A cockroach flew into my room. I grabbed a can of Baygon to spray it but it wouldn't die. Then it started flying all over the place, and I realised that the can of Baygon must have been empty with only the aerosol left in the can.
I'm terrified of cockroaches. They are ugly, have long feelers and can fly. The last characteristic gets me the most worried because of the irrational fear that the cockroach may fly into my mouth, eyes, or ears. Cockroaches trigger a reflex in me - I run. Only after analysing how foolish my fear is I sit down calmly and start thinking of spraying at the creature that is making wiggly noises in some crevice of my room.
The sound stops. Maybe the Baygon worked.
And then it starts again, just a tiny bit softer, a tiny bit shorter than the last time.
The cockroach wiggles, and dies.
Somehow I feel sorry for the cockroach.
30 December 2009
HK Holiday
As most holidays go, this one was booked in advance, more than one month before our flight. But hopes of a free and easy holiday were dashed when the tour agency ran out of tickets. So we settled on a tour, which does have its privileges - it is easier to get tickets, there is less headache over where to go, and it allows one to meet new people and make new friends.
Unfortunately, there is the mandatory excursion to shops selling silk, jewellery and traditional chinese medicine where zealous salepeople literally shove products into your face; hidden costs for meals and excursions not covered in the original package; and, in my case, the local tour guide trying to make a quick buck by selling keychains, local food, and photographs.
Macau and Zhu Hai
The itenary brought us from Singapore to Macau, then to Zhu Hai, and finally back to HK in 3 days. This meant that proportionately, a lot of time was spent travelling compared to actually seeing the attractions.
The journey began with a morning flight from Changi to HK on Cathay Pacific. We arrived around noontime, which allowed us some time to indulge in some cantonese noodles and porridge before our transfer to Macau. The food filled our famished stomachs, perhaps a little too fully, as I felt slightly sick along on the hour long ferry ride. As there was no entertainment on board, I drifted in and out of sleep, feeling a bit nauseous. Unsurprisingly, I was relieved when the ferry finally docked at Macau harbour.
The next day, we were driven to the border between Macau and Zhu Hai where we had to spend more than an hour queueing to cross customs. At Zhu Hai it was another 1 hr ferry ride back to HK.
Of course, we did visit several attractions en route, including the Venetian, Ah Ma temple, and the Ruins of St Paul's at Macau; and the "Fisher Girl" statue and ShiJing Mountain in Zhu Hai.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a place where everyone and everything speaks Cantonese, and to someone who hardly knows any, approaching strangers for directions can be a nightmare. My mum once tried to get a shopkeeper to explain to something to her in Chinese, and the shopkeeper fumbled with the words for 5 mins. Nothing can describe the look on his face when my mum finally revealed that she understood Cantonese.
I picked up a few Cantonese phrases that might come in useful in Singapore. 'ngor m siu tng' means "I don't understand", 'do ze' means "thank you", 'm goi' means "excuse me" while 'leng zai' means "handsome boy". For reasons I don't quite understand, all male shoppers in HK are called 'leng zai' while the girls are called 'leng noi'.
I loved the food in Hong Kong, especially the doubly boiled soups and the dim sum. They do roasted meat well too.
Farewell
I'm too lazy to describe in more detail. It's time for the next blog post alr! For more information (and pictures), please visit my sister's blog
Unfortunately, there is the mandatory excursion to shops selling silk, jewellery and traditional chinese medicine where zealous salepeople literally shove products into your face; hidden costs for meals and excursions not covered in the original package; and, in my case, the local tour guide trying to make a quick buck by selling keychains, local food, and photographs.
Macau and Zhu Hai
The itenary brought us from Singapore to Macau, then to Zhu Hai, and finally back to HK in 3 days. This meant that proportionately, a lot of time was spent travelling compared to actually seeing the attractions.
The journey began with a morning flight from Changi to HK on Cathay Pacific. We arrived around noontime, which allowed us some time to indulge in some cantonese noodles and porridge before our transfer to Macau. The food filled our famished stomachs, perhaps a little too fully, as I felt slightly sick along on the hour long ferry ride. As there was no entertainment on board, I drifted in and out of sleep, feeling a bit nauseous. Unsurprisingly, I was relieved when the ferry finally docked at Macau harbour.
The next day, we were driven to the border between Macau and Zhu Hai where we had to spend more than an hour queueing to cross customs. At Zhu Hai it was another 1 hr ferry ride back to HK.
Of course, we did visit several attractions en route, including the Venetian, Ah Ma temple, and the Ruins of St Paul's at Macau; and the "Fisher Girl" statue and ShiJing Mountain in Zhu Hai.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a place where everyone and everything speaks Cantonese, and to someone who hardly knows any, approaching strangers for directions can be a nightmare. My mum once tried to get a shopkeeper to explain to something to her in Chinese, and the shopkeeper fumbled with the words for 5 mins. Nothing can describe the look on his face when my mum finally revealed that she understood Cantonese.
I picked up a few Cantonese phrases that might come in useful in Singapore. 'ngor m siu tng' means "I don't understand", 'do ze' means "thank you", 'm goi' means "excuse me" while 'leng zai' means "handsome boy". For reasons I don't quite understand, all male shoppers in HK are called 'leng zai' while the girls are called 'leng noi'.
I loved the food in Hong Kong, especially the doubly boiled soups and the dim sum. They do roasted meat well too.
Farewell
I'm too lazy to describe in more detail. It's time for the next blog post alr! For more information (and pictures), please visit my sister's blog
26 December 2009
Back!
View HK! in a larger map
I just returned from a short getaway to Macau, Zhu Hai and Hong Kong at 11.30pm, Christmas Day. The trip was not without its hitches - the tour guide in Macau got us a bus too small to put our luggage into, while the theme park in Zhu Hai was almost deserted except for the ride operators. The best part of the trip was definitely Hong Kong, where I got to meet up with 2 of my aunts and a cousin whom I had not seen for a long time, and where there was excellent food and shopping.
In Hong Kong I stayed at a part of the new territories called Sha Tin, near a fashionable shopping mall creatively named New Town Plaza. Unsurprisingly, Sha Tin is supposed to be a "new town", though my dad says it had been around even during our last trip to Hong Kong, which was at least ten years ago. The area was teeming with people throughout our stay there, especially during Christmas and Christmas eve, when celebrations were organised for the shoppers and residents.
Picture quiz!
1. Name the place in Macau:
a)
.jpg)
b)
2. Name the place in Hong Kong:
a)
b)
c)
3. Name the food:
a)
b)
Answers
20 December 2009
15 December 2009
Gordon, my golden retriever, is feeling depressed right now because he did not get the long walk that he wanted today. He is due for walks at around 6pm every evening, but today it was raining, and so we did not go.
Gordon did not make a sound. But when dinner (dog food) was served, he refused to touch it. Even after my sister and I finished our dinner at 8pm, Gordon was still refusing his dinner. What if the crows take the dinner!
Well my sister and I took it as a sign of Gordon's displeasure. And we brought him out for a 10 minute walk. At first we just crossed the road, then we allowed him to bring us a bit further, and further.
Then I decided, "Gordon has had his fair share of walks, let's go home." And I said, "let's go Gordon" and Gordon just lay down on the ground and refused to budge. It took much coaxing to get Gordon to return home.
And now at last glance Gordon was still not eating. Oh wait, I hear something. Was that him tucking into his food bowl?
Gordon did not make a sound. But when dinner (dog food) was served, he refused to touch it. Even after my sister and I finished our dinner at 8pm, Gordon was still refusing his dinner. What if the crows take the dinner!
Well my sister and I took it as a sign of Gordon's displeasure. And we brought him out for a 10 minute walk. At first we just crossed the road, then we allowed him to bring us a bit further, and further.
Then I decided, "Gordon has had his fair share of walks, let's go home." And I said, "let's go Gordon" and Gordon just lay down on the ground and refused to budge. It took much coaxing to get Gordon to return home.
And now at last glance Gordon was still not eating. Oh wait, I hear something. Was that him tucking into his food bowl?
09 December 2009
TBM (The Best Market) and MFC
The Family Medicine posting is great fun but can be hard work as well. Why do I say so?
1. There is variety. I get exposure to many different practices - 1 gp, 1 polyclinic, 1 palliative care hospital, 2 home visits and 1 community hospital.
2. If you get an enthusiastic polyclinic (like Outram Polyclinic), you get rotations within a rotation - visits to the
a. family practice clinic and family practice nurse (senior family medicine doctors see chronic disease like diabetes and high blood pressure),
b. general clinic (cough, colds, flu, plus random things like abdominal pain, from babies to elderly), c. nurse counsellor (nurse counselling on asthma control, diabetes monitoring and control etc),
d. dressing room (where we do dressings for wounds, not where we dress up),
e. women's health 'clinic' (a little-publicised area where a nurse advises on matters of contraception, pap smears and mammograms. Pap smears are available at $15)
f. the laboratory! (where blood tests and even ecg is done)
g. the pharmacy (where the medications are kept and prepared for use)
....
3. You have lots of time for lunch. More than you've ever had even if you combine Medicine and Surgery. You might get a chance to eat at nice places like Tiong Bahru Market (TBM) and Maxwell Food Centre and try the delicious but not-so-healthy food like fried Hokkien Prawn Mee, fried kway teow, chee kueh and peanut soup. You might even get to try a strange offering called sharks meat lor mee which is essentially deep fried "query" sharks meat in lor mee.
4. You get interesting teaching sessions on conditions that you might actually be asked on by your relatives.
5. If you're lucky, you even get to do a self quiz to assess your learning style :)
6. But when you get home, you might feel stressed out by the amount of reading you need to do coz you still haven't got your basics right. Like how to diagnose diabetes. (oops)
7. The looming prospect of a pharmacology continuous assessment is forever at the back of your head, and there are tons of notes to read up on.
8. The looming datelines of 2 case write-ups and a community medicine patient study er, looms in the not-so-distant horizon.
Maybe not so good a time to go blogging. -.-
1. There is variety. I get exposure to many different practices - 1 gp, 1 polyclinic, 1 palliative care hospital, 2 home visits and 1 community hospital.
2. If you get an enthusiastic polyclinic (like Outram Polyclinic), you get rotations within a rotation - visits to the
a. family practice clinic and family practice nurse (senior family medicine doctors see chronic disease like diabetes and high blood pressure),
b. general clinic (cough, colds, flu, plus random things like abdominal pain, from babies to elderly), c. nurse counsellor (nurse counselling on asthma control, diabetes monitoring and control etc),
d. dressing room (where we do dressings for wounds, not where we dress up),
e. women's health 'clinic' (a little-publicised area where a nurse advises on matters of contraception, pap smears and mammograms. Pap smears are available at $15)
f. the laboratory! (where blood tests and even ecg is done)
g. the pharmacy (where the medications are kept and prepared for use)
....
3. You have lots of time for lunch. More than you've ever had even if you combine Medicine and Surgery. You might get a chance to eat at nice places like Tiong Bahru Market (TBM) and Maxwell Food Centre and try the delicious but not-so-healthy food like fried Hokkien Prawn Mee, fried kway teow, chee kueh and peanut soup. You might even get to try a strange offering called sharks meat lor mee which is essentially deep fried "query" sharks meat in lor mee.
4. You get interesting teaching sessions on conditions that you might actually be asked on by your relatives.
5. If you're lucky, you even get to do a self quiz to assess your learning style :)
6. But when you get home, you might feel stressed out by the amount of reading you need to do coz you still haven't got your basics right. Like how to diagnose diabetes. (oops)
7. The looming prospect of a pharmacology continuous assessment is forever at the back of your head, and there are tons of notes to read up on.
8. The looming datelines of 2 case write-ups and a community medicine patient study er, looms in the not-so-distant horizon.
Maybe not so good a time to go blogging. -.-
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