troubles with getting back in shape. She could hardly walk, even up short stairs, without taking a break to breathe.

I listened but I didn’t really quite understand. And of course sometimes I got a little tired of talking about the disease. I just hoped the doctors would help her. However, they did not. And life went on – daily life that is.

I got my wife back
One day she told me she had found a new doctor (again!), and that she wanted to give it another try. He apparently gave her another kind of medicine – I didn’t really understand at the time the difference. I was busy.

But something happened. My wife changed, not instantaneously but gradually. Her mood changed. She was happier, and her spirit returned, slowly but surely. She then lost weight – a lot of weight. After two years of adjusting her medication, she completely looked and behaved herself once again – beautiful and full of energy.

And then she wrote a book.

Finally I understood

It was when I read the manuscript of her new book that I finally realized what she had been going through, and how ill she had been. I also came to realize how terrible she had been treated by her doctors, and how little people including me and many a doctor had understood hypothyroidism.

The book finally helped me accept and understand my wife’s illness and to realize how I could support her.

I became her memory
After Helle finally got the proper treatment, I really don’t think much anymore of her illness. She is again the person that I married 17 years ago.

But Helle still needs help and support. Hypothyroidism is chronic and if she forgets her medication, even for only a few days, the symptoms would be back. She has to take her pills three times a day.

In the beginning Helle hated when I looked inside her pill-box and told her if she had forgotten to take some of the pills. But she learned to accept it – because if she forgets her pills – the symptoms come back and she becomes forgetful and therefore forgets to take even more pills.

So I have become her memory. Every morning I give her the first pills and check that she remembers all the pills on the day before. As long as Helle takes her medication, hypothyroidism does not affect our life anymore.

What can you do?
How can you help your hypothyroid wife (or husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, relative)?

That really depends on whether s/he is well treated or still struggling just to get diagnosed or find the right dose or treatment.

If s/he is still struggling with the symptoms and/or finding the right treatment, there are many things you can do:

1. Most importantly: remember that you love each other. Remember how you first fell in love. Help each other to recall those precious moments. You will need those to get through the difficult times ahead.
2. Accept and understand her/his situation. It might be helpful to read about other patients’ experiences. You will realize that other patients are in the same situation and that there is hope for a normal life again.
3. Don’t expect too much from her/him in daily life. You probably have to take up most of the practical work in and around the house.
4. Don’t let her see the doctor alone. A person suffering from hypothyroidism will often find it difficult to explain her symptoms. Be there to support her and if necessary be her advocate. Help her get the proper treatment. And if need be, help her find another doctor.
5. Read books about hypothyroidism – because she probably can’t concentrate or remember what she reads.
6. Remember, there is always hope. Given the right treatment, chances are your wife will recover and be herself again.
7. Maybe she needs help with the medication. Doses sometimes have to be regulated and adjusted. Be aware of your wife’s condition – has she changed? You will probably be the first to notice. Is she getting tired and forgetful again? Maybe she needs a raise in dose – talk to the doctor. Or is she restless and anxious? Maybe the dose is too high – talk to the doctor.

Life can become normal again
When your wife is well treated, she probably will not need that much support anymore on account of her illness, except for making sure that she does take her medication which you might need to remind her.

Also, she might need your help to explain her illness to other people. Hypothyroidism is a trivialized illness and very few know anything about the consequences and extent of the disease.

Accept that hypothyroidism will be part of your lives.

But manage it right, and hypothyroidism will have little or no impact on the way you live your life.

My wife Helle was sick with hypothyroidism for years. When she was finally diagnosed, she was treated with a T4-only medication known as Eltroxin. The symptoms did not go away – they got worse. It wasn’t until she got a new doctor who added Liothyronine (T3) to her treatment regimen that she felt well again. Read her story in From Hypothyroid to Healthy.

source : http://hypothyroidmom.com/living-with-a-hypothyroid-wife/?utm_content=buffer2f7e5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer 

I'm not sure if my husband know what are the symptons, i did sent him this article but I'm not sure if he read it. I always remind him my thyroid pills and name, with the daily dose. Sometime I asked him to refill my pill case for me.