Hakata Ikkousha Ramen PVJ Bandung

Seriously, I didn't know we do have this famous Japanese ramen chain store in PVJ Bandung! I didn't believe the waitress who told me they opened a new chain store in PVJ last December, screw that, I went to Paris Van Java mall a lot and I see no Hakata Ikkousha just until last month! I must have been blind!

I seriously need a new phone, I want iPhone 8, I think... I've been wanting to sell my 60D because I don't use it much lately. DSLRs can be a hassle and they're too bulky to carry around. I can see myself reaching more to just my phone cam, which, explains the bad quality pictures. I want iPhone only for its camera :/

I ate this when I still had braces on! lol, what a pain, I spent almost an hour to finish the whole bowl. But anyway, I don't care, the ramen was soooo good I swear on anything! The egg is so soft and tender, the broth is so flavorful you just can't get enough! The best part about it is the unlimited raw garlic you can crush by yourself for an extra kick!

By the way, this one is the chicken TAM TAM ramen. I like chicken more than pork, but Hakata Ikkousha is better known for their thick tonkotsu ramen. But you can't find pork here, Hakata Ikkousha Bandung only sells halal food. I don't mind that, cause chicken > pork anyway, lol.

Comparison to Hakata tonkotsu ramen ( picture was taken at Hakata Ikkousha PIK, Jakarta). Well, I think both are nice, really nice!

And because I'm a greedy hedonist, I went to Duck King right after. I was the only customer there. Feels good man.

Tried Sichuan chicken in Duck King. It was good! I love Sichuan cuisine! Duck King is one of my favorite restaurant. Please don't close on me Duck King,  cause you're the only one left in my area. Or maybe not, I think we do have Duck King at TSM Bandung.

Just a random bare bears plush that got me triggered. Don't you feel like punching it?

I survived dengue fever!

Like gum infection wasn't enough, I just had to get hospitalized because of dengue fever!

But before that, I have something that might make you laugh.

My extra crispy red clay konjac sponge!

I laughed so HARD. It reminds me to 🌚 
I usually leave it in boiling water to disinfect it, then I snoozed away, then it becomes like this.

Well, anyway. I just got home again today for a long-tiring week in a hospital (St. Borromeus), thanks to dengue fever! Duh...

This was actually my second time being hospitalized here, but I had VIP room few years ago so it was all good. Now I have a crampy room with four other peoples mushed in together.

One of my biggest complaint is the overly bright lamps. There was NINE lamps in the room, making it feels more like Alfamart/Indomart rather than hospital. I have no idea why it has to be that bright?

Pic doesn't do justice, it's much brighter irl. But well, I had a nice look out the window, a small beautiful church with green lush.

The nurses are, well, some are nice some are not.
There's this one nurse who told me, "You should go to toilet on your own, don't you feel bad for the nurse?"
I'm like hellloooo, don't you feel bad FOR ME?
It's not like I kept pressing the bell every freaking time I have to pee, I pee on my own duh, but inside this pee pot thingy, and SOMETIMES I would need the nurse to 'clean' it.

What I know about dengue fever now:

- It can develop into DHF (dengue hemorrhage fever), or DSS (dengue shock syndrome).
- Normally, our body will cure itself within a week.
- Nurse will stab you in the vein every morning, just kidding, or maybe not, haha, yes you will have your blood drawn every single day.
- You will have sore gums and it might bleed (like mine).
- Hematocrit is just as important as trombosit, at a balanced level you don't really have to worry about hemorrhage.
- Fluid intake is really important. I was told to drink at least a hundred ounces of water every day. Stay moisturized guys!

My Trombosit ups and downs:

1. 280.000
2. 170.000
3. 155.000
4. 99.000
5. 70.000
6. 66.000
7. 90.000
8. 144.000
9. Today, no idea, but supposedly much better than yesterday.

Hematocrit counts:
Lowest: 37
Highest: 41

Pretty balanced. I didn't suffer nausea, no hematuria (bleeding pee) either, and I can still eat well. But my liver is taking a heavy toll from dengue and is still swelling now. Poor liver, I'll make sure I take the multi-vitamins called Hepa-balanced religiously. Now I'm recovering and have grown extra hatred towards mosquitoes!

Ordered Hakata Ikkousha! Wishing it to be nice and done like it'd always be, but false hope I was wrong! The noodle would always be uncooked for a take-away *weep* I called them and they told me to 'just cook it'. I'm like "How?! I'm in a hospital for God's sake."
Anyway I told the uber-food driver: "Make sure you don't let a nurse catch you!" lol

LIBERATION DAY!

No more IV drip!

Anyway, I'll catch you guys on my next post. I have this long overdue post about Hakata Ikkousha ramen that I planned to post from weeks ago! Stay healthy!

Getting my braces removed [urgently]

Okay, now that the pain has subsided a bit, I can finally write a post. I'm still healing from my bad bad periconoritis now, I had my braces removed yesterday, and now I'll be sharing the story.

So first of all, I had my braces put by a dentist almost two weeks ago. That time, again, I didn't know that only orthodontists are legitimately licensed to do so. I simply thought a dentist could also put braces on.

You can check my older post to see my experience with the braces. The pain was moderate, still really annoying though because I can't eat as fast as I used to, I also need to say good bye to my favorite food!

Anyway, I had an ominous foreboding about my braces, I felt like it was so wrong... so I thought I'd better consult a orthodontist.

13th June:

Had appointment with Drg. Adhy Ganjar Sp, Ort. He looks so young but he seems smart and competent, he's also a very humorous person! After checking my whole teeth, he said there's few problems with my current braces:

1. The center line. Two of my central teeth will slowly moving to the right side. Which is not good, take a look at Tom Cruise. It's true though because within almost two weeks, my central front teeth have already moved by 2 milimeters to the right. He told me that if I'd need one of my tooth (from the left that) extracted so that the central teeth move right to its proper place.

2.  According to him, I should have one or two lower teeth taken out before getting the braces. But the 'first' dentist didn't have a single one extracted. So what will happen here is, my lower jaw will recede to the back, which isn't nice! He told me I already have a perfect side profile (that makes me happy, lol).

Though, he didn't force me to remove the braces. It's all up to me whether I want to keep it or NUKE it. But of course I want to have it removed after hearing all that, who wants teeth like Tom's? I don't! He said I should give myself a lot of time to think and also talk to the first dentist and told her politely why I want it removed.

Later that night, my lower right jaw, near the wisdom tooth, got really really really, extremely, painful. So painful that I couldn't even sleep. I'm so lucky because I already made an appointment with an orthodontist Alex Iskandar Sp, Ort. the next day.

14th June:

Went to ALEXIS clinic, I love the way he shorten his name to Alexis. I love the place, modern and clean, just nice! There was a kitten sleeping in front of the main door, it didn't seem to be bothered as people walks by.

Anyway, the pain had become extremely unbearable by morning, and I still had to drive alone #$^&*@#@!!! Apparently, I have a severe infection on my right wisdom teeth called periconoritis. The infection was caused by improper braces installment, because there were no teeth being taken out, my wisdom tooth got squeezed back, injuring the gum, and with all the nasty bacteria I have in my mouth, it got infected.

What wisdom tooth, we should change its name to cursedom tooth.

I kinda begged him to remove my braces. All of that USD 243 metal brackets! I can't bear the pain anymore. Not only it was wrongly put, the braces had caused me a painful, severe, periconoritis. The infection has spread to my neck, causing my lymph nodes to swell and become tender. I have difficulty swallowing and breathing, and I can barely open my mouth.

Dr. Alex couldn't clean the brackets glue due to my mouth being unable to fully open. I made another appointment next month because he's fully booked.

I don't care I lost bunch of money. USD 243 "for braces" is considered cheap, very cheap, and that's why I decided to get it. Worst decision I've ever made, really. I wanted it cheap, ended up damaging my teeth more.

What happen to my teeth after the whole ordeal?

Dr. Alex said it will go back to its original position, because my front central teeth has already moved a bit.

I get my bite perfectly aligned back into its original position right after.

My teeth turned a bit transparent on the edge, I hate this... I hope they can do something about it. I'm not sure what have caused it :c

I'm still healing from my severe infection, day 3 and I began to feel better.

Since I had one of my bicuspid extracted, I'm at point where there's no turn back. I should keep on going, either with traditional braces or invisalign. Though, I think I'll go with invisalign next time. It's costly but I think it's really worth it.

At least I've learnt my lesson. I lost money, and healthy teeth. I wanted it cheap but it makes everything more expensive for me now. Guys, really, if you are considering braces, get it right from the beginning, let an actual orthodontist put it for you.

Now I need to distract myself from the pain, see you on next post!

Lower braces and one week update

It's a living hell, literally.

If anyone of you is reading this and considering braces, just forget it, get invisalign instead. You will save a LOT of time. Instead of spending years, you'll only need a few good months, with minimum pain.

Okay, so I just got my lower braces yesterday, and it's exactly one week since I got my upper braces.

Lower Braces:

Let's just jump into the real problem here.

It's really not the pain, the pain is bearable but the real problem after I got my lower braces is:

My bite feels misaligned and I can't rest my jaw properly!

I had perfect bite before and everything was actually fine except for my impacted canine tooth on the right side (well it's kinda cute but I prefer a perfect smile).

Suddenly I can't close my molars perfectly, it feels so weird! I complained about it to my dentist and she tried to remove some more glue from my teeth, which, somehow got left there. But I felt no improvement.

So if I open my mouth, then close it... *let's imagine it in a slow motion* my upper-right second bicuspid tooth will HIT my bottom teeth first, resulting a BIG gap between the upper to lower molars on the left side.

This is downright bad! I have uneven resting jaw because of this! Not only that, I can't even chew food properly ㅠㅠ

I have no idea is this is temporary or it's gonna be worse. I made an appointment with a real, actual orthodontist tomorrow at 10 A.M. so I hope everything will be okay. I seriously hope nothing bad had happened to my jaw yet, I don't want a TMJ or, for the worst, crooked face, ew!

Upper braces update:

Moderate pain, zero pain killer. Second to third day being the most painful of all because the metal brackets are DIGGING in to my inner cheek and lips, though, I didn't get ulcers until today!

I brush my teeth almost four times per day, especially after meal. I also gargle with Himalayan pink salt water and Betadine mouth wash to control bacteria growth.

The saddest part is: I can't eat voraciously like I always did.

I also noticed that my right second bicuspid started to feel a bit off, like it starts to crook away because I can feel it lightly nudging my lower teeth whenever I bite. Now it's hell worse with lower braces! ( p.s. I had my right first bicuspid on the right taken off to create space for the cuspid)

I really wish I'd read THIS before :c
I spent USD 245 for both upper and lower braces, and I might need the same amount to have it removed. We'll see though!

How I fix water damaged keyboard

Few days ago, I accidentally spilled a full mug of sugared Twinnings tea to my Logitech G100S keyboard while I was vacuum cleaning my table. I quickly removed all the keycaps (uh, hard work) and dried all leftover water with kleenex and wiped it clean with alkylbenzene sulfonate (Mr. Muscle).

After spending at least 2 hours cleaning it, I put all the keycaps back, and unsurprisingly, some keys have totally stopped, while the others seems to type down random numbers/alphabets by itself. It was so frustating!

Anyway I didn't think much of it, I thought I just had to get myself a new keyboard because I had been using the G100S for five years anyway. Later that day, I went out and bought myself a Sades Thyrsus, because I thought it looked pretty nice and ok for the price, like super cheap! Only around USD 39 for a RGB mechanical keyboard) It's a bargain!

When I got home, my G100S keyboard was still in the same state as before, not working properly at all, like typing some random shits on its own. I unplugged the keyboard and put it on my table to let it dries off perfectly.

And today, I plugged it back and my keyboard is PERFECTLY fine! But I've just started to adjust better to my Thyrsus, so for a while I'll be using this mechanical keyboard. I didn't care/know much about mechanical keyboard but this one seems to have a blue kaihl mechanical switch which is super clicky and loud! My friends on discord are always complaining about how noisy my keyboard is, lol. But I should get myself a new keyboard for a back up before I fly to Europe because their keyboard is different (they have more alphabets), using European keyboard is really stressing me out! ㅠㅠ

I just got braces!

So yeah, I just got braces! It was a very impulsive decision (blame huge discount) and I didn't even know anything about braces - yet - at least until I got home and start to dig out more about braces. So I'll be talking about my experience with braces now.

This is my third day and I feel tortured! I kinda regret it but I just keep reminding myself of the "Pepsodent smile" which I've been wanting badly, for years! At least after a year or so, I could gloat over my very own pepsodent smile.

What I wish I knew about BRACES:
1. It's supposed to be done by a specialist a.k.a orthodontist.
I had mine done by a non-specialist dentist. I'm a bit scared now, I hope everything will be okay though, I saw a horrifying picture of someone who went to a self proclaimed 'tooth expert' (they're not even a dentist!) to get braces because the price is super cheap, and within four months her front tooth sink in to the back while the root is poking out naked from the damn gum. Holy f*ck!
I hope I'd be okay, really, I mean my dentist seems nice, even though she's not a orthodontist, yet.

2. I need to wear retainers for the rest of my life
You read it right, for the rest of my life. Otherwise the teeth will start to rebel and revert back to their original hideous state they once were. Those jerks (teeth) like to see you wasting money getting new braces and being tortured all over again!

3. The 'antenna' on the canine bracket is poking my cheek

picture: somewhere from Google

This thing is really annoying, I need to get a dental wax real soon. Other than that, unless if I'm chewing something, my teeth don't hurt. But I do feel this weird sensation like my teeth are being pulled away.

4. What else... THE TORTURE IS REAL! I hope I knew it's gonna be this hard just to eat something. I spent 2 hours trying to chow down Mc Donald's french fries and I couldn't even finish it! I think I'll just eat something soft and mushy like banana, oatmeal, or porridge :c

Other thing is, every freaking time I eat something, the food will get stuck in the brackets! I need to bring small brush and tooth paste everywhere I go now.

That's pretty much it, I'll be updating my braces experience again next time.
I'll still have to go to the same dentist in a week to get braces on my bottom teeth. I really hope everything will go well so that I don't have to actually go to an orthodontist because I nearly lose any of  my teeth or one of the root starts to poke straight out from the gum. Just kidding! That's not going to happen please God.

Oh, by the way, the dentist took one my teeth (the one right next to my cuspid) and I didn't even get to take a single painkiller. And like, I still had to drive home after that. It was a long, hot day, and the traffic was crazily jammed up. I desperately trying to find nearby drugstore but every single one of it was closed due to Eid mubarak! GG! After driving for almost an hour I found one drugstore but I still had to queue in a damn big line. I hoped I could just sit while queuing, and then there was this one funny grandpa with white hairs allover who kept talking to me, asking me what medicine I needed and telling me why he was there. I'm like 'oh God I seriously don't feel like talking now...' (even if it's Aragaki Yui I didn't even feel like talking that time), but he had such a big, happy smile on his face I'd just felt ridiculously bad if I have to ignore him. OTL

Well anyway, I ended up not taking the mefenafic acid, at all, it was way too late buddy! way too late! By the time I reached home (almost 2 hours) the pain had totally stopped :/