Mum had her second blood transfusion on Tuesday. Her first was during her hospitalization two weeks ago. She is slowly recovering. She is suffering from Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) which increases the lymphocytes in her blood and bone marrow dramatically. Lymphocytes are important to the immune system but due to CLL, her lymphocytes are malformed and interfere the way other blood cells function.

She has a weak resistance against infections, is anemic and has an enlarged spleen. While her condition sounds serious, she is generally healthy and active for her age. With proper care and precautions, she should not have too much health complications.

As for me, I have been busy redesigning my homepage. Nothing fancy. Rehashing the site navigation, removing all the frames and adding photos here and there for aesthetic purposes. At the same time, I am attempting to tweak how the homepage information is listed in search engines like Google and Yahoo.

The commanding view of Taman Lip Sin and Bukit Jambul from my apartment.

Mum, who was hospitalized since last Wednesday, was discharged yesterday. The doctors did not want to keep her a day longer than necessary, probably because of her weak immune system and the current SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic. She was admitted for a persistent cough that refused to go away after several weeks of medication.

I learnt to double-boil bird�s nest soup with cordyceps and red dates for Mum. Wuan brought them for Mum when she was here the last trip, and provided step-by-step instructions through the phone. Double-boiling is a method of cooking where the food is placed in a ceramic jar, which is then placed in a pot of boiling water. It was not as difficult as I had anticipated. I just had to remember to replenish the water every now and then. Perhaps, I may cook up something more elaborate for Wuan when she is here the next time.

The Internet is a treasure chest of serendipity. At the most unanticipated moment, we may come across a gem that we never thought existed. It is like stumbling upon a curio shop hidden in an obscure alley and finding a trinket that you have been looking for all your life. On the Internet, Wuan and I chanced on each other in a chatroom. We were not looking for love but we unwittingly found it there.

Today marks the fourth anniversary Wuan and I met up in real life. We had been chatting for four months in the IRC before that fateful day. These four years must be one of my happiest times. Every moment with Wuan is a bundle of laughter and contentment. She is intelligent, witty, meticulous, patient and thoughtful � traits that I wished I had more of. She is all I can ever wish for in a woman.

She taught me to look beyond my disabilities and exploit to the utmost what I still possess. She constantly motivates me. She continually inspires me. She is the last piece that completes my jigsaw puzzle of life; that final bit of a 10,000-piece set that gives such satisfaction as soon as it snaps into place. She completes me.