Allergies, Do I Ever Hate Them!

Allergies, do I ever hate them...

A few days ago, I cut and served myself 2 pieces of apple and moments later, I felt my lungs closing up. Breathing was getting worst and the feeling of chest pains usually is not a good sign. I was talking to Kristy and Mike at the time on Facebook. I told Kristy and she wanted me to go to the hospital immediately. So I messaged Mike to come over and take me  there, and he did. Thanks bro! :)

I went back to the apples section of Loblaws to check what the name of the apple I was was. They were either Apple Fuji or Divine. It was piled right next to each other, so I couldn't differentiate either. I guess the safe thing to do from now on is to not eat anymore apples :(

Yesterday, I went to get my weekly allergy shots at Apple Tree (across from my work). I went in to get the shot at 1:45PM and waited my 30 minutes until 2:15PM. The nurses checked my arms and there were no noticeable reactions so I left and headed back to work. The moment I stepped outside, I noticed my breathing was a little off and my throat felt like it was closing. I didn't think much of it, but by the time I got back to the office and into my chair, I noticed all these hives started popping up on my arms. I quickly jump up and went back to the clinic to get it checked out. It was an allergic reaction.

The dosage this time was week 1 of the 4th 'stage' (yellow bottle). It was much stronger than the previous one I had, as seen by this episode of panic. The doctor came in immediately and checked me out. He said my face was beginning to swell and that he needed to inject some Benadryl and Epinepherine to slow down the reaction. Those were painful needles... 

The symptoms weren't going away, or least they were disappearing very slowly. I got 4 puffs of asthma and took a shot of 8 Prednisone tablets. It was intense. The doc looked a bit worried and kept asking me how I was feeling. I felt the same, but a little later I did feel a lot better.

He told me that I would need to go to the hospital and get monitored, for 4 hours! AHHH!

I was taken to the hospital by ambulance. First time inside an ambulance and was carried out on a stretcher. You're probably thinking... really!? I told them I could walk, but they insisted on strapping me down on a bed and rolling me out. So we "rolled out!".

When I got there, there was a line. The paramedics were jokes. The guy was cool and somehow managed to bump me to the front and I got in before the patients that were ahead of me. I'm glad that happened, so didn't have to wait because that would have added time to the 3-4 hours I needed to be there.

They got me on another bed and placed the monitoring cables on me. My dad came by to check on me briefly, and then left, leaving me the keys to get back into my condo. Thanks dad!

I zonked out moments after they asked me a few questions. Guess that would happen after injecting so many types of drugs. I felt high, light headed and heart pounding. I was woken up and they moved me into the hallway to make room for another patient. The ER room is SO NOISY! I couldn't sleep again, so I stayed away in my sofa chair, and later made a few calls to make sure everyone knew I was fine.

The joy of all this was when I got to leave. Susan came to pick me up, and even bought me dinner! Thanks Suse! Herman met us at my place after, and we chilled there for a bit while I told them my story.

I hope this doesn't happen again, but I think I will go back and finish my shots. I will need to slide back down to a lighter / less concentrated dose though. Overall, I think the shots have helped. No need to take Reactine everyday to counteract the itchy eyes, runny nose and occasional loud sneezes.

Glad that episode is over, and all is good! :)

What a start to the weekend! Enjoy yours! Until next time...

Canada Day Weekend, Mont-Tremblant, Vacation!

A long weekend turned into a longer weekend :) Last week was Canada Day weekend, which meant everyone had Monday off make it just a four day work week. But exactly a month before, I asked for the four days off and got it. Woo!

It was a good awesome break! Kristy was able to take off the week from her work so she flew back to Ottawa to spend Canada Day at home with family, friends and me! Later, we travelled a bit, but here is how it laid out...

June 30

Kristy took off from Vancouver at midnight, landing in Ottawa at around 6AM. I went to the airport to pick her up before driving her back home to have dinner with the rents. It occurred to me early on that I would be withholding Kristy for the majority of her stay, so better than she goes home and spend a bit of time with the folks :)

Later that night, we went to buy ingredients to bake two cakes; one for my parents and one for Mike's BBQ on Canada Day. We didn't end up baking that night because it got late, so we set the alarm and got up super early to bake the cakes. We managed to get the one for my parents done before we met up with them for lunch.

July 1

So on Canada Day, Kristy met my parents... "meet the parents", always the scariest part of a relationship. We went to Mandarin on Olgilvie Road for dim sum. My brother couldn't make it... never asked why, probably too lazy and didn't want to get out of bed.

Last night, I asked my parents what they thought of Kristy and my mom said what I thought she would say; "We like her as long as you like her". Then she went on to say... "you really like this girl huh?" and I answered "yes". It's hard to get a clear answer some my parents on this topic, I had to ask them 10 times just to squeeze something out.

I thought the lunch went well. My mom was of course quiet as always, so my dad did all the interrogation :p but Kristy handled it well. Needs to practice a bit more Cantonese though, hehe.

We had the cake after all the food, and gosh was it hard to down after all the food we ordered! Parents liked the cake, but eventually my folks told me that it was too much, even bringing it home for Herman to eat. I realized that put a bit of chocolate in there, which caused him to not feel so well after eating the cake. Didn't think a little chocolate would hurt... Sorry bro.

After lunch, Kristy and I went downtown to meet up with Pam. We walked and through the huge crowd on Rideau. Like every year, Rideau street was full of people in Red and White. While we were there, we got our face painted. It was Pam's idea, and she was going to back out. But we convinced her to wait in line with us... so she has no choice in the end but to join us in this epic face painting fiesta, lol!

After the face painting, we roamed around Rideau a bit and made it to the entrance of Parliament Hill. There, we saw some very energetic Asian ladies asking to take pictures with a white dude. It was rather hilarious. They later came up to us and told us to pose. So we did, and they look the picture.

Another item on Kristy's list of things to do was to meet up with her friend Minh at his Chip Wagon. It took a while but we eventually found it. It's surprising how many Asians own Chip Wagons...

Later, we made our way to Mike's house for a BBQ. We were the last ones to arrive, so we munched on the remaining food that was still on the grill. It was a fun get together as a lot of people made it out; Minh, Carmen, Kristy, Pam, Mike, Allan, Adri, Brian, Marco and more. At around 9:30/10PM, the group headed to the park to light fireworks. The show this year was not as impressive as last year but nonetheless it was fun and everyone was enjoying themselves. After the fireworks we went back to Mike's to drink. 

July 2

Kristy and I left Mike's party early because we needed to pack and prepare for our Mont-Tremblant getaway. We planned a 3 day, 2 nights adventure to the mountains... first time ever being in Tremblant in the Summer time. The scenery was beautiful and everyday was sunny and hot.

The first day started with us driving to La Rouge Expedition - Horseback Riding. The horseback riding was fun; we chose the longer route so we could take our horses up the mountain. Kristy got Lincoln as her horse, and I got Big Nick (he truly was a big horse). Our guide said that the horses can weigh up to 1,600 lbs, sometimes more. The funny thing about horses is that, because they ate all day long, they poop everywhere, as they are walking. Big Nick was dodging Lincoln's poop while we were in the mountains. It was quite funny, haha. Our guide was only 18 years old, and found her passion in horses. Good for her.

I would recommend the horseback riding for those who haven't done it. Do the one that takes you up the mountain, its much more exciting. I was actually hoping we would be able to have the horse move quicker along flat ground; was disappointed as that a bit. For first-timers, I would say it will be a fun experience. I enjoyed it. More information here.

Afterwards, we made our way to the resort and checked-in into our hotel. The Country Inn offered us a few goodies; coupons for shopping, free lift tickets up the gondola and 2x $10 Casino credit. At first, we thought our room included a kitchen, so we bought food to cook while we were there. It turned out that it was just a standard bedroom, not a suite. D'oh. This forced us to eat out, which wasn't a horrible thing either :)

That night, we found a place called Coco Pazzo, an Italian restaurant. It was fantastic there, but I didn't really get our waiter's humour when I asked for his suggestion from the menu. He simply said, "uh, everything is good here." I ended up getting the Spaghetti Con Anatra and Kristy got the Osso Bucco. The food was delicious. I would recommend eating there if you don't have a restaurant set to try out :)

So we ended the night stuffing our faces... and then heading to bed after.


July 3

Day two started with an alarm going off at 7AM. Our hotel at complementary breakfast so we took advantage of that both mornings we were there.

After breakfast, we made our ways to Via Ferreta, about 30 mins away from Mont-Tremblant, for some mountain climbing and hiking. I realized that I didn't prepare myself well until I got to the site. They recommended long pants and hiking shoes. I had neither. Instead; shorts and chucks. lol. I made it through it ok, but wished I had brought the appropriate apparel.

We climbed quite a distance. Actually, I got yelled at early on because I took both of my clips off at the same time when I got up to the top of the first tower to cross the bridge. The rule was that you take one clip off at a time. I don't listen well.

The morning was a bit cool, but as the day progressed, it got hot. We climbed up 110 meters, as our guide Kevin said. I can't remember whether I asked him that while we were at the very top, or whether it was at a shorter distance to the top. Nonetheless, we climbed for a good 1.5 hours.

Here are some photos from our climb...

I would highly recommend the Via Ferreta. It was a lot of fun and if you get Kevin as your guide, you will likely have an awesome time too. Oh, and don't worry, you don't need previous rock climbing / mountain climbing to enjoy yourself here. You learn quite quickly.

After Via Ferreta, we went to a Nordic Spa right by Mont-Tremblant. The lady on the phone, as we were confirming the location and the time they close, said that the spa was just 10 minutes away. It took us 30 minutes to drive out to the spa; 20 minutes on the highway going 110-120km/hr. I'm not sure how fast she drives, but there is no way you can make it from Mont-Tremblant to this spa in 10 minutes.

It was both our first times trying the Nordic Spa out. The idea is, 10 minutes in either the hot tub or sauna, then it's running until a cold waterfall... freezzzzzing! Kristy was so afraid of the cold water, it was funny. Eventually, she got pushed in... by me, ha!

The location was not ideal. There was no real nice view at this spa. However, I'm glad to say that I've tried out a Nordic Spa, and would probably go to another. 

After the spa, we went back to the hotel to clean up and head out for dinner. We ended up eating at Micro Brasserie de la Diamont. I ordered the Baby Back Ribs and Kristy got the two different kinds of sausages. I don't remember which ones, but they were delicious! Kristy topped me by finishing her entire dish, leaving me with half a rack of ribs untouched. It was extremely filling... I packed it up and brought it home to eat the next day.

During dinner, it started to rain. We wanted to check out the casino, so we waited for the shuttle to come around to pick us up. We waited in the rain, but under a shutter. She shuttle never came so we went back to our room and called it a night. We guessed it was either getting late, or the rain that caused the shuttle to not run. We waited for a good chunk of time. The casino was scheduled to close at 12am, and we were there waiting at 10pm. Oh well, we went the next day...


July 4

We decided to take it easy on the last day. We spent the day walking and taking pictures around the village and at the top of Mont-Tremblant.

We hiked up to the top of Mont-Tremblant and reached the highest point; this was there the flag was. Kristy and I left a marking on the ledge by the flag...

Maybe in a few years we will revisit this flag and find out names still in tact :)

Oh, and I forgot... casino. Went went to visit the casino on our last day at Tremblant. If you recall, we were given 2 x $10 credit to play with. When we got there, I hit up one of the slots and Kristy tried this weird chicken game (I guess the picture of the chicken drew her in). 

Our luck came... 

So our trip ended off in a positive note. The winnings of course went on to pay for part of our trip :)

We made out trip back home at 3PM.


July 5

The fun wasn't over. Mid-day, we decided to check out Bluesfest after seeing the line up of artists; Carly RaieJepsen, Dragonette and LMFAO. We managed to convince Mike to come with us, and we met up with Pam and Jen at the Bluesfest.

Luckily, I will have a valid student card and all three of us (Mike, Kristy and I) bought the Rush Pass. The Rush Pass is a discount pass for students into Bluesfest. Instead of paying the full price of $50, we got ours for $30. BIYAHHH!

All the shows were just... electrifying!

The night ended with LMFAO, and he took the stage by storm. The only disappointment was that they didn't perform Wiggle Wiggle. Nonetheless, they put on an awesome show! Glad to have been part of it. Come back soon guys!

July 6

Friday was a bit of a chill day. Kristy had two meetings with her boss at the hospital and professor. She got up early, once again, to bake a cake. This girl just loves baking stuff...

Later, Kristy and I decided to look at dogs! We tried Petsmart but they didn't have any there. They suggested us going to the Ottawa Human Society, so that's what we did. One of the most interesting mixed breeds that we saw there was the chow chow + golden retriever. A few of them were super cute. We weren't ready to adopt one at that time, but when we are ready, we'll likely pick one up when he's a pup :)

After that, we met up with my cousins, Shirley and my brother at Alirang for dinner. This was yet, another introduction for Kristy to my family. Everyone got along, Jennifer and Susan fell in love with the food there, so the tale ended nicely. I noticed that Susan and Jennifer asked for Kristy's hug... how often does that happen!? Later Jennifer told me that they liked her. Good words to here =D.

The eating doesn't stop there. After dinner, Kristy and I rushed home to prepare an appetizer for Viet's surprise birthday party. The person behind all of this? Kit Kat. We literally made our asparagus rolls in 20 minutes. Turned out quite nice (taste and presentation). By the end of the night, our plate was clean, wooo! 

It was a fun night!

July 7

CALYPSO!

That's right. Pam, Karl, Kristy and I woke up early to get to Calypso on Saturday. It was somewhat chilly in the morning, but  by late morning and early afternoon, the park started to warm up. It was my first time Calypso and I was quite impressed with the rides there. We met up with David and Jane at Calypso.

I don't think I can name off all the rides we went on, but one to mention, notably the scariest is the Aqua Loop. This is a newer ride whereby the you stand in the ride, slightly slanted on your back and they drop you down into a loop or water. The ride literally lasted less than 5 seconds, but it was all worth the wait (I think we waited for a good 45 minutes to get to the front of the line). 45 minutes for 5 seconds of excitement, woohoo! lol

After Calypso, we went back to my place to cook up some home made pizza. Yummm!


July 8

I can't believe it.

The week is over
My break is over
Kristy's break is over
Kristy has to fly back to Vancouver :(

... the world is... jk

On Sunday, Kristy and I met up with Kristy parents and Eric for lunch at Seafood King. This was my introduction to Kristy's mom and dad. I was frightening at first, but then I got comfortable talking to both of them.

I realized that Kristy's mom had a lot in common with my mom, in terms of working as a seamstress. She also knows Shirley's mom very well, and some parts of my family. But no, we are NOT related in any way.

Later, we drove downtown to shop around before heading to the airport. It was like deja vu because the last time Kristy left, we were walking around the market at the same time. Didn't realize it until we were in front of La Bottega. Miss you lots baby! 

It was truly a memorable week. A week later, and I'm blogging about everything that had happened :) Until next time, ciao!