Hiccups attacks

At the moment of blogging, I'm having my 5th round of hiccups attacks. This is the story...

I had pain on my right foot while taking part in CICM Run in Bukit Jalil on Sunday. Went to see a GP to actually get a referral letter for me to see a specialist. But she said she couldn't simply refer me to specialist on my first visit. And based from what she explained about my conditions and her knowledge, I assume she could treat me well. I was suspected to suffer from Plantar Fasciitis.

After consultation, I was prescribed with a lotion, anti-inflammation pills to help reduce internal swelling, vitamin for nerve, painkiller and gastricitis pills. At first, I was confused why did she give me gastricitis pills only to know that the painkillers are very strong and just in case if they would give some problems to my stomach.

I took the pills normally but in the afternoon the next day (Monday, 29.11) I had severe hiccups attack on my way back from KLCC (for a meeting) to Bangi. The first attack lasted for about 3h 50m. Damn it was tough, and I sounded silly and funny. I haven't had hiccups for a very long time, I think even before Google came into the picture.

I drank lots of water, tried different types of remedies taken from the net but they were all just not working. Then, when it was time to take another round of medicines, I ate two curry puffs I bought earlier and as simple as that, the hiccups were gone. I continued to take the anti-inflammation pill as prescribed and not long after that, the 2nd attack of hiccups came again.

This time it was more serious, I felt burning pain inside my chest area up to the throat and it got worse for every hiccup. Called the clinic, consulted the doctor a bit before I was summoned to see the doctor. Driving to the clinic in Taipan (from Bangi) was one of the longest journey, with my chest felt burning sensation and 'tahan kencing lagi'.

Consulted the doctor and he said, I am sensitive to the two pills - Dexamethasone (the anti-inflammation) and the Voltaren (painkiller) and I was then described with another type of gastricitis medicine to cure my hiccups and the burning sensation. I was advised by the doctor to eat porridge and drink milk that night.

Went to the kopitiam next door, ordered chicken porridge for tapau. While waiting for the order, I took the gastricitis pill and not long after that, the hiccups went away. I was happy, went home, but while I was having my porridge, the third round of hiccups attack came attacking. Called the clinic again, they asked me to take the other type of gastricitis pills which I did and not long after that, the hiccups were gone, again.

I went out for an appointment with a friend and while having my roti banjir, another round of hiccups came attacking. Took another pill after reaching home, and as expected they were gone right after that and about an hour later until this moment of blogging, the 5th round of hiccups attack came, which I don't bother to take another pills, I would just let it go away naturally.

Managed to capture a video of myself with the hiccups on my way from KLCC to Bangi.

No. 1 Ducks rally to beat Arizona, win Pac-10

Now the Ducks can have their turkey. Oregon coach Chip Kelly said earlier this week the didn’t want his top-ranked team to partake in the traditional Thanksgiving meal because it might make them lethargic against No. 20 Arizona.


The Ducks were anything but sedentary on Friday night with a 48-29 victory over the Wildcats. Oregon earned at least a share of its second-straight Pac-10 title and stayed on course for a trip to the BCS national championship game.

Darron Thomas passed for 148 yards and three scores and ran for another, while running back LaMichael James ran for 126 yards and two scores for the Ducks (11-0, 8-0), who trailed 19-14 at halftime.

The Ducks have only won 11 games in a season once before, when Joey Harrington led them to the Fiesta Bowl in 2001. The Ducks can lock up an outright conference title and a spot in the national championship game in Glendale, Ariz., next week with a victory at Oregon State.

It was the third straight loss for Arizona (7-4, 4-4), which ultimately couldn’t keep up with the Ducks’ speedy spread-option.

With temperatures in the mid-40s and periodic rain showers, there were concerns that the Wildcats would have trouble with their passing game, which had been averaging about 300 yards a game. But Nick Foles passed for a career-high 448 yards and three touchdowns, including an 85-yard score to Juron Criner. It just wasn’t enough.

Thomas completed 14 of 24 passes for 148 yards and an interception. Oregon finished with 537 yards total offense. Arizona put up 506.

Oregon was playing catch-up the entire first half and trailed for just the second time this season at the break. But the Ducks bounced back early in the second half with Josh Huff’s 85-yard scoring run, the longest play from scrimmage for the Ducks this season. While the conversion failed, Oregon had a 20-19 lead.


Arizona hurt itself on Oregon’s next series, when they were called offside on Rob Beard’s missed 42-yard field goal attempt. That gave the Ducks a first down and Thomas followed with a 20-yard touchdown run to make it 27-19.

The Wildcats cut the lead on Alex Zendejas’ 41-yard field goal, but James ran for a pair of scores, one for 13 yards and another for a yard, to make it 48-22. James has 19 rushing touchdowns this season, surpassing LeGarrette Blount’s score record 17 set in 2008.

James came into the game as the nation’s rushing leader at 158 yards per game, but there were concerns about his health. After Oregon’s last game, a 15-13 win over California, the Heisman Trophy hopeful was on crutches with a leg injury. He was able to rest the injury over a bye week and practiced on a limited basis.

He quickly showed he was fine by busting for a 38-yard run on Oregon’s first series. With the run, the sophomore became just the second Ducks player in history to run for 3,000 career yards. James went down late in the first half after he was hit by Arizona safety Adam Hall. While he was helped off the field, he stayed on the sidelines until the break, then earned rousing applause when he returned from halftime hopping across the field with his helmet on.


Last season Arizona fans readied to rush the field but Oregon scored with 6 seconds left, sending the game into overtime. The Ducks went on to win it 44-41 in double OT, spoiling Arizona’s chance for its first Rose Bowl bid. Oregon went to Pasadena, Calif., instead, but this season that would be a consolation prize for the Ducks.

They have already beaten second-place Stanford, so even if they lose the Civil War game to Oregon State, and fall into a tie for first in the Pac-10, they’ll go to the Rose Bowl. Beat the Beavers and the Ducks will play for their first national championship.

No. 1 Oregon ekes out defensive struggle over California

Jeff Maehl caught a 29-yard pass for the Ducks' only offensive touchdown, and No. 1 Oregon caught a huge break on an illegal motion penalty against California's kicker during a 15-13 victory on Saturday night, keeping the Ducks on course for the BCS title game.


Cliff Harris returned a punt 64 yards for the only touchdown in the first half for the Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pac-10), who undeniably wobbled on the road to a shot at the national championship. Oregon's offense managed a season-low 317 yards and went scoreless in two quarters -- yet the defense largely shut down Cal after its opening drive.


Those defensive players were just as surprised as everybody else in Strawberry Canyon when the normally purring Oregon offense sputtered and stalled. The Ducks had played just three scoreless quarters all season long until Cal shut them out in the first and fourth.

Oregon also got a bit of luck: Early in the fourth quarter, Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio erased his own 24-yard field goal, which would have put the Golden Bears ahead by one, by taking a stutter step forward before the snap. The junior then missed a 29-yard try on the next play. Oregon kicker Rob Beard also missed two field goals after going 8 for 8.

Darron Thomas passed for 155 yards and led a final drive that chewed up the last 9 1/2 minutes. It was a strange sight to see the high-speed Ducks down shift into super-slow motion, but it worked to perfection: Kenjon Barner and LaMichael James took turns with the ball while Thomas milked the play clock on an 18-play, 65-yard drive.


The Heisman hopeful James rushed for a season-low 91 yards, but Oregon's defense shut out Cal's offense for the final 55 minutes. James left Berkeley leaning on crutches with his left leg in a protective casing, but he played on Oregon's final drive, and the tailback insisted he was fine.


The Bears held the nation's most prolific scoring team almost 40 points below its average, but couldn't get the Ducks' offense off the field when they most needed a stop. Cal defensive tackle Derrick Hill forced a fumble and recovered it in the end zone for the Bears (5-5, 3-4), who lost at home for the first time all season -- but only after putting a mighty scare into their first top-ranked opponent in five years.

Just two hurdles remain between the Ducks and an unbeaten regular season: a visit from Arizona on Nov. 26, followed by the Civil War at Oregon State.

Mount Merapi's eruptions

Since its initial eruptions on October 25th, Indonesia's Mount Merapi continues to spew hot gases and ash as far as 5,000 meters into the atmosphere, wreaking havoc on surrounding villages and farms, and disrupting air travel - and more than 140 people have been killed by the eruptions over the past two weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of residents have been displaced, many of them living in temporary shelters until the Indonesian government reduces the existing 20 km "safe zone", and allows them and their livestock to return. Collected here are recent images from the area near the unpredictable Mount Merapi as it still rumbles and erupts.

I got admitted....

Baru dapat news ni pagi tadi. After a month and a half, I keep on checking on the status of my application, the good news came in this morning. Alhamdulillah, my application to do my Masters in UM has been approved! Lompat sentuh bintang!


I'm not sure how the loads going to be but definitely it will involve a serious time management. What with my full marathons quest next year, dengan nak beli basikal lagi, dengan nak amik swimming kelas lagi. Ni dah datang satu tanggungjawab lagi pulak. Hoepfully, I will survive the 8 semesters (maximum ni to complete the whole course).

There'll be a majlis to welcome postgraduate students on Monday, 27th December (kena amik cuti lagi...) and registration for M.Econs is on Friday, the same day I'm flying to Langkawi. Hmmm... tapi tadi dah called admission, diorang kata boleh je register hari Selasa tu. Ok lah, will squeeze in mana-mana yang tersqueezed.

Yang paling aku kamjat, the date of Borneo International Marathon falls during the final exam session. Mati lor... tengok lah macam mana nanti, but for now... aku happy!

No. 1 Ducks smash Huskies 53-16 after slow start

Running back LaMichael James felt it, and so did the rest of the top-ranked Ducks. There was something inexplicably amiss at the start of Oregon’s 53-16 victory over northwest rival Washington on Saturday. Something completely out of character for the nation’s most prolific offense.

The Ducks (9-0, 6-0 Pac-10) were held scoreless in the first quarter for the first time this season. Their first points came on a 29-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Of course they went on to thoroughly recover, outscoring Washington 35-10 in the second half. James ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns, while Darron Thomas threw for a score and ran for two more.

Defensive tackle Alameda Ta'amu #74 of the Washington Huskies grabs the jersey of running back LaMichael James #21 of the Oregon Ducks in the third quarter of the game at Autzen Stadium on November 6, 2010 in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks won the game 53-16. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
After Oregon opened the scoring with Rob Beard’s field goal, Erik Folk’s 52-yard attempt for Washington went wide left. But Folk made another 52-yarder later in the quarter to tie the game at 3. James finally got a touchdown for the Ducks midway through the second quarter with a 1-yard run. Beard ran in the 2-point conversion.

Before halftime Thomas ran 34 yards for a score to make it 18-3. Washington appeared to narrow it with less than a minute left with Price’s 16-yard scoring pass to Devin Aguilar, but it was called back by a penalty, and the Huskies settled for a Folk’s 27-yard field goal to make it 18-6 at the break.

After Price threw a 17-yard scoring pass to D’Andre Goodwin to make it 18-13 at the start of the second half, the Ducks answered with Thomas’ 6-yard scoring pass to Jeff Maehl. Oregon attempted a 26-field goal but Nate Costa bobbled the hold and tried to run it. Costa, Thomas’ backup at quarterback, was knocked out of bounds near Washington’s bench and appeared to injure his right knee. He left the field on a cart.

Oregon running back Kenjon Barner (24) runs past Washington defensive end Everrette Thompson (92) on his way to a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

James ran 13 yards for a touchdown before Thomas scored on a 7-yard dash to close out the third quarter. James added a 1-yard scoring run early in the fourth. James, a sophomore and the nation’s rushing leader, has run for 30 TDs at Oregon. He has 16 games with at least 100 yards. Kenjon Barner, who had missed the past two games after sustaining a concussion against Washington State, ran 30 yards for a touchdown with 4:34 left.


Oregon, as usual, wore the Huskies out. Thomas completed 24 of 33 passes for 243 yards. He ran for 89 yards. The Huskies lead the series against Oregon 58-40-5, but the Ducks have won the last seven games, all by 20 or more points. Last season Oregon won 43-19 at Husky Stadium. Washington had not faced a top-ranked team since 2007, when it lost to USC 27-24. Oregon visits California next Saturday, before wrapping up the season against Arizona and at Oregon State. The Huskies host UCLA then finish on the road against Cal and Washington State.

Ducks blow out USC at Coliseum 53-32

To USC cornerback Shareece Wright, the most stunning aspect of No. 1 Oregon's offense isn't its speed or its sophistication, or even the Ducks' standout skill players.
No, Wright and the Trojans were bowled over by Oregon's elegant simplicity.
"They didn't even run a lot of plays," Wright said after the Ducks' 53-32 win at the Coliseum. "They just run them to perfection and wait until the defense breaks down."

Oregon (8-0, 5-0 Pac-10) makes it look easy to be this good. With a dominant win over the Pac-10's longtime power, the Ducks maintained their unbeaten season and tightened their hold on the top spot in the AP poll for the third straight week, moving within four games of a perfect season and a likely spot in the national title game.

For a few minutes, Southern California thought it had figured out the nation’s top-ranked team. The Trojans scored two quick touchdowns and stopped Oregon’s high-octane offense twice, setting the Coliseum abuzz with anticipation of an upset.

For much of the second half, the Ducks' offense largely consisted of repeated quick snaps followed by handoffs to LaMichael James, who almost always ran between the tackles on the way to 239 yards rushing, the second-most ever allowed to one player by a USC defense.

LaMichael James #21 of the Oregon Ducks is tackled for a loss by Shane Horton #23 of the USC Trojans during the second quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 30, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Quarterback Darron Thomas gave another efficient performance, passing for 288 yards and four touchdowns -- matching the most ever thrown against USC. Thomas threw three of his four scoring passes to Jeff Maehl who had eight catches for a career-high 145 yards while Lavasier Tuinei had seven catches for 78 yards and a score for the Ducks, who racked up 599 total yards.

Oregon wide receiver Lavasier Tuinei, left, catches a pass as Southern California linebacker Devon Kennard looks on before running it in for a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Oregon trailed in the third quarter for just the second time all season after USC took a 32-29 lead in a 2 1/2 -minute outburst. The Ducks still had 26 minutes left to demolish the Trojans, with national rushing leader James leading the Ducks to 24 consecutive points to close their first win at the Coliseum since 2000.

Trojans coach Lane Kiffin thought the game fell apart when they led 17-15 and had the ball in Oregon territory midway through the second quarter, but Barkley fumbled a shotgun snap after getting distracted by Kiffin yelling from the sideline. On the next play, Maehl made a 45-yard TD catch, artfully tipping the ball before catching it with one hand.

Oregon's defense was barely adequate against USC by most football standards, surrendering 32 points, 377 yards and 27 first downs. Yet normal standards simply don't apply to the Ducks, whose offense's speed and effectiveness all but guarantees a half-dozen touchdowns in each game. The defense again got plenty of work because Oregon's offense made three touchdown drives that lasted less than a minute.

Oregon has scored at least 42 points in every game this season, and USC's 32 points were the most the Ducks have allowed. Just four games remain in the Ducks' quest for the ultimate prize, and the doubters are shrinking with each weekly performance.

USC entered the Coliseum as an underdog for the first time in 51 games since 2001, but the homecoming crowd blanketed the Coliseum in USC’s cardinal color. Despite a vibrant homecoming crowd cheering on its underdog Trojans, USC lost at the Coliseum for the fourth time in seven games. Ronald Johnson caught a TD pass in what’s likely to be the biggest game of USC’s bowl-less season under NCAA sanctions.