My experience with a cyst
I had a cyst on my left back shoulder for the longest time and it had not given me any problems.
How does a sebaceous cyst look like? It could be a round or dome-shaped lump, with a dark dot in the centre. It could range from very small (0.5cm) to big (5cm). There could be skin discolouration such as redness, tender or warm to touch and sometimes, it could move easily.
What causes a sebaceous cyst? According to Cleveland clinic, it is formed when there is a pocket created just underneath the skin, which allows dead skin cells and a protein called keratin that are present to help form our skin’s outer layer (epidermis), to be trapped in there. The pocket could be caused by a skin trauma or an injury like a scratch or a condition like acne, which could disrupt and pushes the skin cells below the epidermis into the second layer called dermis.
Different layers of our skin. Image from VectorStock.
In my case, I discovered I got two such cysts side-by-side. One of it was about the size of a 20-cent coin and white with a dark dot in the centre. The other one, which I recently found out through this episode, was already swelling badly and it was painful. Normally, such type of cysts is asymptomatic. It usually does not cause discomfort to the person unless it becomes swollen and gets infected like in my case. It can also become itchy, which could be a sign that the cyst has ruptured and pus could be observed.
The infected cyst on the left was swollen red with the ruptured site exposed. The uninfected one right beside it.
At this point, it would be better to seek treatment at a GP soon. The reason being a ruptured cyst exposes you to bacteria. In my case, a swab test on my ruptured cyst found there was Staphylococcus epidermidis, a common type of bacteria normally found on the skin. The doctor will prescribe antibiotics and would refer you to a general surgeon for the next steps. You can either choose to wait and see if the swelling goes away (not applicable if it has ruptured), or you can ask a surgeon to get it removed completely. This is because the cyst resides in a capsule, which has to be removed surgically to prevent a recurrence.
By Photo Credit: Janice CarrContent Providers(s): CDC/ Segrid McAllister - This media comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Image Library (PHIL)
Where else can a sebaceous cyst form? It can form on the face, chest, back, scalp, neck, legs, arms and genitalia.
As my condition was pretty bad - an infected ruptured cyst and a not yet ruptured one beside it and vulnerable to getting infected as well. Therefore, the doctor recommended me to have it removed completely.
Surgical excision of a sebaceous cyst can be done under local anaesthesia. The surgeon would inject anaesthetic around the area where the cyst is. Thereafter, the surgeon would carefully make a small cut over the cyst to drain out the collection of fluid and remove the capsule, which is critical to prevent a cyst from growing back. If you are interested, there are many clips on YouTube that show you how it is be done. Here is one of them below for you to watch. I think it is helpful, as it allowed me to understand how it is usually done.
For my case, I chose to undergo general anaesthesia for this procedure. The surgeon told me it is a simple procedure that will take about 30 minutes to complete. I don’t think I could stay still lying on the operating bed on one side for such a long time. Moreover, I was not prepared to hear the whole procedure happening behind my back that may make me more nervous than I already am.
The procedure went smoothly and I felt alright with some tightness and pain around my left back shoulder. There will be a small scar after the skin heals, which could take about month, but I think it is not an issue for me. In my situation described earlier, I would opt to remove it completely for a peace of mind.
In summary, a sebaceous cyst could form on almost any parts of our body and that is usually due to a skin trauma, injury or condition. It is not contagious and can opt to remove it surgically in a simple procedure. If it becomes infected, the doctor will prescribe antibiotics and monitor your condition. You must never self-treat an infected cyst as you could expose yourself to bacteria infection. Removing the capsule that forms in the pocket surgically is essential to prevent it from growing again.
There will be a follow up blog to cover how much this procedure cost. So be sure to come back to The Frankly to find out.
More info on sebaceous cyst: Click here
More info about keratin: Click here
More info on types of bacteria found on our skin: Click here
Free-flow Beef Buffet in Telok Ayer
All you can eat beef buffet in Telok Ayer, a perfect place for all beef lovers out there.
It was Father’s day and my wifey booked a table at a restaurant called Boeuf. It is located at 159 Telok Ayer Street and opens daily from 12 noon to 10.30pm, and for the weekends, 11.30am to 3.30pm and 5.30pm to 10.30pm.
Boeuf is a beef specialty restaurant with a selection of wine to choose from. They pride themselves on exclusive quantities of 21 to 60 days grass and grain fed prime ribs, which are dry aged entirely in-house.
My wife knows I like eating beef and found the restaurant is running the Free-FLow Argentinian Black Angus Ribeye Steak for only $48++ per person on weekends only. They have four seatings - 11.30am, 1.30pm, 5.30pm and 7.30pm. It also comes with three unlimited sides - sourdough with butter, crispy fries and cream spinach.
Free-flow beef and sides are available on weekends with four seatings. Advance reservation is highly recommended.
My wife and I went to the last seating on Father’s Day evening. I observed the restaurant located on the ground floor of a heritage shophouse has limited seating. They have two sets of outdoor seatings that could seat up to 4 persons each. At the time, I noticed there were diners having a drink outside the restaurant. While inside the restaurant, there were at least tables for 28 persons. When we arrived, we noticed there are many diners waiting at the door. At about 7.30pm, one of the waiting staff started to check if diners have made a reservation. Those without a reservation were asked to wait at a corner but they were later turned away, as it was full house that night. Thus, I would highly recommend to make a reservation. I have a feeling it would be difficult to get a reservation during the weekend after a famous local competitive eating influencer graced the restaurant and managed to chew down 25 plates of ribeye.
Lots of diners could be seen waiting to enter the restaurant.
The service was pretty fast after we confirmed our orders with the waiter. For doneness, my wife opted for Medium well and I chose Medium. My wife’s medium well ribeye was quite on point, with a bit of pinkish colour on the inside of the beef. My medium steak is unfortunately is a little rarer than expected. I later ordered medium rare for my second round to compare the doneness and it was about the same. The sides were served generally warm but the sourdough was cold and hard. I would prefer it o be served warm. The cream spinach was ok but the fries taste surprisingly good and true to its crispiness. The buffet does not include sauces and we topped up $11 for steak butter and mushroom sauces. I would recommend the steak butter, as the mushroom sauce tend to make your steak saltier than it already is.
Both my wife and I have two rounds of ribeye. First round of meat was succulent with evenly sprinkled black pepper over it, and not too oily. On the other hand, our second round of meat was savoury and buttery, which I thought was too much. No amount of cream spinach could help to remove the salty feeling in our tastebuds. In the end, we drank more water in the second round than the first round.
Overall, we spent around we felt the buffet is a perfect opportunity for beef lovers to eat lots of meat. They may not offer the best for this buffet but their marketing efforts paid off with a full house on a Sunday night. The price point was also quite fair especially if you can chow down up to 25 plates of ribeye per person or in total. Do remember to make a reservation as walk-ins would have a low chance of getting a seat. A credit card is needed to guarantee your reservation and a no-show fee equivalent of the buffet price if you did not cancel one day in advance or did not turn up on that day.
Location of restaurant: 159 Telok Ayer Street
Reservation: Boeuf via Oddle
How to become an Affiliate Marketer?
Anyone can become an marketing affliate.
What is affiliate marketing you may ask?
According Oxford dictionary, it is a marketing arrangement by which an online retailer pays commission to an external website for traffic or sales generated from its referral. Thus, you would become a referrer for their products.
There are many options to choose where to start one. In this article, I will be covering Laz Affiliates.
It is very easy to become a member of Laz Affiliates.
First, you will need to find where it is in the Lazada app. You will have to go to your account then look below where the vouchers shortcut is. Normally, you should be able to see the Laz Affiliates logo. However, you can use my referral code to join the programme straightaway.
The Laz Affiliates is found in My Account page in the Lazada App.
Use my referral code AunnTCQA during the sign up.
Second, tapping on Laz Affiliates will bring you to the home landing page. On that page, swiping down will reveal a section called Just For You, which will show all the products that they curated and are eligible to earn a commission. On each product, you will be able to see how much it is selling and just below it, you will see how much commission you could potentially earn by marketing it. For example, if you are marketing the Philips Steam Iron selling at $239 at the time of writing this article, you could earn a commission of up to $26.29!
Laz Affiliates Landing Page
Click here to view the Philips Steam Iron link.
They do differentiate between a new and existing customer of Lazada. For example, a new customer will earn you 17% = $26.29 and an existing customer will be 11%. Nevertheless, you earn when someone use your link to make a purchase of that iron.
Third, continuing from the example above, you could either tap on Copy Link or Earn button. I would personally recommend tapping on the former. I will explain on it later. Tapping on Earn button would bring you to the Promote Offer page. There are already preset images to choose from and a pre-filled information in the content section.
Lazada has created a sample of how you can market the product. You can choose to download the material by tapping on the One Step to Share.
Of course, it would be better to draft your own pitch to showcase the products. But most important thing is your personalised affiliate link. Remember I recommended tapping on the Copy Link function? Doing so will quickly copy the personalised link to your clipboard and all you need to do is to paste and share it in your socials. More on that in the next paragraph. This is a crucial step as it is how Lazada is able to track and pays you commission, when somebody click on it and made a purchase later.
Fourth, choose a platform to showcase the products. There are many to choose from such as, instagram, facebook and TikTok. You could choose to use your existing socials to broadcast or create a separate one just for affiliate marketing. It helps if you have existing followers cause it can create more awareness of your posts. Alternatively, you could create a WhatsApp/Telegram group with your friends, where you could all sign up as affiliates and share with each other the link of items. This creates a win-win outcome for you and your friends, as they can enjoy the amazing offers available on Lazada and earn a small commission at the same time. I personally don’t recommend paying for advertising. Create a post, reels or story in your own way. There are free video editing tools on the internet; CapCut is a very popular tool since it is made famous from TikTok. It does not need to be very sophisticated but being truthful and sincere.
Lastly, you are curious about the posting frequency. The answer is all up to you! If you’re very interested in this, posting daily could generate more interest and the algorithms in the social app will push your posts to more users quickly. But we could be working professionals, we may not have time to do it daily. Hence, it is up you to plan how often you would want to post.
Finally, remember to update your personal and bank account details, as Lazada will need to do some admin work to make sure they are paying to the rightful person. It can be done at the settings, which is found on My Account tab. Please note Lazada will complete account information review once there is a minimum earning of S15. In the meantime, share as much as you can and get friends/people to use your affiliate link whenever they want to buy something on Lazada.
In summary, it is easy to start affiliate marketing without having a capital. Your creativity and ability to influence are important. I would recommend to start out with your friends by sharing your personalised link with them to kick things off. Refer below for a snapshot of how much I earned from sharing links with my friends.
This is a snapshot of how much I earned so far as an affiliate for 3 months.
Once again, here is my referral link to join Laz Affiliates. Click here! Use my referral code: AunnTCQA
Cheap Carwash at Changi Road
Island car wash branch at 360 Changi Road
Nowadays, carwashes at the petrol kiosk could cost $16 - 18 per two washes but it does not include vacuum service. I could top-up to get my car vacuumed but they may not offer it, when it’s during peak hours. The thing is they do not tell you when the peak is. That is because the peak changes over time and you would not know until you arrived at a petrol kiosk.
Hence, I decided to do a google search to find one place that offers car wash and vacuum service. This is where Island Car Wash and Grooming comes in. It is located at 360 Changi Road and opens daily from 9am to 12 midnight. They offer a standard carwash with vacuum and also optional items like car waxing. All this except car waxing only cast $14!
Please be reminded there is a long wait time. They operates inside a ground floor shopfront so there is a slow turnover of vehicles; at most only 3 vehicles can occupy inside at one time. I once waited for 45 minutes to have my car washed. However, they are opened until 12 midnight so you can first plan your time. Besides the Changi Rd branch, they also are also located at 1 Corporation Drive and WCEGA plaza in Bukit Batok.
Instagram link: Island Car Wash & Grooming
Google maps: Island Car Wash & Grooming