Dr Christine Cheng: My Life, My Interests, My Thoughts, My Opinions

Last Liposuction Done... End of an Era?

Monday 8 Feb 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | No Comments
Filed under: Aesthetics Tags: Liposculpture, Liposuction

With the end of my Cosmetic indemnity looming on 9th February 2010, we did our last liposuction surgery this morning. It was a very sad finale, especially when the infiltration cannula bent to about 50 degrees suddenly right as we were completing infiltration of the final section. So symbolic...

The surgery went smoothly. My pre-op fat volume estimation was pretty spot on, as was the surgery time. Contours looked great too. And the patient responded perfectly to the sedation, waking up to turn just at the right time.

I still can't believe that I may never use my Body Jet again. It's been a wonderful little machine. Now I have to find a new owner for it. But I'm in no hurry. I'm going to let things settle for a bit before deciding whether it really is the end of an era. Even if it is, it's been a great experience, and I loved almost every second of it.

All is not completely lost. Even if I can't continue personally, I'm using my knowledge to build a couple of authority sites on the subject. That'll be my gift & legacy to this era of my life. The first site which I've been working on is AllAboutLiposculpture.com, and I'm planning to register LiposuctionSurgerySite.com later this evening. Why two almost identical sites? That's all about SEO!

Lo Hei: Happy Chinese New Year!

Saturday 6 Feb 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | No Comments
Filed under: Food Reviews

Salmon Yu Sheng

This is for my friend Jay from Thailand, who visited Singapore recently with his father. Andy and I had lunch with him at the Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant at UE Square.

With commercialism, Salmon Yusheng was available a good month before Chinese New Year! As neither of them had tried this dish before, we naturally had to order a portion for them to try.

For those unfamiliar with Chinese New Year traditions (Singapore style), this is a dish that became popular in Singapore some 15 years ago. I remember my mother meeting her friends for "raw fsh" and I was way too grossed out to want to try it for myself.

Fast forward a few years, and now I love this dish! Presented as shredded vegetables served in little mounds on a large plate, the waitress adds in lime, salt, pepper, honey, sesame oil and crispy crackers, reciting a lucky phrase with each step. My Chinese sucks, so I've never quite understood what goes on much, beyond it's about improvement, sweetness and prosperity.

Salmon Yusheng

Each diner then uses chopsticks to mix it all together, tossing it high up in the air, the higher the better. Again, lucky phrases are said by all for a great outcome in the new year.

Lo Hei

Traditionally, this dish is only served on the seventh day of Chinese New Year. The day that is everyone's birthday. And so we plan to have our company Chinese New Year dinner on that very night, to bring in prosperity in the New Year. This year, the day falls on 20th February, which is a Saturday night.

Steamboat in Hong Kong

Saturday 6 Feb 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | No Comments
Filed under: Food Reviews, Travel Tags: Food, Hong Kong

Seafood

I love steamboat but never get to eat it cos my daughter hates it. In fact, she's a really picky eater, and favours junk over seafood, much to my disgust. So I very happily indulged in the fruits of the sea during my recent trip to Hong Kong with Andy from Ocean Health.

We attended the Cosmoprof exhibition together, and took the opportunity to eat our way around Hong Kong (and Shenzhen).

The night we got back from Shenzhen, we decided on a late supper at a steamboat restaurant, located 10 minutes by foot away from our hotel. After a certain time, they serve buffet style only. I believe it was about S$20 a head, but that included all soft drinks and beer, as well as premium beef slices, seafood and other weird and wonderful things.

What arrived first was certainly weird but in no way wonderful. Not by my standards anyway: some creature's testicles and something else's spinal cord. Yummy. Not...

Spinal cord

If you look closely at the photo above, you can just about make out the grey matter within the white matter. That is, if you remember back to your science classes to know what I'm talking about!

Even when other food did arrive, I kept scooping out bits of this spinal cord. Yuck! And no, I wasn't game to try it.

Beef Steamboat

Fried Fish Skin

What I enjoyed immensely was the melt-in-your-mouth beef slices and the crispy fish skin. I'd happily go back to that restaurant just for these two items.

As with many Chinese restaurants, fish tanks showcasing live seafood seems mandatory. Not sure why... And the fish all seem to have been on steroids! I'm sure if anyone tried to eat these things, they wouldn't taste good at all! Poor buggers to be kept in captivity just for show. I guess this one got it lucky... free chin jacuzzi whenever it fancied a massage!

Big Fish (Jacuzzi)

I was also somewhat tickled at why they would want to keep these giant prawn-like creatures in plastic bags. Any idea? Please post in the comment box below!

Prawns in Bags!

I'm sorry I didn't take down the name of this restaurant or the location. But I'm sure I'll be back there some day...

Preliminary Review of Brute Force SEO: EVO II

Saturday 6 Feb 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | 1 Comment
Filed under: Web Development Tags: SEO

A few days ago, I tried out a new SEO tool. The first run was a total disaster, but after they upgraded the software later that same day, the second run was much better. EVO II was happily clicking through all the sites and solving CAPTCHAS relatively quickly. In fact, I was so excited at seeing this little virtual robot work that I couldn't sleep!

When it sailed past the registration process (almost 200 sites) and started posting the spun articles, I was almost jumping for joy.

And then disaster struck. Suddenly we lost internet connectivity. I tried all the usual tricks with fiddling with the modem, to no avail. It was like 3 am at that time, and I was getting beside myself! Eventually, I gave up and went to sleep. Apologies to all who saw me on Thursday. I was not looking for feeling good!

I was particularly distressed to not know how successful the run was, as there was no report the next morning. I could have been up half the night for nothing...

So I decided to give EVO II a miss on Thursday night, and sleep early instead. Last night was out, so first chance to play again is this afternoon. It's been happily clicking away for the last 2 hours now. A full run normally takes 5 hours. But since I re-used a lot of the previous run's settings, it zipped through the accounts it failed to register at previously, and has started article submission already!

I think that I am falling in love with this bit of software. It really allows me to focus on keyword research and content building, which is what I love. My only gripe is the long process times. To start a run after I get home really interferes with my sleep. I could start a run before I go to work in the mornig, but that would mean sacrificing 15 minutes of sleep, and I ain't a morning person by any stretch of the imagination.

So EVO II will just have to work at night. And he needs his own bedroom, then I can sleep in peace!

Happy Birthday Harry!

Saturday 6 Feb 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | No Comments
Filed under: General

Harry at Birth

A year ago, after many months of anticipation, little Harry and his two sisters were born to Sasha and Jamie. Fortunately, clinic was relatively quiet that day, so I managed to slip home in time to be the doggy obstetrician. Poor little Sasha had been in labour for almost 24 hours at that stage, and we were wondering if she's even deliver normally!

Finally, when we were eating our lunch, we heard her screaming, then out popped little Harry, followed soon after by his two sisters. All three were black and white at birth, so Sasha's genes seemed much stronger than Jamie's. But after they dried out a few hours later, it became obvious that Harry was brown! Yay! A second Jamie!

Exhausted Sasha with babies

Life was pretty mad in the next few weeks. Lots of puppy whining. It would keep us up some nights too. But watching them grow from little worms to fluffy bundles of joy was just amazing! They were so cute when they got fluffy and ran around the house.

Harry and Sisters

The middle girl Princess Trixie was the first to go. Then little Sally, my favourite went. She had a beautiful face with brown patches in the eyebrow and cheek areas. But was so naughty! She was the brightest of them all, and could instigate great escapes! No matter what we did to cage them in, she'd find a way out! Even froma zipped pet carrier!

So today, we celebrate Harry's first birthday, and think fond thoughts of his sisters. I hope that they are doing well in the respective new homes. Harry will be "blowing out the candle" on his pandan kaya cake later tonight. And no, he's no longer a tricolour Shih Tzu like Jamie. He's turned very blond.

Harry

The Biggest Loser - Simply Aesthetic

Saturday 6 Feb 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | No Comments
Filed under: Aesthetics, Health & Fitness

I've always enjoyed watching The Biggest Loser on TV. I don't follow it religiously, but if it's on when I channel surf, I'm likely to stay and watch. Looking at these poor guys workout like crazy, eat little and cry when the scales don't drop is quite sadistic!

Recently, after my return from Bangkok in early January, I decided that I had to lose weight. I'd gained 15kg since opening Simply Aesthetic and it was getting beyond a joke. Sometimes, I'd even be breathless going up a flight of stairs! Big change from the days where 3 hours of back to back gym classes was a breeze.

A friend of mine, once he found out I was planning on going on a detox diet, challenged me to a competition. One month, biggest loser wins. Obviously I wasn't going to refuse! We both planned to start exercising and eat healthily. I have all the best weight loss machines, he sells some of them. What a competition!

It all started well. I was on carrot sticks for the first few days & feeling miserable without my wine and coffee. By day 3, I felt better, and was really enjoying the taste of roasted root vegetables. I omitted chicken, pork, wheat and rice initially. Plus tomatoes and sweetcorn, being blood group B. I had all the fruits I fancied, plus nuts.

By week 3, I was starting to eat quite large amounts, with many meals out. I tried to srtick within the food groups as well as I could, but often had deep fried battered seafood. Not good. I didn't even dare weight myself as although the physical change was very fast initially, thingsseemed to have stabilised.

For machines, I got onto the Thermojet whenever I could. Which was about two to three times a week, some weeks none. Certainly not the daily (or even twice daily) treatments I'd planned.

Anyway, the month finally ended today. I jumped on the scales and despite all the indescretions, I'd lost 4k g! Pretty good loss of 1 kg per week. Healthy & right on target. Phew! (My other friends were getting really worried that I was planning on losing 15kg in one month, which obviously is unrealistic & dangerous to health).

My friend... he gained over 1kg! Blame it on stress at work.

He bought dinner and drinks as promised, but I have to say, he was a bit of a sore loser!

Anyway, I'll rub it in a bit more... I win! I win! I'm the biggest loser! Heehee! )

New SEO Tool

Tuesday 2 Feb 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | No Comments
Filed under: Web Development Tags: SEO

I love building websites, but hate the link building process. Absolutely despise it! Even if the subject is something dear to my heart, the thought of writing different versions of the same article over and over again, then submitting them to various places is just tediously plainful. But without such efforts, our hardwork pieces of art are just lost in cyberspace.

And I'm really into building websites at the moment. It's a hobby gone crazy, almost! And this hobby can drive me nuts sometimes, as Google doesn't seem to recognise my efforts by increasing my page rank value, no matter how hard I work on the actual site content.

This morning, I woke up to an interesting e-mail. They've managed to create a robot to do the task of link building faster than any human! It's efficient, doesn't complain, doesn't fall sick, doesn't resign and doesn't play punk! Hmmmm... won't it be wonderful to hire a bunch of these to help me in the clinic too! Haha!

Anyway, it was something I couldn't resist, so I whipped out the credit card again. Sigh, very, very expensive hobby I've got! And here's what I bought into:

I do get a 7-day free trial, so I'll be using it to see what happens with a few of the new sites I created, my Liposculpture site, in particular. I did pay for a few articles to lead to it last night, but they won't kick in for weeks yet. And I'm planning on revamping my Acne site today too. That one was purchased in the current condition, and it really sucks! My designer was tasked with revamping it months ago, but he went AWOL on me.

Suddenly, I love this new SEO robot even more!

Out With January, In With February...

Monday 1 Feb 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | No Comments
Filed under: General

Hasn't January zipped by fast! I'm sure we'll be at Christmas again in the blink of an eye. But in the meantime, the whole country seems to be in Chinese New Year mood.

For a doctor, this means the workload comes right down. No one wants to be recovering from an operation during Chinese New Year. So for the first time since I started Tuesday lists at SNEC, I'm free all day tomorrow! It's a welcome break for me, as I rarely get a single day off to do what I want to do. Snatching the odd few hours here and there is my normal best scenario.

The energy in the clinic & spa has been a bit strange of late. A lot of purging. We've had a few resignations from staff who have had their own agendas, plus I suddenly got into the throwing out mood too, and have cleared all unnecessary junk from my room. The clinic staff followed suit by going through the cupboards and chucking out all the rubbish that's been hoarded for years. Absolutely zero sentiments today, just ruthless purging.

And boy, it feels good!

With such a huge clearing, it feels like the crap's being left with this old year, and new opportunities will come in with the new. New management, new staff, new hope. I've never quite felt this excited about Chinese New Year before! So it's all good.

Web Design

Sunday 31 Jan 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | No Comments
Filed under: Aesthetics, Web Development Tags: Liposculpture, Tech Stuff, Website

One of my little hobbies is building websites. It started out of necessity, when we couldn't afford to get a Pro to build our original clinic website. I had attempted to build a site many years before that, but my skills were pretty rusty in 2006, and technology had moved way ahead.

Those days, I was desperately trying out all kinds of web design software, hoping I could get one to work. It was an unmitigated disaster as my old laptop decided to crash and die in the middle of it all!

Eventually, I fell in love with Frontpage as it was virtually identical to Word. So the first few versions of the Simply Aesthetic website were built with Frontpage.

All was well till my friend Shi told me to try Wordpress. Now the original DrChristineCheng.com blog was built on Wordpress, and I found it a nightmare! But with his insistence, I found a designer to code my Wordpress templates and with that, I have become more and more comfortable with Wordpress in the last 9 months.

Last night, I was fiddling about with a normal html template for a new site I'm building about liposculpture. I edited it with Frontpage, then got irritated because there was no fixed elements between the pages. The home page looked great, but the other pages were really unprofessional.

Anyway, after sleeping on it, common sense prevailed & I decided to convert the entire site to Wordpress again. Thank God for free templates. I'd love to code my own, but can't do it for nus!

Do check out my new site: All About Liposculpture. Hope you find it informative.

All Change At Simply Aesthetic!

Friday 29 Jan 2010 by Dr Christine Cheng | No Comments
Filed under: Aesthetics Tags: Simply Aesthetic

It's been an interesting few months at Simply Aesthetic. First the move to Robertson Walk, then both Cha & Dyna falling pregnant at the same time. So our regular clients have seen many new faces as we've added to the team, in preparation for the maternity leave.

A few weeks ago, both Dyna & Cha announced they planned to deliver back in the Phillipines. So both have resigned. Australian nurse Pati has also decided she wants to go home. Cha finished with us yesterday. Pati's leaving at the end of January, and Dyna has kindly agreed to stay on a little while longer to ensure the two remaining staff are trained up.

It's been many years since I've had such a young team assisting me. Both are great girls & picking things up fast. Joey will be brought back from the spa to manage the clinic too.

From 9th Feb, we will introduce another tier to the management structure. Julie Lee has been brought in to oversee the operations. She's much stricter than I am, so we will all have to toe the line and that means standards will go up even more. Which I'm delighted about! There's nothing more irritating than trying to do a treatment and finding the right needle or syringe has not been replaced after previous use. Or even funny hairstyles on the staff... Julie is all about light makeup and buns for long hair, hair tucked behind the ears for short hair.

We're expecting the upgraded Ion Magnum to arrive in the next few weeks, and the iPico to replace the Perfector in mid March.

The biggest change of all will have to be my decision to stop liposuctions after 10th Feb 2010. The combination of recent bad publicity, high indemnity cost and most importantly, my deteriorating health have made me choose that route. Although regular chiropractic sessions have helped keep my trapezius spasm under control, I still get bouts of severe pain. And these occasionally cause my left arm to go weak and numb. Not a good thing to happen when I use that arm for tissue manipulation intra-op.

Anyway, change is good. I'm very positive about all that 2010 is bringing forth. The Ion Magnum produces phenomenal results anyway, so I'm pretty confident about still being able to provide a comprehensive service, albeit almost exclusively non-invasive now. And with the introduction of Sculptra & Pico, I'm very excited about doing more rejuvenation work too.

« Older Entries

Dr Christine Cheng

Last Liposuction Done... End of an Era?

Lo Hei: Happy Chinese New Year!

Steamboat in Hong Kong

Preliminary Review of Brute Force SEO: EVO II

Happy Birthday Harry!

The Biggest Loser - Simply Aesthetic

New SEO Tool

Out With January, In With February...

Web Design

All Change At Simply Aesthetic!

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