Today was the first time i drove long distance in Sabah...drove my parents, aunty and Petrina to Kinabalu Park...by the time we got ready it was past 9am...then brought them to my favourite beef noodles stall for breakfast...unfortunately, Pa's got a case of dyspepsia so we had to hunt for Eno and i had to go back to the hospital to get some PCM and maxolon (in case he felt like puking on the trip)..
By the time we started our journey it was almost 11am...we stopped by a petrol station to fill up the tank and check my car...had to fill up the brake oil and battery water coz i haven't service my car for ages...so off we went on our journey...we reached Kinabalu Park about 120pm...weather was cooling...we drove up to Timpohon gate for photo session....then continued towards Poring Hot Springs...
Stopped by at Ranau for late lunch...had KFC...then we continued our journey...it started raining before we reached Poring...so didn't get to go to the Hot Springs...so we decided to drive back coz it was quite late already...it became misty as the sky darkened...and we were basically driving at a crawl coz of the low visibility...almost fell asleep a few times...finally made it back to flat roads...
Thought we'd make it back to KK about 730pm...but fate has it that i were to drive over a pothole and burst my left front tyre...crap!!! poor Pa...had to help me to change to my spare tyre in the rain... in the end, we only arrived at the hotel about 8pm plus...i went home to bathe...stopped by at SMC to get some medications...then ta pau-ed char kuey teow for the bunch of them...really had late dinner...
Gosh, my whole body is aching from sitting too long in the car...driving long distance is really not my thing....but i still hope to drive to Kudat to visit Simpang Mengayau one of these days...hopefully i can find someone to go with me...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
碰到‘他’了。。
今天放假了。。因为爸爸， 妈妈， 妹妹 和 姑姑 来 亚庇度假。。早上去了医院打卡。。好像又遇见‘他’ 了。。如果真的是‘他’。。好像瘦了。。奇怪，为何‘他’在哪了? 还有，这次应该是第三次碰面了。。还是没什么发展。。原来命运只能把两个人碰面， 却不能帮两个人拉近一点。。唉，苏州过河了。。就没艇搭了。。。
Sunday, December 26, 2010
我二十九岁的圣诞...
今年的圣诞节就这样过了。。我的命中注定的另一半没有在平安夜出现。。但这世界竟然还有奇迹的。。我的 on call ，一正晚都没听到有酒后驾驶而车祸受伤。。在沙巴这真的是一重奇迹阿。。不过呢，还是忙到四点才得睡。。在医院睡到九点多才甘愿起来。。刷了牙，还衣服就赶去教堂。。牧师在说教， 我又一直瞌。。真的没用。。
散会了，要走之前，碰到前男友和他的新女友。。都没打招呼。。是否假装没看到我? 至少没带女朋友来卖弄。。新女友也像我那么矮。。但衣服穿了比我有女人味。。吃醋么? 也不会啦。。羡慕么? 是有点。。他曾经说过，他的爱是永恒， 他的心不
会变。。分开了两年就交新女友， 男人的话也难可靠阿。。何况我还没死阿。。需要那么快找新爱人啊? 没办法啦。。他是个好人。。所以一定会有人要。。不像我。。脾气又坏，又粗鲁, 又死爱脸。。所以就没人要。。
我和一些朋友在 little italy 吃午餐。。吃完了就回家睡觉。。醒来后就冲凉。。然后去另外个朋友的家吃晚餐。。过后去唱K。。唱到一点多快要两点。。回来就睡了。。虽然还是单身，圣诞节也过得不错啦。。像败犬女王的卡斯说: 谁说单身就
是败犬? 希望明年的今天我不会再写关于一个人过的圣诞了。。
散会了，要走之前，碰到前男友和他的新女友。。都没打招呼。。是否假装没看到我? 至少没带女朋友来卖弄。。新女友也像我那么矮。。但衣服穿了比我有女人味。。吃醋么? 也不会啦。。羡慕么? 是有点。。他曾经说过，他的爱是永恒， 他的心不
会变。。分开了两年就交新女友， 男人的话也难可靠阿。。何况我还没死阿。。需要那么快找新爱人啊? 没办法啦。。他是个好人。。所以一定会有人要。。不像我。。脾气又坏，又粗鲁, 又死爱脸。。所以就没人要。。
我和一些朋友在 little italy 吃午餐。。吃完了就回家睡觉。。醒来后就冲凉。。然后去另外个朋友的家吃晚餐。。过后去唱K。。唱到一点多快要两点。。回来就睡了。。虽然还是单身，圣诞节也过得不错啦。。像败犬女王的卡斯说: 谁说单身就
是败犬? 希望明年的今天我不会再写关于一个人过的圣诞了。。
Friday, December 24, 2010
败犬女王
最近看了一部偶像剧。。败犬女王。。突然觉得我是一个败犬。。却我并不是什么女王。。也不是什么公主。。女主角叫做单无双。。男主角叫做陆卡斯。。男跟女有八年的距离。。这就是一部关于姐弟恋的故事。。虽然很浪漫也感人但我一直在想: 不要!!!不要让我得另一半比我小。。这是我最恐怕会发生在握身上的事。。也许这样上帝就会安排如此。。哈哈哈。。
说到女的。。她是一个脾气坏又挣扎力强的女人。。什么都要第一名。。什么都要赢别人。。一个独一无二的女强人。。卡斯叫他"鳖女"。。因为他表面上看起来很硬。。不过内心很脆弱。。说到男的了，他虽然外表很顽皮。。但其实很温馨真心又成熟与负责任。。无双的前男友叫做宋允浩。。他六年前因为意想不到的意外而没回来跟无双结婚。。而卡斯的前女友，汉向运。。她在两年前因为冲浪意外以去世了。。虽然两个人来自不同的世界不同的年代不同的悲伤。。命中还是注定它们俩会碰面。。
像每部爱情故事，它们第一次碰到就吵吵闹闹了。。第一次遇见是在平安夜。。唉! 今天就是平安夜了。。是否我的命中注定会出现么?。。我的想象力也太强了。。哈哈哈。。怎么可能?。。我今天 on call 阿。。没碰到就没相识，没吵架就不会相爱。。每次无双遇到困难，卡斯就会出现来救她，保护她。。当它们刚发现已经爱上了对方，前男友又回来。。因为发现允浩在六年前为了赶回来跟她结婚以受伤，无双因为报恩所以选择允浩。。不过允浩看的到其实无双已经不爱他了。。在婚礼
前一天，允浩遇到哪个无双的相亲公司的co-ordinator。。她告诉允浩: "男人说谎是为了自己好，女人说谎是为了对方好， 我们不是故意的，是我们没有勇气去伤害我们深爱的人" 。。这段话让我想起我和前男友的分手理由。。我因为说实话以伤害了他，那是算我勇敢么?。。所以在它们婚礼当天，允浩取消了婚礼。。他说: "可是那一个也许你哪里都不想去，什么事都不用做，即使不结婚你也想赖在他身边的人， 即使没有规划， 没有未来，全世界的人都阻止你， 你还是想跟他在一起那个
人，才是你真正想要的，可惜那个人不再是我"。。他真的太伟大了。。
就这样，女王又被摔第二次。。还是同一个人。。而伤心的卡斯就去了夏威夷完全他的冲浪梦想。。然后又回去大学读医科。。悲伤的卡斯曾对无双说: 我不会为一个没有希望的感情念念不忘。。所以我跟我自己说: 我不会喜欢一个不会喜欢我的人。。因为这样太痛苦了。。我没那么坚强。。半年后，卡斯回来找无双。。他默默的跟无双去单车旅行。。然后就像奇迹出现在无双的眼前。。无双说: 这条线是分开我们八年的距离， 你看好了， 我现在就要跨过去了。。哇! 真的是太感动了。。哭到我便熊猫了。。不要以为这样就结束了。。在我们现实的社会，姐弟恋会面对很多的考验, 别人的讪笑。。 让无双没有安全感， 没有自信。。为了无聊的事情吵架。。不过通过了很多事情， 它们的爱情越来越深。。也许真爱真的足够让两个人在一起。。在戏里面，平常都会有喜剧煞尾。。现实还有很长的路要走下去。。虽然我的奇迹还没出现， 但若我相信这现实的世界有真爱的，那我就会找到属于我的真爱啦。。不过我还是不要看那么多偶像剧了。。戏里面的男主角太浪漫， 太懂女人的心了。。还是不要想太多。。晚了。。睡觉了。。主你们圣诞节快乐。。晚
安。。
说到女的。。她是一个脾气坏又挣扎力强的女人。。什么都要第一名。。什么都要赢别人。。一个独一无二的女强人。。卡斯叫他"鳖女"。。因为他表面上看起来很硬。。不过内心很脆弱。。说到男的了，他虽然外表很顽皮。。但其实很温馨真心又成熟与负责任。。无双的前男友叫做宋允浩。。他六年前因为意想不到的意外而没回来跟无双结婚。。而卡斯的前女友，汉向运。。她在两年前因为冲浪意外以去世了。。虽然两个人来自不同的世界不同的年代不同的悲伤。。命中还是注定它们俩会碰面。。
像每部爱情故事，它们第一次碰到就吵吵闹闹了。。第一次遇见是在平安夜。。唉! 今天就是平安夜了。。是否我的命中注定会出现么?。。我的想象力也太强了。。哈哈哈。。怎么可能?。。我今天 on call 阿。。没碰到就没相识，没吵架就不会相爱。。每次无双遇到困难，卡斯就会出现来救她，保护她。。当它们刚发现已经爱上了对方，前男友又回来。。因为发现允浩在六年前为了赶回来跟她结婚以受伤，无双因为报恩所以选择允浩。。不过允浩看的到其实无双已经不爱他了。。在婚礼
前一天，允浩遇到哪个无双的相亲公司的co-ordinator。。她告诉允浩: "男人说谎是为了自己好，女人说谎是为了对方好， 我们不是故意的，是我们没有勇气去伤害我们深爱的人" 。。这段话让我想起我和前男友的分手理由。。我因为说实话以伤害了他，那是算我勇敢么?。。所以在它们婚礼当天，允浩取消了婚礼。。他说: "可是那一个也许你哪里都不想去，什么事都不用做，即使不结婚你也想赖在他身边的人， 即使没有规划， 没有未来，全世界的人都阻止你， 你还是想跟他在一起那个
人，才是你真正想要的，可惜那个人不再是我"。。他真的太伟大了。。
就这样，女王又被摔第二次。。还是同一个人。。而伤心的卡斯就去了夏威夷完全他的冲浪梦想。。然后又回去大学读医科。。悲伤的卡斯曾对无双说: 我不会为一个没有希望的感情念念不忘。。所以我跟我自己说: 我不会喜欢一个不会喜欢我的人。。因为这样太痛苦了。。我没那么坚强。。半年后，卡斯回来找无双。。他默默的跟无双去单车旅行。。然后就像奇迹出现在无双的眼前。。无双说: 这条线是分开我们八年的距离， 你看好了， 我现在就要跨过去了。。哇! 真的是太感动了。。哭到我便熊猫了。。不要以为这样就结束了。。在我们现实的社会，姐弟恋会面对很多的考验, 别人的讪笑。。 让无双没有安全感， 没有自信。。为了无聊的事情吵架。。不过通过了很多事情， 它们的爱情越来越深。。也许真爱真的足够让两个人在一起。。在戏里面，平常都会有喜剧煞尾。。现实还有很长的路要走下去。。虽然我的奇迹还没出现， 但若我相信这现实的世界有真爱的，那我就会找到属于我的真爱啦。。不过我还是不要看那么多偶像剧了。。戏里面的男主角太浪漫， 太懂女人的心了。。还是不要想太多。。晚了。。睡觉了。。主你们圣诞节快乐。。晚
安。。
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Elaine & Siang Lin's Wedding
I had a good break over the weekend...a bunch of us went to Muar for Elaine and Siang Lin's wedding on 20 Nov 2010...yes, the wedding that i've been anticipating for the last few months...Flora, Connie and i flew to JB on Friday morning...i forgot my passport so i had to trouble Becky to send me back to grab it...thank God i didn't miss the flight...Siang Lin and Nelson (Elaine's younger bro) came to pick us up from Senai airport....and we drove back to Muar...which was about 2 hours away...
We dropped by at Elaine's house to pick her up and send her to the nail parlour to do her nails...then Siang Lin brought us for lunch at Elaine's favourite bak kut teh shop...then we checked in at D'99 hotel....Flora, Connie and i shared a room...we practically slept off the whole afternoon...while waiting for Jasmine, Suet Lai, Alisa and Anthony and Darrien to arrive...when they've all arrived...we hung out at the Delifrance adjacent to the hotel....it was good to catch up with old friends...and having Darrien was a lot of fun...
We went to Elaine's house for dinner...she had a pre-wedding dinner for her friends and relatives...and we even celebrated Darrien's 1st birthday...Elaine bought a Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake...we ended up enjoying the cake more than Darrien...hehe...after dinner, the jie muis discussed about the things we wanted the heng tais to do during the morning wedding ceremony....then we went back to the hotel and slept...
We woke up about 6am plus on Saturday morning...we got ready and had breakfast at the hotel...then Nelson came to pick us up to his place...we spent about an hour preparing the 'special drinks' for the heng tais...then us girls were busy placing our kisses on paper...it was for one of the task for Siang Lin...he had to guess which one was Elaine's kiss...we even got Nelson's help with the kisses...hehe...
Siang Lin and his heng tais came about 9am plus...from the beginning, he and his guys had to look for the house key to enter the main gate...we gave the house key to one of the neighbour who really took the guys on a trip...coz he gave them the wrong keys...twice...only after Siang Lin gave him an ang pow only he gave the right key...hahahaha....then after they entered the main gate, firecrackers were ignited...gosh, lost a few decibles of my hearing....
Their next task was to send some guys to eat cut apples from a plate on the floor while doing push-ups....most of the guys managed 2-3 slices...then it was time to down a whole long glassful of beer...the guy who did it could really drink...and he's chinese...next task was to drink the 'special drinks' we prepared...from red wine to hot chilli sauce to vinegar to raw egg...guys really would down anything...hehe...then it was time to dance....i think 'Nobody' by Wonder Girls has become the official wedding dance song...so 2 of the guys had to wear dresses and danced to the song...the guys were quite sporting to oblige....
Then we had some naughty poses for the guys to imitate...that was pretty hilarious...then Siang Lin was finally outside Elaine's room...but before that, he had to spot Elaine's kiss among many kisses...us jie muis managed to get lots of ang pows from Siang Lin during that task...hehe...but eventually he managed to choose the right lips after like 5 guesses...then he thought he could go into the room but then it was locked...and the room key was stuck on the ceiling...so he had to climb up on a chair and use an umbrella to reach the key...
Siang Lin must have been so relieved when he finally opened the room door...could really see it in his smile...hehe...so he went into the room...unveiled Elaine and puts the wedding ring on her...Elaine looked like an angel in her wedding dress...the epitome of a vision of loveliness...after putting on the ring, Siang Lin planted a kiss on Elaine...sigh...best part of any wedding...then we proceeded to the tea ceremony....after that it was time for the bride to leave the house...hehe, we had quite some fun throwing rice at the wedding couple as they walked to the car...
Then we went to the hotel where Siang Lin's parents were staying for another tea ceremony...Connie, Flora and i followed one of Siang Lin's friend's car...when we reached the hotel, one of Connie's strappy heels broke...so i had to lend her my heels so that she can go get herself a new pair...which she did in record time...and her new heels were fabulous...not to mention quite cheap...after the 2nd tea ceremony, it was time for lunch...
We went back to our hotel after lunch...slept a bit till about 5pm...Flora got ready earlier and left for the restaurant coz she was the MC and needed to prepare earlier...Connie and i took our time to get ready...we had to wait for our transport...which was late...but somehow we managed to reach the restaurant before the dinner started...met Ah Liam at the dinner...it was good to catch up...
Then it was time for the bride and groom to enter the restaurant...it was quite an entrance...Elaine looked like a princess in her pale blue gown...and Siang Lin her dashing prince by her side...there were lots of bubbles in the air as they were walking in...quite dream-like...dinner was good...and there was live band performing...so we requested and dedicated some songs to Elaine and Siang Lin...i requested for "Wonderful Tonight"...but the wedding singer totally ruined it with his own version of the song...totally unromantic and inappropriate...i still think Khalil Fong's version is amazing...
So, that was 'the' wedding...a friend told me he hates attending wedding...coz it makes him feel old...i love attending weddings...i love sharing the joy and love with my friends who are getting hitch...i just wonder if this whole getting married business was meant for me...coz it doesn't look like it's gonna happen...
We dropped by at Elaine's house to pick her up and send her to the nail parlour to do her nails...then Siang Lin brought us for lunch at Elaine's favourite bak kut teh shop...then we checked in at D'99 hotel....Flora, Connie and i shared a room...we practically slept off the whole afternoon...while waiting for Jasmine, Suet Lai, Alisa and Anthony and Darrien to arrive...when they've all arrived...we hung out at the Delifrance adjacent to the hotel....it was good to catch up with old friends...and having Darrien was a lot of fun...
We went to Elaine's house for dinner...she had a pre-wedding dinner for her friends and relatives...and we even celebrated Darrien's 1st birthday...Elaine bought a Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake...we ended up enjoying the cake more than Darrien...hehe...after dinner, the jie muis discussed about the things we wanted the heng tais to do during the morning wedding ceremony....then we went back to the hotel and slept...
We woke up about 6am plus on Saturday morning...we got ready and had breakfast at the hotel...then Nelson came to pick us up to his place...we spent about an hour preparing the 'special drinks' for the heng tais...then us girls were busy placing our kisses on paper...it was for one of the task for Siang Lin...he had to guess which one was Elaine's kiss...we even got Nelson's help with the kisses...hehe...
Siang Lin and his heng tais came about 9am plus...from the beginning, he and his guys had to look for the house key to enter the main gate...we gave the house key to one of the neighbour who really took the guys on a trip...coz he gave them the wrong keys...twice...only after Siang Lin gave him an ang pow only he gave the right key...hahahaha....then after they entered the main gate, firecrackers were ignited...gosh, lost a few decibles of my hearing....
Their next task was to send some guys to eat cut apples from a plate on the floor while doing push-ups....most of the guys managed 2-3 slices...then it was time to down a whole long glassful of beer...the guy who did it could really drink...and he's chinese...next task was to drink the 'special drinks' we prepared...from red wine to hot chilli sauce to vinegar to raw egg...guys really would down anything...hehe...then it was time to dance....i think 'Nobody' by Wonder Girls has become the official wedding dance song...so 2 of the guys had to wear dresses and danced to the song...the guys were quite sporting to oblige....
Then we had some naughty poses for the guys to imitate...that was pretty hilarious...then Siang Lin was finally outside Elaine's room...but before that, he had to spot Elaine's kiss among many kisses...us jie muis managed to get lots of ang pows from Siang Lin during that task...hehe...but eventually he managed to choose the right lips after like 5 guesses...then he thought he could go into the room but then it was locked...and the room key was stuck on the ceiling...so he had to climb up on a chair and use an umbrella to reach the key...
Siang Lin must have been so relieved when he finally opened the room door...could really see it in his smile...hehe...so he went into the room...unveiled Elaine and puts the wedding ring on her...Elaine looked like an angel in her wedding dress...the epitome of a vision of loveliness...after putting on the ring, Siang Lin planted a kiss on Elaine...sigh...best part of any wedding...then we proceeded to the tea ceremony....after that it was time for the bride to leave the house...hehe, we had quite some fun throwing rice at the wedding couple as they walked to the car...
Then we went to the hotel where Siang Lin's parents were staying for another tea ceremony...Connie, Flora and i followed one of Siang Lin's friend's car...when we reached the hotel, one of Connie's strappy heels broke...so i had to lend her my heels so that she can go get herself a new pair...which she did in record time...and her new heels were fabulous...not to mention quite cheap...after the 2nd tea ceremony, it was time for lunch...
We went back to our hotel after lunch...slept a bit till about 5pm...Flora got ready earlier and left for the restaurant coz she was the MC and needed to prepare earlier...Connie and i took our time to get ready...we had to wait for our transport...which was late...but somehow we managed to reach the restaurant before the dinner started...met Ah Liam at the dinner...it was good to catch up...
Then it was time for the bride and groom to enter the restaurant...it was quite an entrance...Elaine looked like a princess in her pale blue gown...and Siang Lin her dashing prince by her side...there were lots of bubbles in the air as they were walking in...quite dream-like...dinner was good...and there was live band performing...so we requested and dedicated some songs to Elaine and Siang Lin...i requested for "Wonderful Tonight"...but the wedding singer totally ruined it with his own version of the song...totally unromantic and inappropriate...i still think Khalil Fong's version is amazing...
So, that was 'the' wedding...a friend told me he hates attending wedding...coz it makes him feel old...i love attending weddings...i love sharing the joy and love with my friends who are getting hitch...i just wonder if this whole getting married business was meant for me...coz it doesn't look like it's gonna happen...
Sunday, November 14, 2010
NZ trip - day 11
So today was our last day in NZ...:(...so wished i could stay longer...the last 10 days have been quite an adventure...i hated the idea of going back to work where i knew hell was waiting...Cam and Jeanne woke up before 7am to move the car...this little pig continued to sleep until about 750am...got ready and did some last minute packing and put our luggage into the car...then we went to Victoria Park Market...well, this one was a far cry from Melbourne's Victoria Market...but we still managed to buy more souvenirs...hehe...
Next we went to Queen street where Cam's fridge magnet hunt continued...saw a dress in Cotton On selling at NZD15...bought it...found the dolphin nephrite pendant and chain that i liked in another souvenir shop... the owner was a Chinese...bargained and bought it for NZD45...still a bit more expensive than in Queenstown but i guess it was alright...then we dropped Jeanne off at the Britomart bus stop and bid her farewell...she was so sad that we were leaving...and Cam and i were even sadder that we were leaving...
So Cam and i headed for the airport...i drove this time...and if there was anyone else in the car, one would have noticed that Cam was extremely on the edge all the way....she was unusually quiet, sitting upright and kept looking at the Neverlost GPS and the road signs...i guess we were both afraid we'd lose our way and miss the check-in time...thank God we didn't miss any turning...and managed to reach the airport at 1110am...phew!!!
We parked the car at the car rental parking...Cam went to return the key and i went to queue for check-in...we left the GPS in the car coz the last time we did the same...but this stupid car rental insisted that Cam return the GPS at the counter and told her she needed to jot down the mileage... so poor Cam had to run to the car and grab the GPS...and i was getting worried all the while coz she was taking quite long...eventually Cam turned up just in time for check-in...phew!!!
After checking in, we went for a drink at Juice Booster...to cool down after such a rush...hehe...then Cam continued shopping in the airport...since we had leftover money...hehe..at the departure hall, Cam bought a NZD20 t-shirt while waiting for our flight...which was delayed...as usual...our flight was supposed to depart at 1250pm but only took off at 140pm...spent the whole flight doing a movie marathon....finished up Ip Man 2 which i didn't finish during the inbound flight...then continued with Karate Kid...and Prince of Persia - Sands of Time...and then watched Letters to Juliet...which made me felt like going to Italy again...sigh...then watched The Last Airbender....but only managed to watch halfway coz it was time to land...
So, that was our NZ adventure...no more out of country travel for this year...not becoz i don't want to...only becoz i have no time...and money...sigh...that aside, NZ is really a place worth visiting...and there're still so many places i didn't get to visit...perhaps next time...urgh...i need another break already....
Next we went to Queen street where Cam's fridge magnet hunt continued...saw a dress in Cotton On selling at NZD15...bought it...found the dolphin nephrite pendant and chain that i liked in another souvenir shop... the owner was a Chinese...bargained and bought it for NZD45...still a bit more expensive than in Queenstown but i guess it was alright...then we dropped Jeanne off at the Britomart bus stop and bid her farewell...she was so sad that we were leaving...and Cam and i were even sadder that we were leaving...
So Cam and i headed for the airport...i drove this time...and if there was anyone else in the car, one would have noticed that Cam was extremely on the edge all the way....she was unusually quiet, sitting upright and kept looking at the Neverlost GPS and the road signs...i guess we were both afraid we'd lose our way and miss the check-in time...thank God we didn't miss any turning...and managed to reach the airport at 1110am...phew!!!
We parked the car at the car rental parking...Cam went to return the key and i went to queue for check-in...we left the GPS in the car coz the last time we did the same...but this stupid car rental insisted that Cam return the GPS at the counter and told her she needed to jot down the mileage... so poor Cam had to run to the car and grab the GPS...and i was getting worried all the while coz she was taking quite long...eventually Cam turned up just in time for check-in...phew!!!
After checking in, we went for a drink at Juice Booster...to cool down after such a rush...hehe...then Cam continued shopping in the airport...since we had leftover money...hehe..at the departure hall, Cam bought a NZD20 t-shirt while waiting for our flight...which was delayed...as usual...our flight was supposed to depart at 1250pm but only took off at 140pm...spent the whole flight doing a movie marathon....finished up Ip Man 2 which i didn't finish during the inbound flight...then continued with Karate Kid...and Prince of Persia - Sands of Time...and then watched Letters to Juliet...which made me felt like going to Italy again...sigh...then watched The Last Airbender....but only managed to watch halfway coz it was time to land...
So, that was our NZ adventure...no more out of country travel for this year...not becoz i don't want to...only becoz i have no time...and money...sigh...that aside, NZ is really a place worth visiting...and there're still so many places i didn't get to visit...perhaps next time...urgh...i need another break already....
Friday, November 5, 2010
NZ trip - Day 10
So today was our last day in South Island...time for us to fly back to North Island...we woke up about 7am...got ready and packed...after checking out, we dragged our more filled up luggage to the bus stop...Cam wanted to get McDonald's for breakfast but there was a long queue and our airport bus was leaving....our trip to the airport was free coz we got a complimentary connectabus ticket from the Remarkables trip...so we checked-in at the Queenstown airport and had breakfast there...i had a venison pie...our flight was delayed about 15 mins...i supposed that was not too bad for Jetstar...boarded the flight and slept through the whole 2 hours flight...when i woke up we were landing already...
We arrived at Auckland airport about 1150am...got our luggage and waited for Jeanne to pick us up...she was late...by the time she came it was 1230pm...she managed to rent a car from Hertz for NZD81 per day (including GPS)...it was a white hatchback Toyota Corolla....without wasting any time, we headed for Mission Bay...however, we kept losing our way with the GPS....and get this, the brand of the GPS was 'Neverlost'....hahaha...Cam said it should have been named "Alwayslost"...
Along the way, we stumbled upon Cornwall Park at One Tree Hill...but the GPS kept taking us to some residential dead-end roads instead of the main entrance to the park....urgh!!! so we were fed up and looked for it on our own....and what do you know...we found it...without the GPS...so we drove up to the summit where there was this thin pole-like monument at the peak...it was bloody windy that we had problem putting the camera on the ledge for self-timed photos...the camera kept toppling over...we had a really beautiful bird's eye view of Auckland city...then we went down to the park where the sheep are....Cam was so happy to be among flocks of sheep...we took quite a lot of photos with the sheep...though they kept running away from us...hehe...
Next, we drove on to Mission Bay...thank God we didn't get lost this time...we bought fish and chips and had our lunch at the park bench near the beach while watching some cute Spanish guys play soccer...ahhh....that's good life...then we went house-browsing at Mission Bay...the houses were amazing....so i asked Jeanne to pick her dream house...and just as soon as i finished my question, she exclaimed "that one"....and all of us were screaming in excitement...coz we saw this really cool house....(would love to show a pic of the house, but i can't seem to upload it on my blog...damn slow lah digi)...
After that, we went to Takapuna beach..it was quieter and we didn't stay too long there...coz we went to visit Massey University where Jeanne was working and studying...saw her office and lab...met her colleague, Scott...then we went to Pak & Save...bought 6 bottles of Schwarzkopf shampoo and conditioner coz they were selling for NZD2.99 per 250ml bottle...amazing...also bought chocolates and ice-cream...we were so engrossed in our shopping that we were late to meet Elena and her friend, Bea...
We drove as fast as we could (but everyone in NZ drove pretty much like they were in Gurney Drive) to Sky City where they were waiting for us....we were half an hour late...we picked them up and went back to Jeanne's place to drop off our groceries...then we went for dinner at the Occidental which was quite a classy pub...Elena and Bea decided to go for Burgerfuel instead (Elena wanted to try their kumara fries)...so Jeanne, Cam and I shared a pot of Mussels in spinach and blue cheese, a small seafood platter and a loaf of garlic bread....we were stuffed till the brim...after dinner, we met the Spanish girls at McDonald's to exchange photos of our trip...we chatted and saw the photos....then we went back to Jeanne's place....did some repacking coz now i had even more stuffs to bring home...talked a bit...showed Jeanne our photos...ate our ice-cream...then slept...been a long day...
We arrived at Auckland airport about 1150am...got our luggage and waited for Jeanne to pick us up...she was late...by the time she came it was 1230pm...she managed to rent a car from Hertz for NZD81 per day (including GPS)...it was a white hatchback Toyota Corolla....without wasting any time, we headed for Mission Bay...however, we kept losing our way with the GPS....and get this, the brand of the GPS was 'Neverlost'....hahaha...Cam said it should have been named "Alwayslost"...
Along the way, we stumbled upon Cornwall Park at One Tree Hill...but the GPS kept taking us to some residential dead-end roads instead of the main entrance to the park....urgh!!! so we were fed up and looked for it on our own....and what do you know...we found it...without the GPS...so we drove up to the summit where there was this thin pole-like monument at the peak...it was bloody windy that we had problem putting the camera on the ledge for self-timed photos...the camera kept toppling over...we had a really beautiful bird's eye view of Auckland city...then we went down to the park where the sheep are....Cam was so happy to be among flocks of sheep...we took quite a lot of photos with the sheep...though they kept running away from us...hehe...
Next, we drove on to Mission Bay...thank God we didn't get lost this time...we bought fish and chips and had our lunch at the park bench near the beach while watching some cute Spanish guys play soccer...ahhh....that's good life...then we went house-browsing at Mission Bay...the houses were amazing....so i asked Jeanne to pick her dream house...and just as soon as i finished my question, she exclaimed "that one"....and all of us were screaming in excitement...coz we saw this really cool house....(would love to show a pic of the house, but i can't seem to upload it on my blog...damn slow lah digi)...
After that, we went to Takapuna beach..it was quieter and we didn't stay too long there...coz we went to visit Massey University where Jeanne was working and studying...saw her office and lab...met her colleague, Scott...then we went to Pak & Save...bought 6 bottles of Schwarzkopf shampoo and conditioner coz they were selling for NZD2.99 per 250ml bottle...amazing...also bought chocolates and ice-cream...we were so engrossed in our shopping that we were late to meet Elena and her friend, Bea...
We drove as fast as we could (but everyone in NZ drove pretty much like they were in Gurney Drive) to Sky City where they were waiting for us....we were half an hour late...we picked them up and went back to Jeanne's place to drop off our groceries...then we went for dinner at the Occidental which was quite a classy pub...Elena and Bea decided to go for Burgerfuel instead (Elena wanted to try their kumara fries)...so Jeanne, Cam and I shared a pot of Mussels in spinach and blue cheese, a small seafood platter and a loaf of garlic bread....we were stuffed till the brim...after dinner, we met the Spanish girls at McDonald's to exchange photos of our trip...we chatted and saw the photos....then we went back to Jeanne's place....did some repacking coz now i had even more stuffs to bring home...talked a bit...showed Jeanne our photos...ate our ice-cream...then slept...been a long day...
Monday, October 25, 2010
Wedding Dress - Tae Yang
Saw a link on FB by a friend....it was an English version of this Korean song titled "Wedding Dress"...originally sung by Tae Yang (i have no idea who he is but i assume he's a Korean singer)...the English version was sung by this guy called Kevin Lien...no idea who he is also... but the song is quite cool....especially the lyrics for the English version....so sad...and the MV...gosh...can really bring tears to the eyes...it's really so sad when you see the person you love getting married but the person he/she is marrying is not you...i wonder if i'd be sad when this finally happens to me...but i guess i probably won't, since i no longer harbour any feelings anymore...
Taeyang - Wedding Dress (English Version by Kevin Lien) W/ LYRICS
Taeyang - Wedding Dress [HD]
Incidentally, today i went to try out wedding dresses with Elaine...coz she's choosing her gowns for her wedding this coming November...she chose one white gown...which wasn't any of the ones she wore for her photo shoot...but this white one is a simple A-line floor-length dress with a layer of organza and glitter all over....made her looked like a princess...and she chose another evening gown for her dinner...a sky blue dress with cinched ruffle skirt and a bodice full of beads and sequins....very pretty....anyway, enjoy the songs...NZ trip - Day 9
Today we woke up about 640am...Elena was leaving Queenstown for Auckland...she wanted to walk around the lake before taking the bus to the airport...as we were walking towards Queenstown Garden, we heard the blaring of siren...there were a lot of ppl walking out from the Nomad's Backpacker (looked like a really classy backpacker)...within minutes 2 firetrucks were parked in front of the backpacker...didn't see any smoke though...probably some idiot decided to smoke under the fire alarm and caused a false alarm...saw some cute guys in their t-shirts and boxers walking barefooted....what a sight to greet us on a lovely morning...:P
Anyway, we walked around the garden a bit...took some photos...and it was time for Elena to catch the bus...so we sent her off at the bus stop and Cam and I went back to the Alpine Lodge...had bread and kiwi for breakfast and met a Taiwanese girl, Kay who was sharing the dorm with us...there was another person who checked-in the night before and we found out that the person was a guy...Cam and I were pretty shocked coz we were changing in our room....thank God the guy was still sound asleep...else it would have been an awkward situation if he woke up while we were changing...
We checked out and put our bags at Absoloot...we paid for our room and headed for the Snow Centre where we got a return ticket to the Remarkables at NZD5...took a 45 mins bus ride up there, in which i was asleep most of the way...when we arrived, i was almost blinded by the whiteness of the snow...i've never seen so much snow in my life...it was everywhere....we took a travellator up to the guest service building....watched people ski and snowboard...even kids about 4-5 years old learn how to ski...but the beginner's class cost about NZD129 or so...we decided to just build a snowman...while we were hard at work, a guy (probably French due to his accent) came and chat with us...he told us we could actually walk up the ski slope to have a look up there...
So after we've completed Frosty and taken enough photos of it (there was one of me kissing Frosty), we stupidly followed the guy's suggestion and tried walking up the ski slope...Cam was slipping on the snow every 5 steps thanks to her shoes...but it was quite an adventure...Cam said she felt like she was on an Everest expedition...when we finally reached, a couple told us we could snowtube for NZD19 an hour....but we had to go back down to the guest service building to buy the ticket...dang!!! decided to just lie on the snow for a while and made my snow angel coz the prospect of walking down a ski slope wasn't exactly the most thrilling...
We decided to ask the guy at the chairlift if we could take the lift down....thank goodness for New Zealand kindness...unfortunately, while on the chairlift, i accidentally dropped the left side of my glove....another dang!!! so we went to the guest service and bought our chairlift passes and tickets...had hotdog for lunch and took the chairlift up the slope again...but i had to walk down the ski slope to retrieve my fallen glove...gosh!! that was quite an adventure...i kept slipping and sliding down....eventually i got my glove but somehow walking back up this time was far more difficult...i guess the slope near the chairlift was steeper...once i slipped and slid quite far down...thought i wouldn't be able to stop but somehow i managed...so finally made it back up the slope...
So we started our snow-tubing...sat on our tubes and this guy hooked our tubes onto the rotator belt which pulled us up the slope....then we slid down in whatever style we wanted to...sitting, lying prone, spinning (while sitting and lying prone)....WHHEEEE!!!! it was totally awesome!!! and Cam had an even better time thanks to the cute guy at the rotator belt...and the fact that it actually snowed while we were snow-tubing...this was Cam's first experience of falling snow...after an hour of snow-tubing, it was time to go as it was snowing heavier....so we took the bus down...
We shopped for souvenirs coz we did not have much time left in Queenstown...then we checked-in at Absoloot...there was another girl in the room and she had tons and tons of luggage...i guess Cam and i weren't the only ones who weren't really backpacking...then we continued shopping for souvenirs till almost dinner time...dinner was at Speight's Ale House where we had Porter Sausage with mash and Shearer's Shank...yummy!!! the ambience was great...and so was the food...i guess our little expedition up at the Remarkables helped with our appetite as well...
After that, we went up the Skyline Gondola...it cost NZD23 for return ticket...actually it would have been good to spend more time up there as there were many activities that can be done up there...but we went up for the night view of Queenstown...only the restaurant was still opened...the other attractions such as the Luge, Bungy etc were closed...so we amused ourselved by taking photos at the fireplace outside the restaurant...and at Cam's request, we took the gondola down and up and down again...to make our money worth...hehe...we initially wanted to get a drink before we called it a night...but we were both tired enough after our snow hike today so we decided to skip the drink and headed back to the backpacker....after a good warm bath, Cam was asleep in no time...after i wrote my travel log (and managed to say hi to the other girl who was sharing our dorm), i fell asleep too...
Anyway, we walked around the garden a bit...took some photos...and it was time for Elena to catch the bus...so we sent her off at the bus stop and Cam and I went back to the Alpine Lodge...had bread and kiwi for breakfast and met a Taiwanese girl, Kay who was sharing the dorm with us...there was another person who checked-in the night before and we found out that the person was a guy...Cam and I were pretty shocked coz we were changing in our room....thank God the guy was still sound asleep...else it would have been an awkward situation if he woke up while we were changing...
We checked out and put our bags at Absoloot...we paid for our room and headed for the Snow Centre where we got a return ticket to the Remarkables at NZD5...took a 45 mins bus ride up there, in which i was asleep most of the way...when we arrived, i was almost blinded by the whiteness of the snow...i've never seen so much snow in my life...it was everywhere....we took a travellator up to the guest service building....watched people ski and snowboard...even kids about 4-5 years old learn how to ski...but the beginner's class cost about NZD129 or so...we decided to just build a snowman...while we were hard at work, a guy (probably French due to his accent) came and chat with us...he told us we could actually walk up the ski slope to have a look up there...
So after we've completed Frosty and taken enough photos of it (there was one of me kissing Frosty), we stupidly followed the guy's suggestion and tried walking up the ski slope...Cam was slipping on the snow every 5 steps thanks to her shoes...but it was quite an adventure...Cam said she felt like she was on an Everest expedition...when we finally reached, a couple told us we could snowtube for NZD19 an hour....but we had to go back down to the guest service building to buy the ticket...dang!!! decided to just lie on the snow for a while and made my snow angel coz the prospect of walking down a ski slope wasn't exactly the most thrilling...
We decided to ask the guy at the chairlift if we could take the lift down....thank goodness for New Zealand kindness...unfortunately, while on the chairlift, i accidentally dropped the left side of my glove....another dang!!! so we went to the guest service and bought our chairlift passes and tickets...had hotdog for lunch and took the chairlift up the slope again...but i had to walk down the ski slope to retrieve my fallen glove...gosh!! that was quite an adventure...i kept slipping and sliding down....eventually i got my glove but somehow walking back up this time was far more difficult...i guess the slope near the chairlift was steeper...once i slipped and slid quite far down...thought i wouldn't be able to stop but somehow i managed...so finally made it back up the slope...
So we started our snow-tubing...sat on our tubes and this guy hooked our tubes onto the rotator belt which pulled us up the slope....then we slid down in whatever style we wanted to...sitting, lying prone, spinning (while sitting and lying prone)....WHHEEEE!!!! it was totally awesome!!! and Cam had an even better time thanks to the cute guy at the rotator belt...and the fact that it actually snowed while we were snow-tubing...this was Cam's first experience of falling snow...after an hour of snow-tubing, it was time to go as it was snowing heavier....so we took the bus down...
We shopped for souvenirs coz we did not have much time left in Queenstown...then we checked-in at Absoloot...there was another girl in the room and she had tons and tons of luggage...i guess Cam and i weren't the only ones who weren't really backpacking...then we continued shopping for souvenirs till almost dinner time...dinner was at Speight's Ale House where we had Porter Sausage with mash and Shearer's Shank...yummy!!! the ambience was great...and so was the food...i guess our little expedition up at the Remarkables helped with our appetite as well...
After that, we went up the Skyline Gondola...it cost NZD23 for return ticket...actually it would have been good to spend more time up there as there were many activities that can be done up there...but we went up for the night view of Queenstown...only the restaurant was still opened...the other attractions such as the Luge, Bungy etc were closed...so we amused ourselved by taking photos at the fireplace outside the restaurant...and at Cam's request, we took the gondola down and up and down again...to make our money worth...hehe...we initially wanted to get a drink before we called it a night...but we were both tired enough after our snow hike today so we decided to skip the drink and headed back to the backpacker....after a good warm bath, Cam was asleep in no time...after i wrote my travel log (and managed to say hi to the other girl who was sharing our dorm), i fell asleep too...
Saturday, October 16, 2010
等待
每个人都跟我说，总有一天我会找到那个另一半。。。所以我就一直在等待那一天。。。就怪我没寻找 。。。但我也飞到天涯海角 (纽西兰应该算是吧)， 却没遇见‘他’。。。在我身边，有没一个适合我。。。也许我也不适合它们。。。
其实，等待一个很遥远的人回来是否很笨。。。却我还在等。。。很希望他回来找我。。。虽然他没有表达过他心意。。。还是渴望他心里有我。。。若他回来而因为我留下，这是否是真爱? 原来想象力真的是最残酷。。。真相却没那么完美。。。到头来，还是一个人绝望。。。虽然如此， 我还是相信真爱的奇迹。。。所以我会继续等待。。。主，求你别让我久等。。。
希望这首歌会变我以后的主题曲...
其实，等待一个很遥远的人回来是否很笨。。。却我还在等。。。很希望他回来找我。。。虽然他没有表达过他心意。。。还是渴望他心里有我。。。若他回来而因为我留下，这是否是真爱? 原来想象力真的是最残酷。。。真相却没那么完美。。。到头来，还是一个人绝望。。。虽然如此， 我还是相信真爱的奇迹。。。所以我会继续等待。。。主，求你别让我久等。。。
希望这首歌会变我以后的主题曲...
張靚穎-我相信
Friday, October 15, 2010
NZ trip - Day 8
So we woke up about 6am...got ready and rushed to the clock tower at Camp Street to wait for the bus which was leaving at 7am...we were booked on our Milford Sound tour with Kiwi Discovery... our bus departed about 710am...it was a cloudy and rainy day....there were mist covering most places along the way...we passed by Lake Wakatipu, which was South Island's 2nd largest lake...then we stopped at Lake Te Anau (NZ's 2nd largest lake) for breakfast...had steak and cheese pie and a hot chocolate with marshmallow...it was so bloody cold...i was wearing 4 layers and my breakfast barely warmed me up...bought some Wild Ferns product (one of NZ's skin care brand) thinking it was cheap...of course we were mistaken again...
Our next stop was at the MIrror Lakes....the lakes were pretty small but the water was so still that one can see clear images of the mountains on the lake...amazing!!! then we passed by more lakes and stopped at Monkey Creek...which was just before Homer Tunnel...there was a remnant of last year's avalanche...the snow was quite thick and my shoes got wet walking on the snow....we finally reached Milford Sound close to 1pm...it was raining and foggy....we boarded our cruise, the Milford Monarch, at 1pm....
We started our cruise in rain and fog...it really had the Middle Earth feel...even the cruise crew told us that it's the best weather to experience Milford Sound...the cruise lasted about 1 hour 45 mins...we headed out towards the Tasman Sea..although it was raining and freaking cold, we still went to the upper deck for photos...saw a couple (who looked and sounded like Singaporean) doing the Titanic scene on the deck...Cam was pretty envious...hehe...as we were on the way back, the sky cleared a bit and the fog lifted...so we managed to see the Mitre Peak, Mt Kimberley and more stuffs...we saw some seals on the rocks....the ship went very near the Stirling Falls and water was splashing onto us...but everyone was happily taking photos...
Then we saw some dolphins....i went to the toilet for a while and totally missed the blue penguins...when our cruise ended, it felt like we just returned from another world...Milford Sound is indeed a place worth visiting...would be nice if we could have spent more time there exploring the other places...then we got up our bus and headed back to Te Anau (which means the Lion in Maori)...we wanted to buy some fridge magnets but some girl on the bus told us the stuffs in Queenstown are a lot cheaper...on the bus, they were showing a movie called 'The World's Fastest Indian'...the view on the way back was better as the fog has lifted...but i felt a bit nauseated in the bus...finally we reached Queenstown at about 650pm...
Elena went back to the hostel to get the Wi-fi password while Cam and i checked out the price of souvenirs...the girl on the bus was right...stuffs in Queenstown were cheaper...then we went for dinner at PJ's fish and chips...Pia (a Chilean girl whom Elena met on the bus) joined us...the fish was good...after that, Elena went to get her hokey-pokey ice-cream and Pia dropped by at her backpacker...which was called Absoloot...Cam and I asked if there was vacancy as we only booked 2 nights at Alpine Lodge...Absoloot was a new joint...and they had vacancy for the 6-bedded dorm at NZD26 per night...and since Cam thought the receptionist Ryan, was cute...we booked our last night there...we met up with Juana & Alberto at Fergburger...then we headed for the World Bar where we got our IDs checked by the bouncer...it was happy hour when we were there...so the cocktails in teapots were half-priced at NZD8.50...so i had a pot of Smoochable (which i liked a lot coz it tasted like ice-cream soda)...Cam had Ruby Louby which i thought tasted a bit like medicine...Pia and Elena shared a pot of Tropicana which tasted like cough syrup...took us quite a while to finish a whole pot...
Then we got back to our hostel...and yes, i was still sober...but i felt itchy...and my whole body was red...perhaps i was allergic to alcohol after all...anyway, i bathed and took loratidine and the itch kinda subsided...at least i managed to sleep soundly...
Our next stop was at the MIrror Lakes....the lakes were pretty small but the water was so still that one can see clear images of the mountains on the lake...amazing!!! then we passed by more lakes and stopped at Monkey Creek...which was just before Homer Tunnel...there was a remnant of last year's avalanche...the snow was quite thick and my shoes got wet walking on the snow....we finally reached Milford Sound close to 1pm...it was raining and foggy....we boarded our cruise, the Milford Monarch, at 1pm....
We started our cruise in rain and fog...it really had the Middle Earth feel...even the cruise crew told us that it's the best weather to experience Milford Sound...the cruise lasted about 1 hour 45 mins...we headed out towards the Tasman Sea..although it was raining and freaking cold, we still went to the upper deck for photos...saw a couple (who looked and sounded like Singaporean) doing the Titanic scene on the deck...Cam was pretty envious...hehe...as we were on the way back, the sky cleared a bit and the fog lifted...so we managed to see the Mitre Peak, Mt Kimberley and more stuffs...we saw some seals on the rocks....the ship went very near the Stirling Falls and water was splashing onto us...but everyone was happily taking photos...
Then we saw some dolphins....i went to the toilet for a while and totally missed the blue penguins...when our cruise ended, it felt like we just returned from another world...Milford Sound is indeed a place worth visiting...would be nice if we could have spent more time there exploring the other places...then we got up our bus and headed back to Te Anau (which means the Lion in Maori)...we wanted to buy some fridge magnets but some girl on the bus told us the stuffs in Queenstown are a lot cheaper...on the bus, they were showing a movie called 'The World's Fastest Indian'...the view on the way back was better as the fog has lifted...but i felt a bit nauseated in the bus...finally we reached Queenstown at about 650pm...
Elena went back to the hostel to get the Wi-fi password while Cam and i checked out the price of souvenirs...the girl on the bus was right...stuffs in Queenstown were cheaper...then we went for dinner at PJ's fish and chips...Pia (a Chilean girl whom Elena met on the bus) joined us...the fish was good...after that, Elena went to get her hokey-pokey ice-cream and Pia dropped by at her backpacker...which was called Absoloot...Cam and I asked if there was vacancy as we only booked 2 nights at Alpine Lodge...Absoloot was a new joint...and they had vacancy for the 6-bedded dorm at NZD26 per night...and since Cam thought the receptionist Ryan, was cute...we booked our last night there...we met up with Juana & Alberto at Fergburger...then we headed for the World Bar where we got our IDs checked by the bouncer...it was happy hour when we were there...so the cocktails in teapots were half-priced at NZD8.50...so i had a pot of Smoochable (which i liked a lot coz it tasted like ice-cream soda)...Cam had Ruby Louby which i thought tasted a bit like medicine...Pia and Elena shared a pot of Tropicana which tasted like cough syrup...took us quite a while to finish a whole pot...
Then we got back to our hostel...and yes, i was still sober...but i felt itchy...and my whole body was red...perhaps i was allergic to alcohol after all...anyway, i bathed and took loratidine and the itch kinda subsided...at least i managed to sleep soundly...
Sunday, October 3, 2010
NZ trip - Day 7
We woke at 8am to a clear blue sky...no mist covering the mountains and the sun was shining brightly...so the 4 of us had a light breakfast and headed towards Kea Point track...got a bit lost but managed to get up to the Hermitage Hotel where the track started...so we followed the signboard and walked for about 1 hour to Kea Point...we played with fallen snow along the way...after walking for a while, i felt quite hot so i took off my bulky jacket and was still sweating although i only had my long-sleeve t-shirt on...
At Kea Point, we had a clear and beautiful view of Mt Cook...there was also a glacier lake, the lateral Mueller morraines and Mt Sefton...heard a few avalanches while we were there...the rumbling was pretty loud...saw a small one but didn't manage to get it on camera...after taking enough photos, we headed back...halfway through, Elena called us to look back...so we turned around and lo! a huge avalanche on Mt Sefton...managed to get it on pic...ok, so it wasn't that huge that it almost got us...but it was still a sight to behold...
We stopped by to buy some souvenirs at the gift shop at Hermitage Hotel (only to find out later in Queenstown that we've overpaid for the stuffs)...oh well, should have known better...so we went back to the YHA and packed...had chips and chocolates for lunch...that was all that was left of our groceries...we waited for our bus to Queenstown which departed at 230pm..so we said goodbye to Anna who was continuing her stay at Mt Cook for a week (but she will be in Malaysia in October so we'll get to meet again)...the bus stopped at Omaraha for toilet break...then it stopped another time at Jone's fruit stall which was by the roadside...they were selling huge packets of apples for NZD10 per packet...but we only bought a box of mixture of plums, peach and nectarine for NZD6.50...we also feasted on the variety of dried fruits, nuts and nougats that were put out for sampling...liked the apricot nougat so bought some as well..
We reached Queenstown at 630pm...Elena met another Spanish lady while on the bus so we agreed to meet up for dinner at Fergburger at 730pm(apparently this was a must-go fastfood when you're in Queenstown)...so we went hunting for backpacker...we ended up at Gorge St and found the Alpine Lodge which still had vacancy...we got a 6-bedded dorm to ourselves for the night...cost NZD26 each...we put our stuffs and went to look for Starbucks (Elena was thermos-hunting but they didn't have the kind she wanted)...after that, we went to Fergburger...it was packed with people...had to queue up about 10 minutes before they took our orders...and another 20 minutes before my Southern Swine was ready...it cost ND11.50 and the burger was definitely worth the wait...it was probably as huge as Burger King's Whopper...and it tasted real good...
After dinner, we walked to the Lakeside and spent some time at a souvenir shop but didn't buy anything...then we went to the -5 degrees ice bar...but we only took pics from the outside coz entry cost NZD31 with cover drink...Elena, Cam and i went to the Buffalo Club instead...where they had a buy 1 drink free 1 shot or buy 1 beer and free another promotion...i had a glass of white wine for NZD5 and both of them had beer for NZD6.50...not much of a drinker but i think the price is quite cheap...our free shots were sambucca, which was too sweet for Cam and Elena's liking...i found it too sweet as well but for me, it's better sweet than bitter...my white wine wasn't too bad...and the beer wasn't bitter too...then we went back to the backpacker..and yes, i could still walk in a straight line...though i did feel pretty warm after the drinks...so we bathed and slept...would have had a really good night's sleep if it weren't for some idiots who were talking and laughing rather loudly at the lounge outside our room...
At Kea Point, we had a clear and beautiful view of Mt Cook...there was also a glacier lake, the lateral Mueller morraines and Mt Sefton...heard a few avalanches while we were there...the rumbling was pretty loud...saw a small one but didn't manage to get it on camera...after taking enough photos, we headed back...halfway through, Elena called us to look back...so we turned around and lo! a huge avalanche on Mt Sefton...managed to get it on pic...ok, so it wasn't that huge that it almost got us...but it was still a sight to behold...
We stopped by to buy some souvenirs at the gift shop at Hermitage Hotel (only to find out later in Queenstown that we've overpaid for the stuffs)...oh well, should have known better...so we went back to the YHA and packed...had chips and chocolates for lunch...that was all that was left of our groceries...we waited for our bus to Queenstown which departed at 230pm..so we said goodbye to Anna who was continuing her stay at Mt Cook for a week (but she will be in Malaysia in October so we'll get to meet again)...the bus stopped at Omaraha for toilet break...then it stopped another time at Jone's fruit stall which was by the roadside...they were selling huge packets of apples for NZD10 per packet...but we only bought a box of mixture of plums, peach and nectarine for NZD6.50...we also feasted on the variety of dried fruits, nuts and nougats that were put out for sampling...liked the apricot nougat so bought some as well..
We reached Queenstown at 630pm...Elena met another Spanish lady while on the bus so we agreed to meet up for dinner at Fergburger at 730pm(apparently this was a must-go fastfood when you're in Queenstown)...so we went hunting for backpacker...we ended up at Gorge St and found the Alpine Lodge which still had vacancy...we got a 6-bedded dorm to ourselves for the night...cost NZD26 each...we put our stuffs and went to look for Starbucks (Elena was thermos-hunting but they didn't have the kind she wanted)...after that, we went to Fergburger...it was packed with people...had to queue up about 10 minutes before they took our orders...and another 20 minutes before my Southern Swine was ready...it cost ND11.50 and the burger was definitely worth the wait...it was probably as huge as Burger King's Whopper...and it tasted real good...
After dinner, we walked to the Lakeside and spent some time at a souvenir shop but didn't buy anything...then we went to the -5 degrees ice bar...but we only took pics from the outside coz entry cost NZD31 with cover drink...Elena, Cam and i went to the Buffalo Club instead...where they had a buy 1 drink free 1 shot or buy 1 beer and free another promotion...i had a glass of white wine for NZD5 and both of them had beer for NZD6.50...not much of a drinker but i think the price is quite cheap...our free shots were sambucca, which was too sweet for Cam and Elena's liking...i found it too sweet as well but for me, it's better sweet than bitter...my white wine wasn't too bad...and the beer wasn't bitter too...then we went back to the backpacker..and yes, i could still walk in a straight line...though i did feel pretty warm after the drinks...so we bathed and slept...would have had a really good night's sleep if it weren't for some idiots who were talking and laughing rather loudly at the lounge outside our room...
Sunday, September 26, 2010
NZ trip - Day 6
We had to wake up earlier today...about 0640H coz our bus was leaving at 0740H...so we got ready, packed and checked-out....walked about 2 blocks lugging our luggage to the Intercity bus stop...we saw a shop that was exactly where the bus stop was...it had ads selling party pills etc etc...intrigued, but the shop was closed so didn't get to check it out...our bus left on time and so the 3 of us started our journey together....
The bus stopped at Geraldine for breakfast...i had a sweet chilli sandwich which was delicious...i think when you're cold and hungry, everything tastes good...our next stop was Lake Tekapo...which was a glacier lake...so the water was really a lovely shade of turquoise...there was a church there called the Church of the Good Shepherd...it's the most quaint church...and from the altar, you get the loveliest view of the lake...it started raining while we were there...and we saw a rainbow after that while we continued our journey...
I slept for a while in the bus...and the next thing i knew, we were stopping at Lake Pukaki...i think it's the 2nd largest lake in South Island or something like that...it was really huge...and it was dammed at a certain area...we finally reached Mt Cook Village YHA at about 1300H...there were only 3 accomodations there...it was either the YHA (for cheapos like us), a more expensive budget motel or the super-expensive hotel further up called The Hermitage..but we managed to get a 8-bedded dorm all to ourselves...and we paid NZD27 per night (coz we had the YHA card)...we met another lodger who also just reached the YHA the same day (but she came from Queenstown)...her name was Anna and she was from HK...she actually planned to stay in Mt Cook for a week...i guess you can afford that if you have time...
We had cheese sandwich for lunch at the pantry...from our grocery stock which was running low... then we bundled up and headed for Red Tarn Trail...it was raining and really cold...but the 4 crazy girls decided to go for a hike anyway....we were huffing and panting up the trail when about 1/3rd of the way, Elena met a Spanish couple who were on their way down the trail...we were told that apparently from where we were and from the peak, the view is pretty similar...so no point suffering another 2/3rd of the way yea? so we decided to turn back after taking enough photos...gosh! i'm really getting old...really not as fit as i used to be anymore...
We went to the visitor centre to escape the cold...and also to check out their display and exhibition... we were entertaining and amusing ourselves till about 5pm...then we went to the only restaurant there which was called the Old Mountaineer's Restaurant or something like that...we didn't bother checking out the one in the Hermitage Hotel...we ordered Margharita Pizza, Merino Pie and Spagetthi Napoli...the bill came up to NZD18.70 per person...we shared among 3 of us coz Elena was still persistent in trying to finish up her grocery stock...
After dinner, we went back to the hostel and bathed...ahhh..it was good to have a warm shower... then we hung out at the TV room and watched "The Talented Mr Ripley" on a VCR (i thought VCR was extinct) ...starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow...Cam told us it was an interesting show and since none of us had watched it, we decided to try it out...so we snuggled up on the sofa, by the fireplace, eating chips and jellybeans...and chatted away...the movie started out interesting but it just got weirder and spookier...and i was really haunted by the ending...almost couldn't sleep that night...good thing i didn't have nightmare after that...
The bus stopped at Geraldine for breakfast...i had a sweet chilli sandwich which was delicious...i think when you're cold and hungry, everything tastes good...our next stop was Lake Tekapo...which was a glacier lake...so the water was really a lovely shade of turquoise...there was a church there called the Church of the Good Shepherd...it's the most quaint church...and from the altar, you get the loveliest view of the lake...it started raining while we were there...and we saw a rainbow after that while we continued our journey...
I slept for a while in the bus...and the next thing i knew, we were stopping at Lake Pukaki...i think it's the 2nd largest lake in South Island or something like that...it was really huge...and it was dammed at a certain area...we finally reached Mt Cook Village YHA at about 1300H...there were only 3 accomodations there...it was either the YHA (for cheapos like us), a more expensive budget motel or the super-expensive hotel further up called The Hermitage..but we managed to get a 8-bedded dorm all to ourselves...and we paid NZD27 per night (coz we had the YHA card)...we met another lodger who also just reached the YHA the same day (but she came from Queenstown)...her name was Anna and she was from HK...she actually planned to stay in Mt Cook for a week...i guess you can afford that if you have time...
We had cheese sandwich for lunch at the pantry...from our grocery stock which was running low... then we bundled up and headed for Red Tarn Trail...it was raining and really cold...but the 4 crazy girls decided to go for a hike anyway....we were huffing and panting up the trail when about 1/3rd of the way, Elena met a Spanish couple who were on their way down the trail...we were told that apparently from where we were and from the peak, the view is pretty similar...so no point suffering another 2/3rd of the way yea? so we decided to turn back after taking enough photos...gosh! i'm really getting old...really not as fit as i used to be anymore...
We went to the visitor centre to escape the cold...and also to check out their display and exhibition... we were entertaining and amusing ourselves till about 5pm...then we went to the only restaurant there which was called the Old Mountaineer's Restaurant or something like that...we didn't bother checking out the one in the Hermitage Hotel...we ordered Margharita Pizza, Merino Pie and Spagetthi Napoli...the bill came up to NZD18.70 per person...we shared among 3 of us coz Elena was still persistent in trying to finish up her grocery stock...
After dinner, we went back to the hostel and bathed...ahhh..it was good to have a warm shower... then we hung out at the TV room and watched "The Talented Mr Ripley" on a VCR (i thought VCR was extinct) ...starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow...Cam told us it was an interesting show and since none of us had watched it, we decided to try it out...so we snuggled up on the sofa, by the fireplace, eating chips and jellybeans...and chatted away...the movie started out interesting but it just got weirder and spookier...and i was really haunted by the ending...almost couldn't sleep that night...good thing i didn't have nightmare after that...
NZ Trip - Day 5
After a totally knocked-out night, we woke up about 8am, got ready and packed...then we checked out and walked to the train station which was just opposite the backpacker...we shopped for our breakfast and bought some groceries...then we took the shuttle bus to the Interislander Ferry terminal...that cost us NZD2 but i'm glad we didn't try to save that NZD2 and walked there...coz it was quite a drive and there were a lot of turnings...hehe...
So we checked in for our ferry ride...had our breakfast while waiting to board the ferry...we were quite amazed when we boarded the ferry (which was called Arahura) coz it was huge...equipped with a cinema, children's playroom, private lounge, cafe and convenient store...we departed at 1025H and our journey lasted aout 3 hours...i slept part of the way but as we were reaching Picton, Cam woke me up to see the beautiful scenery that surrounded us...so we went up the deck and took lots of pics of the lovely view...after that, we went to the cafe and bought some Rush Munro ice-cream...i had maple walnut while Cam ate hokey-pokey...soon after, it was time to disembark...
We checked-in our luggage through to Christchurch so we didn't have to lug our bags while walking to the train station in Picton...we had about 25 mins to get from the ferry terminal to the train station...our Tranzscenic train left at 1400H and we travelled about 5 1/2 hours before reaching Christchurch...we stopped in between...for views and all...there was a place we stopped which was called Kaikoura...it was famous for whale and dolphin watching...we went down for a while and almost missed our train...along the way we saw seals, sheep, cows on the field, snow-capped mountains and Lake Gressmer, which was New Zealand's main source of salt...the lake was huge and it was separated into squares...and there were also processing factories nearby where we saw heaps of salt...
We reached Christchurch at 1921H...by the time we got our luggage, the info counter was closed...and the last shuttle bus of the day has also left and the train master told us that it would take about 40 minutes to walk to the city centre...so this was the story of how Elena came to join us in our New Zealand trip...so while we were pondering on how to get to the city centre, a Spanish girl came and asked us if we wanted to share a cab...there was another poor helpless Japanese girl who was left behind as well...so the 4 of us shared a cab which cost us NZD20 and stopped at Cathedral Square...the Japanese girl then left us to meet up with her friends...so the 3 of us went to the visitor information centre where we sought help to find a place to stay for the night...unfortunately the Japanese girl there wasn't too helpful..so we tried our luck at some backpackers...BB's Backpacker was full..so we found a backpacker at Gloucester St called Stonehurst...Elena decided to join us to share a triple room with ensuite bathroom for NZD83 per night...which was a pretty good deal coz the room had a TV, coffee/tea drinking facility and it was cozy...about the nicest backpacker we've had by far...
Cam saw a sign on the way to our backpacker which read steak for NZD10 on Wednesday night...so these 2 starving ladies went to fill our stomachs with sumptious steak while Elena stayed back to eat her bread...Cam was doubly happy coz the waiter who was serving us was cute...so after a hearty dinner, we went back to the backpacker...Elena told us she booked her Queenstown to Auckland flight on Sunday (29/8/10)....coz earlier i told her that we'd be leaving Queenstown on Sunday thinking that Sunday was 30/8/10...Damn! due to my stupid mistake, we have caused Elena to book the wrong flight...coz initially she planned to leave Queenstown on Monday as well but i think when i told her that we were leaving on Sunday, she must have decided to travel with us...
So in the end, Cam and i decided to change our itinerary...so we wouldn't be staying an extra day in Christchurch...so we booked our bus to Mt Cook for the next day for NZD63 and then our bus from Mt Cook to Queenstown the day after for NZD78...we also booked our Milford Sound tour on 28/8/10 coz we were afraid there wouldn't be time to do so coz everything was pretty rushed...the tour cost NZD145...really thank God that the reception at our backpacker was this very nice lady who was willing to help us although it was quite late at night...her name was Catherine...
Since we weren't going to go around Christchurch, Cam wanted to go to Cathedral Square to take some photos...it was drizzling a bit...and the square was devoid of human beings except for us 3 girls...and it was bloody cold...we even took a picture of the tram stop since we weren't going to take the tram...so thanks to me, we didn't get to go for river punting, the tram and gondola ride...after we've had enough pics, we went back to the room, bathed and slept coz tomorrow was a full day ahead...
So we checked in for our ferry ride...had our breakfast while waiting to board the ferry...we were quite amazed when we boarded the ferry (which was called Arahura) coz it was huge...equipped with a cinema, children's playroom, private lounge, cafe and convenient store...we departed at 1025H and our journey lasted aout 3 hours...i slept part of the way but as we were reaching Picton, Cam woke me up to see the beautiful scenery that surrounded us...so we went up the deck and took lots of pics of the lovely view...after that, we went to the cafe and bought some Rush Munro ice-cream...i had maple walnut while Cam ate hokey-pokey...soon after, it was time to disembark...
We checked-in our luggage through to Christchurch so we didn't have to lug our bags while walking to the train station in Picton...we had about 25 mins to get from the ferry terminal to the train station...our Tranzscenic train left at 1400H and we travelled about 5 1/2 hours before reaching Christchurch...we stopped in between...for views and all...there was a place we stopped which was called Kaikoura...it was famous for whale and dolphin watching...we went down for a while and almost missed our train...along the way we saw seals, sheep, cows on the field, snow-capped mountains and Lake Gressmer, which was New Zealand's main source of salt...the lake was huge and it was separated into squares...and there were also processing factories nearby where we saw heaps of salt...
We reached Christchurch at 1921H...by the time we got our luggage, the info counter was closed...and the last shuttle bus of the day has also left and the train master told us that it would take about 40 minutes to walk to the city centre...so this was the story of how Elena came to join us in our New Zealand trip...so while we were pondering on how to get to the city centre, a Spanish girl came and asked us if we wanted to share a cab...there was another poor helpless Japanese girl who was left behind as well...so the 4 of us shared a cab which cost us NZD20 and stopped at Cathedral Square...the Japanese girl then left us to meet up with her friends...so the 3 of us went to the visitor information centre where we sought help to find a place to stay for the night...unfortunately the Japanese girl there wasn't too helpful..so we tried our luck at some backpackers...BB's Backpacker was full..so we found a backpacker at Gloucester St called Stonehurst...Elena decided to join us to share a triple room with ensuite bathroom for NZD83 per night...which was a pretty good deal coz the room had a TV, coffee/tea drinking facility and it was cozy...about the nicest backpacker we've had by far...
Cam saw a sign on the way to our backpacker which read steak for NZD10 on Wednesday night...so these 2 starving ladies went to fill our stomachs with sumptious steak while Elena stayed back to eat her bread...Cam was doubly happy coz the waiter who was serving us was cute...so after a hearty dinner, we went back to the backpacker...Elena told us she booked her Queenstown to Auckland flight on Sunday (29/8/10)....coz earlier i told her that we'd be leaving Queenstown on Sunday thinking that Sunday was 30/8/10...Damn! due to my stupid mistake, we have caused Elena to book the wrong flight...coz initially she planned to leave Queenstown on Monday as well but i think when i told her that we were leaving on Sunday, she must have decided to travel with us...
So in the end, Cam and i decided to change our itinerary...so we wouldn't be staying an extra day in Christchurch...so we booked our bus to Mt Cook for the next day for NZD63 and then our bus from Mt Cook to Queenstown the day after for NZD78...we also booked our Milford Sound tour on 28/8/10 coz we were afraid there wouldn't be time to do so coz everything was pretty rushed...the tour cost NZD145...really thank God that the reception at our backpacker was this very nice lady who was willing to help us although it was quite late at night...her name was Catherine...
Since we weren't going to go around Christchurch, Cam wanted to go to Cathedral Square to take some photos...it was drizzling a bit...and the square was devoid of human beings except for us 3 girls...and it was bloody cold...we even took a picture of the tram stop since we weren't going to take the tram...so thanks to me, we didn't get to go for river punting, the tram and gondola ride...after we've had enough pics, we went back to the room, bathed and slept coz tomorrow was a full day ahead...
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Excuse me, i'm not your one-stop CBD insertion referral centre...
I don't know since when a urology MO has become the only MO who can insert CBD for patients who can't pass urine/ has swollen penis but apparently for the last few days, it has come to that...it's quite irritating to get referrals like that when there are hundred over patients in the clinic waiting to be reviewed...and as if i'm not seeing enough penises and scrotums per day in the clinic, i have to see them in other wards as well...
On Monday an MO from a particular ward called me up to help one of her patient who had bladder tumour and had acute urinary retention...she told me she tried inserting a size 16 urinary catheter but it wouldn't go in...so i went to see the patient...i tried size 18 and 20 but he probably had some anterior urethral stricture coz those sizes wouldn't pass through...i thought of inserting a cystofix but i couldn't even see which was the bladder proper from the ultrasound...so in the end i tried a size 14 and it passed through...phew!!! and i found out from the nurse that the MO didn't actually try inserting a urinary catheter on the patient...
On Wednesday, i got a call from the same MO...about the same patient...apparently his urinary catheter dislodged while he was sleeping...pretty amazing considering there was a water-filled balloon that prevents the catheter from getting dislodge and one would need to yank really hard and traumatize the urethra to get it out without deflating the balloon...i asked the MO to re-insert another size 14...she asked her nurse to call me back after 15 mins telling me she failed...fine! so i went to re-insert a catheter for the patient...couldn't get a size 14 in this time, so i tried a size 16...it went in easily...no resistance whatsoever...@#$#$%%^
The same afternoon, a Queen Casualty HO called me for CBD insertion...i had just left Queen earlier and had just reached SMC...reason for CBD insertion: to monitor urine output...patient was ventilated for APO...reason for difficult insertion: patient's penis is very oedematous...i asked the HO...did you try inserting it yourself...he said yes but failed...i asked if his MO tried and failed too...his answer, i quote "i don't think my MOs can insert a CBD becoz they haven't done it for a long time".... what the #$%$%&^*^&!!!?!!!
And an ortho HO referred a patient with generalized scrotal and penile swelling to me...patient has been practically bed-bound for a week...has low albumin...and he wants me to rule out scrotal infection....why do i keep getting referrals like that? when i was doing general surgery calls, i used to get referrals for scrotal swelling...now i'm i uro, i still get referrals for scrotal swelling...just wait till i'm back in general surgery...i will never see a scrotal swelling, ever again...
So i went to Queen Casualty after my rounds in SMC...i looked at the patient's penis...yea well, it was swollen...but i could still see the urethral meatus...no reason why any doctor who is not blind shouldn't be able to insert a urinary cathether for the patient...so i tried a size 14....there was only some mild resistance at the prostatic urethra which after some adjustment, the catheter was in the bladder...for goodness sake...i'm not a one-stop CBD insertion referral centre...
What is happening to the doctors these days? what? only uro MOs can insert CBD is it? if this continues, there will come a day when things get so bad that "refer to surgical MO for nasogastric tube insertion" becomes a routine...as it is, i've gotten 2 referrals "refer to surgical MO for proctoscopy"....as if we were never thought how to do a proctoscopy in medical school...oh Lord, give me strength to stay sane...this is really stretching my limit....
On Monday an MO from a particular ward called me up to help one of her patient who had bladder tumour and had acute urinary retention...she told me she tried inserting a size 16 urinary catheter but it wouldn't go in...so i went to see the patient...i tried size 18 and 20 but he probably had some anterior urethral stricture coz those sizes wouldn't pass through...i thought of inserting a cystofix but i couldn't even see which was the bladder proper from the ultrasound...so in the end i tried a size 14 and it passed through...phew!!! and i found out from the nurse that the MO didn't actually try inserting a urinary catheter on the patient...
On Wednesday, i got a call from the same MO...about the same patient...apparently his urinary catheter dislodged while he was sleeping...pretty amazing considering there was a water-filled balloon that prevents the catheter from getting dislodge and one would need to yank really hard and traumatize the urethra to get it out without deflating the balloon...i asked the MO to re-insert another size 14...she asked her nurse to call me back after 15 mins telling me she failed...fine! so i went to re-insert a catheter for the patient...couldn't get a size 14 in this time, so i tried a size 16...it went in easily...no resistance whatsoever...@#$#$%%^
The same afternoon, a Queen Casualty HO called me for CBD insertion...i had just left Queen earlier and had just reached SMC...reason for CBD insertion: to monitor urine output...patient was ventilated for APO...reason for difficult insertion: patient's penis is very oedematous...i asked the HO...did you try inserting it yourself...he said yes but failed...i asked if his MO tried and failed too...his answer, i quote "i don't think my MOs can insert a CBD becoz they haven't done it for a long time".... what the #$%$%&^*^&!!!?!!!
And an ortho HO referred a patient with generalized scrotal and penile swelling to me...patient has been practically bed-bound for a week...has low albumin...and he wants me to rule out scrotal infection....why do i keep getting referrals like that? when i was doing general surgery calls, i used to get referrals for scrotal swelling...now i'm i uro, i still get referrals for scrotal swelling...just wait till i'm back in general surgery...i will never see a scrotal swelling, ever again...
So i went to Queen Casualty after my rounds in SMC...i looked at the patient's penis...yea well, it was swollen...but i could still see the urethral meatus...no reason why any doctor who is not blind shouldn't be able to insert a urinary cathether for the patient...so i tried a size 14....there was only some mild resistance at the prostatic urethra which after some adjustment, the catheter was in the bladder...for goodness sake...i'm not a one-stop CBD insertion referral centre...
What is happening to the doctors these days? what? only uro MOs can insert CBD is it? if this continues, there will come a day when things get so bad that "refer to surgical MO for nasogastric tube insertion" becomes a routine...as it is, i've gotten 2 referrals "refer to surgical MO for proctoscopy"....as if we were never thought how to do a proctoscopy in medical school...oh Lord, give me strength to stay sane...this is really stretching my limit....
Saturday, September 18, 2010
NZ trip - Day 4
After a most suffering night on the bus, we made it to Wellington at 7am...feeling like a zonked out zombie...the bus stopped us at the train station...so we brushed teeth and freshened up in the toilet...then we went for breakfast at the cafe...had an Italian beef pie and hot chocolate with marshmallow....ahhhh..a warm meal to a bloody cold day...it was probably 8-9 degrees Celsius and it's cold even in the train station...we waited for our tour pick-up...we were going for the LOTR 1/2 day tour which we booked with Rover Tour...our guide Randall came on time and Cam and i were the only tourists of the day...
So off we started our tour...Wellington reminded me of Sydney/ HK...there were lots of houses on the hill...and practically everywhere faces the sea....Randall drove us to Mt Victoria...at the lookout, it was drizzling a bit...and we saw a double rainbow...it felt like a good start to a good day...then we went to the forest reserve where the 1st few opening scenes of "Fellowship of the Ring" were filmed...one was called "Shortcut to Mushroom" where Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin were running through a maze field and fell off a slope...followed by the "Get out of the Road" scene where Frodo sensed the Nazgul was approaching....and there was also a scene in the extended version where Frodo was sitting on a tree nook smoking his pipe while Sam was cooking bacon...Cam and i took turns to act out the scene for photo shoot...hehe...
Then we went round the Oriental Bay where there were lovely houses perched on hills...saw another dream house which was perched on a corner of the hill almost by itself...it was a mocha coloured double storey bungalow...beautiful exterior...and location...and i imagine the view from the house would be just amazing...unfortunately i didn't get a photo of it...
Randall drove us to the other side of the city where the Hutt River runs...scenes on River Anduin and River Rohan were shot on Hutt River...then we went to Kaitoke Regional Park where Rivendell was set up...the temperate forest really have the Rivendell feel...Randall made us put on a cloak and fake elf ears and hold a fake Legolas sword...then we posed for pics...posing for the pics was really funny...Cam found it really lame...but i had fun...we also walked the Swing bridge...and had morning tea there where we fed the mallard ducks with blueberry muffins...
After that, our tour was over...but Randall was very kind..he dropped us back at Downtown Backpackers to check-in...he said he was staying in one of the rooms there too...he helped to clean out the kitchen to reduce his rent...after that, he took us to Wellywood (NZ's version of Hollywood)... we saw the production warehouses where the likes of Peter Jackson film and produce their movies...we also visited the Weta Cave....saw a lots of collectibles for LOTR, the Chronicles of Narnia, King Kong etc...thought of buying the 'Ring' or Arwen's pendant...but they were so expensive...
Randall then took us back to our backpacker...we got a twin bunk with shared bathroom for NZD60 per night...the room was pretty old but at least it was clean...we were pretty tired but we still continued exploring Wellington...we walked along Queen's Wharf towards Te Papa Museum...totally dragged ourselves through the floors for about 2 hours...the exhibitions and displays were good...but i think we were too worn out to appreciated them...so we decided to have dinner...Randall told us Viggo Mortensen and the other LOTR cast stayed in Duxton Hotel and Viggo liked having lunch at the Green Parrot Cafe...we wanted to have dinner there but the food was a bit expensive...so we walked further down the road and found Pizzeria Napoli where we had Pizza Garibaldi for NZD18 and calamari fritti for NZD5...it was quite a good deal...the pizza was great...
Randall also told us we should catch a movie at the Embassy Theatre at Courtney Place which has the largest screen and hall in NZ (fills about 800 ppl)...initially we wanted to watch 'Inception' at 845pm but we were exhausted...but it was really a waste coz it's a must-do thing in Wellington..and Wednesday night was movie night so the tickets were NZD10 only...but i think we would have ended up sleeping in the cinema if we went...so we went back to our hostel and bathed...ate our kiwis at the dining room...then went out to see the night harbour view...the moon was full that night... so asked Cam to take a pic of me looking at the moon...
Since we were wearing slippers only and it was damn cold, we decided to get back into the warmth but then Cam realized she lost her camera cover...so we had to go out and hunt for it again...guess she must have dropped it when she squatted to take my moon pic...thank God we found it...then we came back to the room...talked a bit and slept really soundly...
So off we started our tour...Wellington reminded me of Sydney/ HK...there were lots of houses on the hill...and practically everywhere faces the sea....Randall drove us to Mt Victoria...at the lookout, it was drizzling a bit...and we saw a double rainbow...it felt like a good start to a good day...then we went to the forest reserve where the 1st few opening scenes of "Fellowship of the Ring" were filmed...one was called "Shortcut to Mushroom" where Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin were running through a maze field and fell off a slope...followed by the "Get out of the Road" scene where Frodo sensed the Nazgul was approaching....and there was also a scene in the extended version where Frodo was sitting on a tree nook smoking his pipe while Sam was cooking bacon...Cam and i took turns to act out the scene for photo shoot...hehe...
Then we went round the Oriental Bay where there were lovely houses perched on hills...saw another dream house which was perched on a corner of the hill almost by itself...it was a mocha coloured double storey bungalow...beautiful exterior...and location...and i imagine the view from the house would be just amazing...unfortunately i didn't get a photo of it...
Randall drove us to the other side of the city where the Hutt River runs...scenes on River Anduin and River Rohan were shot on Hutt River...then we went to Kaitoke Regional Park where Rivendell was set up...the temperate forest really have the Rivendell feel...Randall made us put on a cloak and fake elf ears and hold a fake Legolas sword...then we posed for pics...posing for the pics was really funny...Cam found it really lame...but i had fun...we also walked the Swing bridge...and had morning tea there where we fed the mallard ducks with blueberry muffins...
After that, our tour was over...but Randall was very kind..he dropped us back at Downtown Backpackers to check-in...he said he was staying in one of the rooms there too...he helped to clean out the kitchen to reduce his rent...after that, he took us to Wellywood (NZ's version of Hollywood)... we saw the production warehouses where the likes of Peter Jackson film and produce their movies...we also visited the Weta Cave....saw a lots of collectibles for LOTR, the Chronicles of Narnia, King Kong etc...thought of buying the 'Ring' or Arwen's pendant...but they were so expensive...
Randall then took us back to our backpacker...we got a twin bunk with shared bathroom for NZD60 per night...the room was pretty old but at least it was clean...we were pretty tired but we still continued exploring Wellington...we walked along Queen's Wharf towards Te Papa Museum...totally dragged ourselves through the floors for about 2 hours...the exhibitions and displays were good...but i think we were too worn out to appreciated them...so we decided to have dinner...Randall told us Viggo Mortensen and the other LOTR cast stayed in Duxton Hotel and Viggo liked having lunch at the Green Parrot Cafe...we wanted to have dinner there but the food was a bit expensive...so we walked further down the road and found Pizzeria Napoli where we had Pizza Garibaldi for NZD18 and calamari fritti for NZD5...it was quite a good deal...the pizza was great...
Randall also told us we should catch a movie at the Embassy Theatre at Courtney Place which has the largest screen and hall in NZ (fills about 800 ppl)...initially we wanted to watch 'Inception' at 845pm but we were exhausted...but it was really a waste coz it's a must-do thing in Wellington..and Wednesday night was movie night so the tickets were NZD10 only...but i think we would have ended up sleeping in the cinema if we went...so we went back to our hostel and bathed...ate our kiwis at the dining room...then went out to see the night harbour view...the moon was full that night... so asked Cam to take a pic of me looking at the moon...
Since we were wearing slippers only and it was damn cold, we decided to get back into the warmth but then Cam realized she lost her camera cover...so we had to go out and hunt for it again...guess she must have dropped it when she squatted to take my moon pic...thank God we found it...then we came back to the room...talked a bit and slept really soundly...
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Happy Malaysia Day!!!
Had a good call last night...thank God for His mercy....totally slept from 1130pm till 8am this morning... and amazingly, no calls...finally got up about 1030am to bathe....then went to K-box to meet Elaine for our Chinese lessons...asked Grace but she was tired from her call last night...so she didn't join us... we had lunch at K-box and sang for about 2 hours plus...sang some new songs...like JJ Lin's 一个又一个 , 神木與瞳's 宽恕, 好想为你哭, 王力宏's 材米油盐酱醋茶....but they didn't have his 你不知道的事...
After that, i came home and tried sleeping some more...but kept waking up...so decided to wake up... saw my boss online so was chatting with him...guess he was having a good call since he could be at home online...hehe...was feeling hungry by about 6pm...so had a stick of chocolate...and messaged Sharon if she was free for dinner...she was...so we went to Fruit Monster at Lintas...haven't met her for about 2 months de...so it was good to catch up...i was basically complaining about work...and she said i was scaring her into not coming back to work...hehe...
She told me she had a dream about me having a baby...i was like, weird...so i asked if my baby was brown...and she said it was a boy...and he looked like a Chindian...and she was carrying the baby and saying "he looks so cute"...good, guess he took after me then...hahaha...and i asked her, i don't suppose there was a 'husband' by my side...and she said, yea there wasn't...i hope her dream isn't prophetic...but funny thing was, i was thinking that if it did happen, then it wasn't a bad thing after all...i got my baby...it may be difficult to be a single mother...so i don't need a man who would add to my misery...Sharon's lucky to have Pang...he's a good husband and father...who loves his wife and would do the housework to help Sharon out at home...
Oh well, guess it's que sera sera...Happy Malaysia Day!!! tomorrow i'm on call again...
After that, i came home and tried sleeping some more...but kept waking up...so decided to wake up... saw my boss online so was chatting with him...guess he was having a good call since he could be at home online...hehe...was feeling hungry by about 6pm...so had a stick of chocolate...and messaged Sharon if she was free for dinner...she was...so we went to Fruit Monster at Lintas...haven't met her for about 2 months de...so it was good to catch up...i was basically complaining about work...and she said i was scaring her into not coming back to work...hehe...
She told me she had a dream about me having a baby...i was like, weird...so i asked if my baby was brown...and she said it was a boy...and he looked like a Chindian...and she was carrying the baby and saying "he looks so cute"...good, guess he took after me then...hahaha...and i asked her, i don't suppose there was a 'husband' by my side...and she said, yea there wasn't...i hope her dream isn't prophetic...but funny thing was, i was thinking that if it did happen, then it wasn't a bad thing after all...i got my baby...it may be difficult to be a single mother...so i don't need a man who would add to my misery...Sharon's lucky to have Pang...he's a good husband and father...who loves his wife and would do the housework to help Sharon out at home...
Oh well, guess it's que sera sera...Happy Malaysia Day!!! tomorrow i'm on call again...
NZ trip - Day 3
We woke up at 735am to get ready...then we went to the isite at 8am to book a rented car...we managed to get a car from Budget Rental Car for the day...cost us NZD70.00 for the day...GPS another NZD12.00...when we went to collect the car, we were whooping with delight to find the car of the day was a grey Mazda 3X...we thought we'd be getting an old small car...hehe...Cam was the driver of the day...she was so excited to drive...
Our first stop was the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland which was about 45 mins from Rotorua... we walked around the reserve, which reeked of hydrogen sulphide...but otherwise, the place was pretty amazing...it was all misty with yellow smoke escaping from fumaroles...there were craters which were named Devil's Home, Thunder Crater, Rainbow Crater, Birdnest Crater etc...there was a Champagne Pool...a Bridal Veil Falls...Primrose Terrace...a Devil's Bath which was a small lake containing a funky green colour water...the whole place was really colourful...mixture of yellow, orange, brown, green... unfortunately we were rushing for time to catch the Lady Knox Geyser which was erupting at 1015am...
So we didn't manage to walk the whole reserve...about 1005am we rushed to our car only to find the place where we parked our car was locked...shit!!! it was our fault really coz the place was the staff parking...hehe...good thing we managed to find the guy to unlock the gate...so we made it in time for the Lady Knox Geyser eruption...it was really cool...apparently some guy found out that you can induce a geyser eruption by dropping a bar of soap into the geyser...so the guy demonstrated to us by dropping a pack of surfactant into the geyser....about 2 minutes later, the geyser started erupting...and swoosh!!! the eruption went as high as about 30 metres i think...after that, we went to some mud pools...of course we didn't get any mud bath...coz the place was boiling...blub, blub, blub...
Next stop was Lake Taupo...which was about an hour's drive away...we reached there about lunch time...there was nothing much there except for the lake...unless you were doing all the extreme sports like bungy jumping...we were rushing to Waitomo which was about 2 hours drive...so we ta pau a Subway Pork Riblet foot-long sandwich to eat on the way...i shared with Jeanne coz Cam ate the ham and cheese sandwich i made for our breakfast...so we were kinda doing the amazing race drive when halfway through Jeanne popped the question: Are we on the right track?...and suddenly everyone paused...and doubt crept into everyone's mind...and so Cam actually stopped by the roadside to check the GPS...of course we were on the right track...so phew!!!
We reached Waitomo with just 10 minutes to spare for our tour at the Waitomo Cave...we stopped at the Long Black Cafe to ask where to meet for the Waitomo Cave tour...took a toilet break there coz i had been holding my bladder for the past 2 hours...then we drove a bit further down the road and made it just in time for our 220pm tour...the tour took about 45 minutes...and our guide showed us the stalactites and stalacmites with odd designs...the highlight was when we went for a boat ride in the cave and saw thousands of glow worms on the cave ceiling...they were like stars in the sky.... really amazing!!!
Then we drove back to the Long Black Cafe to wait for our pick-up to Ruakuri Cave...our guide's name was Lucas, who was probably a Maori mixed Kiwi...he told us Ruakuri means 'two dogs'... Cam and Jeanne had the hots for him...kept calling him 'leng chai, leng chai, leng chai'...hehe...he had too much beard for my liking...the cave was cool (and freaking cold)...we had to walk down a spiral landing to get to the entrance of the cave...and the entrance to the cave is a futuristic, space-ship like hallway...we saw more glow worms...and more upclose too..and this time we could take photos of them...and we even saw the actual look of a glow worm...it wasn't too pretty...after about 2 hours walk in the cave, it was time to go...Lucas told us earlier that the acoustic at the spiral landing was great...so as we were walking up, at Jeanne's request, i sang "Wonderful Tonight"...really, the acoustic was great...it actually made me sound good...there was another elderly Caucasian couple with us on the tour...and the guy actually commented that "he felt like he was in heaven"...hahaha, i'm not going to read too much into it and will just take it as a compliment...
It was dinner time...so we stopped by at McDonald's before we started our drive back to Rotorua... i had a bacon and BBQ burger...they didn't have chilli sauce so we had honey mustard sauce instead...which was quite yummy...Jeanne drove the way back...at one T-junction, the GPS didn't show the way to turn and we kinda panicked a while...but we managed to reach Rotorua without getting lost despite the GPS bringing us through small roads...we went back to the YHA and bathed...Jeanne was staying another night at Rotorua before going back to Auckland...she stayed in a 4-bedded dorm...there were 2 Japanese girls and another black girl from London whose name was Naomi...
We found out that she had been travelling in Australia and NZ since November 2009...she even shared about how she got conned by a MoneyGram scam...she would be visiting Malaysia before going back to London...ahh...how nice...i wish i could be travelling that long...Cam and i drove the car back to the car rental place and dropped the keys...then we waited for our InterCity bus from Rotorua to Wellington which was scheduled to leave at 1125pm...the bus was actually late...so we went to a nearby backpacker to use the toilet before we boarded the bus...there was another guy waiting for the bus as well and he actually asked us if he missed the bus...like we would know... anyway, the bus ride was quite a horrible one as we hardly slept at all coz the seat couldn't fully recline and it was cold...but we made it to Wellington anyhow...
Our first stop was the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland which was about 45 mins from Rotorua... we walked around the reserve, which reeked of hydrogen sulphide...but otherwise, the place was pretty amazing...it was all misty with yellow smoke escaping from fumaroles...there were craters which were named Devil's Home, Thunder Crater, Rainbow Crater, Birdnest Crater etc...there was a Champagne Pool...a Bridal Veil Falls...Primrose Terrace...a Devil's Bath which was a small lake containing a funky green colour water...the whole place was really colourful...mixture of yellow, orange, brown, green... unfortunately we were rushing for time to catch the Lady Knox Geyser which was erupting at 1015am...
So we didn't manage to walk the whole reserve...about 1005am we rushed to our car only to find the place where we parked our car was locked...shit!!! it was our fault really coz the place was the staff parking...hehe...good thing we managed to find the guy to unlock the gate...so we made it in time for the Lady Knox Geyser eruption...it was really cool...apparently some guy found out that you can induce a geyser eruption by dropping a bar of soap into the geyser...so the guy demonstrated to us by dropping a pack of surfactant into the geyser....about 2 minutes later, the geyser started erupting...and swoosh!!! the eruption went as high as about 30 metres i think...after that, we went to some mud pools...of course we didn't get any mud bath...coz the place was boiling...blub, blub, blub...
Next stop was Lake Taupo...which was about an hour's drive away...we reached there about lunch time...there was nothing much there except for the lake...unless you were doing all the extreme sports like bungy jumping...we were rushing to Waitomo which was about 2 hours drive...so we ta pau a Subway Pork Riblet foot-long sandwich to eat on the way...i shared with Jeanne coz Cam ate the ham and cheese sandwich i made for our breakfast...so we were kinda doing the amazing race drive when halfway through Jeanne popped the question: Are we on the right track?...and suddenly everyone paused...and doubt crept into everyone's mind...and so Cam actually stopped by the roadside to check the GPS...of course we were on the right track...so phew!!!
We reached Waitomo with just 10 minutes to spare for our tour at the Waitomo Cave...we stopped at the Long Black Cafe to ask where to meet for the Waitomo Cave tour...took a toilet break there coz i had been holding my bladder for the past 2 hours...then we drove a bit further down the road and made it just in time for our 220pm tour...the tour took about 45 minutes...and our guide showed us the stalactites and stalacmites with odd designs...the highlight was when we went for a boat ride in the cave and saw thousands of glow worms on the cave ceiling...they were like stars in the sky.... really amazing!!!
Then we drove back to the Long Black Cafe to wait for our pick-up to Ruakuri Cave...our guide's name was Lucas, who was probably a Maori mixed Kiwi...he told us Ruakuri means 'two dogs'... Cam and Jeanne had the hots for him...kept calling him 'leng chai, leng chai, leng chai'...hehe...he had too much beard for my liking...the cave was cool (and freaking cold)...we had to walk down a spiral landing to get to the entrance of the cave...and the entrance to the cave is a futuristic, space-ship like hallway...we saw more glow worms...and more upclose too..and this time we could take photos of them...and we even saw the actual look of a glow worm...it wasn't too pretty...after about 2 hours walk in the cave, it was time to go...Lucas told us earlier that the acoustic at the spiral landing was great...so as we were walking up, at Jeanne's request, i sang "Wonderful Tonight"...really, the acoustic was great...it actually made me sound good...there was another elderly Caucasian couple with us on the tour...and the guy actually commented that "he felt like he was in heaven"...hahaha, i'm not going to read too much into it and will just take it as a compliment...
It was dinner time...so we stopped by at McDonald's before we started our drive back to Rotorua... i had a bacon and BBQ burger...they didn't have chilli sauce so we had honey mustard sauce instead...which was quite yummy...Jeanne drove the way back...at one T-junction, the GPS didn't show the way to turn and we kinda panicked a while...but we managed to reach Rotorua without getting lost despite the GPS bringing us through small roads...we went back to the YHA and bathed...Jeanne was staying another night at Rotorua before going back to Auckland...she stayed in a 4-bedded dorm...there were 2 Japanese girls and another black girl from London whose name was Naomi...
We found out that she had been travelling in Australia and NZ since November 2009...she even shared about how she got conned by a MoneyGram scam...she would be visiting Malaysia before going back to London...ahh...how nice...i wish i could be travelling that long...Cam and i drove the car back to the car rental place and dropped the keys...then we waited for our InterCity bus from Rotorua to Wellington which was scheduled to leave at 1125pm...the bus was actually late...so we went to a nearby backpacker to use the toilet before we boarded the bus...there was another guy waiting for the bus as well and he actually asked us if he missed the bus...like we would know... anyway, the bus ride was quite a horrible one as we hardly slept at all coz the seat couldn't fully recline and it was cold...but we made it to Wellington anyhow...
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Weird dream...
Dreamland is a treacherous water to tread on...ppl say that's where your subconscious desire is awakened...but is it really? for the longest time i haven't been dreaming...or at least if i did, it wasn't weird enough to spook me into remembering it...but this morning i woke up from a weird dream... i dreamt that i got back together with my ex...the good ex...ok, so you're thinking, that's not weird...in fact it's quite normal...it's just that i found it weird coz before i fell asleep last night, i was thinking of 2 different guys...neither one was my good ex...so how on earth did my good ex appeared in my dream?
Hmmm, so does it mean that subconsciously, that's what i want? but i don't even think about getting back together with him during my waking hours...even though i'll be seeing him more often nowadays since he's back in town...and he's already dating someone else anyway...and i'm not even heartbroken about that...or has my heart learn how to lie to my mind so well that my mind can't even tell that my heart is lying? or is it the other way round? can your mind and heart really be dichotomized? sigh...i'm so screwed up....
Just saw my ex-roommate Sharan's FB status update...i quote: Today I asked John if he wanted to buy a Dreamcatcher for the bike. He said "No dear, i don't need a Dreamcatcher anymore since i already caught my dream, i caught you". awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (but i think he didnt want to spend money lah thats why)...quote end...hehe, that's so sweet and cute...so happy for her that she's happily married now...but can't help wondering when i'll catch my dream...if at all...
Hmmm, so does it mean that subconsciously, that's what i want? but i don't even think about getting back together with him during my waking hours...even though i'll be seeing him more often nowadays since he's back in town...and he's already dating someone else anyway...and i'm not even heartbroken about that...or has my heart learn how to lie to my mind so well that my mind can't even tell that my heart is lying? or is it the other way round? can your mind and heart really be dichotomized? sigh...i'm so screwed up....
Just saw my ex-roommate Sharan's FB status update...i quote: Today I asked John if he wanted to buy a Dreamcatcher for the bike. He said "No dear, i don't need a Dreamcatcher anymore since i already caught my dream, i caught you". awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (but i think he didnt want to spend money lah thats why)...quote end...hehe, that's so sweet and cute...so happy for her that she's happily married now...but can't help wondering when i'll catch my dream...if at all...
Sunday, September 12, 2010
NZ trip - Day 2
Despite staying up late into the night with our girls talk, we managed to drag ourselves to wake up at 7am...we quickly got ready and lugged our luggage to the bus station...Cam, Jeanne and I were taking the 8am Nakedbus to Rotorua...needless to say, i slept most of the 4 hours-journey...totally missed whatever great view there was along the way...we went to the isite in Rotorua to book our tickets for the Mitai Village tour, YHA room and the LOTR tour in Wellington...we then left out luggage at the YHA (Jeanne was a bit pissed off at the reception guy coz he was quite rude) and started exploring the town...
We went to the Rotorua Museum which used to be a bath house...the building was quite Victorian...filled with cubicles of bath...apparently they used 2 types of water i.e. alkaline and free acid water which were claimed to have healing properties...the whole place reeked of hydrogen sulphide...whew!!! we saw a 20 minutes documentary about Rotorua and its volcanic eruption and the seats actually moved and shook when they showed the part on the volcanic eruption...that kinda kept Cam and i awake...then we watched another 30 minutes documentary about the 28 Maori Battalion...hehe, Cam and i totally fell asleep...we also went up to the roof which offered a great view of the town...tried to take lots of pictures but it was too windy to stay up there too long...
We went back to the YHA to check in at about 5pm..our triple room cost nzd93 per night...then waited for our pick-up to the Mitai Village for a night of Maori experience...that cost us NZD99 per person...by the time we got to the Mitai Village, we were quite hungry...but dinner was only served after the Maori performance...so we had to settle for our free drink to keep us from getting hypoglycaemic...our host was a very lively and interesting guy who told us that the Maori language has a lot of similiarities with the Malay language...how interesting...he showed us our Hangi dinner... a traditional way of roasting meat such as chicken, beef and lamb and potatoes and kumaras (sweet potatoes) over really really burning hot stones...gosh, that got me even hungrier...
Then we went to the river to watch the Maoris coming in their canoe...and watched the cultural performance...finally it was dinner time...and it was a buffet dinner...yipeee!!! they had chicken, beef, lamb, potatoes, kumara, salad and truffles and chocolate log for dessert...totally loaded on the lamb and kumaras...they were so yummy...after dinner, we had a bush-walk around the village...saw some glow worms...saw the source of the village water spring...actually drank a bit from it too...the host showed us a rainbow trout but i could hardly see its colours in the dark...after that, we were sent back to our YHA...had a nice warm shower in the common bathroom...then after talking a bit, all of us fell asleep...
We went to the Rotorua Museum which used to be a bath house...the building was quite Victorian...filled with cubicles of bath...apparently they used 2 types of water i.e. alkaline and free acid water which were claimed to have healing properties...the whole place reeked of hydrogen sulphide...whew!!! we saw a 20 minutes documentary about Rotorua and its volcanic eruption and the seats actually moved and shook when they showed the part on the volcanic eruption...that kinda kept Cam and i awake...then we watched another 30 minutes documentary about the 28 Maori Battalion...hehe, Cam and i totally fell asleep...we also went up to the roof which offered a great view of the town...tried to take lots of pictures but it was too windy to stay up there too long...
We went back to the YHA to check in at about 5pm..our triple room cost nzd93 per night...then waited for our pick-up to the Mitai Village for a night of Maori experience...that cost us NZD99 per person...by the time we got to the Mitai Village, we were quite hungry...but dinner was only served after the Maori performance...so we had to settle for our free drink to keep us from getting hypoglycaemic...our host was a very lively and interesting guy who told us that the Maori language has a lot of similiarities with the Malay language...how interesting...he showed us our Hangi dinner... a traditional way of roasting meat such as chicken, beef and lamb and potatoes and kumaras (sweet potatoes) over really really burning hot stones...gosh, that got me even hungrier...
Then we went to the river to watch the Maoris coming in their canoe...and watched the cultural performance...finally it was dinner time...and it was a buffet dinner...yipeee!!! they had chicken, beef, lamb, potatoes, kumara, salad and truffles and chocolate log for dessert...totally loaded on the lamb and kumaras...they were so yummy...after dinner, we had a bush-walk around the village...saw some glow worms...saw the source of the village water spring...actually drank a bit from it too...the host showed us a rainbow trout but i could hardly see its colours in the dark...after that, we were sent back to our YHA...had a nice warm shower in the common bathroom...then after talking a bit, all of us fell asleep...
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Yes, i know the patient needs blood...but i can't produce blood magically...
So yea, selamat hari raya to everyone...while everyone was happily eating their lemang and rendang yesterday, i was on call...and it was one heck of a call...as if my pre-call bad day was a prelude to an even worse one during my call...Yap and i were in the OT the whole day clearing up the leftover cases from the day before...a laparotomy with bowel resection, an open cholecystectomy, an I & D, 2 perforated appendix...don't ask me why we took so long, but we just did...and halfway through had to go ICU coz one patient died..what did i tell you eh? at least one death per call...
And as if that wasn't enough, i had to settle the uro patients....and there was a liver abscess patient in sepsis who was unstable...and the nephro ppl totally set my nerves off...they sent 2 patients from their ward to our side for Tenchkoff catheter insertion the following day...and the HO on call informed me that one of the patient's femoral CVC was removed in the morning because there was pus discharge from the insertion site...which was fine...it should be removed...but the least the nephro ppl could do was to bloody reinsert one and bloody dialyse the patient before they sent the patient over...patient's potassium was 6.1 and he was supposed to be for operation the next day...really, what were they thinking? expecting the surgery MO on call to settle their crap? well, they chose a bloody wrong day and person to mess with...so i asked the HO to call the nephro MO to settle their own crap...seriously, i should write a complain letter to the Head of Nephrology Unit and Medical Department to tell them how irresponsible their bloody MOs are...since my big boss has been telling me that the medical MOs have been writing him a lot of 'love letters' regarding our surgical MOs...
We finally took a break at about 10pm plus for the first meal of the day...by then i was just so hungry and grumpy and ready to faint...thank God the OT call HO belanja us at Upper Star (coz i taught her how to do appendicectomy)...i had lamb chop...felt like the best lamb chop ever coz i was raving mad hungry...then we had to rush back to OT coz there was still another appendicectomy...which i asked Yap to teach the OT call HO coz i didn't think i was in the right state of mind to teach...and we were expecting a 25 year-old guy from Hospital Kota Marudu who had an MVA and his Hb dropped from 11.9 to 2...we thought it would be a miracle for him to survive the 2 hours plus journey to KK...
But arrived he did...the casualty MO in SMC called me about 2am to inform me that the patient has arrived...when i saw him, his BP was 84/47 mmHg with pulse rate of 130...pale as sheet...abdomen was distended and tense...they scanned him in Kota Marudu and saw free fluid in abdomen...so i called boss on call and informed him...he asked to post the patient immediately for exploratory laparotomy and proceed...the patient had 3 pints of packed cell from Kota Marudu, one of which was transfused on the way...2 of which we started transfusing while he was in the casualty enroute to OT...we crossmatched more blood but could only get 3 pints from SMC...but we couldn't wait longer...so we started surgery at 245am...the 3 pints blood we had were quickly consumed...
Big boss was called in...patient's right liver lobe, right kidney and adrenal were totally smashed and bleeding profusely...they removed the right lobe of his liver, his right kidney and adrenal...surgery took about 3 hours plus...i was scrubbed in initially but as the blood seem to be taking forever to materialize, so i had to unscrub...and produce blood magically...although it was post-fasting month and the blood banks are low on blood stock...so i had to ask the runner HO to go to Queen to get blood...they could only give us 6 more pints...and a DIVC cycle...they took about an hour to get the blood back to OT...and while then i was helping the GA side to put up the IV drips, give medications...and i was getting scolded from the GA specialist on call for not getting the blood fast enough...and i didn't like the way she was implying that the surgical team wasn't controlling the bleeding fast enough...
The thing was, i agree that the blood wasn't coming fast enough...and that we weren't fast enough in controlling the bleeding...but in case that specialist didn't notice, i'm not God...i can't just snap my fingers and 20 pints of blood would appear instantaneously....big boss is not God...he can't just lay his hands on the patient and heal the patient...considering that he did a right liver lobectomy, right nephrectomy and adrenalectomy in about 2 hours plus, that's quite amazing already...though i must commend that the GA specialist did well on her side to keep the patient alive...anyway, i guess it's God's will that this patient survived the operation...he had a total of 12-13 pints of packed cell transfusion, 1 DIVC cycle and another 6 units of fresh frozen plasma...
Patient was sent to ICU post-op...and until 8am this morning, no one called to inform me that the patient has died...so i assume he would live...big boss asked me in the OT during the operation if i still want to do surgery after this...i told him, if i were the GA MO, i would still be awake while the operation is being done...what i didn't say was the only difference is that as a surgical MO, i can be ordered around by the GA MO/specialist to produce blood magically, whereas as a GA MO, i can order the surgical MO/HO to do the impossible...sigh, i'm just so tired...and tomorrow i'm on call again...and ppl still watch Grey's Anatomy/House/ER and think being a doctor is so cool...hahahaha...
And as if that wasn't enough, i had to settle the uro patients....and there was a liver abscess patient in sepsis who was unstable...and the nephro ppl totally set my nerves off...they sent 2 patients from their ward to our side for Tenchkoff catheter insertion the following day...and the HO on call informed me that one of the patient's femoral CVC was removed in the morning because there was pus discharge from the insertion site...which was fine...it should be removed...but the least the nephro ppl could do was to bloody reinsert one and bloody dialyse the patient before they sent the patient over...patient's potassium was 6.1 and he was supposed to be for operation the next day...really, what were they thinking? expecting the surgery MO on call to settle their crap? well, they chose a bloody wrong day and person to mess with...so i asked the HO to call the nephro MO to settle their own crap...seriously, i should write a complain letter to the Head of Nephrology Unit and Medical Department to tell them how irresponsible their bloody MOs are...since my big boss has been telling me that the medical MOs have been writing him a lot of 'love letters' regarding our surgical MOs...
We finally took a break at about 10pm plus for the first meal of the day...by then i was just so hungry and grumpy and ready to faint...thank God the OT call HO belanja us at Upper Star (coz i taught her how to do appendicectomy)...i had lamb chop...felt like the best lamb chop ever coz i was raving mad hungry...then we had to rush back to OT coz there was still another appendicectomy...which i asked Yap to teach the OT call HO coz i didn't think i was in the right state of mind to teach...and we were expecting a 25 year-old guy from Hospital Kota Marudu who had an MVA and his Hb dropped from 11.9 to 2...we thought it would be a miracle for him to survive the 2 hours plus journey to KK...
But arrived he did...the casualty MO in SMC called me about 2am to inform me that the patient has arrived...when i saw him, his BP was 84/47 mmHg with pulse rate of 130...pale as sheet...abdomen was distended and tense...they scanned him in Kota Marudu and saw free fluid in abdomen...so i called boss on call and informed him...he asked to post the patient immediately for exploratory laparotomy and proceed...the patient had 3 pints of packed cell from Kota Marudu, one of which was transfused on the way...2 of which we started transfusing while he was in the casualty enroute to OT...we crossmatched more blood but could only get 3 pints from SMC...but we couldn't wait longer...so we started surgery at 245am...the 3 pints blood we had were quickly consumed...
Big boss was called in...patient's right liver lobe, right kidney and adrenal were totally smashed and bleeding profusely...they removed the right lobe of his liver, his right kidney and adrenal...surgery took about 3 hours plus...i was scrubbed in initially but as the blood seem to be taking forever to materialize, so i had to unscrub...and produce blood magically...although it was post-fasting month and the blood banks are low on blood stock...so i had to ask the runner HO to go to Queen to get blood...they could only give us 6 more pints...and a DIVC cycle...they took about an hour to get the blood back to OT...and while then i was helping the GA side to put up the IV drips, give medications...and i was getting scolded from the GA specialist on call for not getting the blood fast enough...and i didn't like the way she was implying that the surgical team wasn't controlling the bleeding fast enough...
The thing was, i agree that the blood wasn't coming fast enough...and that we weren't fast enough in controlling the bleeding...but in case that specialist didn't notice, i'm not God...i can't just snap my fingers and 20 pints of blood would appear instantaneously....big boss is not God...he can't just lay his hands on the patient and heal the patient...considering that he did a right liver lobectomy, right nephrectomy and adrenalectomy in about 2 hours plus, that's quite amazing already...though i must commend that the GA specialist did well on her side to keep the patient alive...anyway, i guess it's God's will that this patient survived the operation...he had a total of 12-13 pints of packed cell transfusion, 1 DIVC cycle and another 6 units of fresh frozen plasma...
Patient was sent to ICU post-op...and until 8am this morning, no one called to inform me that the patient has died...so i assume he would live...big boss asked me in the OT during the operation if i still want to do surgery after this...i told him, if i were the GA MO, i would still be awake while the operation is being done...what i didn't say was the only difference is that as a surgical MO, i can be ordered around by the GA MO/specialist to produce blood magically, whereas as a GA MO, i can order the surgical MO/HO to do the impossible...sigh, i'm just so tired...and tomorrow i'm on call again...and ppl still watch Grey's Anatomy/House/ER and think being a doctor is so cool...hahahaha...
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Today is the first time i ever felt like quitting...for real...
I got transferred to a new rotation after i got back from a great holiday...i've always hated that unit even as a HO...you know how when you come back from a real high to a real low? that's like a great height to fall from...and today is the first time i ever felt like quitting..for real..one of our patient, a 15 year-old girl with history of cancer was admitted for ascites...we drained out about 1.5L from her abdomen 2 days ago...she felt better....this afternoon, when i was about to do my pm round, the nurse informed my HO that the patient's blood pressure dropped drastically...so the HO told me and we went to check on the patient...
So i gave her fluids...and do the necessary investigations...she looked quite drowsy and ill...i told my colleague who in turn told my consultant (who happened to come for pm round)...i thought he'd come to see the patient...but he didn't...my colleague came to help but as she was on call, she had to go to OT for a case...so i was resuscitating the patient with the help of the nurses and 2 HOs...we put in a central venous line...put in a urinary catheter to monitor her urine...tapped her abdomen coz it was so grossly distended and tense...by the time we did all these, it was after 6pm...
I was about to go home and wanted to have a last look at the patient to make sure she was ok...that was when i noticed she suddenly became unresponsive and looked like she was having a tonic fit... had to intubate her immediately...but of course, since this was in the ward, immediately took like forever...and the on call HO in-charge of my patient was an ultra-imbecile...thank God the other 2 on call HOs who were helping me were capable...i think Murphy's law was at work today...whatever that could go wrong, did...
I was in the ward till 830pm plus...we did CPR 3 times for the patient...shocked her twice...overloaded her...she went into acute renal failure...i just couldn't save her...she couldn't even live to celebrate Hari Raya tomorrow...i didn't watch her die...i left the hospital after ICU called to transfer her...i thought she would make it...or at least i prayed she would...but one of the on call HO msged me after i got home that she passed away...
I'm just so angry at the whole thing...at myself, at the bloody imbecile HO, at my boss, at my colleague...i shouldn't have to stay to settle patients after office hour when there're on call MOs...and i shouldn't have to be angry at stupid HOs even though they are stupid...i shouldn't have to be angry at my boss for not caring for his own patients...and i shouldn't have to be angry at my colleague because she left me alone to resuscitate this patient...but i'm angry at myself for feeling all these... i shouldn't even care...patients die anyway...in 2 days, none of the ppl involved in the situation would remember the patient...but it will haunt me...for a while...
I need to get a new job...where i won't have to see patients die...cause patients' death...maybe i really should go to NZ and become a seasonal fruit-picker/packer...or maybe i should become a wedding planner...at least i'll make ppl happy...instead of killing ppl...
So i gave her fluids...and do the necessary investigations...she looked quite drowsy and ill...i told my colleague who in turn told my consultant (who happened to come for pm round)...i thought he'd come to see the patient...but he didn't...my colleague came to help but as she was on call, she had to go to OT for a case...so i was resuscitating the patient with the help of the nurses and 2 HOs...we put in a central venous line...put in a urinary catheter to monitor her urine...tapped her abdomen coz it was so grossly distended and tense...by the time we did all these, it was after 6pm...
I was about to go home and wanted to have a last look at the patient to make sure she was ok...that was when i noticed she suddenly became unresponsive and looked like she was having a tonic fit... had to intubate her immediately...but of course, since this was in the ward, immediately took like forever...and the on call HO in-charge of my patient was an ultra-imbecile...thank God the other 2 on call HOs who were helping me were capable...i think Murphy's law was at work today...whatever that could go wrong, did...
I was in the ward till 830pm plus...we did CPR 3 times for the patient...shocked her twice...overloaded her...she went into acute renal failure...i just couldn't save her...she couldn't even live to celebrate Hari Raya tomorrow...i didn't watch her die...i left the hospital after ICU called to transfer her...i thought she would make it...or at least i prayed she would...but one of the on call HO msged me after i got home that she passed away...
I'm just so angry at the whole thing...at myself, at the bloody imbecile HO, at my boss, at my colleague...i shouldn't have to stay to settle patients after office hour when there're on call MOs...and i shouldn't have to be angry at stupid HOs even though they are stupid...i shouldn't have to be angry at my boss for not caring for his own patients...and i shouldn't have to be angry at my colleague because she left me alone to resuscitate this patient...but i'm angry at myself for feeling all these... i shouldn't even care...patients die anyway...in 2 days, none of the ppl involved in the situation would remember the patient...but it will haunt me...for a while...
I need to get a new job...where i won't have to see patients die...cause patients' death...maybe i really should go to NZ and become a seasonal fruit-picker/packer...or maybe i should become a wedding planner...at least i'll make ppl happy...instead of killing ppl...
Sunday, September 5, 2010
NZ trip - day 1 (and the day before)
I was post call on Friday and had quite the sleepless call...apparently this always happens before i go on holidays...did some last minute packing after i got home...bathed and finished up my laundry...my flight to KL was supposed to depart at 1530H...Jasmine sent me to the airport...was flying MAS...met one of my specialist, his wife and baby at the boarding gate (little did i know he would be my boss when i get back from my holiday)...as usual, the flight was delayed, thankfully only for 1/2 hour coz i only had an allowance of 1 hour delayed if i were to make it in time to check-in for my Auckland flight...couldn't really sleep in my KK-KL flight...so ended up playing with my specialist's baby... she's so cute...and miraculously, she likes me :)...
Checked-in on time for my Auckland flight, considering that Cam actually came later than i did...had a late lunch on the flight earlier...so just walked around the international departure area till our flight was called to board...we were flying MH131 to Auckland which was scheduled to depart at 2120H...which eventually departed at 2130H...i supposed that wasn't too bad...watched Little Big Soldier (starring Jackie Chan and Wang LeeHom) and had chicken briyani for late dinner...then slept fitfully...one of the trip to the lavatory, my specs actually dropped into the toilet bowl...it was flushed previously but i still felt yucks!!! totally washed it with soap multiple times...they served breakfast about an hour before we landed...hardly slept at all...
Finally we landed in Auckland airport at 1130H (minus 4 hours for Malaysian time)...thank God i didn't develop DVT...we got our luggage...thank God they didn't get lost...then we took the airport shuttle to Britomart station downtown...backpackers rate for return trip was NZD21...Jeanne (Cam's friend) was waiting for us there...so we lugged our luggage back to her place (about 15 mins walk) at 53 Cook Street...her apartment was a 2-room...a bit small but i liked the interior...very clean and sterile...after we put our luggage, off we went for lunch (together with Jeanne's housemate Neo) coz Jeanne was hungry...we walked pass the place where they had bungy...not the real free fall with you attached to a rope..this one is a ball-cage which sits 3 persons and it gets catapulted up for God knows how high and it bounces a few times before it gets back to the ground...pretty cool but we were all too chicken to try...
We had Thai food for lunch...actually it was just Jeanne and Neo eating...Cam was sick of Thai food and i wasn't hungry yet...then we walked to the ferry pier and bought ice-cream...did i mention it was like maybe 15 degrees celsius or less? and we were happily slurping our ice-cream in the friggin' cold...i had a hokey-pokey honey crumb which was seriously yummy :)...we walked as we slurped...saw lots of nice sailboats...then we went to Victoria Park and checked out cute guys playing soccer...wanted to go to Victoria Park Market but it was already after 5pm...in winter, everything close at 5pm...so we walked to NewWorld hypermarket instead...thank God that closes later...bought some groceries for breakfast...kiwifruits were so damn cheap...NZD 1.69 per kg..so we bought a few for our travels...
Went back to the apartment to put our stuffs...then we went to the Sky City to check out the casino..of course we didn't bother to play...too much at stake...then we went for Korean dinner which cost about NZD10 per meal...dollar to dollar, this is actually very cheap...but of course if you convert it to RM then it's not that cheap lah...since we'd walked quite the whole day, we decided to go back and rest...but as expected when girls get together, especially after having not met for a long time, there would be a lot to chat and catch up...4 of us ended up sleeping in the living room and had girls talk till past midnight...suffice to say everyone was sharing their experiences... hehe...finally fatigue set in and we all fell asleep...a long day awaited us tomorrow...
Checked-in on time for my Auckland flight, considering that Cam actually came later than i did...had a late lunch on the flight earlier...so just walked around the international departure area till our flight was called to board...we were flying MH131 to Auckland which was scheduled to depart at 2120H...which eventually departed at 2130H...i supposed that wasn't too bad...watched Little Big Soldier (starring Jackie Chan and Wang LeeHom) and had chicken briyani for late dinner...then slept fitfully...one of the trip to the lavatory, my specs actually dropped into the toilet bowl...it was flushed previously but i still felt yucks!!! totally washed it with soap multiple times...they served breakfast about an hour before we landed...hardly slept at all...
Finally we landed in Auckland airport at 1130H (minus 4 hours for Malaysian time)...thank God i didn't develop DVT...we got our luggage...thank God they didn't get lost...then we took the airport shuttle to Britomart station downtown...backpackers rate for return trip was NZD21...Jeanne (Cam's friend) was waiting for us there...so we lugged our luggage back to her place (about 15 mins walk) at 53 Cook Street...her apartment was a 2-room...a bit small but i liked the interior...very clean and sterile...after we put our luggage, off we went for lunch (together with Jeanne's housemate Neo) coz Jeanne was hungry...we walked pass the place where they had bungy...not the real free fall with you attached to a rope..this one is a ball-cage which sits 3 persons and it gets catapulted up for God knows how high and it bounces a few times before it gets back to the ground...pretty cool but we were all too chicken to try...
We had Thai food for lunch...actually it was just Jeanne and Neo eating...Cam was sick of Thai food and i wasn't hungry yet...then we walked to the ferry pier and bought ice-cream...did i mention it was like maybe 15 degrees celsius or less? and we were happily slurping our ice-cream in the friggin' cold...i had a hokey-pokey honey crumb which was seriously yummy :)...we walked as we slurped...saw lots of nice sailboats...then we went to Victoria Park and checked out cute guys playing soccer...wanted to go to Victoria Park Market but it was already after 5pm...in winter, everything close at 5pm...so we walked to NewWorld hypermarket instead...thank God that closes later...bought some groceries for breakfast...kiwifruits were so damn cheap...NZD 1.69 per kg..so we bought a few for our travels...
Went back to the apartment to put our stuffs...then we went to the Sky City to check out the casino..of course we didn't bother to play...too much at stake...then we went for Korean dinner which cost about NZD10 per meal...dollar to dollar, this is actually very cheap...but of course if you convert it to RM then it's not that cheap lah...since we'd walked quite the whole day, we decided to go back and rest...but as expected when girls get together, especially after having not met for a long time, there would be a lot to chat and catch up...4 of us ended up sleeping in the living room and had girls talk till past midnight...suffice to say everyone was sharing their experiences... hehe...finally fatigue set in and we all fell asleep...a long day awaited us tomorrow...
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Having the post-vacation blues again...
I'm back in KK...got back from Middle Earth on Merdeka day...then been depressed coz i found out that i'm going to uro...kinda expected that...but when it did happen, it still felt depressing...oh well, life goes on....adaptation is most vital for evolution...next to mutation, that is...
Will write more on my trip to Middle Earth when i have time...need to get some rest now...
Will write more on my trip to Middle Earth when i have time...need to get some rest now...
Thursday, August 19, 2010
I'm leaving...on a jetplane...and still having bad call...
I'm on call today...in Queen...my last call before i leave for NZ tomorrow...and so far i've been picking up messes...while creating mess myself...i think my boss on call must be cursing me now...in the morning, medical referred an 80 year-old man to rule out intra-abdominal injury...so i asked why did they think he was having that...the MO told me he had a fall...i thought, hmmm..did he fall from like 10 feet or something? and if he did, why would he end up in medical ward in the first place?
They got an ultrasound abdomen for the uncle, and the radiology MO informed me that the uncle had free fluid in the abdomen most likely due to splenic laceration...so ok, i went to see and was quite appalled by the course of events that ended the uncle in medical ward...he was actually referred for anaemia for investigation...they missed the crucial information that he was actually hit with a plank on his abdomen...right...so called boss on call...she asked to transfer patient over to surgical...for splenectomy..so yea, 1st mess picked up...
Then medical referred another 20 year-old guy for acute abdomen...they think he was having typhoid...his abdomen was very distended...ultrasound showed free fluid with sediments..so possible perforated bowel...called boss again...she asked to tap to see what fluid comes out...but i couldn't see anything when i scanned the guy's abdomen with the kuno scan in the medical ward...so i just poked at the right iliac fossa...aspirated a lot of air...then got some small intestinal fluid came out...looked like liquid faeces...so i thought ok...so it's bowel contents...so sent patient to surgical for laparotomy...then i told boss and he said that i poked through the bowels...shit!!!! so 2nd mess picked up...and er..created as well...now i hope his wasn't a negative laparotomy...
Medical also referred another 77 year-old aunty for rectal mass...the specific referral was for surgery to do proctoscopy...excuse me, but since when only surgical MOs are capable of doing proctoscopy? and the medical gastro team is capable of doing a colonoscopy, taking biopsy and getting the HPE result all by themselves all this while...since when are they no longer able to do so... forcing them to turn to the surgical team for proctoscopy? my my...how things have changes...oh, but i didn't pick this patient up yet...waiting for the HPE after the gastro team performs the colonoscopy and obtains the biopsy...
Then i saw another patient in the casualty (i actually saw a lot more but this one is the most interesting by far)...49 year-old aunty who presented with 5 days history of progressive abdominal distension and absolute constipation...no history to suggest colorectal or gynae malignancy...the only signs of malignancy was that she was quite wasted and pale...per rectal revealed an anterior mass externally compressing the rectum...so we did a per speculum and vaginal examination... we found a cervical mass...so called boss on call again...and she asked to refer gynae to take over first and surgery team will review the patient in their ward...poor aunty...
Oh well...come tomorrow, i'll be leaving on a jetplane...for a break i so badly needed...NZ, here i come..."i'm leaving, on a jetplane, wish i don't have to be back again, oh babe, i love to go" (sang to the tune of 'leaving on a jetplane')....my life is in a mess and it's time for some time off for personal reflection and soul-searching...hahaha...i always think that a trip would do that for me... but after i come back from every trip, i still feel lost and "un-searched"...sigh...may this restless wanderer finds rest some day....
They got an ultrasound abdomen for the uncle, and the radiology MO informed me that the uncle had free fluid in the abdomen most likely due to splenic laceration...so ok, i went to see and was quite appalled by the course of events that ended the uncle in medical ward...he was actually referred for anaemia for investigation...they missed the crucial information that he was actually hit with a plank on his abdomen...right...so called boss on call...she asked to transfer patient over to surgical...for splenectomy..so yea, 1st mess picked up...
Then medical referred another 20 year-old guy for acute abdomen...they think he was having typhoid...his abdomen was very distended...ultrasound showed free fluid with sediments..so possible perforated bowel...called boss again...she asked to tap to see what fluid comes out...but i couldn't see anything when i scanned the guy's abdomen with the kuno scan in the medical ward...so i just poked at the right iliac fossa...aspirated a lot of air...then got some small intestinal fluid came out...looked like liquid faeces...so i thought ok...so it's bowel contents...so sent patient to surgical for laparotomy...then i told boss and he said that i poked through the bowels...shit!!!! so 2nd mess picked up...and er..created as well...now i hope his wasn't a negative laparotomy...
Medical also referred another 77 year-old aunty for rectal mass...the specific referral was for surgery to do proctoscopy...excuse me, but since when only surgical MOs are capable of doing proctoscopy? and the medical gastro team is capable of doing a colonoscopy, taking biopsy and getting the HPE result all by themselves all this while...since when are they no longer able to do so... forcing them to turn to the surgical team for proctoscopy? my my...how things have changes...oh, but i didn't pick this patient up yet...waiting for the HPE after the gastro team performs the colonoscopy and obtains the biopsy...
Then i saw another patient in the casualty (i actually saw a lot more but this one is the most interesting by far)...49 year-old aunty who presented with 5 days history of progressive abdominal distension and absolute constipation...no history to suggest colorectal or gynae malignancy...the only signs of malignancy was that she was quite wasted and pale...per rectal revealed an anterior mass externally compressing the rectum...so we did a per speculum and vaginal examination... we found a cervical mass...so called boss on call again...and she asked to refer gynae to take over first and surgery team will review the patient in their ward...poor aunty...
Oh well...come tomorrow, i'll be leaving on a jetplane...for a break i so badly needed...NZ, here i come..."i'm leaving, on a jetplane, wish i don't have to be back again, oh babe, i love to go" (sang to the tune of 'leaving on a jetplane')....my life is in a mess and it's time for some time off for personal reflection and soul-searching...hahaha...i always think that a trip would do that for me... but after i come back from every trip, i still feel lost and "un-searched"...sigh...may this restless wanderer finds rest some day....
Sunday, August 15, 2010
A good call, a good book and a good song...
I was call again yesterday...yea 3 eod calls in a row, remember? Did 2 appendicectomies during the day...well, taught the HO how to do one but i did most of the crucial knot-tying coz she couldn't hand-tie properly...then was hanging out with Grace and Kean Khang in ICU..Grace was on call too and we had Burger King for dinner...ahh...it's good to have friends with devoted husband...even if you don't have one yourself...
Grace was about to finish a thrashy romantic novel titled "Brighter than the sun"...you know it's thrashy romance with titles like that...i haven't read one in quite some time...so i thought why the heck not...so i borrowed it, not expecting to actually get to read it...but after the last appendix i did that night, it was pretty quiet...oh, the last appendix was quite an amazing one...the lady was morbidly obese...and so was her appendix...and it had perforated at a few sites...and it was faeces-laden...and there was quite some localized pus collection...but never mind about that...
So i thought since it was quiet, i'd start reading the book a little...i guess when you're really engrossed in a book you don't realize that time flies...by the time i felt quite sleepy, i saw that it was already 6am plus...and i was almost finishing the book...really, if i read surgical textbooks with half the zeal i had, big boss would be so proud of me...hehe...so i thought i'd get some sleep and slept till 9am plus...came home, finished the book and slept some more...woke up about 115pm to get ready for locum...
Went online and checked out a friend's blog...she posted LeeHom's new song from his new movie "Lian Ai Tong Gao"...it's called "NI Bu Zhi Dao De Shi"...i love this song...the music is so touching that i couldn't stop my tears from flowing...so i put up the link on FB and few minutes later i received a mail from Kenny...he sent me the mp3 version of the song...now i can download it to my phone and use it as my sms tone...hehe...and Vince sent me the lyrics to the song...so i'll be learning it when i get home from locum tonight...here's the link to the song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8v9xr8lqhQ
Grace was about to finish a thrashy romantic novel titled "Brighter than the sun"...you know it's thrashy romance with titles like that...i haven't read one in quite some time...so i thought why the heck not...so i borrowed it, not expecting to actually get to read it...but after the last appendix i did that night, it was pretty quiet...oh, the last appendix was quite an amazing one...the lady was morbidly obese...and so was her appendix...and it had perforated at a few sites...and it was faeces-laden...and there was quite some localized pus collection...but never mind about that...
So i thought since it was quiet, i'd start reading the book a little...i guess when you're really engrossed in a book you don't realize that time flies...by the time i felt quite sleepy, i saw that it was already 6am plus...and i was almost finishing the book...really, if i read surgical textbooks with half the zeal i had, big boss would be so proud of me...hehe...so i thought i'd get some sleep and slept till 9am plus...came home, finished the book and slept some more...woke up about 115pm to get ready for locum...
Went online and checked out a friend's blog...she posted LeeHom's new song from his new movie "Lian Ai Tong Gao"...it's called "NI Bu Zhi Dao De Shi"...i love this song...the music is so touching that i couldn't stop my tears from flowing...so i put up the link on FB and few minutes later i received a mail from Kenny...he sent me the mp3 version of the song...now i can download it to my phone and use it as my sms tone...hehe...and Vince sent me the lyrics to the song...so i'll be learning it when i get home from locum tonight...here's the link to the song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8v9xr8lqhQ
Malaysian efficiency...
Thursday wasn't too good a call...had to do op till 4am...at least Friday would be less hectic...since it's the fasting month and we did not have our regular Friday lunch, i thought it best to go to JPJ and get my licence translated to English so i could drive while we were in NZ...of course i forgot that true to Malaysian efficiency, all government offices and counters are closed for a long Friday lunch break...it doesn't matter that most of them would not be eating...crap! so i had to sleep in the car while i waited till 2pm...
Cam told me it only took her 15 mins to get her licence translated...what she didn't tell me was that i had to photocopy my IC and driver's licence...so i went to get my number and waited...i also asked the guy at the enquiry counter as to what i needed to get my licence translated...he said i only needed a photocopy of my IC...so i had to walk a good 2 mins to another place to get my IC copied...for rm1!!! and when it was my turn, the girl at the counter told me that i needed a copy of my driver's licence too...really, post call doctors should carry a sign that says "kindly do not piss off a post-call doctor, or else..."...
I thought of a lot of nasty comments i wanted to make but i'm an implosive customer...so i had to waste another 2 mins and a total of rm2 plus i had to pay rm10 for a bloody translation which i could probably do better...but at least they did only take 15 mins to do the translation...which i could have done in 2 mins...that my friends, is Malaysian efficiency...indeed, Malaysia Boleh!!!
Cam told me it only took her 15 mins to get her licence translated...what she didn't tell me was that i had to photocopy my IC and driver's licence...so i went to get my number and waited...i also asked the guy at the enquiry counter as to what i needed to get my licence translated...he said i only needed a photocopy of my IC...so i had to walk a good 2 mins to another place to get my IC copied...for rm1!!! and when it was my turn, the girl at the counter told me that i needed a copy of my driver's licence too...really, post call doctors should carry a sign that says "kindly do not piss off a post-call doctor, or else..."...
I thought of a lot of nasty comments i wanted to make but i'm an implosive customer...so i had to waste another 2 mins and a total of rm2 plus i had to pay rm10 for a bloody translation which i could probably do better...but at least they did only take 15 mins to do the translation...which i could have done in 2 mins...that my friends, is Malaysian efficiency...indeed, Malaysia Boleh!!!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Beaufort visit...
Haven't been writing about work lately...except HO-bitching...but that's not really work...anyway, today i went to Beaufort Hospital for our monthly visit to operate on patients there...went with boss, Yap and 2 HOs...had to wake up earlier this morning coz the car was leaving at 7am...our journey took about 1 1/2 hours...we had 6 hernioplasties, 1 breast lump excision and 1 sebaceous cyst excision waiting for us...
We started our case at about 930am...i didn't dare do a hernioplasty on my own coz i still wasn't too confident with my steps...so i asked Yap to scrub in with me...made him stay with me till i finished suturing the mesh...then he went to start the 2nd case...by the time i started my second hernioplasty, boss already finished seeing the patients in clinic...so he scrubbed in to help me...i still don't know how to identify the hernial sac...i think the HO who was assisting me could probably do better at it...
Anyhow, managed to do 3 hernioplasties...and i did the breast lump excision....the lump was about 4x3 cm...had some problem catching the lump coz it kept breaking off...but somehow managed to get it out in one piece...then did the sebaceous cyst excision under LA...wanted to let the HO do it but boss was complaining that it was almost 5pm and fasting month has started...i did let the HO do the incision...but he went and burst the capsule...and just as i took back the scalpel from him, boss walked in...phew!!! at least he didn't see that i let the HO do it...so no choice, i had to say that i broke the capsule...and he said, as expected..:P
So we managed to finish 5 minutes before 5pm...and the nurse commented that this was the first time our visiting team has ever finished before 5pm...well, glad they were happy about that...so was i...by then my back and neck were aching already...i'm sure the poor HO (who is a lot taller than i am) felt worse...so after that, our car came to pick us up and sent us back to SMC...quite a long day today...but quite fruitful...and tomorrow, i'll be starting a stretch of 3 eods....need to sleep...nights...
We started our case at about 930am...i didn't dare do a hernioplasty on my own coz i still wasn't too confident with my steps...so i asked Yap to scrub in with me...made him stay with me till i finished suturing the mesh...then he went to start the 2nd case...by the time i started my second hernioplasty, boss already finished seeing the patients in clinic...so he scrubbed in to help me...i still don't know how to identify the hernial sac...i think the HO who was assisting me could probably do better at it...
Anyhow, managed to do 3 hernioplasties...and i did the breast lump excision....the lump was about 4x3 cm...had some problem catching the lump coz it kept breaking off...but somehow managed to get it out in one piece...then did the sebaceous cyst excision under LA...wanted to let the HO do it but boss was complaining that it was almost 5pm and fasting month has started...i did let the HO do the incision...but he went and burst the capsule...and just as i took back the scalpel from him, boss walked in...phew!!! at least he didn't see that i let the HO do it...so no choice, i had to say that i broke the capsule...and he said, as expected..:P
So we managed to finish 5 minutes before 5pm...and the nurse commented that this was the first time our visiting team has ever finished before 5pm...well, glad they were happy about that...so was i...by then my back and neck were aching already...i'm sure the poor HO (who is a lot taller than i am) felt worse...so after that, our car came to pick us up and sent us back to SMC...quite a long day today...but quite fruitful...and tomorrow, i'll be starting a stretch of 3 eods....need to sleep...nights...
Monday, August 9, 2010
累了。。散了。。
还以为说了再见就没事了，原来受到回答也会哭得。。。昨天正天都忽然间哭出来。。尤其是听到失恋歌。。真的没心情工作。。所以今天就没上班了。。很怕在人前忽然哭。。很丢脸。。正天躲在房里。。什么都不想做。。真没用。。重来都没逃避工作。。为了个男人，值得么? 还是一个伤了又伤我的人。。一次不够么? 还有第二次? 够了。。累了。。泪也干了。。明天是新的一天。。虽然心还疼，还要继续活。。 还是要去工作。。主啊，求你让我的心快点愈合。。
Sunday, August 8, 2010
A weekend with friends...
So we celebrated Jasmine's birthday on Friday night at Little Italy....and we went to K-box after that...us girls (Alisa, Elaine, Jasmine, Flora, Grace and i) and also Kean Khang...we got quite a big room which unfortunately reeked of cigarrette smoke...still, it didn't stop us from singing our hearts out...or in my case, singing my blues away...
Thank God i didn't have to wake up early on Saturday...coz i only slept at 3am...my colleague covered me during the morning for the health awareness programme thingy...so i had to endure the other half of the afternoon before i could join the girls in Karambunai...drove home straight after the programme ended and packed an overnight bag and headed towards Nexus Karambunai...we booked 2 rooms and Elaine said we actually got a free upgrade...so the rooms were bigger...
Elaine and i went for a swim while the others waited for Darrien to wake up...we swam a bit...and spend most of our time drinking cocktails during happy hour...the frozen margarita and screwdriver that i drank were pretty diluted...so they actually tasted like ice blended lime and orange juice...felt a bit woozy after that though...think i downed them too fast...
Then we went for dinner at Salut...then came back to the hotel room and gossipped...watched Glee on tv too...couldn't really sleep much coz i felt warm the whole night...kept waking up in sweat....got up for buffet breakfast...then went to the beach to sit a while...soaking in the sun and enjoying the ocean view...then it was time to get back to reality...yup...i'm on call today...good thing it's Queen call...
I came home after reviewing a patient in casualty...checked my mail...received a reply which wasn't what i hoped for...but i supposed it was a reply that would be better for everyone...in the long run... still couldn't help but cried...i feel like crawling into bed and cry whole day...or maybe i should just drink myself into a drunken stupor...but damn, i'm on call..so i can do neither...i just can't believe i've gotten myself into the same situation twice this year...i mean, exactly how stupid can a girl get? this really deserves a best-selling novel...but yea well, back to reality...need to go review another patient in the medical ward...
Thank God i didn't have to wake up early on Saturday...coz i only slept at 3am...my colleague covered me during the morning for the health awareness programme thingy...so i had to endure the other half of the afternoon before i could join the girls in Karambunai...drove home straight after the programme ended and packed an overnight bag and headed towards Nexus Karambunai...we booked 2 rooms and Elaine said we actually got a free upgrade...so the rooms were bigger...
Elaine and i went for a swim while the others waited for Darrien to wake up...we swam a bit...and spend most of our time drinking cocktails during happy hour...the frozen margarita and screwdriver that i drank were pretty diluted...so they actually tasted like ice blended lime and orange juice...felt a bit woozy after that though...think i downed them too fast...
Then we went for dinner at Salut...then came back to the hotel room and gossipped...watched Glee on tv too...couldn't really sleep much coz i felt warm the whole night...kept waking up in sweat....got up for buffet breakfast...then went to the beach to sit a while...soaking in the sun and enjoying the ocean view...then it was time to get back to reality...yup...i'm on call today...good thing it's Queen call...
I came home after reviewing a patient in casualty...checked my mail...received a reply which wasn't what i hoped for...but i supposed it was a reply that would be better for everyone...in the long run... still couldn't help but cried...i feel like crawling into bed and cry whole day...or maybe i should just drink myself into a drunken stupor...but damn, i'm on call..so i can do neither...i just can't believe i've gotten myself into the same situation twice this year...i mean, exactly how stupid can a girl get? this really deserves a best-selling novel...but yea well, back to reality...need to go review another patient in the medical ward...
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Alisa's in KK...
Alisa's in KK...she came with Anthony and baby Darrien to visit us...it's been quite a while since i saw Alisa...perhaps about a year de...they arrived yesterday night but i was too tired to go pick them up with Jasmine...didn't even see them this morning coz i went to work early...so only got to see them when we went for dinner tonight...had seafood...it's good to have a gathering like this...
Christine brought Christabel who's only 1 day younger than Darrien...how nice...so we were having fun trying to pair the kids up...hahaha...they're barely 9 months...it's so cute watching kids interact... Christabel was so friendly and kept trying to touch Darrien...and Darrien was a bit alarmed and blushed...but after a while Darrien kept staring at Christabel...hahahaha....so adorable...
Tomorrow we'll be having dinner at Little Italy...to celebrate Jasmine's birthday...it's supposed to be a surprise party...hehe...then maybe we'll go for karaoke after dinner...
Christine brought Christabel who's only 1 day younger than Darrien...how nice...so we were having fun trying to pair the kids up...hahaha...they're barely 9 months...it's so cute watching kids interact... Christabel was so friendly and kept trying to touch Darrien...and Darrien was a bit alarmed and blushed...but after a while Darrien kept staring at Christabel...hahahaha....so adorable...
Tomorrow we'll be having dinner at Little Italy...to celebrate Jasmine's birthday...it's supposed to be a surprise party...hehe...then maybe we'll go for karaoke after dinner...
Thursday, July 29, 2010
A reply to a song....
I was on call on Tuesday and i was basically running back and forth between Queen and SMC...during yet another of my drive, the radio was playing Eason Chan's 淘汰 ....which according to NJstar's translation means elimination through selection or competition, die out, fall into disuse, to wash out or to phase out....i didn't know why but i was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of tears...and i broke down and cried...most likely it has to do with the phase i'm going through now...
Anyway, i was checking out the MV for this song yesterday and i found out that Jay Chou actually wrote this song for Eason Chan...no wonder i was wondering why it didn't really sound like something from Eason Chan...here's a link to the song's MV if you're interested to listen...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmXemtFGwGc...the MV plays out the essence of the song...and i can't help but think of a reply to that song...
This is the original lyrics for 淘汰...
我說了所有的謊 你全都相信
(All the lies i've told, you believed them all)
簡單的我愛你 你卻老不信
(A simple "I love you", yet you stubbornly disbelieve)
你書裡的劇情 我不想上演
(Your book's plot, i don't wish to act in)
因為我喜歡喜劇收尾
(because i like comedy ending)
＃我試過完美放棄 的確很踏實
(I've tried to give up perfection, very realistic)
醒來了 夢散了 你我都走散了
(Awakened, dreams shattered, you and i have strayed away)
情歌的詞何必押韻 就算我是Ｋ歌之王
(Why should love song's lyrics rhyme? Even if i'm the karaoke king)
也不見得把愛情唱得完美
(Not necessarily able to sing romance into prefection)
＊只能說我輸了 也許是你怕了
(Can only say i've lost, maybe you're scared)
我們的回憶沒有皺摺
(Our memories have no creases)
你卻用離開燙下句點
(Yet you used goodbye to iron out our ending)
只能說我認了 你的不安贏得你信任
(Can only say i admit, your restlessness won your confidence)
我卻得到你安慰的淘汰
(But i am consoled by being eliminated)
This is my reply to the song....
你说了所有的荒 我都能相信
(All the lies you've told, i can believe them all)
但你的我爱你 我却感不触
(But your "I love you", i can't seem to feel)
我书里的剧情 你不需上演
(My book's plot, doesn't need you to act in)
因我不要求童话收尾
(Because i don't demand fairy tale ending)
#我不能完美放弃 的确不踏实
(I can't give up perfection, very unrealistic)
梦醒了 泪干了 你我不再回头
(Awakened from dream, tears have dried, you and i can't start over)
情歌的词必需押韵 虽我不是K歌女王
(It's essential for love song's lyrics to rhyme, although i'm not the karaoke queen)
我会努力把爱情唱得完美
(I will strive to sing romance into perfection)
*不想说你输了 但我真的怕了
(Don't want to say you've lost, but i'm really afraid)
我们的回忆太多皱褶
(Our memories have too many creases)
虽不愿离开烫下句点
(Although i don't want goodbye to iron out our ending)
不想说我认了 你的性格输了我信任
(Don't want to admit, your character have lost my confidence)
你却赢得我安慰的淘汰
(Still you won the consolation of being eliminated)
If you've watched the MV, you will realize that regardless of who is eliminating and who is being eliminated, both of you will end up being exhausted...we can't be running all our lives...
Anyway, i was checking out the MV for this song yesterday and i found out that Jay Chou actually wrote this song for Eason Chan...no wonder i was wondering why it didn't really sound like something from Eason Chan...here's a link to the song's MV if you're interested to listen...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmXemtFGwGc...the MV plays out the essence of the song...and i can't help but think of a reply to that song...
This is the original lyrics for 淘汰...
我說了所有的謊 你全都相信
(All the lies i've told, you believed them all)
簡單的我愛你 你卻老不信
(A simple "I love you", yet you stubbornly disbelieve)
你書裡的劇情 我不想上演
(Your book's plot, i don't wish to act in)
因為我喜歡喜劇收尾
(because i like comedy ending)
＃我試過完美放棄 的確很踏實
(I've tried to give up perfection, very realistic)
醒來了 夢散了 你我都走散了
(Awakened, dreams shattered, you and i have strayed away)
情歌的詞何必押韻 就算我是Ｋ歌之王
(Why should love song's lyrics rhyme? Even if i'm the karaoke king)
也不見得把愛情唱得完美
(Not necessarily able to sing romance into prefection)
＊只能說我輸了 也許是你怕了
(Can only say i've lost, maybe you're scared)
我們的回憶沒有皺摺
(Our memories have no creases)
你卻用離開燙下句點
(Yet you used goodbye to iron out our ending)
只能說我認了 你的不安贏得你信任
(Can only say i admit, your restlessness won your confidence)
我卻得到你安慰的淘汰
(But i am consoled by being eliminated)
This is my reply to the song....
你说了所有的荒 我都能相信
(All the lies you've told, i can believe them all)
但你的我爱你 我却感不触
(But your "I love you", i can't seem to feel)
我书里的剧情 你不需上演
(My book's plot, doesn't need you to act in)
因我不要求童话收尾
(Because i don't demand fairy tale ending)
#我不能完美放弃 的确不踏实
(I can't give up perfection, very unrealistic)
梦醒了 泪干了 你我不再回头
(Awakened from dream, tears have dried, you and i can't start over)
情歌的词必需押韵 虽我不是K歌女王
(It's essential for love song's lyrics to rhyme, although i'm not the karaoke queen)
我会努力把爱情唱得完美
(I will strive to sing romance into perfection)
*不想说你输了 但我真的怕了
(Don't want to say you've lost, but i'm really afraid)
我们的回忆太多皱褶
(Our memories have too many creases)
虽不愿离开烫下句点
(Although i don't want goodbye to iron out our ending)
不想说我认了 你的性格输了我信任
(Don't want to admit, your character have lost my confidence)
你却赢得我安慰的淘汰
(Still you won the consolation of being eliminated)
If you've watched the MV, you will realize that regardless of who is eliminating and who is being eliminated, both of you will end up being exhausted...we can't be running all our lives...
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
What do men want? part 2...
And your wondering continues....he didn't msg you a whole day...then the next day he sent you a msg late at night and asked, hi how have you been?...so you replied, not too good...so he asked why? what's wrong?...so you told him, you're what's wrong...and he asked again, what do you mean?...but he didn't bother to call...he didn't even bother to tell you why he forgot to msg you a whole day...
He used to call you babe...now it's just hi...and this is only your 3rd date...if this does extrapolate to the rest of your life, can you live like that? oh, he might sweet-talk again, and begs you for another chance to make things right..and he'll always find the right things to say to pacify you...justify his actions..and you'll buy it...but it's just too tiring for you...the emotional uncertainty...a friend told you that he's just in for the chase...once he has obtained the prize, he'll get bored...and you can't help wondering that maybe your friend's advice speaks loud and clear...
And you wonder if you're the only girl who goes through this...of course not...you're sure there are many men out there who play games like that...he has hurt you before...and he begged for you to accept him again...and it took a lot of courage to meet him again...and you thought that he would really cherish his second chance and treat you better...but you thought wrong....you really can't teach old dogs new tricks...they won't stick...he'll just revert back to his old ways and habits...all the 'he'll change becoz of love' mantra...bollocks!!! even in fairy tales, the prince charming never changed becoz of love...what makes you think it would be any better in real life?
You just pray that you won't end up being bitter and too jaded...even if you have to spend the rest of your life without a man by your side while all the people around you seem to be enjoying marital bliss...really, you are happy for them...you just wonder why it doesn't happen for you...perhaps you're being too choosy...don't think so...sigh...maybe you should just forget about this whole looking for a life partner quest (after all you're not even actively searching) and enjoy your single life travelling around the world the way you want it...
He used to call you babe...now it's just hi...and this is only your 3rd date...if this does extrapolate to the rest of your life, can you live like that? oh, he might sweet-talk again, and begs you for another chance to make things right..and he'll always find the right things to say to pacify you...justify his actions..and you'll buy it...but it's just too tiring for you...the emotional uncertainty...a friend told you that he's just in for the chase...once he has obtained the prize, he'll get bored...and you can't help wondering that maybe your friend's advice speaks loud and clear...
And you wonder if you're the only girl who goes through this...of course not...you're sure there are many men out there who play games like that...he has hurt you before...and he begged for you to accept him again...and it took a lot of courage to meet him again...and you thought that he would really cherish his second chance and treat you better...but you thought wrong....you really can't teach old dogs new tricks...they won't stick...he'll just revert back to his old ways and habits...all the 'he'll change becoz of love' mantra...bollocks!!! even in fairy tales, the prince charming never changed becoz of love...what makes you think it would be any better in real life?
You just pray that you won't end up being bitter and too jaded...even if you have to spend the rest of your life without a man by your side while all the people around you seem to be enjoying marital bliss...really, you are happy for them...you just wonder why it doesn't happen for you...perhaps you're being too choosy...don't think so...sigh...maybe you should just forget about this whole looking for a life partner quest (after all you're not even actively searching) and enjoy your single life travelling around the world the way you want it...
Monday, July 26, 2010
What do men want?
Sometimes you really wonder, what exactly do men want? and what are they thinking about when they're not saying anything to you? of course some men honestly aren't thinking at all most of the time...you can't seem to figure out why does he want to see you so much, is willing to go through all the trouble to meet you, only to spend most of his time sleeping...and when both of you are together, he doesn't seem too interested to talk to you...he doesn't really tell you about his day, doesn't really talk about his work, he'd rather watch tv....
And after he has met you, he doesn't call you for a week (or more)...oh sure, he sends you smses...but they're mostly one or two-liners...before, he would call you everyday even though both of you live in different continents...now, you ask him if he wants to chat, and he gives you vague excuses about needing to finish his work...really, if he is so into you, won't he just take 10 mins off his work and call you just to say hi and wish you goodnight? and you stupidly wonder, and cry yourself to sleep...
You don't want to be unreasonable..after all, a man should concentrate on his career...but there really are many discrepancies between how he used to treat you and how he treats you now...you really want to believe that he really means it when he says "i want you"...so why isn't he even acting like he wants you? you're a hopeless romantic, so you hope to make things work...so you will be patient...but you know even you can't wait too long...society isn't kind to aging unmarried career woman...
My advice to you is this...protect your own heart...coz no one else would...believe that someday, God will bring you to the man He meant for you...and that man will love you and want you just as you will love and want him...even if it happens when you're 60...
And after he has met you, he doesn't call you for a week (or more)...oh sure, he sends you smses...but they're mostly one or two-liners...before, he would call you everyday even though both of you live in different continents...now, you ask him if he wants to chat, and he gives you vague excuses about needing to finish his work...really, if he is so into you, won't he just take 10 mins off his work and call you just to say hi and wish you goodnight? and you stupidly wonder, and cry yourself to sleep...
You don't want to be unreasonable..after all, a man should concentrate on his career...but there really are many discrepancies between how he used to treat you and how he treats you now...you really want to believe that he really means it when he says "i want you"...so why isn't he even acting like he wants you? you're a hopeless romantic, so you hope to make things work...so you will be patient...but you know even you can't wait too long...society isn't kind to aging unmarried career woman...
My advice to you is this...protect your own heart...coz no one else would...believe that someday, God will bring you to the man He meant for you...and that man will love you and want you just as you will love and want him...even if it happens when you're 60...
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