Health screening package - too commercialised or necessary?

As a doctor, many ask me whether is it necessary to do annual health screen. The answer is definitely yes because as we age, many diseases tends to creep silently and with little or no warnings at all. But we don't screen for everything under the sun.

A good screening test has the following characteristics

1. Easy to perform
2. Not invasive
3. Minimal side effects
4. Accurate
5. Early diagnosis means better cure rate and quality of life
6. Cost effective

I'll be discussing about  health screening that's already well established in adults because a less accurate test can cause unnecessary over testing and anxiety. One should start getting screened at 45 years old.

• Blood pressure 
• Blood Cholesterol level
• Blood Sugar level to detect diabetes 
• Faecal occult blood testing for colon cancer at 50 years old
• Blood HIV test

For women,

• Bone mineral density scan at 65 years of age to detect osteoporosis
• Mammogram to detect early breast cancer
• Pap smear to detect cervical cancer

For men,
Blood PSA level is controversial and not recommended at the moment.

Read this article on webMD for comprehensive understanding.

Dumplings and curry noodles @ Beijing noodles kuantan

This is one of our favorite breakfast/lunch place. If you remember, this place was operated by the owner of 飘香面馆 which I introduced earlier. You can find Beijing noodles as the second shoplot opposite to Ambank and Public Bank along Jalan Haji Abdul Aziz.

Our favorite is non the less their curry noodles. It has all the right aroma and taste a bowl of great Malaysian curry noodles should taste like. In the southern part of peninsula Malaysia, these type of noodles are called laksa. And only noodles that go with chicken curry and potatoes are curry noodles. In the east coast，laksa refers to asam laksa which is a soury version.

Look how sinful this bowl of noodles is! Heavenly combination with the stuffed tofu and vegetables.

Don't ever forget to try their dumplings as well. These are Shang Hai style dumplings which are shaped differently and taste more like Xiao Long Bao cooked in soup.

The other must try is their spicy and numbing chili soup. The Chinese is famous for their peppery chilli oil that f overwhelmes your palate with the fragrance of chilli then burns your throat and stomach.

Head to this shop if you fancy mainland China and Malaysian fusion noodle dishes.

Our verdict 7.5/10

Classic spaghetti bolognaise with Asian fusion recipe

We rarely order pasta in restaurants because it's fairly easy to make awesome ones at home.

Ingredients
Half a pack of spaghetti (San Remo)
A bottle of classic bolognaise sauce (Prego) or you can use canned tomato sauce
Italian herbs (we use rosemary and oregano only)
Sausage sliced
Crab sticks sliced
Chicken breasts sliced
Mushrooms (we used enoki, you can replace with button or champignon)
Brown onions cut into quarters
Carrots cut into small cubes (bite sized)
Red wine (we used carmenere from Chile)
Nutritional yeast flakes (to substitute cheese shavings but we do still prefer cheese)

Place as much spaghetti as you desire into boiling pot of water. Sprinkle a pinch of salt. You can add a splash of olive oil. After 10 minutes, make sure the pasta is cooked and slightly springy. Drain the excess water and serve.

Brown the onions with some olive oil.
Add in the carrots.
Then the sausage, chicken, lastly the crabsticks
Stir fry for 5 minutes then pour the sauce in

Let it simmer for 5 minutes
Add mushrooms

Add a splash of red wine with the herbs generously

Cook the alcohol off for another 5 minutes.

Add in the yeast flakes or cheese.
Ready to serve!

Really love the fact that we can still taste the fragrance of the wine. However, the yeast flakes (a gift) didn't really add on to any cheesy texture or taste.

What to do for excess breastmilk? Featuring Cherrylicious Pasterie

Now that baby Bing is 15 months old, he's learnt to eat and not relying so much on breastmilk anymore. He doesn't like good bottle of milk anymore when he's with daddy. But, it's still his favorite food when mommy is around. I'm lucky to have extra breastmilk and have been wondering about what to do with the expiring freezer stash.

Then I came across Cherrylicious Pasterie. They provide customised service for breastmilk soap. It's handmade. Customers can provide their own frozen breastmilk that has expired to be turned from liquid gold into these gold soap bars suitable for whole family use.

Why is breastmilk soap reputed as skincare panacea? As a doctor, I highly recommend breastfeeding. Breastmilk is very dynamic and its content changes from time to time depending on your baby's requirement. 

Wonderfully hand made! Whisked for a good 2 hours.

These include essential nutrients for good skin as well! That's why babies can be allergic to cow's milk but never to breastmilk because it's just compatible. Therefore, it's great for those with ezcema. As breastfeeding mothers are in close contact with their babies, at the first sign of illness, mommies will start to produce antibodies to fight these germs. Not only does it benefit babies, it's also good for adult skin. It contains lactoferrin to reduce skin inflammation and lactic acid which is an exfoliant.

If you are worried about cross contamination and other communicable diseases, then send in your own breastmilk to be made into soapbars. Cherry produces these soapbars in a very hygienic manner.

Besides breastmilk, she also adds in these therapeutic ingredients

1. Olive oil
This is rich in antioxidants (vitamin E, polyphenols, and phytosterols) and is age defying

2. Castor oil
This helps to fight acne (ricinoleic acid), unclog pores, soften and hydrate our skin

3. Coconut oil
This is a great moisturiser and very soothing to dry flaky skin

4. Shea butter
This has  heal-it-all properties, from blemishes to ezcema to sunburns

5. Palm oil
Great antioxidant (beta carotene, vitamin A, C and E)

6. Essential oil

And this is the most elegant soap I have ever seen! 5 star appearance. It lathers easily and smells great. My skin feels soft after use. 

Go ahead and contact Cherry to custom make your breastmilk soap today!

Kuantan half day trip@villaku, kampung beserah, kemaman fish noodle, durian feast and Hai Peng Kopitiam

Where to bring your best friends when they are in town? That's what we did last weekend. After checking out from their villaku retreat at Balok, we headed to Kampung Beserah for some local product shopping.

Great view at villaku swimming pool overlooking the sea

The shop we frequented doesn't even have proper signage. Just turn into the fishing village at the traffic light and drive straight past the Chinese primary school till the end before the T junction. There sits the old quaint wooden house with all the preserved salted fish, anchovies, dried shrimps, dried oysters, dried scallops etc. The freshest and cheapest that we can find. Too bad we forgot to snap a photo of the place.

Lunch was at kemaman fish noodle shop. I have not tried this in kemaman but this kuantan version is so delicious!

The noodles were so springy. The soup so fresh and sweet, not depending on MSG at all. Add in a spoonful of secret sambal, tasted very much like those added in prawn noodles.

Immersed a piece of crunchy fish crackers in the soup and you will feel heavenly.

We ordered a steamed fish each. Even though it's only kembong fish (which is usually quite fishy), the fish served was so fresh that it just didn't need any garnish. Simple ingredients but not easy to make good food with these!

Be a bit patient as the place is run by a family so the service can be slow during lunch hours.

Next stop was the much anticipated durian hunting! Drove to kamdar along Jalan Haji Ahmad and the durian place was just opposite. It wasn't durian season but everyone was impressed by the quality! Prices were reasonable.

Durian so rich in flavor. The best is often the bitter ones. On sale were udang merah, D24 species.

One can never leave kuantan without trying the best coffee from Hai Peng coffee shop. It's along Jalan Haji Abdul Aziz, sandwiched in between a few of my favorite lunch stops. Menu quite limited but please do try their ice coffee!

 Not too strong in caffeine but flavor so smooth that one cup is not enough. Toast, quite famous as well but we thought it's so so.

Great Sunday spent with wonderful people. Try this short food trip and let me know what you think.

Nasi kukus ayam berempah @warung kak mazenah kuantan

This is the first nasi kukus stall in kuantan. At a glance, it looks nothing like a yummy plate of steamed rice but looks can be deceiving. Kak mazenah has 2 branches.

The first one is just opposite to Nissan car dealer along Jalan Beserah. The second shop is located along Jalan Besar opposite UOB bank.

What's so special? Not only do they have great fried chicken, their rice also comes with fried pomfret, fried quail, braised beef, braised mutton with gravy. As this is our first time trying, all of us ordered the classic chicken dish.

Look at the generous amount of curry gravy flooding the rice! So fragrant that you will ask for more rice even though you are not a rice lover. You can ask for more yummy sambal because it's not too hot.

One gets a fried quarter chicken marinated in Malay traditional spices. Deep fried to perfection. Didn't taste oily and still juicy inside. Will prefer to have fried spices as a side like what Nasi Kukus Mama franchise serves. Add on a hard boiled egg for more wonderful protein.

Their fried banana fritters are equally appetizing. The tempura batter is very cripsy yet didn't taste oily. The banana is just the right size and naturally sweet.

The price is also very attractive! RM6.50 each rice set and RM2 for 7 banana fritters. Good food doesn't have to be expensive.

Our verdict 7.5/10!

Endless fight against acne featuring Dermalene

I suppose working as a doctor can never be without stress and sleep deprivation. With baby Bing recently down with a virus and being cranky, my acne problem has gotten the better of me. And these Dermalene products came just in time to the rescue!

This anti acne series is really light weight and suitable for travelers. Both the facial wash and toner come in 30ml packaging. Great for me who tend to leave my usual skincare products at home because it's just too much to carry around. Pump the bottle once and you will get just the right amount to wash your face. Pump twice to spray the toner then pat dry with your hand. As simple as that!

Among the important acne fighting ingredients available in the skincare product includes

1. Salicylate
It exfoliates and prevent comedone formation. It also reduces inflammation. The only downside is that one should avoid using this if pregnant (category C) this means that there's no research done so we can't be sure whether it will be harmful to pregnancy. Can be used if benefit outweighs harm.

2. Witch hazel
This contains tannin which also reduces inflammation, minimises pores and improves oily skin (astringent).

3. Tea tree oil
It's an antibacterial and further purifies the skin

4. Jojoba oil
It moisturises and balances out the dryness while treating and the process of achieving oil balance in the skin.

The verdict after two week's use.

Before

Despite applying benZoic peroxide (also pregnancy category C) watch the ugly inflamed acne :(

After 2 weeks

A much happy and shine free face. The inflamed bits all disappeared :)

All in all, happy about the anti-inflammatory effect. Really like the clean faced feeling after each use. And not dehydrating to the skin.  Would be perfect if the set comes with a moisturiser or sunscreen. Highly recommended to those troubled by acne. Visit Dermalene to find out more!