Wedding of the MONTH!!

July 1st 2006

Wedding of our SpeciAL FrieNd :)

CONGRATS!!

Book of the month

Garlic and Sapphires
A book on loan from Max which she thot i might like.
It's a hit woman!
Pages filled with mouth watering gourmet descriptions that i can only hope to aquaint myself with in this lifetime. Punctuated with easy-reading recipes that adds a blast of oxygen to your creative fires!!! Yes yes u tell yourself -- i shall be able to make this!
Interspersed with quirky anecdotes of dressing up adventures. Who can resist!
I want my own copy and many more where this came from!!!

And for those foodies out there... ever consider being a food critic?!

Breathless - Tibet Part 4

So u think -- "it can't be that bad". Afterall you're not prescribed any 'proper' western meds or asked to go for a physical. And considering your accurately predicted older members tour group... if they can do it, it can't be that taxing.

So you ignore the suggestion of taking "Long Jing Tian" 2 weeks prior, only popping the one pill the day before your flight and realising -- "uh oh" perhaps there's some preparation to be made afterall.

I'll huff and puff, huff and puff... "i think i can i think i can i...choo-choo"

Upon arriving at the airport, there is no mistaking that the air IS THINNER and you ARE rather BREATHLESS. No self denial is gonna pull the mind over matter. Doesn't help tat we had to run around looking for luggages of fellow grp mates who have been delayed.

Hint for those taking China domestic -- get there a day in advance -- u might just get onto your alloted flight ON TIME. And i'm not joking here.

Sensations of breathlessness are quickly followed by compensatory tacchycardia and hypertension. If you're lucky these are the only symptoms you'll experience, accompanied perhaps only by mild headaches which fade as long as you relax and move slowly. However, symptoms range from the above to severe migraine (as thou your brains has expanded beyond your skull) partnered with nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and possibly diarrhoea. How all these come about JUST from the slight lack of oxygen is mind boggling, before realisation hits you that mountaineers must be truly amazing people with steel-like physique!! And anaemic patients do derserve our greatest sympathy.
Do not be fooled by the fact that you're still ok even upon arriving at the luxurious hotel after lunch -- Altitude sickness usually only peak after 4-5hours, and by then you'd be regretting ever coming on the trip!!

Fortunately for us, the medical service is inhouse, effective, efficiient, skilled and highly comforting. Depite the antiquity of the glass bottled dextrose drip (which intrigued me no end), piggy bagging a normal saline bag... the IV butterfly was skilfully inserted, and ingeniously held on with a 'S' curve. It was excellent service. The 2nd treatment 2 days later was no less admirable. In that time i had also managed to extract some info regarding the drip's content. Aside from anti-nausea, glucose and saline, the secret ingredient is ... -- a chinese medication that assists your body in adjusting. "How" is still a mystery which i'm hoping to unravel. There must be a western equivalent that i'm surprised wasn't implemented prior to the trip.

Suggestions for 1st-time high-risers : Get a quick physical screen from your GP, focusing on cardiac function and most importantly your bp. Hypertension (and tacchycardia) is how one's body compensate for a lower oxygen saturation. So if you're oredi hypertensive, please consult your GP prior to attempting this trip lest you be haunted by horror nightmares of strokes, heart attacks and aneurisms.
AND if u do pass and make it to the infamous plataeu -- request for the IV fluids IMMEDIATELY!! Saves you ALOT of needless sufferings. Double your request if you must, denial will only suffer you the most.

I love the fact that the doctors are part of the hotel service and on stand-by 24hours. And they are marvellously skilled. Oxygen therapy is also available for those most severly affected, and you can purchase your own personal aerosol can for use at your leisure. What an interesting concept! HA! We're too pampered here on ground zero!!

TO BE CONTINUED...
LOOK OUT FOR "Brollys by the Road - Tibet Part 5"

Food for thought - Tibet Part 3

When is it too much of a cultural shock?

Eversince young, both in school and by various teachers or adults, we were drilled never to be those UGLY tourists who sneer and compare Singapore with every 'zu si ma ji' when abroad. Taboo is to mention even fast foods lest you be labelled 'Useless City Brat'. But when is the discomfort too great to bear, comparison too large to swallow that you have to voice out a suggestion or comment?

Every country, town and village is unique. Every culture different. Should one try to improve or enhance one another? Is this the inevitable part of evolution? That we all ultimately become the same?

Why do we travel?
To marvel at the wonders of the world, to experience and learn of different cultures and beliefs. But how can we do so and immerse ourselves in something different when we always demand or expect the same comforts and tastes?

Foods & flavours, fashion & clothes, housing & transport, lifestyles and behaviour...
ALL DIFFERENT.
Hundreds, thousands, millions of countries, cities and towns -- all unique.

Should i insist on bringing my favourite tinned meat so that every restaurant along my trip adds it to my meal? Sure, if it only affects me and i know i'm a finicky eater. But i should not demand my tourguide to get KFC or Mac for me 'cos i hate the local cuisine which is ok for the majority. That's what a spoilt city brat would do and what does the spoilt city brat get in response -- a good telling off. However, it's a different story when it comes to adults. This behaviour is not only accepted but accomodated and promoted.
So where do we draw the line? What is considered acceptable and what's not?
Comfort and palatability of food sits on the "See", to be balanced by an acceptance of a different culture and taste on "Saw".

When in Rome, do as the Romans.
I still believe that unless you're in dire straits and the food's poisoning you, you should keep your egg fried rice and fries for the time when you're back home to relish. If you've made the journey across oceans and mountains to experience a different culture, the least you can do is to show it some respect and make do with what's given. If you want everything the same as you're used to -- STAY HOME.

If you dun like the food, please buy your own food later. Do not pester the kitchen to cook your tinned meat. It is impolite. If you visit a poorer country, do not expect the facilities to be as fanciful or advanced. The people have a hard enuff life as it is. Be thankful you're only a tourist and accept what they can offer. Basic human courtesy and hospitality is all one should expect from any trip. The rest is a bonus.

MaPoTofu TOwn - Tibet Part 2

Xue Tao Memorial Garden

Highlight of the Day

Two sides of a coin

Sometimes people dun mean wat they say
Sometimes they mean something else

Sometimes it comes out wrong
Sometimes it comes across with the wrong meaning
Sometimes it is misunderstood

Clarifying directly with the person is the best way
Yet, there can still be misunderstandings.

Getting the right message across is difficult.
When do you know if you've gotten it right?
Especially when the majority views it the same way -- yet it can still be wrong.

Perhaps U should try rephrasing when the majority views it different from yours?
Even if it's your own words and u think there's nothing wrong.

It's too easy to hurt others.
But trusting the other party, and knowing the person is only thinking good for you...
maybe u can open your mind, and accept tat judgment has been too hasty?
Although it seems as clear as day to you.
A good friend deserves your benefit of the doubt.

It goes both ways.
Misunderstandings also require 2 hands to clap.
Dun be too stubborn.

So when asked for help

to ease our burden of 7 oncall days PER MONTH...
here's the reply...

"I'm oredi working very LOOOoong hours earning ALL your salaries."

Hmm, ok, then wat are we doing?
We should take holiday then.
Such appreciation we get.
I'm sure someone is working ALONG YOUR SIDE when u do your loooong hours yeah.

Cheers!
Dun shit on others if you insist on spreading resources too thinly.
We work the hours we're paid too.

Glimpse of the Heavenly Plataeu...

7 days in Tibet

Surrounded by pp mostly from an entirely different era, upbringing, house culture...
(and i'm talking about our fellow travellers of the Bus No.4)
Immersed in the 2nd "mother tongue"... is a familiar yet strangely alienating experience. As though u are constantly listening thru a layer of bubble wrap, transparent yet still not quite within your grasp. Although by the 8th day -- you surprise yourself by calligraphing characters u'd thot had long fled your mind.

A trip totally without any expectations...
Its rewards and hardships shall remain with me hopefully longer than my short term memory for there are some lessons in life you'd like to learn only once. Dysentry is prob on top of this list!

Pre-Tibet : Chengdu
Is it the romantic morning mists,
or the eerie suspenseful rolling fog...?
The glass door opens and truth assults your unsuspecting delicate nostrils....
CITY SMOG!!! yucks. it is as polluted as they claim.
Well, this city is known for its wells.
The airport is called Shuang something -- the meeting place of 2 oredi non-existent rivers?
Being in Sichuan, it is expected that we had the Ma Po Tofu for lunch AND dinner. And for reasons unfanthomable -- each table gets 2btl of beer but ONLY one miserly btl of coke. sigh.
After feeding us, it is our turn to play our part. So with the enthusiasm only afforded by 1st day tourists, our cameras click with each wave of the blue flag, heads swivel wherever a "heritage" replica presents itself, ears straining attentively lest we miss out any jewel of ancient history...
Unfortunately, since we have a chinese and a japanese garden; and had a Tang City... the "awe" barely lasted 10min. It's a pity for Xue Tao's memorial garden, for i'm sure she must've been an inspiring character to be placed 1st item on our city tour.
However, the Highlight of this day turned out to be quite excellent. Despite a minor stab at my heart (the memory still lingers and burns, and i can't help comparing and thinking yes she'd fit this beautifully too if she was born to a different env), the performing arts were of a varied and entertaining nature with Bian Lian being it's centrepiece. What's more amazing was the combination of puppetry, mask changing and fire blowing ALL in one. That is an extinct art only available in the Motherland. So happily ends the 1st day for our tourists as we head tired but reasonably satisfied, back to the hotel beds.

Here ends part I...

Panxierhutte

Hiked up to 2430m (started from 1340m) with Ralphi, JLo and Sybille. Was really cool (tiring though).

At some point we actually got lost, and were just walking through meadows and forests... more like sliding down because it was almost 45 degrees elevation. I was really upset (Ralphi thought I will never forgive him for making me come :) )... We were really lucky, because if we had made a wrong turn, we would have hit the cliffs and that meant doing the 500meters elevation back up ... which we all agreed was impossible :)

Well, slept outside (was kinda cold), and the air was so thin, it was basically difficult to breath. Now am down with a cold, but I think I should go hiking more often :).

pendulum

is being
happy
sleepy but happy -- ugly lotus shoes
nice retro gold rimmed greeny shoes...
headbreaking crowd dives for able-to-get-at-watsons sunblock
(oops! but i was told...)
ground swishing, feet stepping black pants
(minimise toilet trips!)
orange pink, blue orange crocs slippers
pretty jingle jangles for wrists and ear lobes
(bohemian funky minx)
silly cute name keychains
bracey smiles on tees, red headed dollies
purple light stick twirlies
bizzare slightly intriguing, yet boring mistress of spices
snores...
not too spicy korean noodles
oh... and almost forgot -- Squishy Bags (omg am i paying attention!!)

is being
exasperated,
alternating calm patiences and hair yanking, bitchy remarks
is the unbelievable denseness
wall-like inpennetrable arrghhh....
inconsiderate soapy enemas, squished pups, cranky cats
and dun comment about my personnal life -- it's not yours to judge
i am MAD mad mad
pp should avoid me at all cost
i miss junkie and twiisti
ps. to shrink paint reduce with stretch equally

is being plunged
into a pool called sadness
and tears
of tears spilling unheeded
of hearts broken and feelings torn
i weep for the loss
unable to mend those broken
feeling their pain as mine
i weep the soft cheeks with the sad eyes...
i hold u close, as much as i can
i wanna protect u from all hurt
and i break inside 'cos i can't.

i rule not
emo is i
(and tread softly my song)

Weekend

Collection of snips and snaps over the past (weeks?)

How badly scared is a german football fan that their team didnt make it to the finals? So I tried this: Say "hundred and eighteenth" to the fan in the face, and the time taken for the face to grimace is inversely proportional to the level of damage. If the fan answers with a "Huh?" then you know he is definitely ok. (*118th minute, 2 minutes before the end of the quarter final, when italy scored a really badly conceded goal.*).

The numbers of the week:
1037m -- highest point of my life this week
800m -- elevation gain to get to the there, got an apple juice and hiked back down.
537 -- number of "wooden" secured steps to get up there... this doesnt include the rocks nor the tree roots.
14 -- number of episodes of kenshin animes after
3am -- time stayed up awake to read the miraculous journey of Edwuard Tulane (Thanks a million!!)

diFfiCuLt dAy...

Specially for a Good Friend

PreSSies galore!!

Comfy, super soft (Missoni) "Refugee" Jacket!!
Size #1 Male Project Shop

(they have a very very nice orange/brown bag too! HINT HINT!)

Requested from bro & wife :)
I will totally BLEND with the Highland Natives!!
All set for TIBET! ahahaha...

MY INDIANNA JONES

KIT BAG!!!

(from Fossils)
Relic hunting here I come....

Lions & Tigers beware!!

Thanks heaps Max!!

Totally FUNKY!!

smell the leather... feel the real straps!!!

Woooh!!

"I AM ENTITLED ..."

I AM ENTITILED TO :
* A DISCOUNT, %-TAGE OF MY CHOICE
* PAYMENT VIA CHEQUE MAIL WHENEVER IT'S CONVENIENT FOR ME
* COLLECT MY MEDS PRIOR TO FULL PAYMENT
* TO NOT PAY TILL YOUR BOSS AGREES TO THE ABOVE
* NOT PAY 'COS THIS IS JUST A DOG HOSPITAL HENCE THE LOGIC OF PAYMENT BEFORE MRECHANDISE DO NOT APPLY (try selling this to Gleneagles/ Mt A/ Mt E!!! Or a kopitiam!!! I send u cheque for my kopi hor - i drink 1st!)


I WILL DISREGARD THE FACT THAT :
* I'VE BEEN QUOTED THE CHARGES & HAVE AGREED TO PAYMENT
* I'VE BEEN OFFERED A CHEAPER BLOOD TEST OPTION
* THE BLOOD RESULTS HAVE MOSTLY RULED OUT ADVERSE EFFECTS FROM THE SEDATION -- I WILL BLAME THE DENTAL JOB ANYWAY, DESPITE FEEDING CHARSIEW & MILO TO MY DOG WITH A HISTORY OF IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME... (dense much!!)
* MY DOG IS OLD AND VOMITING CAN BE DUE TO A MYRIAD OF REASONS, INCLUDING CANCER/ GASTRIC ULCERATION/INFLAMMATION -- I WILL STILL BLAME THE DENTAL
* THE HOSPITAL WILL EITHER CREDIT/ SEND ME CHEQUE IF THE BOSS AGREES TO MY REQUEST OF A DISCOUNT (but i insist you accept me sending my payment by cheque...)


I WILL NOT APPRECIATE THE FACT :
* THAT MY PREVIOUS DISCOUNT IS A PRIVILEDGE, NOT AN ENITILEMENT
* THAT MY DOG HAS BEEN MEDICATED FOR TONIGHT, SO ALL I NEED TO DO IS MAKE PAYMENT TMW AND COLLECT THE MEDS
* YOUR BOSS TOOK TIME OFF FROM LUNCH TO DO AN UNSCHEDULED DENTAL CLEANING FOR MY DOG'S NEGLECTED TEETH, TO ENSURE HIS ONGOING HEALTH, SO I DUN HAVE TO MAKE ANOTHER TRIP DOWN.
* THAT OTHER HOSPITALS WOULD NOT EVEN ENTERTAIN SUCH RUBBISH, NOT TO MENTION MEDICATE MY DOG FOR THE NIGHT.


I SAY I LOVE MY DOG BUT :
* I'M TOO TIRED TO MAKE ANOTHER TRIP DOWN TONITE TO PAY THE BILL & COLLECT HIS REQUIRED MEDS ALTHOUGH IT MAY MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER
* I IGNORE THE OPTION OF PAYING AND COLLECTING THE MEDS TMW
* MONEY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAT HIS HEALTH (Oh yeah MUMMY loves u Pepper darlin...)


I THANK THE LORD THAT :
* THE BLOOD TESTS RESULTS ARE ALL NORMAL YET I WON'T PAY FOR IT
* THAT I'M SUCH A SHAMELESS UNREASONABLE BITCH


I CLAIM TO BE THE BOSS'S LONG TIME FAITHFUL CLIENT & FRIEND :
* WHEN MY LAST VISIT (b4 last week) WAS 3 YEARS AGO.
* SO I'M ENTITLED TO CREATE A SCENE AND DISTRESS ALL HIS STAFF WITH MY NONSENSE