Obligatory post

I am on a 2 weeks break, so this blog is going to take a 2 weeks break as well because I just want to spend time for myself, with myself and by myself (with spearmints of course). Maybe I will blog tomorrow... But for tonight, WE ARE GOING TO MAMBO, ARE YOU?

SF

I have booked our flights for this Saturday. We are boarding at 630pm. See you at the top of the world.


(Too many misleading texts coming in. I am not rich enough to go to San Francisco but to Singapore Flyer lah. You all spoil everything)

Sapa, Laocai, Vietnam Part 1

So I am not kidding about the gazillion loads of photos and it is only day 2. So we stepped on our overnight train!

Tips for Backpackers: Always travel on overnight trains/bus to save one night's accommodation and reach your destination in bright light! Bring sleeping bags. (Little comfort for you)

chaocheebye faces about a long train ride

So we reached Laocai at about 5am, it was so freaking cold. It was at least 10 degrees. No kidding. It was our mistake ok my mistake that it was so cold, and that we are not prepared for the weather! I researched and it was supposed to be cooling, not chilling! So all of us had our jackets (thank god) and Julyn had her socks as mittens! It was freezing and I thought my goosebumps wouldnt stop bumping and my nipples.. I dont even want to go there.

FYI, it was summer. I cannot even imagine winter though I read there would be snow!

So it is only Laocai, we had to hitch another bus ride for an hour or two to reach Sapa Valley. (koonz)

Mount Fansipan

So we reached our Hotel, Royal Hotel. Yes it is a hotel! (Charlotte, scream!) It cost us USD 14 per room (double room), so it cost me about USD 7 for one night! It was really cool and we were very very excited and I started calling mother and complaining the coldness! My god and we were omg so famished! We proceeded on to pho after booking our treks immediately!

Part of Sapa from Hotel view


Not bad for USD 7

Royal Hotel: royallhotel_sapa@yahoo.com, USD 7 per head per night

Ugly face to balance up the beauty.

The weather is rather misty and foggy. And little did we know, that sun has yet to rise. Kidding me, it was like 8ish and the sun is still not up. I see that something else is lazier than spearmints.

There! Sunrise above up. We look like angels sent from above!



State of clarity

So the sunrise was like rather quick and everything was bursting into light!

We started our trek up to near Mt. Fansipan which is the highest peak in Sapa. Currently treks are not very available because they are like, making roads to make it more accessible, so they say, or maybe want to cheat our money and bring us somewhere else. We had a personal tour guide, Moon! We got on the van (oh god, can you say bumpy ?) and hitched for another 2/3/4 hours. Cant remember, lost trek(HAHA TRACK I MEANT) it was very very far. We drove back to Laocai.

Catching moments

4 very cold losers


Water buffalo



Wet rice cultivation


Sexy sow


Civilisation Kampung


Moon, our tour guide ( The one on the left, duh)


Wedding

Sidenote: According to Moon, these women are borrowing big pots, chairs, utensils whatever they need for a big wedding coming up! So everyone's invited I guess.

Boy #1



Boy #2



Mud houses



Duckies on the sides

It is super cute to see ducks waddling by the side as you stroll down the road. Imagine it in singapore! Singapore will be jammed because people like me always stop and coo them for at least 5minutes.

Super old skool, than my home pounder


Attempting to look survival-ish.


I guess not.




Gorgeous kids.


Never burn your bridges


Acting all Pisa



Vietnam for you



Camwhores

So Moon bought us somewhere further into the village and we had to walk this gigantic drain which was very thrilling because it seemed like you are going to fall and you can never return. Very exciting, I kept thinking that spearmints would never able to do it. It looks easy sure, it always looks easy!

5feet above

Sidenote: On the left is the paddy field, on the right is the super muddy track which you will probably slip and die or end up in like quick mud (quick sand?) lol.

Do or die


Conquered!

Stupid face

So it got a little warm with all the actions and all... So what happened was.. that I had a little too much water and I really needed to pee. I really needed to pee so badly, its like ultra distended and it's like threatening to flow out of my meatus, it is already at the tip! It was that urgent! If i laughed a little, this is stress incontinence!

So Moon gave me a umbrella. All of us figured where is the best for me to "do it". Hello jungle anyhow lah! BUT NO, Jungle got immigrants. So over here, they have men popping out and like families staring at you. Zz.

Well, we decided to make use of the umbrella..

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Ok I have to do.

Ok this is the first and last time my fat ass would be up on this site. STUPID JASMINE

The ecstasy flowing.

Sidenote: Moon was laughing. And so were the rest. Why you all laugh at me?YOU ALL NO NEED TO PEE MEH!

Four of us with great padi fields

A long winding road

Eat sugarcane this way!

So we head back to that one of Laocai's village's town and got ourselves some sugarcane! It was very sweet and as juicy as I am. Unglam but good. Who cares about glamness!! But it is damn shiok, Singapore can do it or not?

So we headed back to Sapa and sleeping on the way back. Say bumpy again. We were rather knocked out after the train ride especially. But we were hungry! We went bingeing!

Snacks

My god, Kao lat forever!



Toiletmates

So we walked around Sapa town and checked out this Baguette & Chocolat! This is guesthouse cum restaurant opened to sponsor bakeries students to do their placement here!

After dinner... we were freezing outside.

So we are back to hotel, freezing and climbing into our sleeping bags. Yes we had our sleeping bags and blankets on. It reached 8 degrees in the night and we were shaking. So Jasmine and I decided to share one bed so that we can warm up each other. It was really cold.

So this is actually Sapa.

Part 1.

I am not lying, still got Part 2.

Bedside conversations.

If you do have someone admitted into the hospital, do you have any idea what topics to converse or what to be said? If it is your friends, it would be easier.

XX (bed13): Whats up man, thanks for coming!
YY: Fuck man, you know JJ fucked WW..
(continues..)

But if your Hainanese spouse is in the hospital,

Spouse (Bed 12): Hmm (groans)
Wife: Have you eaten?
SB12: Hmm yeah

Silence.

Wife: You eat porridge?
SB12: Hmm yes

Silence.

Wife: You eaten already?
SB12: Hmm yes

Silence.

Wife: Eaten all?
SB12: Hmm yes.

Silence.

Oh god it went on for about another 5 minutes and I was just standing there marking all my charts, and I got so bored with the conversation already, until I readily announced that I am about to feed him. I think I saved her from the awkwardness.

I just want to be indispensable in your life. I just want to be more than who i am to you right now in hopeful times and in plenty many time later. I am so worked out I think I can punch someone. Because I cant seem to drive my point across.

TGIF

I met an unique Malay family today. As I have mentioned in recent posts that I am in the Geriatrics wards, I have this Malay nek-nek(grandmother) who's partially blind but really cutesy in someway whom had an unique family system. You see, she have 4 daughters and she do not have a permanent home because she rotates around her daughters weekly or every fortnightly. She is KIV home soon and needs to be taken care as she has a silicon IDC(in dwelling catheter) in her so her carers will need to learn how to clear her urine bag and to keep clean of the catheter etc. So the 4 daughters eagerly came down and wanting to learn since 4 of them are going to take care of them with their husbands as well. It warmed my heart knowing that they love their mother so much and they have no qualms about taking care and learning to take care of their mother. This is family. Not like me, stupid Chinese. All proud and mighty, with all affluences and commitments, we cant even put it down to tender our utmost care for our loved ones. Me stupid Chinese only throw our emaciated and sick loved ones into nursing homes , hospices, hospitals to let anyone , everyone but themselves to take care. I feel deeply embarrassed for the first time. Because the 4 daughter's eagerness and that light in their eyes have shadowed my competency to be a good daughter or a good granddaughter.

So all chinese, learn from this. Stop talking about those extremists or even stupid Mas Selemat (he is obviously gone from this place) AS ALL OF US would know, that this MS shit has gone from extremely high profile to really low profile already because the gahmen knows that Singaporeans forget easily. (They have something to hide, maybe) Look at the Edison Chen Sex Scandal.. OMG EXCITING, OMG SEX, OMG BOBO, OMG CECILIA, OMG PUSSY HAIR! Ya now? Who cares. Then came this MS guy, roll eyes. Ya so he limps. Ok now everyone don't really care anymore because it is like overrated. The only people who care are those contraband sellers (whom are rigging up the contraband cigs prices because it is harder to smuggle in now due to my next point) and those who are often stuck in the stupid woodlands jam due to heavy checks.

Oh please, he is quite a loser. JUST PLANNING TO BOMB YISHUN AND GET CAUGHT LIAO. he probably fell into some hole in the forest and died, and no one will ever know and we all hope that the jam will ease so that I can plan for my Genting trip.

I have digressed.

华人，我们要有爱心对待我们的家人!

!

Sapa, Laocai, Vietnam Pig

Spearmints always call me this. (She is jealous we have same breast size) she seriously loves me to the max!


( I guess this blog is non halal now...)

I have not rant for quite a bit actually nothing much to be ranted about i guess. So now I am posted in the Gerontology Unit which means I have patients who are only 75 and above. The pace is slow and goes according to the patient. If your "ah ma" takes 20 minutes to walk to the toilet with her walker, so be it, everyone else will be delayed 20 minutes. It is a chain effect as "ah ma A" takes 20 mins to walk, 20 mins to bathe, 20 mins to walk back. "ah ma A" takes about 1 hour to complete one task. "ah ma B" have to wait for one hour to get her morning shower, and you best pray that "ah ma B" is being wheeled.

No complaints about the ward. Yet. My skills are rusty because I have not returned to medical wards for almost, i dont know more than six months? I don't feel noob at medical anymore, because I can practically do anything I want (except for like Controlled Drugs) and I know what I need to do so basically I am functioning well right now.

Been pondering about future plans. Thought of majoring something else instead of BA Nursing but the thought of studying for another 3 years makes me shudder. So I guess if all goes well in next half a year, I should be all set for BA Nursing (Which I have yet to retrieve the form and to make a visit to what-his-name) and maybe join the Singapore Zoological Gardens to be a zookeeper.

I am kidding of course. If all goes well with spearmints and I while I am doing dodgy things in Melbourne, I would return back to homeland but if not, I guess my plans being a Traveling Nurse should be implemented. If we are still going very strong, I will come back to homeland and I am going to join HPB to do campaigns/policies. I have choices, maybe I should go back to where I belong to, the damn wards or A&E. NOW, that thought is exciting although I feel stupid in A&E. It takes time isnt it?

Or maybe go audition somewhere as a drag queen. I think I have an inner taste and talent for drag queens. I know, I am like female but I am like a gay man trap in a female body! (A gay man who's like a lesbian, I know, I am confused) I want to don on all pink boa feathers and like all over me and lip sync to Madonna, Tina Turner or Christina Aguilera or Kylie Minogue or even Goldfrapp! I dont care, I just want to be flamboyant and just strut down the aisle with utmost glam. O

Yucks. I have a gay man's fascination. No offense to Paul or Jon or whogayever but I am sure you dont have fascinations like this do you... ? But I am happy being a female, somehow this gay man thingy is like struggling inside. Wow, I am officially like Gender Dysphoric.

But I am fine being myself, spearmints loves me the way I am, my mother loves me, my cousins love me and my friends love me!

*croons I AMMM BEAAAAUTIIIIIIIFULLLL NOOOO MATTTTEEERRR WHHHHHHHAAAAT THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYY SAY, WORRRDDSSS CANTTTTT BRIIINNNNGGGG MEEEEEE DOWNNNNNNNN, OOOOOHHHH YEAHHHHHH*

*shakes to candyman*

For now I am going to take a nice little nap while spearmints is out with the other woman. I cant stand being the second woman always. Not fair. WHY CANT I BE THE ONLY ONE. WHY. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY.

p/s: Will someone nice purchase a pro flickr account for me...? Please?

Mind your body!

1. Apples are fat, sodium and cholesterol free!
2. A medium apple contains about 80 calories!
3. They are a great source of the fibre pectin! One apple has 5g of fibre!
4.Twenty five percent of an apple's volume is air. That is why apples float!
5. Don't peel your apple. Two thirds of the fibre and lots of antioxidants are found in the peel!

Very interesting somehow, came across it in Mind Your Body article, March 26 2008.

So do you think that Orange has the highest vitamin C?

Wrong.

Its guava.

Despite it being super citrus, it does not equate to a greater source of Vitamin C.

(I am getting this whole Juju trivia going on. Its cool!)

OT Week.

Finally this OT (Operating Theatre) posting is ending. The boredom and the arrogance of the staffs are killing me. I feel like a rat especially when JCIA is taking place. We get shooed when we are walking in the corridors into the theatres by the managers; we get shooed out of the theatres into the scrub room; we get shooed out of the scrub room to have breaks; we get shooed out of the pantry while having our (very long) breaks because JCIA is auditing the pantry; we hid in the changing room in fear; we get shooed out of the changing room because JCIA is coming; we hid in the toilet till we get shooed out and ran into the managers who eventually shooed us into the tutorial room to watch lame videos until the end of shift.

This rat is going to meet her rat girlfriend now.

P.s. Being an OT staff don't make you better than any other department staff. Friends, we need to stop the vicious cycle of ill-treating students! We are definitely being taken over by the PRC girls.... It is high time we write into the Forum and complain. OT is FLOODED with PRCs and it is killing me. I don't mind them if they are fucking humble BUT NO.

(Gerontology posting next week. I hope got year 1 students so I can bully them and make them take ALL the parameters! )