Life flashes past you My uncle collasped as he was about to finish the marathon last weekend. It was probably heatstroke, and perhaps overexcitment as he neared the finish line. Just like in the drama serials, scenes of your life, memorable moments, important loved ones, will all flash by in your mind. In his delirious state, he called out familiar names repeatedly, and kept moving his arms about. It was scary to feel his own legs gradually straighten, and grow stiff. It’s as if rigor mortis was beginning to set in. With tears in his eyes, he recounted the feeling of refusing to let go. Is it really as portrayed in the movies, where we approach the gate to the world beyond, but suddenly turn back in the nick of time? It is during times like these that we really realize and admit how much we care for those around us. But not everyone can be as fortunate as him to take this as a learning episode and continue with life. Love is ” … “ - When you find yourself ecstatic a moment and miserable the next. - Having the privilege of stealing his food if it looks more appealing than yours - When you find yourself in the wrong aisles at the supermart ridiculously looking for disgusting food that he likes - Keeping your handphone close by even in the toilet and hallucinating that you heard it beep for an incoming sms -When the usual dynamic, independent you becomes degraded to a whiny, unreasonable spoilt brat -The effort you take to wake up half an hr every morning just to put on that darn pair of contact lens - The lightheaded feeling when you smell your favourite fragrance on his shoulder - The lovely bliss when he holds your hand as he drives with the other hand - When you stop to steal glances at him even though Tony Leung/Andy Lau/Tom Cruise is smiling at you on the movie screen - If you enjoyed the sucky movie just because you were watching it together, hand in hand - Waking up to his voice every morning and knowing delicious breakfast awaits you  - Laughing when you get more than 2/3s of the umbrella as both of you share it in the pouring rain - Hating yourself for reading the same line of the textbook over and over again because you can’t get him outta your head - The victorious feeling when he gives in to your most willful, nonsensical demands - When you just can’t help eavesdropping on his conversations with other girls and can’t resist peeping at his sms inbox - The silly smile on your face as you find all the above just too familiar to you. www.kennysia.com My terrible temper Perhaps i need to start attending “seven habits” and other anger management classes with my friend. I officially attribute my worsening temper to my work. Haha and probably my upcoming exams have to share the blame as well. I am actually in a better mood in mammo, due to motherly instincts acting up. I must learn to be more considerate of other’s feelings… which is just odd for a self-centered person like me. Last week a patient claimed that my mammo machine “raped” her. She promptly smsed obscenities to her friend who promised mammogram won’t hurt. As a parting shot, she also told me to think of her when I have my own mammogram done in 20yrs’ time. That was when I swore to myself I’ll never ever have a mammogram! After a record breaking, earth shattering, busiest week in the history of the mammo room, I’ve finally graduated with the honour of “mammo expert”. Two aunties who became friends after sitting next to each other in the waiting area, were actually praising me when they left. “I like this girl, she’s so nice.” Awwww… and I thought to myself, “how nice if I had a thick wad of feedback forms in my pocket!” Oh, and ewwww to rainy days. My next birthday wish is to have someone chauffeur me to and from work every day for the rest of my life. Just Breasts? I was just telling a friend that day, about how special and intimate a mammogram can be. Its no doubt weird and embarrassing exposing yourself to a stranger. Being half-naked in a foreign room with fully clothed people can’t be glamourous, unless you are paris hilton or something. More people than you can imagine are overly self-conscious about their bodies. I get awkward patients who apologise and ask whether their breasts are too small for a mammogram. Obviously they must have seen me struggle with a frown on my face. Those who are well-endowed will also worry about not finding dress sizes, curious stares and what not. There is nothing perfect in this world, and everything is down to self-esteem. I’ve had a patient tell me indignantly “Be thankful! My breasts are considered big already. Stop looking at me like that.” It’s the post masectomy patients that amaze me. They live on with such drive and contentment that you’d never imagine what they have been through. They look exactly like your average patient as well. I’ve had patients discuss about how caring, or uncaring their surgeons were, which hospital is the best place to have an operation, and their own ways of coping with life after cancer. I remember an aunty who said, “Now that I have only one breast, nothing that I wear looks beautiful on me anymore.” I was overwhelmed, and didn’t know what to say. On hindsight, I could have said much more to her. But at that moment, I simply answered, “Don’t worry, its not obvious to others at all!” I’m glad she still managed a smile and a “thanks”. Some patients even break down, and claim that they are not “whole women” without breasts. It’s hard to understand such emotional and psychological stress. Breast cancer can appear without warning, and just come & go in a flash. Its scary when I look at films with such suspicious masses. More so when I was just chatting happily with the unsuspecting lady a moment ago. Within a short week, the patient’s name will appear all of a sudden on the operating theatre’s list for the day. If its shocking for me, what is it like for the patient herself? Doing mammograms is a way of awakening my inner compassionate self. Its a good chance of interacting with people, reminding me that I still have the ability to care. As healthcare workers, we focus so much on the “working” part that we forget about the “caring” bit. I haven’t felt the warm fuzzy feeling for a long long time. Next time, if the mammographer gives you a pat on the shoulder, some heartfelt words or even a big tight hug, that might just happen to be me. Breast Cancer Awareness mth Coincidentally, the month of october is the annual breast cancer awareness month. Unfortunately for me, it means an extremely long list of patients every day! The hokkien-speaking PCA aunty asked me yesterday, “Ay, you in Mo-mo?” ”Mo-mo” translates as “Mammo”. I laughed, and demonstrated a pressing action with both hands…”Yup, mo-mo” Touching and kneading breasts every day. I have since gained new insight, and a dislike for breasts. In fact guys should be posted to mammo, which no doubt will be an eye-opening experience. It will revolutionize your perception of breasts. These are not sexy things, but highly scientific and challenging to handle. Its not a pretty sight to see breasts flattened and beaten to a pulp. Sometimes i am so focussed on pulling the breast tissue that i forgot about the patient herself. Her face might already be squashed flat against the face shield, with makeup smeared all over. Im so sorry about that. “A light press, that’s all.” This is a familiar advertisement slogan. How wrong can that be? Patients turn up pale and shivering, still traumatised from last yr’s horrifying experience. They scream in pain with contorted faces, even Before i started the compression. “Aunty, relac la, i haven’t even started! So tense how to do? no flesh to pull leh!” Sometimes i feel like a part-time cousellor, part-time friend, even part-time fellow aunty. But i do enjoy listening to their housewife tales, exotic travel stories, saddening cancer therapies etc Mammo is like socialising, adapting to the different personalities of your patients and using different techniques on different breasts. There’s a newspaper article written by a journalist who went for mammo and ultrasound herself. She described mammo as putting your breasts on the floor and have someone step repeatedly on them. Or, having two thick volumes of encyclopedias and smashing your breasts between them. So much for encouragement. I suggested blowing up the article to poster-size and putting it up in the department. That way, we’ll have less patients! Patients have their own tactics to deal with a mammogram. Some eat ponstan, panadol or any painkiller they can find before coming. Others massage and tap tap tap on their breasts after the mammogram, to re-inflate ‘em. Yet some others try to avoid it altogether with excuses like, “Now Puasa, saya breasts small u know. taboleh do mammo.” Some patients try to intimidate me with hateful stares. Some try the pleading looks. If all else fails use sacarsm. “Last year the one who did for me was so rough u know! so painful! this time won’t be like that hoh?” Patients will pull a long face when told there are additional views, like cone maginification (cone mag) or cone compressed. I hate these mags, mac mac big mac …. mac nugget… mac crispy… I always tell my patients, “Aunty, free gift, sale leh, buy one get one free.” But they always reply ” This type of free gift i don’t want la. Radiation plus suffering. So pain you know!” As if i like to do extra views. Hai~ Last but not least, a tip for those going for mammograms…please attend to basic hygiene. I always know its a hot day outside when patients show up with sweaty armpits. Argh The week had its ups and downs… a terrible encounter with a very mean staff destroyed my day. I still maintain that I’m right, and she can go ahead and complain all she wants. To think I even stooped low enough to apologise to her! Should have never done that! According to her, I should have waited for EVERYONE to evacuate to who knows how far before shooting the portable xray. And she doesn’t even believe when I told her 2m away is already the safe distance. People are just ……… I spoke to a very religious christian student nurse, who’s part of campus crusade. She said she thought of God’s power in Anatomy class. How He created us with the skull bone to protect our brains. Imagine our brains spilling out without all the dura mater, pia mater and alma mater and whatever. I thought to myself “more urgent CT heads at night!” Anyway, there was another example of more layers of epithelial cells created by God in areas prone to more friction. She aspires to specialize in geriatric care, and I’m sure she’ll make a wonderful caregiver with her passion to serve. While waiting for the bus a white-haired, hunchbacked aunty initiated a conversation with me. She complained about the stupid bus that came only every 30 mins. We even went on to discuss about her work as a cleaner and what not. I think I have a friendly face. Parked myself at home in front of the tv, watched my vcds, cable tv and even good old channel 8. Catch reruns of the terrific ER on Hallmark17 everyday at 8pm. The new neurosurgery drama 3lbs is good too, though my mum shook her head at the promiscuous couple in the first episode. Recently started to check out Animal Planet and NatGeographic as well. Yes I’m becoming more nature savvy. BoysToys on NatGeog is way cool with giant submarines and humongous aircraft carriers. Uhh, okayy I know I need to get out of the house more. Dying to go to Genting for JoeyYung’s concert in April!!! I hope I can get at least 1-2 days’ leave. Anyone interested? And need to start planning for trip in May. Can’t wait for those holidays! Do they hear you when you cry That’s the title of the other book that i’ve read very recently. yes yes i know you’re all jealous i can read in satellite. hah but going back to hell next wk again Anyway, it’s a very touching story, though slightly long at just over 600 pgs. Fauziya tells her own tale in first person, depicting first a blessed childhood in her native Togo, followed by the death of her beloved father, and finally the resulting struggle to escape from cultural injustice. She ran from an arranged marriage with a man 30 yrs her senior, and most importantly the impending tribal custom of female circumcision. It is in fact female genital mutilation, without sterile equipment, anesthesia,  or whatever. In her quest to seek asylum in America, Fauziya spent almost two years in 4 different prisons over the country. Her life in prison is heartbreaking to read, and greatly inspiring. Now i should stop grumbling about being overworked, bored and stuff, cos it’s heaven compared to prison conditions. The Bonesetter’s Daughter The cultured (surprise!) me has recently read a book by Amy Tan. It really strikes a chord by exploring the relationship between mother and daughter, and even mother and grandmother. The complex family ties and differences in culture and background makes it an interesting read. The misunderstood elder, now suffering from dementia seemed oddly similar to my grandma. It doesn’t only affect your memory, but your character as well. “It’s not her speaking, but the disease talking.” That is succinct and so true. The book recounts the early years of the elderly mum, her hardships, struggles and finally her successful migration to America. These were written down at the time when she began to suspect her memory was failing. The daughter finally understands her mum after reading those long-lost pages. It is often heartbreaking how we realise things only when it is too late. The last pages painted a touching ending though, and mother & daughter resolved their differences with a simple apology. “Dementia is a truth serum. You forget how to lie.” ta-dah! hey! i almost forgot about my blog until some people reminded me of it recently. and yes - i won the top prize in the department lucky draw. The next day almost a thousand people asked me with sacarstic/jealous glares “so how’s the tv? clear or not?” But overall i’m more happy that the party turned out to be a success, with no major complains abt food. Oh well how can you still complain with 2k worth of buffet food? I realised there’s a very nice view from the level 8 window. Truly relaxing to sit back on a swivel chair, kick off ur shoes, on the aircon to full blast, and look out of the window at planes landing. The recent rainy weather just adds a touch of romantic mist to the great view. Be sure to add some lovely background tunes from the radio too. That, is what I call paradise. But there is always retribution soon to follow, and thus paradise - lost. Starting shift soon again, and working throughout CNY too. Well spares me the trouble of pretending to enjoy the company of my relatives though.   Just added an extra cable channel : TVBJ. Absolutely terrific! And onward towards auntyhood. I love the cantonese mtvs, award shows, concerts etc etc…not to mention travel programmes, food tours and such. Made many new friends during the past week. These include several porter aunties, nurses, healthcare assistants etc. Heard some truly enlightening and heartwarming speeches. Met some admirable, hardworking, efficient staff. It amazes me every aunty has an intriguing story behind her too. It is also appalling how some people can be so lazy, claiming to be tired after just pushing two beds. Those are the young ones, mind you. Even the 60-yr-old aunty has springs in her steps, even climbing stairs to fetch patients. Wow. I wonder sometimes if i’m sociable, or simply kaypoh. Very disheartened at the working ethics of some. Some David Copperfiels can perform random disappearing acts. Is it being petty to be so calculative? Should we just do as much as possible without bothering about others? But why should you do double work and let ‘em get away with it? Argh. Answers that will never come. onward Towards confirmation and more pay finally~! whoopee… and this is the end of my turbulent week. Had to look for clues and play stupid games for the amazing race the whole week. perhaps we’ll win tomor’s final too! its amazing (pun intended) that we got into the top 5 for the amazing race haha. discovered how unfit i am when i panted after 5 mins of badminton. anyway, i rediscovered my brutal side, and shocked many when i tied patients up like mummies. its for their own good, and of cos my convenience too. really feel bad for my colleague who is ultra stressed learning new stuff. doesn’t help with 5 other people peering over your shoulder and hurrying u. no wonder trainees get high blood pressure there. bless me next time. i realized nice people are more tolerant and patient…but they are said to be too slow. efficient people work v well, but are impatient and demanding. it’s hard to find a balance between the two. I guess it’s better to try pausing for a moment, taking others’ feelings into consideration before you pass mean remarks. then again, its difficult when you see 10 trolleys and 10 wheelchairs waiting outside. Ups and Downs… Had a turbulent time the past week or so. Some hiccups which made me learn important lessons at the workplace. It makes you grow up i guess. Sad, but that’s the reality of working life. Thankfully it resolved, together with the touching realization of who is actually a true friend. The neighbour aunty told my mum i’m actually more sociable nowadays. I guess its good to be friendly and cheery when you interact with others. It makes working/simply living life much easier and happier. But sometimes I remind myself of my conscience (or what’s left of it) not to have selfish hidden agendas when making new friends. Perhaps its just a fine line between “helping each other” or “making use of one another” in future. My new friends this week include : the cleaner aunty (who was pitifully forced to go for “voluntary beach cleanup” from 1-5pm that day!) The tall dark but not quite handsome ward assistant with a cool name. My colleagues are actually nice and fun people! Most importantly we had much fun today at the telematch. Ay, the MC was quite cute too. Catch it on channelnewsasia tonight Very stressed to be training for new stuff next week. Both good and bad. And i feel multiple stares from others. another shift cycle completed Me: “Please change into blah…take out everything Except blah…” Patient: “HUH?” (rudely) I had to tug at the blouse, point at the gown, shove them into the changing room and list one by one the items to remove. “There is a pictorial board, you can read right?” in a very nice but sacarstic tone. Alamak, and in the end still never ceases to amaze me with their stupidity. They would wear the crumpled used gown, instead of those nicely folded ones. Me: “Please go into Room XX.” (The room numbers follow a sequence. But some people do not have common sense.) Patient: “WHERE?” (Then walks round the entire department looking for the room which is right beside. Mind you those are the young and educated ones.) Me: “Room XX, which is right beside you. See the number sign outside?” I then go out to point directly overhead. Maybe they have to be educated in this way. Please do not let yourself be embarrassed like that! And be more polite, not as if I owe you money k… At the icu, i asked the nurse “How come all your patients disappeared overnight?” Suddenly there were so many empty beds. She said ,” Dont say that…they have recovered, out of icu already!” There was an old lady with white hair, bowed legs walking stick and all staying overnight by a bedside. She slept on a couch beside her sick son. He is mentally subnormal too i heard. It was a very sad sight, reminding me of the phrase “White haired one sending off the black haired one.” These occassional heart-wrenching moments helps me regain lost sanity. Oh Sanity! reminds me of the terribly complicated game we played at 5am at the chalet. I still prefer monopoly and game of life! And to think we oldies stayed indoors for the entire chalet. So ashamed. But of course, it was due to the haze. Fiction or Nonfiction? Have heard an entire heap of rumours during the past week. About this this this and that that that, who likes who and who’s gay with who. Very difficult to tell which is true and which isn’t. This is especially so in the workplace, where so many rumours of all sorts are floating around, and the next moment there might be rumours about yourself too. Someone has given me some enlightening talk about life, how to treat people with kindness, have a good heart, be courteous, loyal etc. BUT, it is almost too ideal and angelic to be true. To counteract all the puzzling talk, I have decided not to believe any of it and just mind my own business. Better to be on the safe side, and remain neutral as much as possible. I feel my temper has improved…perhaps thanks to my very efficient assistant. A far cry from the previous terrible month-long torturous encounter with the lazy bum. I guess as I get more used to the work and stuff, the better I can cope with it. And when things go smoothly, you gain confidence! Therefore, less likely to flare up. Hopefully nightmare shift won’t be called nightmare shift anymore Someone said I am soft spoken and polite…and they should clone me. -Stop rolling your eyes now!- Maybe because we have seen too many examples of ill-bred singaporeans at the workplace. And some very stupid ones who cant follow simple instructions. It seems as though they can’t understand full, polite sentences. I will re-enact their stupidity for you if we have the chance…remind me. Really looking forward to museum tour and chalet! So happening? Managed to inject plenty of “life” into my sad daily working routine. In other words, went out quite often the past week, and spent lots of money too. Haha the prequel to my nightmare shift next week and beyond. Very enjoyable to meet up with friends, find out how they’re doing…and basically learn about things other than my work. Shall not blog about my miserable failed museum tour though, cos all the museums were closed. Vow to conduct another one soon Was lamenting the childish nature and sad realization of office politics. Its like this clique doesnt like that group and you can’t make friends with both. Otherwise you’ll attract lots of murderous stares. Oh well what’s wrong with being nice to everyone since you’ll have to work together sooner or later? World Peace hah… Miami Vice was super cool! Just the type of brainless plotless action flick that you needed to unwind after a week of work. Totally immerse yourself in the “booms!” “bangs!” “TUT TUT TUT” of machine gun fire, bombs, rockets etc. Of course complete with lots of bed scenes all featuring the old but still beautiful gong li. I think her spanish rocks, much more than her english. but maybe its cos i don’t understand spanish. The new advert for giordano is out! It features pure hotness (rain and jang dong gun), with plenty of stripping changing of attires. Recently taking a break from dvd marathons since my club partner is busy. Adopted a more cultured liifestyle like reading Amy Tan’s Saving fish from drowning. Or perhaps to ah ma : Saving fish for the dinner plate. My cousin got a new dog Scoopy. Going to look at it later. My mum said that playing with the dog can make you forget all worries. But maybe there are new things to worry about like fleas and poo.   The aCk! promo on tv As quoted from ah ma "bob also got duped into respecting the noble healthcare workers"…just like my mum. Guess i'm a tad too cynical. There ARE true florence nightingales in the workforce…but just that i've come across too many disgruntled ones. The sheer amount of work and ridiculous demands of patients/relatives etc just gets to u most of the time. i'm sure if we had all the time in the world, there'll be much better patient care, communication, altruism etc. But when you're cooped up in a 30+ deg celsius ward filled to the brim with old aunties that press the bell every 5 seconds…and with the humid air perpetually smelling of laosai…plus diapers waiting to be changed and patients to be fed…they can hardly have time to think of florence nightingale. Porter anonymous told me when the supervisor is there, staff will be extra nice to the aunty who presses the bell. "Yes, aunty, what do you need?" With a smile of course, just like on the documentary. But when the boss isnt there, it'll be like "WHAT AGAIN LA!" and then the bell will perhaps be "accidentally" yanked out of the electric socket. Haha, and my friend who was recently scolded by the nurses felt nauseous after watching the documentary. Did u too? Reflection - Eagerly awaiting ah ma's chalet…funny that only the two of us chose east coast, while the rest wanted the hip & funky downtown east. says loads about our psychological age, as ah ma said. actually it doesn't matter where it is, most importantly the people you have celebrating with you. -milestone of the week : my mum learnt to sms successfully for the first time in 3 yrs! but as most mums n dads do, she has to use the ultraslow single alphabet mode. its a good start anyway. and she chooses only those words that can be formed by the first alphabet of each key. like "a", "d", "g", "j", "m", "p" etc. Are your parents like that too? -my mum remarked that they have the Yellow Ribbon Project in thailand too. During reports about the coup (proud to correct her pronunciation: "cooo") , civilians tied yellow ribbons to tanks, gave flowers to soldiers etc. She thought it was like the second-chance-for-prisoners thing here, when in fact its to show their loyalty to their king. - concluded my hiatus, with nightmare shift starting in the coming week. brace myself - i might have forgotten how to work fast already. anyway, was deeply saddened by how fake people can be. it's true, never judge a book by its cover. first week: disliked but still sympathised with the porter A, second week, found porter B to be much better, and respected her diligence, finally, met porter C and realised porter B is in fact evil too. who knows i might meet porter D soon and give up on all of the above. Feel cheated of my sympathy and concern for them. What have we become? Hypocrites and liars? -It dawned on me that its weird how i see my patients. During those tear-jerking segments of poor cancer-stricken patients on charity shows or documentaries, i feel sorry for them. However, its ironic that when i meet those same chronic patients at work i don't see their plight in the same light. When you see only the body region of the patient, as another tough chore to handle, somehow the empathy just gets flushed down the drain. Perhaps I should really try to see those patients as the same poor things each with their sad story hidden behind. -Currently on a dvd marathon. Then again, when am i not? War-of-the-inlaws was cute and entertaining, but got dumb and repetitive after a while. I still prefer shows with conflicts and deeper issues cos they're thought provoking. Forensic Heroes is quite a gripping show, but still pales in comparison to CSI. Sometimes old shows are good too, like Riches and Stiches on weekend evenings. Amazing Race season 10 got off to a good start, with two cute models winning the first leg. I think meilin will be upset they aren't showing it on cha 5. Time to get cable eh? Birthday celebrations Kick-started my birthday this year by getting called back to the hospital at 3am. there was in fact another call-back on fri evening, but luckily for me my wonderful colleague did not have the heart to call me back. Thanks! And so I had a great night out with the girls… as usual with much discussion on bird's future marriage plans. the classification thing is so funny i just have to share it. single guys belong to 4 categories: 1- handsome, very eligible, smart, rich etc, the type that won't fancy you. 2- the friendly, sensitive, but overly effiminate jie3 mei4 / aunty. 3- the flirt, who sweet-talks girls all the time, never serious though. 4- the most common one in our social circles which is the weirdo. maybe bird doesnt have to change her social circle, just her ultra selective criteria for a partner. haha Totally enjoyed my half day of work on sat, for once. We had a mini bdae lunch, where i treated them to pizza. my colleagues were really nice to celebrate it for me, and somehow the entire department knew it was my birthday. and ahem, its a bit scary when i realized the philipino guys all saved my hp number into their contact lists! cos it was written on the whiteboard for on-call purposes. -gulp- and i think my mum is so worried that i can't get a husband, that she told me to consider marrying my philipino colleagues. Also realized that i'm most charming only with : hair bundled up in hair cap, 3/4 face covered by surgical mask, wearing pyjamas-like OT scrubs, 1/2 body blocked by xray machine. Cos the surgeon offered to buy me lunch and even carried the cassette for me! Sat afternoon was fun with my buffet-lunch kakis too. Have to recommend to all the buffet at level 2, Orchard Hotel. Absolutely great local fare like superb duck porridge, laksa, charkuayteow, orh-lua, and delicious cakes plus chocolate fountain. Learnt a funny but useful acronym : terrible old man = TOM. good way to diss your irritating father-in-law without getting exposed.  And by the way, i went for another round of sumptous food that same evening - uh oh. Have to dive for the slimming Pu-er tea again! Overall many thanks to all who sent bdae wishes, celebrated with me, or simply added to my joy some way or the other. Someone pasted a bdae note on the inside of my takeaway lunchbox, haha! and i was secretly eating cake in OT shh… Looking forward to many more gatherings and great times ahead Book Review : Soul Mountain At first I thought I had language deficiency. Then I realized its not me. Felt SO comforted after reading an online review on the Nobel-Lit prize winning book. The reviewer, like me, had no idea what the author was talking about. The book is originally in chinese, but translated into english. There is pretty much no storyline, just random encounters and thoughts jotted down in messy chapters. Sometimes its in second person, sometimes in third person, sometimes back to first person. I have no idea whether the “She” in this chapter is the same as the “She” in the next. Umm, and the author sleeps with an alarming number of women, most of whom throw themselves at him. The last time i checked, he is an old man, wearing mud-caked shoes, tattered unwashed jeans, with tangled hair. I guess wanderers/novelists have some special attribute that attracts slutty  lonely women. The book is also highly philosophical, including asking of many rhetorical, repeated and complex questions. The author is good at description though, and very often I am able to feel the fear when he gets lost in the mountains or valleys. However, it is too vivid, and when he says there’s a huge mystical bird, or sudden flames and shifting mountains n clouds, I guess reality has turned into imagination. While sleeping with the women, he tells them many tall tales, stories about the places he’s been to. After these stories about people and history, the women ask whether he is lying. And then he admits he is. They ask if he tells other women the same thing. And he says maybe. Basically he’s a terrible womanizer, and women love bad men. Perhaps even bad old men. And did I tell u he quoted his critics in one chapter, and argued about their complaints. In another chapter he wrote the whole 2 pages without a fullstop. I think all award winning movies have not enough light, and all award winning books are beyond me too. Pulau Ubin cycling trip You never imagined me to be so sporty right? I went on a 5 hour cycling trip at ulu pulau ubin. The road was ok, but the more secluded tracks were really bumpy. The stone-covered tracks made my butt sore, and I reckon its even more useful than i-Gallop. Rather steep slopes, very shiok to feel the wind against ur face as u fly down the slope, as if participating in the asian x-games. Being a scaredy cat with limited cycling skills, I kept braking to ensure I wont fly off the bike. The surroundings are what I will call rustic. At times, however, it should be described as “damn hot and dusty with tonnes of mozzies”. Overall a fun experience though, like a welcomed dose of pure kampong fun in our sad city lives. Next up, visit to Mandai Zoo! WooPee! I hope my friend Lunch doesnt play me out! Good luck to friends going on trips to Eng and E.Eurp “Tree Top” Trail Got somewhat duped into trying the Tree Top Trail @ Macritchie today. It was a tremendous effort, for me to wake up for a nature hike at 9am. I didn’t realize that it took 4km to get to the START of the trail itself. And in fact the trail consists just of a dodgy bridge cutting across some vegetation. Hardly adrenaline pumping stuff, and no where near TREE TOP height! The bridge didnt even shake, when I tried jumping on it. Sianzzz. That was followed by many flights of stairs…and we proceeded to get lost in a - golf course!? Considered hijacking a buggy, but then did not want to appear on the straits times headlines tmr. “Three girls lost in Macritchie Reservoir, caught stealing golf buggy.” So if anyone asks you hows the TreeTop Trail, its simply an indescripable experience. Really have to try it yourself to feel reeeealllly cheated. And so i tried to entertain my friends while we walked for hours through the dirt tracks. Tips: you could pretend to be on a one-day tour, acting as the tour guide and giving a talk on the plants. Otherwise, as people in ancient martial arts series, getting lost in the “Ba1 Gua4 Zhen4″ or some weird formation in the forest. If all else fails, imagine it to be the vietnam border, and engage yourself in jungle warfare. The lizards are the enemies and bird chirping the morse code. Wouldn’t it be nice? Singapore: local tour Tea Chapter : 9 Neil Rd, 10 mins walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT - A very nice place for you to meet up with friends over tea. Learnt the basics of tea appreciation and the pouring of the cups stuff. Delicious tea egg and other snacks too. Basic spending 5 bucks per person, but charging dep on the type of tea chosen n the snacks. Cozy place, can stay at least 2 hours or more Chocolat N Spice : Tanjong pagar market, opposite the MRT next to Amara Hotel. Very cheap and good muffins at 1 buck each. Extremely long queues at lunchtime. Many flavours inc chocolate, blueberry, cheese, cranberry, banana etc Loke Woh Yuen Vegetarian Restaurant: 20,22 Tanjong Pagar Road - Try the beehoon or noodles for 4bucks. Or for better and more pricey stuff, the vegetarian chicken at 8 dollars. All time fav of my mum. National Library: North bridge rd, near bugis and city hall. Check out the photography exhibitions on level 9 and 10. Fantastic free admission, lots of photos including black n white shots. One on india’s landmarks, and the other on early singapore. Supreme Court : Near City Hall MRT - Catch up on the latest juicy news on the kallang river case. Be sure to line up early to beat the uncle crowd. Not allowed to fall asleep during trial though. But no worries, its far too interesting to sleep! Art House …  Asian Civilisation Museum etc… all near each other in town. Dolls of Japan exhibition at Art House. ACM free admission on fri after 7pm. heehee