3 miles!

Patting myself on the back, for I’ve done 3 miles Walk Away the Pound! Yeay! I survived!

My exercise record so far:

Wednesday: WATP 1 mile

Thursday: no exercise. Went to the dentist for implant.

Friday: WATP 2 miles

Saturday: Crunch Cardio Salsa. I sweat like a pig in the oven, but it enough to remind me of how fun salsa is.

Sunday: no exercise.

Monday: WATP 3 miles.

I think I’ll stick with 3 miles for this week before progressing to 4 miles, and I’ll do the Salsa cardio whenever I feel like it.

As I’ve kept my resolution, now I can enjoy reading my new Lockwood & Co. book *happy dance*

Decluttering kills shopping

Cleaning up my desk, sorting through various beauty products that have been expired or long been unused kills my appetite and curiosity to shop for new stuffs. I’m not gonna buy new beauty products unless it’s an absolute necessity! *looking at 3 brands of body butter, 2 pots of skin cream, 3 kinds of skin care regimes, 3 brands of body scrubs, and piles of random stuffs*

Noodle game: Bakmi 149 Gading Serpong

Bakmi Babi Merah, Bakmi 149

Bakmi babi merah (Rp. 30,000) at Bakmi 149, a fairly new noodle shop in Gading Serpong. Located on shop houses strip on the same street as Hypermart, just across SMS (it is on the left, if coming from SMS; right next to Mitra Penabur playgroup).

The noodle was good; chewy, not too soft, and they don’t use MSG in the dough. At first I wasn’t a big fan of their  babi merah since it was a bit different from the sweet babi merah that I’m familiar with. But later on, I find that their babi merah actually has more complex taste to it than simply sweet, and it works well with the noodle. My aunt said that they must use plum sauce to flavor the pork, I don’t know. My taste bud is not that sophisticated 🙂

The sambal comes a bit sour, and very very spicy! Be careful in adding sambal because it is spicier than most. The soup is bland, so for me its main purpose is just to dissolve sambal into the noodle.

It’s not exactly the best bakmi in town, but it’s a nice addition to my noodle repertoire. And yesterday I cheated from my low calorie regiment by eating one full portion for lunch and share half of my aunt’s for dinner 😀

Menu

I find their nasi campur as truly blah. I really like the babi panggang, but other components were weak. Even the rice was a bit hard. They provide the same broth used for noodles, so it is tasteless. My standard for nasi campur is Nasi Campur Harum Segar in Golden Truly Gunung Sahari, which comes with generous portion of both babi merah, babi panggang, tasty ngohiong, and sayur asin broth. Bakmi 149, sadly, fall flat in the nasi campur game. Well, it was my fault to order nasi campur in a bakmi restaurant, isn’t it? 😉

Nasi campur

Implan gigi: sakitnya itu di dompet!

Setelah beberapa bulan iya nggak, menimbang konsekuensi vs potensi sakit vs biaya (adowww!), akhirnya kemaren jadi juga mulai proses implan gigi yang sudah dicabut. Kan bulan lalu sudah periksa, dan dokter bilang bahwa luka bekas cabut pecahan gigi sudah tertutup rapi dan kayaknya rahang sudah keras. Tambahan lagi, mumpung asuransi masih bisa cover biaya implan.

Estimasi biaya implan untuk geraham (mungkin untuk gigi lain juga sama):

Implan (ini seperti mur yang ditanam ke tulang rahang): USD 1,500 –> beneran, gak salah baca!

Crown (ini gigi tiruannya yang kemudian dipasang dengan baut ke dalam implan): Rp 4,000,000

Bone graft (kalau diperlukan, kalau penulangan implan tidak sesuai dengan yang diharapkan): USD 95

Membrane (ini kurang jelas apaan sebenernya): Rp 1,000,000

Belum lagi tambahan lain seperti biaya kontrol, X-ray 3D (Rp 500,000) dan obat2an.

Total jendral buat implan: sekitar Rp. 24 juta. Pas pertama kali tanya harga, pengen pingsan di tempat, nggak nyangka segitu mahalnya. Kirain paling mahal 5 jutaan. Kenapa mahal? Karena ini tipe gigi tiruan yang ditanam, bukan yang dilepas2. Memang untuk menutupi gigi yang hilang bisa saja nggak usah pakai gigi palsu, tapi pakai bridge dimana dibikinkan ‘jembatan’ yang menghubungkan gigi kiri, daerah gigi hilang, dan gigi kanannya, lalu di’selimuti’ jadi seperti jembatan panjang antara 3 gigi. Tapi 2 gigi sebelah2nya harus dikikis supaya muat jembatannya. Kalo seandainya gigi kanan kiri juga rusak, mungkin nggak apa2 pakai bridge. Tapi kalau gigi sebelah2nya bagus, amat sayang kalau harus di’rusak’ demi bridge. Dokter gigi sih pasti akan sangat menyarankan mempertahankan gigi kalau gak bermasalah, soalnya sebaik2nya yang buatan tetep lebih baik yang alami.

Sebelah kanan: implan DP mobil. Cakep ya?

Lalu kenapa nggak boleh dibiarkan aja gigi yang hilang tetap kosong? Karena gigi itu saling bersandar dan saling berpasangan. Kalau ada tempat yang kosong, otomatis gigi kanan dan kiri yang kosong itu kehilangan sandaran, dan gigi akan bergeser atau goyang. Gigi atas yang harusnya ketemu dengan gigi yang hilang itu juga akan ‘turun’ kalau nggak ada pasangannya. Buktinya, hasil medical check up kemaren (di rumah sakit yang beda, dengan dokter yang beda) menyatakan bahwa gusi atas gue udah turun. Itu karena si geraham bawahnya nggak ada…..

Kalau denger kayak gini, kembali terpikir, tubuh manusia itu benar2 terdesain dengan komprehensif, terintegrasi, dan ada simetri dan keteraturan. Satu hal mempengaruhi hal yang lain….

Singkat kata, diputuskanlah menggunakan implan tanam. Asuransi kantor lama sudah setuju dengan cost estimate ini, dan gue udah siap2 (mental) untuk membayar 20% dari proses ini. Tapi sekali lagi, dasar gue tuh pemalas. Bukannya dari dulu mulai proses implan, tapi ditunda2. Nggak kebayang bahwa implan itu tidak bisa dilakukan sekali datang tapi bertahap – butuh sekitar 6 bulan deh prosesnya. Kenapa lama? Cabut gigi yang pecah, abis itu nunggu 3 bulan sampai luka cabutan ketutup dan terjadi penulangan, baru masukin implan, trus nunggu 3 bulan lagi supaya terjadi penulangan lagi dan implan menyatu sama rahang, baru ditanam connector dan cetak crown, baru pasang crown, Yah keburu lewat lah masa pertanggungan asuransi lama. Tapi karena komponen paling mahal adalah bayar implannya, maka biarpun last minute gue jalanin. Biar gimana pun, dimana pun gue bekerja nantinya, nggak etis lah kalau baru 1 bulan kerja langsung masukin bon implan sebesar USD 1,500. Pikir gue, syukur kalau komponen itu sudah ada yang nanggung. Nanti buat crown dll, semoga Tuhan kasih rejeki. Amin!

Sebelum ketemu sama dokter, sengaja menyenangkan hati dengan sarapan enak. Walaupun dari dokter gizi disuruhnya sarapan hanya setangkup roti dan teh tawar, tapi karena sadar bahwa gue gak akan bisa makan enak seharian, maka sarapan hari ini agak digeber. Berhubung perginya nebeng, sambil nunggu tebengan beli egg muffin di McD (trus nyesel, karena gak suka bau melted cheese-nya). Lalu di Tebet, gak jauh dari dokter gigi, makan Somay Pink karena inget beberapa hari lalu ngileeer banget pengen makan somay. Abis itu baru jalan ke dokter gigi, sikat gigi, dan siap2 mental.

Bersyukur banget, dokter gigi gue itu baik dan empati sekali sama pasien. Sejak masuk, diajak ngobrol kanan kiri. Sempat membahas sakit maag (baik gue maupun si dokter), bahas alergi, dll dsb. Diajak ngobrol terus. Jadi bukan tipe dokter yang langsung ‘yak silakan tiduran mana bor mana selang’. Nggak. He takes time to put me at ease. Waktu proses baru dimulai, belom mulai potong2 baru suntik2 kebal, gue minta time off sebentar karena tegang banget sampe gemeter dikit. Setelah atur napas dan berdoa terus2an, mulai lagi deh. Tau bahwa gue tegangnya minta ampun, si dokter tetep cerita macem2 sambil kerja. Bahkan sampe cerita soal masalah gigi dia sendiri lho…

Kenapa gue gemeter banget? Karena sudah dijelaskan bahwa prosesnya adalah: 1) buka gusi, 2) membor tulang rahang dengan kedalaman yang tepat sehingga tidak terlalu dekat dengan syaraf,  bikin lubang yang cukup, 3) tanam implannya, 4) tutup lagi gusinya. Membor tulang itu lah yang bikin gue ngeri, belom lagi kekhawatiran gimana kalo ngebornya kedaleman dan kena syaraf. Kebayang lah gimana gue nggak goyang disko mikirin hal itu. Tapi dari awal sampai akhir, gue berdoa terus. Beberapa hal yang agak menenangkan adalah karena temen gue sudah pengalaman implan sama dokter yang sama dan berhasil, kemudian juga setelah tahu bahwa si dokter ini spesialisasinya memang yang berhubungan dengan syaraf (mungkin perio yah?) jadi implan2 ini memang keahlian beliau.

Pada saat gusi dibor, cuma berasa tekanan aja. Lalu dokter masukin dummy implan untuk ngetes kedalaman dan kelebaran lubang yang sudah dibor. Dummy itu kemudian dicabut dengan tang, jadi agak kaget juga waktu tau2 dokternya minta tang, hahahaha….. Karena kurang pas, dibor lagi, baru kemudian dimasukin implan benerannya. Nah, waktu masukin implan benerannya inilah yang paling horor, karena dipukul pake palu! Dokternya sih bilang, “bu, maaf ya, saya ketok implannya”.

Setelah 5 kali ketok (gak sakit sih, namanya juga dibius), trus hal paling lucu terjadi. Dokternya bilang “kalo nikah, ini udah sah karena udah ketok palu!”. Walaupun mulut penuh dengan alat2, gue jadi ketawa juga saat itu. Kemudian implannya dipotong sesuai kebutuhan, dan gusi dijahit kembali untuk menutupi implan. Sudah, selesai.

Waktunya nggak sampai 1 jam, dan nggak sesakit/nggak nyaman waktu nyabut pecahan geraham yang tertinggal waktu itu. Rasanya legaaaa banget…

Setelah implan, selain sedikit rasa aneh di mulut, nggak ada efek apa2. Nggak sakit, nggak apa. Pulang dari dokter gue jalan ke apotik, cari taksi, dan sempet belanja di Junction. Di rumah juga biasa2 aja. Emang mau makan agak segen, karena masih terlalu baru. Tapi dibanding waktu cabut gigi, implan ini jauh lebih nggak mengganggu. Kalau soal makanan, dianjurkan menghindari yang panas2 dan berkuah beberapa hari ini, trus 15′ habis makan sikat gigi dan kumur dengan Minosep. Selebihnya, dikasih antibiotik dan anti bengkak, plus boleh minum Ponstan kalau diperlukan. H+1, gak ada bengkak apalagi sakit. Malah hari ini gue udah sempet jalanin 2 miles walk exercise-nya Leslie Sanson segala (ini sih nggak ngaruh ya, hehehehe)

Yang sakit, adalah bayarnya. Si dokter selalu ketawa kalau gue bilang implan DP mobil, karena emang biayanya sebesar DP mobil. Dokter nggak tau aja, ini adalah gigi termahal dalam hidup gue. Dulu waktu bolong, pilihan gue adalah root canal atau ganti laptop. Gue milih melakukan root canal untuk mempertahankan si gigi, padahal laptop sangat diperlukan buat disertasi. Eh, setelah pulang ke Indonesia, giginya pecah dan gak bisa dipertahankan. Biaya perawatan, cabut gigi, dan implan penggantinya entah udah berapa. Beneran deh gigi 47 ini, muahaaalllnya nggak terkira kalau mau diitung sejak dari biaya root canal dulu.

Lesson learned: jangan suka menunda-nunda, akibatnya rugi sendiri. Kalau dulu begitu pulang langsung bikin crown buat gigi yang sudah di-root canal, mungkin si gigi gak pecah. Kalau begitu dapet asuransi langsung ke dokter gigi ngurusin implan, biayanya akan ditanggung asuransi, bukan cuma komponen implannya aja. Pelajaran super mahal.

Dental implan, sakitnya emang bukan di mulut. Sakitnya tuh di dompet!

Dokter gigiku yang baik hati dan sangat peduli pasien ini adalah drg. Stephen Enrico (dr. Rico), praktenya di drg. Agus Kadrianto & Associate. Tebet Barat VII/8, telp 829-8005, 830-6244. Klinik ini katanya emang beken. Emang mahal ya, tapi dokternya berkualitas dan yang paling penting, peduli sama pasien!

Locking myself out of Lockwood

ByQ9jm9CAAAP_EB It’s here! The latest Lockwood & Co. series, The Whispering Skull, is here! It was released in the US on Sept 16, and magically, within less than 10 days its already here! My former colleague, Edu, just informed me minutes ago just as I finished with my 1 mile Walk Away the Pound exercise.

As much as I would love to run and get it this very minute, I’ll make a pact with myself. I will read this only after I successfully do the 1, 2, and 3 miles walk. I’ve done this regime before and I remember that I didn’t enjoy it that much. Don’t get me wrong, I love walking, but walking in my room listening to happy pumped up instructor is something different. The 1 mile exercise is a breeze, since it takes less than 30 minutes, but doing 2 and 3 miles were challenging because they were longer and I was impatient. Putting myself through self-imposed ban to something I love will force me to do these exercises.

I just proclaimed Edu as my fairy bookfather, the enabler of my book wishes. Long may he lives, with plenty of books coming our way! (Edu’s response to this noble title was: sialan 😀 ) Hahahhaa….

starting point

96/107/35/65/110

Pinggang/dada/lengan/paha/pinggul

This is how I start. Kalau berat, biarlah hanya dokter yang tau, hahahaha…..

survived day 1 dengan diet rendah kalori. sarapan roti dan teh pahit, makan siang biasa, makan malam buah dan semangkuk sayur asem (jam 11.30 malam!) karena gak tahan laparnya. tapi pagi ini kesalahan, sarapannya dibikinin roti + telor ceplok. there goes my cholesterol allowance 🙂

tapi ternyata bisa tuh seharian nggak snacking. snacknya diganti pisang dan jus buah.

hari ini? semangat kakaaaakkk!!

*dusting my Leslie Sansone dvds*

need control: low calorie diet

Yesterday I (finally) got my medical exam result from RS Permata. Pheww… took them quite long time to finish this 😦

As expected, my blood work results all skewed up towards ‘unhealthy’ category and I was recommended to either a) see an internist, or/and b) see a clinical nutrition specialist. I choose option b, of course, since  I don’t want to digest more medicines. Since there were no nutritionist on schedule yesterday in Permata, on a very last minute I decided just to go to my regular hospital.

The doctor is a senior one, a Professor, to be exact. First thing he did after exchanging pleasantries was to ask me to lie down. Whoa! But I presented him with my medical results reading, he read them and make comments, then ask me to the lie on the bed. Turned out, he intended to give injection to reduce fat under the tummy skin.

So his first action was to give injection. I don’t really object to the injection but I prefer a discussion first. I wasn’t there in attempt to be skinny, I was there to act on my medical check up results. At least, hear me out.

Aside from that, the rest of conversation went well, he wrote my meal plan for low calorie diet, and ask me to be back in 2 weeks. He expect results, as in weight loss if I follow his regiment. I asked him about all these new diets out there (I had my eyes on Mayo diet) but he told me that extreme measures are not necessary. He’s a firm believer that healthy weight loss is a gradual one.

But doctor, could you please consider addressing your patient with anything but ‘kamu’? I always find this offensive from doctors, since we all call them doctor with respect. I know you’re a professor, many many years my senior, but I’m a grown ass woman close to 40, a patient, not your student…. I think I deserve a “bu” or “mbak”. Old habit dies hard, I presume…

Let’s see how I fare with the meal plan….. portion control is not a problem since I don’t normally eat a lot during meal time. My enemy is the snack…. oh my, when I was working, there were snacks a plenty everywhere! People travel on missions and bring (mostly fried or sweet) goodies from all corners of Indonesia, even abroad! On any regular day I could get my hands on fried tahu, tempe, bihun as breakfast, and later munching on nuts and chips. Cakes were also easy to get, because we often have bolu Meranti or Kartika Sari somewhere. Not to mention, my breast feeding team mates had stack of food in her room, very close to my cubicle.

If there’s anything I gain from being at home this past weeks, is that I cleanse my palate. Now, fried food doesn’t taste as good because I can taste the grease. Not that I don’t reach for chips, but it just don’t taste that good anymore. My biggest surprise is how I don’t find Teh Botol that appealing anymore. Before, I allow myself 1 Teh Botol for lunch and I thought that I did very well with the sugar control, because I used to consume 2 bottles everyday. I loved that tea so much. But being at home and not drinking it every day, I now find Teh Botol as too sweet. Even teh Pucuk, that my brother considered as less sweet, is now too sweet for my taste.

As my taste bud changing and I learn about what’s good for my body, I hope that I will have the will power to follow through the low calorie program. This gonna be a challenge, as much as I love food. But low calorie is not about not eating, it’s about portion control and timing. My poor liver need a relieve, and I would love to have my clothes fit again. I need to do this, for myself.

I’m curious about the fat burning injection administered yesterday. Will it help to reduce the size of my tummy? 😉

funny feeling in my tummy

I’ve been experiencing some abdominal pain lately. Not really painful, just like cramp here and there but I cannot pinpoint exactly where it is. I was afraid that it might be my appendix. So, a week before my old insurance coverage ended, I decided to see a Gastroenterologist at MMC. I know that MMC Hospital has a Digestive Center, so on Thursday I just randomly made an appointment to see a specialist and was informed that dr. Dadang Makmun is on schedule for Friday.

My first impression: dr. Dadang is really friendly and informative. Upon entering, he greeted me and shake my hand. I’ve had experience seeing a specialists that don’t like to talk, or looked annoyed when the patients asked a lot of questions. Granted, my case is just run-of-the-mill GERD/dyspepsia, and currently it’s not that serious. But I’ve had problems with my digestive system for as long as I can remember, so I have questions to ask. I appreciate that he was willing to answer those questions. He prescribed medications for 2 weeks to manage production of stomach acid, reduce the pain and help with my bloating tummy. He ask me to be back for observation in 2 weeks, then if the pain increases he’ll consider procedures such as endoscopy or colonoscopy.

The only down side: he was expensive 😀 His fee is IDR 480,000 while other specialists in MMC charged IDR 350,000.

Well, see you in next 2 weeks, dr. Tummy! 🙂

De-cluterring my life: my book shelves

I’m a paper hoarder. In my line of work, I have to read a lot of report and other references. While I tried to read as much as possible on screen, at the end I still have tons of print out everywhere. So yesterday I decided to start sorting out papers and whatnots on my book shelves.

I throw away a big pile of papers. I opened various bags and folders on the shelves. Then I found a folder with important papers that was damp due to water drop from the AC unit above 😦 Very smart of me, right, storing documents where the water drop falls…

I sorted and labeled my books, selecting the books I want to keep and found some multiples in my collection (I don’t exactly know how it could happened). Although the process is not exactly finished (I still haven’t decided on what to do with the multiples and stack of Natgeo), I’m quite happy to see my precious novels are sorted by author and chronological order (for book series).

(not so full) view of my book shelves

I’m a historical fiction fan, and my reading repertoire for the last few years haven’t strayed much from that genre. And once I found an author that I like, I tend to buy other titles from the same author. I bought most of my books used from Amazon or Ebay as I don’t really care about the books appearance, and that most of the books I wanted were not freshly printed and not available in Indonesia. Also, used book = cheap book (for most of it). Occasionally, I also buy from bookdepository.com, but Amazon and Ebay are my main sources.

The discussion on Britain kings and dynasties span over few centuries on this shelf alone 🙂

Bernard Cornwell’s Arthurian series, Wilbur Smith’s Egyptian series (I have two copies of River God! How come?), Elizabeth Chadwick’s various novels. I haven’t read Chadwick for a year, but now I’m reminded that she has a new series out!

All Penmans, all the love.

Sharon Kay Penman’s books, the writer that turn me on to Plantagenet dynasty after I’m bored with various Tudor stories. I own all Penman’s book, and is reading her latest A King’s Ransom.

Anya Setton classics and my favorite stand alones

Anya Seton‘s books. Lauded as one of the best historical fiction writer, Seton’s book takes on ‘biography’ fiction style. Seton’s books are considered classic, and they have been reprinted many times. I own 9 of her most notable works.

Then we have the stand alones, books that I bought based on popularity of review from Amazon. Dan Brown’s Inferno for instance, a very popular book but it doesn’t have any special place in my heart. Donna Tartt’s Goldfinch is an award winning book that is hugely popular. I like its twist and turn, but was disappointed with its (admittedly clever) sudden end.Then there’s The Golem and The Jinni, a book that I’ve waited quite some time to buy to have it at lower price (ha! typical me!) and I really, really like this book. It’s beautiful, for lack of better term. And then there’s a Lockwood & Co’s Streaming Staircase from my favorite writer Jonathan Stroud, which filled the void after I finished reading the Bartimaeus Trilogy. For Stroud’s work, I don’t mind paying full price. I actually pre-ordered Lockwood & Co’s book two when it was published on Sept 16th, so I’ll have the new book soon(ish)!

The second row houses my text books and some of my old favorites. First, there are two of Hilary Mantel’s award winning books. I tried reading through the Wolf Hall but couldn’t get to more than 100 pages. I tried, since this book got good review anywhere but it just not for me. Other stand alone books, and then three books by Alexandra Ripley. Years ago I came into Ripley’s Scarlett, and ever since I fall in love with her work. Her other two novels with American South setting, Charleston and New Orleans Legacy are among my favorite read. The rest are stand alone pieces by various authors.

Next, on to decluttering my bags and clothes!

Fried dough makes the world go round….

I’ve been eyeing this place for sometimes, Churreria at Summarecon Mall Serpong. I love churros. Fried dough dipped in chocolate, nothing can beat that combo, right? So I made a quick stop (really, quick, only about 15′) while waiting for my cousin to be picked up from school.

They have this weekdays promo: 50% off for churros fiesta. Fiesta is a package of 12 churros and 4 selection of dips, which normally goes for IDR 68,000. At 50% off, it’s even cheaper than the medium size package (I think 6 churrros) at full price. I asked the waiter if it’s OK to order a fiesta and have part of them as takeaway and he said yes. So I happily settled for a fiesta with choices of 2 dips of dark chocolate, 1 dulce de leche and 1 cheddar cheese.

This is what I had for dine in: 4 pieces of churros sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and dark chocolate dip. I find that 1 dip is only enough for 3 churros so I just ate the last piece without dipping. The churros come pipping hot and I find nothing (this includes their caramel/dulce de leche dip) to be overpoweringly sweet, so the combo goes very well for my taste. But again, could be there anything wrong with fried dough? 😀

Churros with dark chocolate dip

Aside from my love for anything deep fried plus chocolate, I really enjoy Churreria’s cozy ambiance and friendly service. The waiter did not give me any look on ordering the promo menu and have half of them to go, and the service was quick. I will make another stop next time, because I want to try their chocolate beverages. Maybe next time I’ll go with these weekdays special: