At the dim sum restaurant...


The wishing tree... under 'rehab' (read sign)

HK trip Day 1...

We arrived at HK airport around 11am... it was quite chilly when we got down from the plane cos we had to catch a bus from the plane to the airport, unlike in s'pore, where we had the tunnel thing that led directly into the airport... and caught a bus to the hotel in kowloon... we had quite a difficult time locating the hotel and when we finally saw it, it was a quite a disappointment... it was one of those 3-star hotels and the room that they allocated us was really small... the only good thing about the hotel was probably its location cos the transport was quite convenient... and the first thing I noticed was the amount of pollution in the air... it was really bad and the whole place looked smoggy... plus, the people in HK smoked alot... males and females... it was really difficult to breathe...

after depositing our luggage, we went for lunch in this dim sum restaurant near the hotel... the food was only okay... was really disappointed in their 'xiao long bao'... i still think that the ones in lau par sat was better... and we had alot of difficulties deciphering the menu cos the chinese characters were really hard to read...

after lunch, we split up... prisy's group went to shop at mongkok while my group headed for the famous wishing tree... the journey there took about an hour and a half... when we finally arrived there... to my greatest disappointment... the tree did not look like what I had expected... and the worst thing was... bcos the tree was too old and about to fall... they blocked off the area and we could not throw the yellow paper thing that I always saw people do on HK dramas... instead... we had to just hang the yellow paper on the board next to the tree... and the tree also looked reaaly different from what it looked like on tv... i initially thought that we had come to the wrong place but the locals there confirmed that it was the tree that I was looking for... i was quite upset... we also went to visit the temple nearby... cos it said on the itinery that that temple was quite famous as well...

after that, we caught a bus and a train to 'sha tin'... there was a really nice shopping mall there... we hung around there... btw, everywhere was really crowded... we had claypot rice for dinner that day at a stall opposite our hotel... it was not bad, but expensive... and then after that, prisy, mum and I went to the temple st night market... this was where our bargaining skills would come in handy... did not get anything that night though...

AlaMAk...

crap... realised that I have not been blogging for more than a week already... did not do much last week... brought my grandma to see the sentosa flowers... really very nice... and i can't believe it was so cheap to catch the monorail to sentosa and the sentosa flowers exhibition is free... anyway... even though it was a weekday, i expected not many people there... but it was actually quite crowded when we arrived... and i found out that there is a food republic in vivo on the third level...

met up with huimin, fran and jo at huimin's house... twain is still so cute!!! ate steamboat and watched take the lead and pride and prejudice... it was so late already by the time it was halfway through the show that we decided to call it a day... pride and prejudice was so boring anyway... and the way that they speak is too 'chim' for my brain... i was so tired by the time we left huimin's house and she was kind enough to give us a lift home... thanks huimin...

prisy, auntie and uncle arrived in singapore... can't believe it's my second last week already... but i am definitely looking forward to the HK trip... hopefully the weather is good and not too cold...

HAPpy chiNEsE nEw yeAR...

Last week, huimin and fran came to visit and we baked cheese sticks... haha seemed like that's the thing that we always baked... cos it's the easiest to bake and no need for any recipes... and we watched ratatouille (my second time watching) and hung out...

pong and I went to watch 27 dresses and the whole theatre only had the two of us... it was actually quite creepy... thank god we were watching something funny and not scary like resident evil or something... i guess cos it was a weekday and it was in the morning as well... the show was alright... like a typical romantic comedy... but katherine heigl was quite hilarious... pong and I are waiting to watch L the movie... haha... after that we went to sing karaoke at marina square and they gave us 5 hours to sing to our hearts' content... have not been to karaoke for a long time so i definitely made full use of the time... but the price increased again... and after that, we went to look at some cameras but did not decide on one yet... i think it will either be an olympus or a sony...

Chinese new year first day... went visiting... saw relatives whom I have not seen for a year already... collected hongbaos which was a highlight of the visits... it was super hot on that day as well... some of our relatives came over for dinner that night... other than that, I was slacking at home for the rest of the time... watching my tvb series...

ANothEr 4 DaYS to CNY...

met up with siti and veena last week... first at NUS and then we went to mind cafe at boat quay... it's just quite upsetting to know that our NJ clique went from 6 to 3 people... i guess as time passes, people slowly grow and have their own commitments and new people... well... i can't really force them to come if they dun want to make the effort... I had fun at minds cafe... we played ticket to ride, taboo, and some really stupid brainless games... and laughed alot as well... after that, we went to eat fondue at max brenner's cos siti wanted to try the fondue... after that, we headed to marina square to have dinner... i was so full after... and they suggested changing the class gathering venue to minds cafe instead of bowling... well, i have to ask everyone's opinions first then...

met up with denise also for brunch... at kovan hawker centre... it was my first time there by the way... the wanton noodle was quite nice... I also got to drink soya bean... yummy... dunno whether is it too full or the sun... I had a headache after and I really wanted to go home... so I did not follow denise to little india after...

btw, we are also looking to buy a new camera, cos apparently to repair the lens cost about 200 bucks, so we decided to get a new one... anyone has any good recommendations? of course, it must be at a reasonable price and good quality...

GaTHeriNgS...

the last post for jan 2008... still got a month more before I have to go back to uni... I am so not looking forward to my last year of uni... so I keep telling myself to make full use of the month that I have here, cos who knows when I will be back again next year?

went to fran's house to celebrate her birthday... I have known her for like almost 11 years and this is the first time she invited me over to her house... the minute we entered her house, her mum stuffed huimin and I with pizza and fried chicken... and I ate till I was so full, and then found out that that was only afternoon tea... and not dinner... our initial plan to go swimming was cancelled, and instead watched transformers... and had dinner which was more pizza and chicken... did I mention that for some reason, that day was like freaking hot?? I was ready to melt into a puddle of water/sweat or throw myself into the fridge... and then we had cake after dinner... her mum baked the cake herself... anyway, thanks fran for inviting me to your house...

went to nyp class gathering at city hall... we were supposedly meeting at city hall mrt but it was so crowded that I thought I would go look for the place first... and I got lost trying to figure out where magic wok was... I thought it was in capitol centre but realised later that it was actually in capitol building... almost wanted to give up and head home after searching for half an hour... but in the end, managed to meet up with them... and the food was not that great as well... and quite expensive considering that it was not even a nice restaurant place... after that some of them decided that we should head to the memorial park where we can sit and chat, but when we got there, there was no place to sit and some people left... so we just took some pics and walked to spinelli at raffles city... sat and chat there for awhile... it was nice catching up with them, as I have not seen some of them for so long since I left... but the thing about class gathering is that, it is really awkward at times, cos it's difficult to talk to each and individual and you are not close to some of them in the first place... that was also what happened last year during the crescent gathering as well...

ReALiTy...

well... I am finally back... still can't believe that I will be going to my new home in serangoon... never expected that I would be living in this area... still trying to get used to the new home... the constant noise from the roads... but the view is quite nice... can see part of the kallang river from the window and the singapore eye... is it even open to the public already??!! the weather is another thing to get used to... the heat and the humidity... still trying to get in contact with friends... for some reason, all of them are super busy with either work or uni... even pong has to go to school everyday... sigh... I have to think of stuff to do and occupy myself... but I am definitely not complaining about this time that I have to just relax and not have to think about stuff...

went to meet up with fran for lunch that day... can't believe she graduated already and found a job so fast... fran, i really like the wanton noodles! While we were just eating and catching up with one another, I was like thinking, it felt like I have been here all along and nothing has changed... she still is the fran that I knew and remembered from crescent... but I know that that is not really true, cos we all have changed, in some way or another...

and my other grandma fell and was admitted into the hospital... when we went to visit her, seeing the old people lying there on the beds make me dread growing old... hopefully she will recover in time for the new year...

HOme...

yes... I am finally going home tomorrow!! I really need a break... last year was really exhausting... did 3 slots of clinical placements, having to juggle honours and uni stuff, work... hopefully this well deserved break back home will recharge my brain cells and batteries... and come back in march ready and prepared to do the honours stuff... and finally graduate...

trying to pack everything into the luggage and hoping that it is not overweight... washed and polished Auris... I will definitely miss him when I am gone... can't wait to catch up with friends and family back home... and this time, it will be even more 're nao' cos all of us are back at the same time... will finally have a real family reunion...

IT's oVEr...

Finally!!! good news and bad news... the good news is placement has finally ended... 6 weeks of torture and annoyance is finally over... I hated the placement... the bad news is... I have to do another 4 weeks of mental health placement sometime this year... bcos my supervisor apparently told the uni that 12 days of clinical time is not enough for me to learn and be able to apply my skills so he suggested that we do another 4 weeks of placement somewhere in a similar setting to 'consolidate' our skills... so the annoyance has not ended... and I am definitely crossing my fingers hoping that I will get a good placement this time and I dun have to work with annoying people again...

yep, so finally I can really look forward to going back home... the weather here is crazy, one day it could be really hot and the next day, it could be raining and cold... and the creepy crawlies start to come out again... really looking forward to the HK trip as well...

met up with hong rui, xingyi, tricia and silvana last friday for dinner at epping... we had thai, the food was alright... and then we went to this twilight market... and as I expected, it was a really small scale market... so I really did not expect much... and so we decided to head to the city to lindt cafe... did not really feel like going, cos it was late already, when we left for the city, it was already 830pm, and when we arrived at lindt, it was like 9pm... we bought drinks... and i got my usual iced milk chocolate... it was really hot that day as well... and then we just sat and talk at the harbour... it was nice to be able to catch with them and hear what's happening with everybody... even though we only coursemates for like 3 months, it was really comfortable, not awkward at all... and we just abt the course, the difference between here and perth... it was really nice...

FLy LikE a BULLet...

finally back at the hospital doing clinical work... and then what happened?? my supervior called in sick and I was supposed to run a group that day... so I was debating on whether to run it or not cos I needed someone to assess me... luckily, the dietitian whom I am working with on the project came together with the OT manager... so I was like oh thank god... at least they can then feedback to my supervisor my performance... and although I was quite disappointed that only 4 turned up, in a way it was good cos a smaller group was better to control and it went quite smoothly... the next session would be a challenge though... cos I think there will be more people and everyone would be there... I am just wracking my brains trying to think of interactive ways to present my stuff...

other than that, besides wishing for the days to go faster so that I can go home... went to the movies with prisy and edlyn at macquarie... we watched the golden compass... it was alright, abit like narnia... but apparently it's a trilogy, so there will be sequels coming... but i have to say, the costumes that nicole kidman wore in the movie are really nice... and prisy got me hooked onto this new series called moonlight... it's like a vampire show... and it so reminded me of the super long ago mediacorp show, with chew chor meng in it... i loved that show...

next week is the last week of placement... YES!!! free of all annoyance...

BAcK tO pLaCeMEnT...

went to prisy and mich's cousins gathering on new year's day... played with the kids for awhile and then we had bbq for dinner... we had sausages and satays... then we played taboo... and as usual i sucked at describing the words... always end up saying the taboo words... it was nice although weather was so hot that day...

movie review time... first up we have death at a funeral... it was stupid but hilarious... a good movie to watch just to laugh at the characters... then we watched I am legend... the vampires were not as scary as the zombies in resident evil but it was more the suspense that was scary... it was also quite sad at times... i would go crazy if I was in the same situation as will smith in the show... and finally, we watched blades of glory under michelle's recommendation... ohmigod... it was even more hilarious than death at a funeral, laughed till i had tears and my stomach and face were aching... it was so funny... but knowing that will ferrell was in the show, you would definitely kind of expect that he would have some gross stuff... but i would definitely recommend this show if you are in need of serious laughter... haha...

back to serious stuff... went in to the hospital to work on the lit review... and i just want to say that i never ever want to work on anything ever again with her... she seriously annoys me... we just dun communicate well as a team... i really wish that i can just fast forward these 2 weeks... this whole placement thing sucks... i can't believe it's going to be my last placement and probably most impt one and it sucked... I will forever be reminded of how sucky it was...

IT's 2008 ALreAdy??!!

Happy New Year!!! 2008!!! Can't believe it's a new year already... was looking back into my blog in 2005/2006 when i was in sydney like now... and found out that it was more exciting than it was now... but the good thing was that it was like 45 degrees outside that time whereas although it is still really hot now, but not as hot as that time... and while everyone was out partying or doing something... i was sitting in front of the laptop, working on my literature review... very very boring... I could hear the sound of the fireworks but I could not see it from where we are... and from the pictures that i saw on tv today, it looked like the fireworks were really nice... worked on new year's eve as well... but it was a short shift and there were not as many people as compared to christmas eve... made some new year resolutions, and i really hope they come true... can't wait for the placement to finish so that i can go home... i hate it...

CooL cHriStMaS...

got roped in by michelle to do some charity gift wrapping thing at borders last week... so it was just me and prisy wearing the christmas hat thing sitting there asking the customers who passed by after paying whether they would like some gift wrapping done if they make a small donation... and at first it started out slow, nobody wants any gift wrapping, but then after like an hour or so... people started coming to wrap their books, cds, and calendars... and before this, i have never had to wrap so many things before, so needless to say, i did a really crappy job, i was expecting the customer to tell me to stop wrapping most of the time... well, no one did thank god, but i figured that's bcos they are not paying much to get their gifts wrapped and it's for charity... well... not sure if i would do it again next year... I would not want myself to wrap my gifts...

worked over the weekend and on christmas eve... was expecting to see crowds of people queuing up, but surprisingly it was pretty quiet other than a few long queues once in a while... i guess people are waiting for later when the prices of the fresh food get marked down...

prisy and i went karaoke on christmas day... the city was pretty quiet as compared to normal even though chinatown was open... but we did not hang around, we sang and then went straight home... had bbq for dinner that day... the weather has been not too hot actually which was good, cos that meant that the flies stayed away... watched movies after... ghost rider, stardust, ratatouille... i actually thought ratatouille was nicer than stardust... but i definitely do not want so many rats cooking my food... that's just wrong...

Ho... Ho... HO...

last week was really shitty... i am really hating the placement right now... all bcos of my big mouth and now my whole christmas break is ruined... and i got the email saying that my ethics did not get approved... another thing to worry about... now i have to wait till february before the ethics commitee meet up again... no big plans for christmas... we dun even celebrate it anyway... to me it's just like any other public holiday... still remember back when i was in singapore... during christmas we would drive to orchard and then walk down orchard road... just strolling and taking in the festive atmosphere and the decorations... but these recent years we have not been doing that anymore...
and i went back to the hair salon last week to recurl my hair cos the curls did not even last for a week, so they agreed to do it again for me free... and it's now a week and my hair is back to straight again... how annoying...
anyway... merry christmas everyone... hope your christmas is better than mine...

OnE WeEk tO XmAs...

last week was uncle's birthday so we went to this cinema called the Ritz at randwick... it was quite an old cinema and the movie we watched was Beowulf... other than the movie having really good graphics, i do not recommend anyone going to watch the movie... no plot and no storyline... oh well... after that, we drove to broadway to this german restaurant called Una's... and most of the menu was chicken schnitzel... i got the crispy fried one which was quite nice and quite a big portion... prisy got the same one but with some spicy sauce spread over the chicken, and i think that made the chicken less crispy after awhile and they put alot of the sauce...

worked over the weekend... nothing much happening except i am working on christmas and new year's eve... which will definitely be crowded and something i did not do last year... i still cannot get over the fact that if not for the placement... i would be in singapore already... the one good thing is that the weather has not been too hot lately and hopefully it does not get hotter and the flies stay far far away...

placement is starting to suck... cos 1) this placement requires me to talk alot, communicate and try to engage the clients into conversations and it is quite hard for me cos i am not a natural talker and i can't seem to relate to the stuff that seemed to interest them... 2) they smoke ALLthe time... in fact, that's what they do most of the time... every day i come home feeling so smelly and i am breathing in so much second hand smoke, it's really bad... 3) and I have no idea what the lit review thing requires us to do and apparently it's very difficult to look for related articles on the databases... and today was the halfway assessment and the feedback i got was not that great... so to sum it all up... i am not enjoying the placement at the moment...

and anna told me she got ethics approval... another thing for me to worry abt...

HAirY exPeriENCe...

went to this japanese salon in the city to curl my hair... i showed the lady there a picture of the type of curls i wanted and said okay... she said digital perm will last longer than normal perm so i thought i will give it a try... so i sat there not knowing what to expect... she trimmed my hair alittle and then gave it a rinse, and then put some gel thing on my hair... then put glad wrap over my hair and i had to sit under the hot circular thing for like 15 minutes... then after she removed the glad wrap... rinse my hair again... and then used alot of rollers to curl my hair... and then after putting the rollers, she put like this white cloth thing on each roller and a stick thing into each roller... and then she brought over this machine, and attached the electrodes onto the rollers... i looked like a freak... so i sat there for a good half an hour... and the whole time my head was hurting from the heat... it was really hot... and i kept fidgeting till one of the hairdressers there came over and asked me if i was alright... it was actually quite painful... and then this other hairdresser came and applied some liquid onto my hair and allowed it to drip onto a bowl resting on my shoulders... and he did it twice, and i have to sit there and wait again for another 20 minutes... and then finally, he removed the rollers from my hair and i felt so relieved... the rollers were really quite heavy... then went for another rinse again... sat back down again and waited for like 20 minutes before she came and blow dry my hair... i was quite happy when i came out of the salon...

however, when i decided to go curl my hair... i should have done my research first cos i did not know that there was so much maintenance to keep the curls and now... the curls are almost gone... ahhh... what should i do... and then i looked up on the internet and realised that after washing my hair, i have to twirl it and blowdry it at the same time to maintain the curls... which i did not know... and you also have to use products... which i dun really want to... and you dun comb your hair... so now... i am trying to keep the curls whatever that is left... alamak help...

Went to curl my hair on saturday with prisy in the city in a japanese salon... really expensive but I thought I should do something different with my hair after having straight hair since forever... after curling my hair, realised that I did not consider the consequences of having to maintain the curls...

And this was the result of the hailstorm that we had last sunday... can you see the smashed window and the hailstones on the carpet??!! it was really scary... I never ever want to go through that experience again...

SCArEd liKE hELL...

ohmigod... yesterday was one of the most scariest days of my life... i was about to leave for work and everyone else was out when it started raining really heavily... and then minutes later... i heard loud banging on the roof... and i thought oh it's hailing... so i went to the window to check it out, and to my utter disbelief and horror, the size of the hail was like a tennis ball... and it was coming down really fast, the rain started raining even more heavily... and the hail started hitting on the windows... and a few seconds later... i heard crashing... when i went into the living room where the sound was coming from... the windows were smashed and glass were all over the place, hailstones were coming into the room... and there was a huge gaping hole in the window... i was so scared, i was actually shaking when i called uncle... and i hid in the laundry room... i did not dare to go into the living room... after awhile, i decided to go check it out... the hail stopped but rain was still coming down... there was nothing i could do except try to prevent the carpet from being soaked... and the whole area was covered with hailstones the size of tennis balls... i started picking the stones and pieces of broken glass up and wait for uncle and auntie to come home...

it was really bad and it has never happened before... apparently it only happened in certain areas, ours including... our neighbours' windows and cars were damaged as well... i was so glad that i did not leave for work early like I originally planned to... otherwise I cannot imagine what would happen...

PP4...

first week of placement... survived... some of the things that i realised after the first week at macquarie hospital... it is quite different from my other placements... 1) in my previous placements, i only have one supervisor and most of the time, i just followed him/her wherever and do whatever they tell me to do... this time, bcos we have one supervisor but he is shared among the four of us... and although it is considered a hospital placement, but it is actually a half clinical work and half lit review placement... and we are required to visit other mental health community settings as well... like yesterday, we have to make our own way all the way to this mental health place called pioneer clubhouse... in manly... and it was pouring... and when we got there, the person in charge actually asked if i could go pull out a bunch of lettuce for her in the garden and wash the toilets... i was so surprised... i just looked at her... thinking to myself... did i really just heard what i thought??!! insane... in the end, someone else did the plucking of the lettuce and i had to go wash the toilets... ahhh annoying... i really hate it when they ask us to go travel to all these other places and what if i dun have a car??!! it's so stupid... and another task that we had to do was pretend we had schizophrenia and catch a bus to collect some stuff at centrelink... and we have to act like we are hearing voices, laughing by ourselves, and acting suspiciously... but cos it was pouring that day, the other student and I decided to drive there... and our supervisor found out and wants us to redo it... so freaking annoying...
sometimes i wish this was just a straightforward placement... without having to do all the extra stuff... and we only have access to two computers... but there are 4 of us... anyway, everything is not going so smoothly at the moment... hopefully, things will become better in the coming weeks...

NOt tiLL jAn...

it's finally confirmed... i will be doing the placement in dec till jan... and i have to pay for changing the dates... sigh... well i guess it can't be helped... hopefully this placement will be worth it...

went to the city to meet up with melissa and suet ming... well... melissa still the same... and i haven't seen suet ming since nyp... but she is still the same as i remembered... what a coindence that we both know melissa... we went to eat at my fav spicy beef place and after that, brought them to walk along george street... they were saying how the transport is very expensive here so they did not want to catch a train to other places... so we just walked around the city... then took a monorail... and who knew it would be so crowded... we waited for two monorails before deciding to get onto one and we still had to stand... and it went so fast... melissa and i were saying shouldn't monorails be slower so that people can enjoy the views?? suet ming almost fell... and then we went to lindt cafe and i got to drink the iced chocolate... cos they did not accept eftpos for purchases under 1o bucks, i almost could not drink my iced choc... thank god i had some spare coins in my other purse... sat and talked for awhile... glad to hear that people who were in the same class as me in nyp were doing well... and alot of them went to melbourne and perth to do the degree conversion... i really think we should have a class gathering for the OTs of class 2007...