This will be a continuing, if infrequent, log of my journey in recovering from an acute stroke.

31 Aug 2025: It’s about a month since my recovery – playing my all-time favourite K-pop song ‘Into the New World’ by Girls’ Generation on the guitar. The song asks us to embrace the present and look forward to a new future: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOBTY35EyUu/

3 Aug 2025: Dumb and ridiculous, but even terrible Spielberg blockbusters have a certain level of craft to admire. It’s been 17 years since I saw this [Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull] in the cinema. Great for kickstarting my post-stroke recovery. Come to think of it, we may denigrate such movies as critics, but I think they can play an important role in the recuperation process.

1 Aug 2025: Today is Nurses’ Day in Singapore. It’s a great day to share an update after I was in A&E on Sun.

I am alive. I can move, see, talk and think – things that we take for granted every day. I’m incredibly thankful because I had an acute stroke (believe it or not, for a 37-year-old), yet somehow I beat those Mission: Impossible odds and didn’t suffer any permanent injury. It’s exceedingly rare.

I’ll be in rest mode at home for a few months as I can’t talk and walk for long before feeling tired and achy. Hence, I’ll be cutting down on work significantly. No more F2F teaching, meetings, and cinema visits for the time being until I feel that I can. I can still do basic comms, admin or consultation work like emails, texting, (short) video calls, etc. If there’s anything I can do for you, I’ll do my best to help you.

The recurrence of a stroke occurs in 1 in 4 survivors. The longer I’m okay, the better the odds. I’ll be eating much more healthily (avoiding deep-fried/processed/sweet foods; reducing carbs; maximising fruits and vegetables, Omega-3-rich foods, etc.), taking more daily walks, and going for more regular health screenings. I sincerely hope you do too, no matter your age or how healthy you feel.

Now that I’ve more time, I’ll continue with the things I love when I can at home – I want to watch more films, listen to more music, read more and write more. Most, if not all, of us care a lot about how we look on the outside to others e.g. our hair, face, body, but it is our ‘insides’ that count much more in this thing we call life. I learnt this from my time with the wonderful nurses and doctors who cared for me this past week at Sengkang General Hospital.

Happy Nurses’ Day!

28 Jul 2025: Hi everyone, I’ll be out indefinitely as I’m currently hospitalised for a medical emergency. So sorry, I won’t be able to share my reviews that I’ve already lined up or watch films for the time being. This pains me so much to not be able to do what I love for now. But I hope to be back sooner rather than later, and feeling better than ever. After all, cinephiles always look forward to the promise of great things!