Penang

This is about my wonderful penang trip with my wonderful tj.

Day One
We took a night bus last wednesday, quite uneventful, pretty amazed at how I could totally knock out and sleep through like at least 3 pit stops, which just goes to show how tired I was. Arrived at the bus station around 7am, way too early to go to the hotel to check in, so we decided to grab bfast and figure out our way there... which we did, took a bus to komtar, the tallest building in penang georgetown, and pretty much where everything is centred. since all buses go to komtar, it becomes our focal point and we went there EVERYDAY. we walked to chowrasta market for bfast, and walked around abit. then i cleverly saw Jalan Burma, which my research told me is the address where the 2nd best tau sar piah shop in penang. so we walked along the road to find Hin Heang. which was actually quite silly, cos we were at 26 Jalan Burma, Hin Heang was at 126A... so yah, you could imagine how far we walked, with all our luggage in tow too... but it was worth it as we finally found it in the end, and bought tau sar piah, yummy pepper crackers (i only bought one packet :( though)... and luckily there was a straight bus there to our hotel.

we stayed at paradise sandy beach, a lovely hotel and supposedly the best in tanjung bungah
area where we stayed. check out the lovely pool.
we lazed around the poolside/beach for the afternoon, before heading to batu ferringhi night market for dinner. batu ferringhi is the most happening beach in Penang, but I didn't really like it there as I felt it was a tourist trap for the tons of foreigners. so we retired early for the night.,

Day Two
The good thing about Paradise Sandy Beach, is the delifrance bistro. Our daily free buffet breakfast is at the bistro, which means fresh croissants every morning. Yum! Our agenda for the day was to head for the penang tourist centre in komtar, to get more maps and info before we head out exploring on our own. it wasn't tt easy to find, which makes it less appealing for tourists, but we got a great 1 hour introduction from this girl on attachment there, and she gave us lotsa maps and a good insight into penang. plus since it was on the 56th floor, we got to take bird's eye view pictures of penang.

We only wanted to go Penang Hill today, but since we were too early, we decided to go in search for yummy food. First stop: the best penang char koay teow @ Lorong Selamat. We walked like 20 min in the relentless penang sun, queued up a further 20 min for the fried noodles but it was well worth it (ok tj was the one queueing while I just sat and waited).

The old lady frying the char koay teow (tt's how they spell it. ) she wears safety goggles too!

After 20 min, pure bliss!

We also tried the chee cheong fun (in penang they serve it with prawn paste instead of sweet sauce) and the ice kacang. I love the ice kacang too. It had sarsi in it, and the atap chee and the giant red beans are damn soft. Yum!

We adjourned to Swatow Lane for more food. We tried the assam laksa and rojak. The laksa is very very good. The rojak came with lotsa fruits and prawn paste as well, tasted quite caramelly.

Swatow Lane Hawker, looks old outside, but surprisingly it's spacious and air-conditioned inside

Assam Laksa

After food, we made our way to Penang Hill by bus. It was approximately 45 min bus ride, and we stopped at Air Itam and walked to the railway. Where we took a 30 min ride up 830m to the top of penang hill. Quite a scenic ride, just that it was warm (no aircon ) and it was crowded. Penang hill is lovely, it was cooling and the view was good. Not a bad place to chill out and just chat…

Check out the railway. Super old but still does the job...

Us inside the railway

It was late so we headed off, took our first cab ride to New Lane Hawker Joint, a conglomeration of 3 coffeeshops, with lotsa yummy food to try. We had the lor bak (like fried ngoh hiang), Yong Tow Foo and Fried Oysters. Both good. The soupy yong tow foo is fresh and healthy (esp after all the artery clogging fried food) and the fried oysters… I didn’t care much for the egg, but it came with a lot of very fresh oysters! Yum yum.

Day Three

Walked way too much, decided to laze by the beach and catch some sun before we headed out. The beach wasn’t half bad, but due to the presence of jellyfish, nobody ventured to swim there, and A LOT of foreigners were just lying there sun-tanning. We took some lovely photos too!

After tt we headed off for lunch and sightseeing. Our aim today was to cover the historic sites in Penang. We saw the penang clock tower, Fort Cornwallis, walked by the city hall, visited the Penang Museum and went by the Cheong Fat Tze mansion. All the buildings in tt area were old and had tt distinctive british architecture. Very lovely.

Penang Clock Tower. It really is slanted, happened during WWII.

The cannons in Fort Cornwallis

The City Hall

But it was too much sun and not enough food (somehow there wasn’t any food place open around tt area). So we decided to head off for more food =) On our way back towards Komtar, we unexpectedly passed by Kayu Nasi Kandar (one of the best in Penang) so we absolutely had to go in to try. Nasi Kandar is their version of curry rice. We had yummy chicken bryani and roti canai (tt’s how they call their roti prata). Both very good.

Recharged, we made our way to Gurney Drive (first stop Gurney Plaza for some aircon and shopping), then Gurney Drive Hawker Centre for our real dinner. Love it there, tons of food, open air, by the beach…

Day Four

Our last day in Penang. So we checked out, but left our bags at the hotel, and went in search for things we wanna buy back to Singapore. Naturally Ghee Hiang tau sar piah was on the top of our list. We got 3 big boxes, 2 small ones, 2 bottles of sesame oil, another box of biscuits… haha! Very happy with our loot, we walked on to find lunch at New World Hawker Centre, quite near to Swatow lane and lorong selamat too.

Inside Ghee Hiang

Since we were very tired from walking around that much, we decided to pamper ourselves on the last day in Penang. We went Prangin Mall (next to Komtar) to get our foot and shoulder massage, and a pedicure each! Hehe. Tj says I’m trying to turn him into a metrosexual. Check out his lovely feet

We rushed back to the hotel by bus, got our stuff, grabbed a quick dinner and finally headed home… All in all, a fantastic trip with my fantastic man =)

Things I’ll remember about Penang

The nostalgic bus system. We went everywhere by bus. Cheapest way to get around, and to experience how the people live too. Their buses are not as comfy as Singapore’s but quite cheap (around RM1.50 per trip), and most of the times the aircon is not really working. But we meet nice people on the bus. It was packed (peak hour when we made our way back to the hotel) and we were both carrying tons of tau sar piah and the two pairs of shoes I bought. One very nice Indian lady put her plastic bag on the floor and offered to carry my tau sar piah (she put it on her lap). I was very touched…

View on the bus

Bus terminal at Komtar

How the buses look like

The nice people in Penang. People in Penang were really very nice, from the Indian lady on the bus, the shopkeepers in Komtar who offered to take us to the tourist centre (when we couldn’t find it), the lovely girl at the tourist centre…

The yummilicious food. Penang really has great food and a very colourful culture if you care to walk around in their small streets…

Waiting for lunch and the weekend

Realized tt I haven’t blogged in a month, so I shd thank you if you’re patient enough to be reading this. Rest assured, this blog is not dead yet, just that the author is currently facing a dearth of creative ideas and maybe lack of social life.

Tt mostly means I’m quite busy at work, or too busy having fun. So yeah, planned and went for a holiday during good Friday weekend, which means I was busy clearing all my work and commitments before that. It was totally worth it, as the holiday was a good break from it all, and I’ll blog abt it in a separate post, stay tuned.

Came back from my break to find that all the work tt I was rushing like mad to churn out, was still stuck with my boss. colleague and I were pissed off at how he sat on it for so long, and made us scramble in the end like every other time. And of course tt led to some arguments along the way. Glad to say tt I stuck to my guns for some issue, and the big boss agreed w me =).

Thing I can’t stand most abt him: he preaches to us tt we shd admit our mistakes when they occur, and not try to cover them up… but then time and again his actions speaks of covering his backside and covering his mistakes… which is very dangerous cos the work we do and papers we write go all the way up to CEO, and if we get found out the ramifications can be great.

So yeah, after the storm lies a small calm, and now I’m here blogging and chatting w colleagues thru email, and planning for wat I’m gonna do in the weekend. =)

FSRC

At work, I'm part of this recreation committee in my division, we organised an event involving an amazing race type contest running around city hall --> clarke quay, followed by lunch in some hotel. quite fun and i think overall quite a big success. here's the photo of my committee members

Way Back Into Love

We caught Music and Lyrics over the weekend. I absolutely loved the movie cos it was funny and sweet... The campy 80s music were hillarious! And Hugh and Drew can carry a decent tune. Can't get this song and another "Pop! Goes my heart" out of my head. Think I need to go and get the soundtrack soon...

Way Back Into Love

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need `em again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not somebody just to get me through the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end

Czenthia Design

my youngest sis and two friends decided to make and sell jewelery. v pretty and cheap! go take a look and show support ok? contact them if you want anything and quote my name, can arrange for meet-ups etc. (i can't guarantee got discount though, but the items are really quite cheap)

will put it up as a permanent link. do show some support so she'll stop bugging me to buy! haha!

http://czenthia.blogspot.com/

just whining

It’s been a very long week. Tons of papers to finish, appendices to do and format, and got to deal with the PMSy boss. Which is actually a lot worse. I don’t mind having tons to do, bringing them back to do during the weekends (which I’m doing now) just that I’d feel a lot better if he showed that he appreciated it. And not give us attitudes like “both of you shouldn’t expect to go home at 5.30 sharp everyday, the officers can but not you… yesterday I came back after my course and did work until 8.30…” Yes, I go home on time everyday, but if times are busy (like now) I actually bring work home cos it makes a lot more sense that way. If I go home by public transport, it takes me easily an hour MORE to get home, time which could be spent doing work/resting/catching up with my family. So now, anytime I do work at home, I’ll send him the completed file from home at night, rather than save in my thumb-drive and send it to him the next morn in office.

My colleague's on MC again, pregnancy complications. She feels bad that she's left me to cover her work for her, but while I do resent it abit, I'm glad that she can rest, cos she's been so stressed out working late, which could be affecting the baby. But yah, fighting a war is always so much better when you have allies.

That day, my boss got whacked left right and centre by my big boss. big boss told my boss 2 mths ago what he wanted but my boss insisted tt his way is correct, and only did cosmetic changes, which of course pissed big boss off... "I give all my managers leeway to do their own things cos I don't wanna breathe down their necks... but this really worries me..." I've already told my boss wat big boss wanted, but he refused to listen and insisted on doing his own way... sighz...

Stressed, demoralized and to make things worse: I just got confirmed. Meaning 3 months period if I wanna resign. Arghz. Only thing tt keeps me going now is the fat bonus we’re all expecting in July. But tt’s still 4 months away…

It’s gonna be longer weeks from now since my weekends are all burnt.

guess where this is?

as part of my CCA, the Committee I'm in is organising a road race around city hall area, so last sunday we went to recce the area, to take pictures to use as clues to the places they're supposed to go... kinda like amazing race... got quite a few nice shots, and if u look at tt u might think i just went overseas on a trip. come on, take a guess at what these locations are...

Botanic Gardens

Haven't been there in a while, went there over the weekend 'cos tj's parents wanted to bring a family from china there. had to wake up way too early to get there, but it was refreshing to feel the sun, see blue skies and feel the refreshing morning breeze, but afterwards it got way way way too hot. the orchid gardens were lovely though, i highly recommend a visit

love this pic though quite a bit of shadows. see how brilliantly he smiles now tt his teeth are done?

in the VIP orchid gardens

a japanese willow tree, unfortunately the bark was filled with carvings

the two naughty boys

singapore's national flower: vanda miss joaquim

by a mini waterfall

white fairy orchids, love it's white simplicity

in the mist house, with tons of colourful orchids

Simplicity works best

A summary of Vday. Basically a scam for lovers, over-commercialised, as if a bouquet of flowers (overpriced), a box of chocolates (also overpriced), a mass-produced set dinner (normally western food) can display how much you actually love someone. Nonetheless, girls will always look enviously at those who were lucky enough to receive a huge bouquet of flowers from their significant other.

This year in an effort to avoid the crowds tj decided to cook me a vday dinner at his bro’s place, which means his bro and dasao were automatically invited. He went to buy food in the afternoon and I arrived early evening to help.

It was a simple dinner, mushroom soup with baguette, salad with vinegarette dressing, boiled new potatoes served with herbs, sour cream and bacon bits, black pepper ribeye steak, walnut cake with baileys. Sounds like a lot, but easy to prepare (especially if you buy canned soups, premixed packets and ready walnut cake). Most importantly, it tasted great and it was fun preparing the food together. Lots of great wine and company made the dinner even more special.

Looks great doesn't it?

Memories of CNY

Though not as romantic as Christmas, I’ve always loved CNY for it’s traditional (and sometimes obiang) festivities. I mean who can resist all that yummy new year goodies, new clothes and ang bao? Not to mention Bak Kwa and pineapple tarts, the best inventions EVER.

Even the associated “irritants” like spring-cleaning, superstitions and the recent invention of techno-CNY songs that assault your ears when out shopping for goodies, are somewhat bearable and add to the festive mood. While out shopping at Chinatown last Friday, I discovered (to tj’s amazement) that I can remember A LOT of CNY songs, even down to the lyrics! Either I remember lyrics really well, or my communist primary and secondary school background is showing it’s evil roots ;)

My family is pretty big on superstition and tradition. So while we don’t really do well on ang bao earnings (cos for our family, ang bao is just a token sum), we have tons of food (we pray like a lot of times to the different Chinese Gods) and even have a gathering i.e. gambling session.

CNY is also a time when my deceased grandmother would “visit” us, especially at night after we baked all our pineapple tarts there’ll be this characteristic smell tt will float past her room so that everyone there would know that she’s back.

Now that I’m older, part of the new year preparations fall onto me. Helping my mum buy and prepare new year goodies, some home improvement mini-projects around the house, and yes I’m still supposed to clean my room.

One week left to CNY. Let the mad rushes to cut hair, buy clothes and shoes, stock up on food and goodies, clean the house, change money to put into ang baos, wash and polish the cars etc. continue…

Two different directions

The two facets of my life are heading in different directions.

Socially it’s great, having lotsa fun during the weekends, meeting up and catching up with a lot of friends. Lindy hop, chilling out, attending junmei’s wedding (congrats babe, really happy for you), cha’s bday (eh weijia is really sweet, don’t bully him ok?) and of course the upcoming Vday, CNY, and our 2.5 years anniversary… =)

But work wise, it’s becoming demoralizing. My pregnant colleague’s pregnancy is in danger, she’s still in her first trimester so everything’s quite dangerous, and she hasn’t been feeling well in a while (fever, no appetite i.e. puking out whatever she’s eating and she always looks pale and washed out). She had complications in her first pregnancy so naturally she’s worried. Last Friday she started to bleed quite a lot, so it was very scary cos of the risk of miscarriage. Thankfully the baby’s still fine, but she’s now on one week bedrest MC, which might be extended depending on the situation.

I really wish her well, she’s been trying hard for this baby (7 years?) and she really wants it, and when I see her suffering so much then I realize the greatness of a mother’s love and the sacrifices they’re willing to go through.

Thing is she’s been very hush hush about her pregnancy ‘cos she doesn’t wanna explain to others and I think cos she was worried that it might not be stable etc. so ppl start asking me what’s going on with her but it’s not really up to me to tell, and I don’t really like to evade other’s questions, or lie for that matter. Second thing is that my boss used to give her a lot of work but now that she’s not around he’s conveniently cc-ing me in all her stuff, which I don’t mind covering for her, but I have this feeling that she’ll be leaving the company soon, leaving me with all the work, plus my dept just took on an additional portfolio handling the affairs of another subsidiary… Before she joined my department she was very willing to quit and be a taitai and try for no. 2 already… plus she doesn’t like working with my boss…

Then yesterday out of the blue my other colleague (in the neighbouring dept, one of my lunch partners) tendered his resignation after 6 months. He was weary of this environment here and how his boss is being difficult, even controlling when she wants him to take his leave, so he was so fed up he tendered. A bit unexpected for me, my other lunch partner saw it coming but didn’t think it’ll be so soon, and she’s stressed out too cos her section is seriously shorthanded after one staff went on indefinite MC for depression, and now that he’s gone she’s gonna take over his stuff too… she really needs a break cos I can see how she always looks stressed out now…

I need a real holiday… complete with the beach, a spa/massage, good food and shopping… BKK anyone?

Empathy

The identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives.

I think the only way we can really empathize with another is when we have had similar experiences previously.

Watched two movies last week, Blood Diamond and Babel. Both were good, but I preferred Blood Diamond more, simply because Leo was outstanding. Without going into too much of the plot of both movies, each had something that I totally identified with. The anguish of receiving an overseas phone call from a loved one that unfortunately relayed bad news and totally not being able to do anything to alleviate his suffering. The horror of being in a terrible situation that desperately requires medical attention, but not having access to it because of red tape and the general inadequacies of that foreign country's medical system.

I never would have understood it if I watched these movies 2 months ago. But I do now.

I’ve finally lost it…

My shopping powers that is… Wasn’t around in S’pore during the year-end sales period, meaning I missed my fave Mango sale, missed tons of great year-end bargains as well, and now that tj is feeling better and that my mood is improving too, I’ve set out, to look for pretty clothes/shoes/bags to wear for CNY. But have come miserably short.

Been shopping the whole weekend, 1 hr in Chinatown on Friday, approx 1 hr in Bugis Street on Saturday and 3 hrs in City Plaza (CP) on Sunday. For those in the know, my mum sells clothes to aunties in the weekends, so she gets clothes at wholesale prices from certain shops in CP but alas, my CP trip was very much wasted.

Ok I admit, I’m a cheapskate, so I always go around hunting for cheap stuff, but cheap stuff of good quality is always harder to find, not to mention I don’t really spend much time shopping these days, just drop by, get and go, it’s never about leisurely walks arnd the shopping mall contentedly window-shopping any more. Which then makes it disappointing when I come home empty-handed.

Coupled to that, the lack of exercise and outdoorsy activities mean I’m usually stuck at home (his or mine) mostly sitting down (eating or watching tv) and my spare tyre is growing, which makes clothes even harder to find, cos on top of the cheap and good criteria, the clothing must now also be flattering. Arghz, and the number of weddings coming up also means I have to get stuff to wear for them too!

I need to get out more…

Better Together - Jack Johnson

There's no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard
No song that I could sing
But I can try for your heart
our dreams, and they are made out of real things
like a shoebox of photographs
with sepia-toned loving
Love is the answer
at least for most of the questions in my heart
Why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together

Mmmm, It's always better when we're together
Yeah we'll look at the stars when we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah it's always better when we're together

And all of these moments
just might find their way into my dreams tonight,
But I know that they’ll be gone
when the morning light sings
and brings new things
for tomorrow night you see
that they’ll be gone too,
too many things I have to do
But if all of these dreams might find their way
into my day to day scene
I'd be under the impression
i was somewhere in between
With only two,
Just me and you,
Not so many things we got to do
or places we got to be
We'll sit beneath the mango tree now,

Yeah It's always better when we're together
Mmmm, we're somewhere in between together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

I believe in memories
they look so, so pretty when I sleep
And now when, when I wake up,
you look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
There is no, no song I could sing
and there is no combination of words I could say
but I will still tell you one thing
We're better together

I love the weekend, no matter how rainy

So yes, it was a rainy weekend, and it really POURED on Friday (my first half-day of the year) but it was GREAT.

The Esplanade date was fantastic, we shared a cab with his mum there, braving the pouring rain, unfortunately we didn't get to bring the wheelchair along cos it couldn't fit into the taxi boot so it was crutches all the way for him. We both dressed up for his "first public debut". Afternoon tea at V-tea room, pricey but good service and yummilicious Bailey's teacake, we ended up walking from esplanade to citilink and back (which is bloody far and I told him tt like a few times but he refused to listen). Met up with our favourite usher at esplanade, who v kindly made arrangements for the crutches-bound tj. The concert was good too =)

This was followed by good oiishi pizza for Saturday dinner, a good sleep-in on Sunday morn, and the wine culture @ Dempsey, for more pizza, sausages, lotsa good wine (and we typically dont really like wine) and tons of good conversation.

So yes, weekends are good, and its great that we get to go out once in a while. I just hope it stops raining so I can finally send my clothes for washing.

Finally Home

TJ was discharged from hospital on Sat 6 Jan, where he went home, promptly conquered the evil steps of sennett ave, and proceeded to more fun and food and REST. He went for physio too, in fact, physio is gonna be a weekly affair, to strengthen his muscles and learn new tricks! (makes him sound like a doggy) It constantly amazes me how he can now walk with only one crutch, walk with one umbrella and also walk by himself. But of course his muscles are still weak and his bone still broken, so it hurts for him to walk and he walks funny… and I tell him not to walk with one umbrella cos it looks v ah-pek, esp if it’s not raining, but I digress.

Now tt he’s home things can finally regain some semblance of normalcy, with little adventures here and there to spice things up a little, we’re going esplanade to watch a concert this week, and to national library to watch a play next week. Let’s see how he manages to brave the crowds, the never-ending taxi queues and the indifferent Singaporeans. Just tt day we were standing at the waiting point waiting for his dad to drive the car over, many other s’poreans were sitting on benches waiting for their rides, but nobody thought to stand up to offer their seat to a young man on crutches, who obviously looked like he was having trouble walking. And these were ppl in their 30s, not old uncles and aunties who also have trouble walking.

Improving Well

Since Sunday, he’s been improving v well, now he can walk with crutches and we’ve started putting him on a wheelchair and going to the foodcourt downstairs for meals (more like he accompany me to eat), haven’t managed to make it to go for a spin as yet, as there’s a lot of ppl coming to visit him, so actually I only get to speak to him properly when I call him on the phone, but it’s all good. s’pore is a whole lot better and he’s improving so much here such that he’s gonna be discharged on Saturday! Tt’s like less than a week in hospital here! How cool is tt? So yah, if u wanna visit him, u can either do it soon, or just go to his house to visit. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind tt too, but yah, his house is a little hard to get to, my friend got hopelessly lost tt day…

He’s gonna need lots of rest as bone takes time to heal, but yeah we’re already planning fun activities to go out to watch concerts and plays and have good food too! All we need now is a wheelchair and strong arm muscles (for me, to push him arnd in the wheelchair)

His appetite now is just fantastic, and it brings me joy to tabao yummy food to share

blessings come in small doses

results of the MRI was good, no back injury though there was still some blood clots in his stomach area. hence the doc asked him to try standing up and walking. which he did, he slowly sat up, and finally stood up after a long while. he tried walking too, and succeeded, for a whole of 1 cm. not much i know, but it's still a start, and we're all thankful.


notice how skinny he is right now? :( his legs are like skinnier than mine now. but they'll get better after physio. just glad tt he's able to move abit, and since he get get out of bed, he was able to use the commode to shit in the toilet (finally). next stop: a shower!

pictorial journey

pumping air into the wheels of the stretcher so that we can wheel him to the CT scan room.

wheeling him on the road (you can see cars parked in the background) to the other building where the CT scan room is

getting ready to evacuate him, strapping him into the specialised stretcher/bed, while many ppl look on

the deerjet international SOS plane tt sent him home.

the delicate task of getting him thru the small door of the airplane

all strapped in aboard the deerjet

happy new year!

tj's back, and we're just all very very glad... singapore's healthcare system is heaven compared to china's... and for the first time, we as family members can just sit back and relax! the angle of the bed can be adjusted just by the touch of a button, and he has yummy food to eat, not to mention tt his family members can finally visit him and wish him well...

tt in itself is a very happy new year gift for me, learnt the importance of counting one's blessings...

the road to recovery for tj is still long, the xray tt he took in s'pore showed some degree of change as compared to in china, so his uncle (dr seow) ordered him to MRI cos he suspected tt there might be a previously undetected back injury. if there isn't a back injury, he'll be starting physiotherapy on wednesday... it'll be tough for him to learn to walk again since his legs are now quite weak from 3 weeks of inactivity.

spent a very nice new year's eve countdown with tj at the hospital. this is actually our first countdown tgt. but it was good, whispering for fear of disturbing the other patients and being chased out by the nurses, laughing non-stop at the antics and jokes of tj's bro (kai) and wilson. in the end i'm just so glad tt he's back =)

oh yah and if you wanna visit, here are the details: SGH block 7 level 5 (ward 75) room 12. pls sms tj to let him know you're coming so just in case he'll be away (for physio or wat not) or there are alot of ppl visiting him... well wishes also welcome!

happy 2007 everyone

random pics

was sorting thru my photos tdy, so here they are


tj just happy to be off his bed, onto another bed. he just finished his CT scan. look at how thick is blanket is, cos he had to be wheeled from one building to another, and out in the open (0 - 5 deg C)
the foggy roads on my way to Xianyang airport (25 dec), you couldn't even see the wei river at all


the 2nd time i tried to get out of Xi'an (and succeeded). the fog was still pretty bad but much better than the day before

cheryl and friends got a friend (interested in photography) to take photos of the jewellery they made to post on their blog to sell. will link this up in a couple of days when the webbie is up. in his free time, he took a couple of "makeover" shots for my darling cat kinky! here are my fave shots...

finally

good news! he's coming home!

flight details: he'll be flying on an air ambulance (lear jet) from xi'an to shenzhen to singapore, ETA 930 pm (30 Dec 06) at seletar airport. his dad will be travelling on the plane with him. after he arrives at seletar, he'll be transferred to SGH by ambulance with his father sitting in a car following it.

apparently his extended family (of abt 10 ppl) are meeting for dinner tt night and they wanna go to the hospital after tt to wait for him. which i feel isn't a very feasible idea, but i think tj will be happy to see them.

yeah, he's coming home for the new year... finally...

It’s Finally Becoming Clearer

So yes, finally the insurance ppl are doing something. After frantically trying to reach tj’s china doctor, they finally did, and after consultation with him the insurance ppl decided that it’s better not for tj to travel by fully reclining first class commercial airline (not that I think there are any from Xi’an – Singapore). So they’re gonna send him by air ambulance directly from Xi’an to Singapore I think, which is expensive but much better in my opinion.

So we’re now awaiting the flight itinerary from the insurance side, to finally get to see the details of the flight including the date/time, flight plans etc. TJ’s dad will get to travel with him on board, but since the plane is very small, they only can carry 1 piece of luggage for 2 ppl. Which is troublesome but not tt big a deal.

On a separate note, i need to bitch abt the HR bitch again. after telling a whole lot of WRONG things to tj, she dropped this killer question, "so you really cannot move ah?" tj was super angry when he heard tt question, so he replied curtly, "NO, OF COURSE I CANNOT MOVE". wth, of all ppl she's the one in-charge of the case so she should be the most well informed right? but no, apparently she doesn't know the situation well and tt was such an insensitive thing to say. everyone else in the company is quite frustrated with her, so thank goodness matters are now in the insurance company's hands, so tj can deal directly with them and not with the insensitive, incompetent bitch.

Fingers crossed, hope he does manage to get home b4 the new year.

Coming Home Soon (Hopefully)

On Monday we left for the hospital very early to get ready for TJ’s CT scan. The procedures in China can be described as do-it-yourself (for lack of a better word). We have to (a) obtain a note from the doctor stating what tests need to be done (b) queue up at the counter to settle payment for the scan (c) make appointment with the CT scan ppl (d) go up and inform the nurses in the ward tt we’re taking him down for CT scan (e) find the movable bed to transport tj in (f) carry him to the bed, making sure that he’s covered nice and warm (g) move him to first floor via passenger lift (h) wheel the bed out into the open where it’s cold, across the road to the CT scan office (i) carry him onto the CT scanner (j) wait for the scan (k) reverse steps (i) – (f), (l) go downstairs to the CT lab to obtain the results (m) try to find tj’s doctor to get him to look at the scan results.

Sounds complicated? It actually is, so many steps that we all have to rush up and down, very confusing steps for a non-native, especially for us Singaporeans, spoilt by our excellent healthcare system.

But the radiologist’s prognosis is good! Basically the fluid in his chest cavity is mostly reabsorbed, his liver, spleen and kidneys are healing well. So that makes all the trouble worthwhile. Only thing was that we couldn’t get hold of his doctor cos he was busy in an operation, so we had to come early on Tuesday to try catch hold of him. After understanding the situation, he finally realized tt tj will be evacuated with a specialized medical team and probably in those medical-equipped planes, so he told us tt tj can be discharged as early as today.

The big BUT is that we’re still waiting for the head office/insurance company/evacuation company end to come up with a reply as to what they’re gonna to do. We had to wait till tonight ‘cos everyone in the west is on Xmas + Boxing day holiday. Pls lah, how can a 24 hr evacuation company not have doctors who can speak Chinese, and not have anybody standing by on a holiday? We have been emailing them more than a week ago reminding them of the upcoming holidays and telling them we DON’T wanna have to wait for them to slowly come around after he’s been discharged. Just want them to be more transparent abt things.

As of 9pm, the medical evacuation company just called tj up telling him their very very rough plans, involving buying him a first class ticket (fully reclined), complete with oxygen tank and medical personnel. Which sounds fine and dandy, but the flights at Xianyang airport are mostly domestic flights, which don’t have fully reclining first class seats. Well it might be possible to ambulance him to another city nearby, but it seems to me that Xi’an is already pretty well connected to everywhere else. Ambulance ride to Beijing will take at least 8 hrs (assuming no traffic jams) which is crazy cos tt’s longer than the airplane ride from Beijing to S’pore. Trust them to come up with the cheapest alternative. So now they’re gonna work thru today settling the logistics etc. Which pisses me off ‘cos we’ve been writing to get them to do something more than 1 week ago and they only start planning now? Gosh.

Hope for the best.

All FOGGED Up

Monday 25^th Dec 2006

A separate entry, cos this is my experience in the foggy city of Xi’an. I arranged to leave Xi’an on Monday on a 1715 flight to make it for the 2355 flight from Beijing to S’pore. Monday being the important day of the CT scan, I wanted to be there as long as possible so I can put my mind at ease. Probably not the best move for me.

Left the hospital and hotel at 1300 for the driver (feng) to send me to the airport. Reason why we left so early is that it’s foggy, all highways except the ones that lead to the airport have been closed and all cars drive very slowly on foggy days. So I had a rushed lunch and left. Though feng drove slowly, there weren’t tt many cars so we actually made it to near the airport at about 1400, which was way too much time to spare. So kind feng decided to drive round Xianyang (a city nearer to the airport) for a spin, to show me the large Wei River as well. Was slightly paranoid that he’d drive me to some ulu place to rob me (cos some parts he passed by was really very ulu). But on the whole it was all right, we were chatting here and there, I was telling him about S’pore and he telling me about Xi’an and Shaanxi province. Reached airport at 1500. It was already slightly chaotic there, and flights were being delayed or cancelled due to foggy weather. I went to check in, but was told by the check-in staff that the flight’s been delayed, they don’t know how long it’ll take, because the plane is still in Shanghai Pudong (2 hours flight away). I was calculating, cos if this flight was delayed means I might not be able to catch my 2355 flight, and I didn’t want to spend a night in Beijing, rather stay in Xi’an where I know more ppl, can see tj also… so I started making calls to tj and my parents to consult them as to what I should do, and called my colleague A to inform her that I prob might not be going to work on Tuesday. Was just standing there waiting, then suddenly the station manager started shouting who’s going to Beijing? They freed up a plane and it was departing in 40 min. I could live with tt delay, so I hurriedly checked in my luggage, bade goodbye to feng (who was there with me all the way looking after my luggage, kindly lending me his phone to make china phone calls etc.) and proceeded to the boarding gate.

We boarded the plane about 1730, I was happy cos the plane was pretty new and there was an empty seat next to me. The plane slowly taxied to the runway, and we’re getting ready to leave. 10 min later there’s an announcement telling us “due to bad weather, the plane has not been cleared for takeoff, the pilots are in contact with Air Traffic Controllers for more details etc. Ppl started switching on their handphones and telling their loved ones they weren’t gonna be at Beijing that night. Anxious passengers started asking the cabin crew questions, but they weren’t able to answer either. Finally, at about 1800, the plane turned back to the tarmac, and we were offloaded.

We boarded a bus to take us back to the terminal. It was a scary ride, it was pitch black, the fog was like a wall choking you, and we could only see the blinking lights from a vehicle <5m style=""> Now we understood why they turned back. But they didn’t tell us outright that the flight was cancelled, only that it was delayed till weather conditions improved. Commonsense told me that the colder it gets, the worse fog gets so I decided quickly (after a phone call to tj) that I wasn’t going anywhere that night. So feng was told to come back to pick me up while I proceeded to cancel my ticket and get back my luggage.

It was terrible. Ppl were pushing and shoving at the ticket counters, waving their flight schedules and paper tickets (not boarding passes mind you) and screaming at the counter staff. I know they tried their best, but there were just too many rude ppl. To cancel the ticket, we had to return our boarding passes at one counter, and proceed to the next to get our paper tickets stamped “Delayed” then reclaim our baggage. There the problems started. I did not have a flight schedule or paper ticket (booked thru e-ticket) and I wasn’t as aggressive so the staff didn’t really attend to me till much later, and ppl were just pushing in from the back, by the time I was done I was so squashed inside I couldn’t get out, but I did in the end.

While trying to claim my baggage, I realized that I didn’t have my luggage tag with me, hence they were unable to find my luggage for me. First time I don’t get a luggage check-in tag, my flight gets delayed. Best. After trying calmly to explain to the counter staff that they didn’t give me a luggage tag, they finally went to the system, retrived the number and returned me my luggage. By then I had spend 1.5 hrs shouting, getting pushed at the airport. Was just so drained. Feng came to pick me up, where my original room was waiting for me…

Feng told me that after I proceeded to board, he felt that as it gets later the fog would thicken, so he waited another half hr in the airport before he finally left. When he was driving back to airport to pick me, the visibility was so poor (~1m) that he had to strain his eyes to focus on the road. After that, he drove me back for dinner and rest in the hotel. Was very tired then… what a way to spend Xmas. Ate a lot for dinner that night.

The Way Home (Finally)

Tuesday, 26^th Dec 06

Went down early to hospital to catch the doc before he goes for operations and stuff. Totally not enough sleep the night before so wasn’t really thinking straight. Saw that the weather was getting better so decided to fly today, got his Beijing office to book a new flight for me, stayed with tj abit more, then left. After more jostling in the airport, I learnt that my 1410 flight was gonna be postponed to 1750 (which was still ok for me) but then they had another earlier flight at 1430 which they booked me on. Will be in Beijing too early, but it’s ok, arranged for his Beijing office to pick me up at airport, put me up in their staff housing to rest/wash up before taking me back to the airport for my 2355 flight. Got on the flight, waited one hour on the plane for missing passengers before take off at 1530. Flight was as ok as it could be, sandwiched btwn a fat man and another one w bad breath. Thankfully it was short.

Though I reached Beijing a tad late and was considering whether I should trouble the driver to send me back and forth, I learnt tt he was there to pick someone up (arnd the same time as me) and later he had to go to airport to pick another person up and could send me back. So I decided to just go. Beijing is a huge city, modern, bustling etc. The number of cars on the road on the multi-leveled highway is amazing. Reached their luxurious staff house, dumped my luggage there, then left to walk around Beijing and find dinner.

Had about 3 hrs to kill, first time in a foreign land by myself at night, so didn’t dare to walk into dark alleys, just stayed on main roads. Walked inside the high class china world shopping mall where there was LV, loewe, and all sorts of other high class brands that I can never afford, and decided to walk outside, walked all the way till xiu4shui2jie1, supposedly a good place for shopping though somewhat a tourist trap. Decided I didn’t wanna have to deal with more Chinese ppl and having to bargain, so tried to have dinner, which isn’t v fun when you’re alone. Almost had KFC but decided not to, a Chinese fast food restaurant, had good beef noodles and thick soya bean milk. Yumyum. Tried to find Tiananmen square, near China World Apartments but it was dark and I couldn’t find it (wasn’t equipped with a map) so decided to just go back, wash up and head off.

Back at the apartment, I met C, the other Project Mgr taking over. A v nice fatherly figure, think I woke him up when I entered, spoke to him awhile. He told me they all liked TJ and tj was having so much fun in this job and they were v sad tt this unfortunate accident had to happen etc. The driver, J, didn’t know I was tj’s gf until the ride back to the airport, and he was nicer the 2^nd time around, enquiring abt his condition etc. Telling me how tj loves his job though his parents and gf didn’t, and how it was a struggle for tj…

I realized something abt this trip, that he has wonderful colleagues, who do all they can to make it easier for us. All friendly and concerned for him, and they all like tj cos he’s just an enthusiastic, friendly, young chap whom they think can go far… though we’re frustrated abt how the upper mgmt seem to be dallying and not being helpful, we can’t deny that we’re very well taken care of by the admin and ops staff in china, we get driven arnd everywhere, meals are always paid for (and they ALWAYS order too much). Makes me feel bad abt being so annoyed with him leaving all the time. But yah, I maintain tt the HR dept is very annoying.And I finally realize why tj always tells me abt his adventures and tell me that he wants to bring me traveling arnd the world. All arnd Xi’an and that lone night in Beijing, I realize that part of the joy in traveling is having someone there to share the wonderful scenery and interesting culture with.

Return flight was good, SQ is always good, there were ample seats so I ended up lying down to sleep on 3 seats. Flashing my airport pass gives me additional discount at duty free (15% off alcohol!) so it was more shopping before I headed for work, but was too sleepy to concentrate much.

Now I just wish he can come home too…

Going Home

been packing and stuff, a cold cold xmas this year, but it's not white here somehow. more like foggy. woke up this morn to a big fog and it's getting cold here, but no snow.

so yeah, i'm packing my bags right now, getting ready to go home. Xmas is D-day here, the mainland chinese don't celebrate Xmas so there's no public holiday, so tj's going for his CT scan tm. busy day which will start early and hopefully end on a good note. i'm leaving the hospital at about 3pm tm for xianyang airport to fly to beijing, gonna travel on subload ticket so am abit nervous abt missing my flight if it's full but yah, i just hope to leave xi'an with a light heart knowing tt he's coming home soon after and i can start preparations in s'pore.

but yeah, i'm ready to go home, don't like it here, just hope tt he can come home soon too...

merry xmas everyone

Xmas Greetings from TJ

Dear caring friends and loved ones,

Thank you for all your well wishes for my bday and xmas. I’m feeling a lot better now though this isn’t exactly the bday or xmas tt I expected to have this year. I’m having a bigger appetite and more food cravings as the amount that is fed to me through drip decreases. Having my family and my darling around makes it a very special occasion for me. As with every other year I hope to reply every sms greeting with a “thank you” but this year I’m unable to do so. Here’s a merry xmas to everyone and take this time to remember your family and your loved ones who will always be there for you. See you guys in S’pore soon.

Love, peace, and merry xmas to everyone. Appreciate your prayers and thoughts so that I can be evacuated home soon.

Tze Jun (aka TJ aka Zijun)

Guess the name of this noodles

short post, busy trying to pack both my stuff and some of tj's stuff... went walking arnd Xi'an city today, and am surprised to see how advanced this place is. More abt tt in a separate post when i feel more free.

anyway the northern parts of china are known for their 面食, literally translated to noodle dishes, though i guess a more accurate term would be pasta. it's too dry up here to grow rice (大米) so they grow alot of 小米 which i think is wheat, buckwheat etc. so they use these to make noodles. i love noodles, so it's quite fun eating those here, but they tend to come in fantastically huge portions and are too starchy, but since noodles are good here, we eat them every meal. never thought i'll say it, but i miss rice!

anyway this is one of shaanxi's most famous noodle dish. super complicated chinese word which the chinese here are proud to tell u tt this word is not found in any dictionary. this is supposed to be noodles as wide as a belt and quite chewy. i challenge u to tell me the exact name of this noodles... 1 cuppa coffee (starbucks/coffeebean) for the winner!

don't say i don't give you all close up of the word

pictures

still reeking from the distinct smell of 重庆麻辣火锅. which in china is superb and v cheap (only 96 RMB for 4 ppl inclusive of 2 bottles of beer) but it's really super oily, and my stomach is so gonna suffer... but yeah, it was good while it lasted.

it's 冬至 or winter solstice today. in the northern parts of china, they celebrate by eating 餃子 (or meat dumplings) while in the southern parts of china (where most s'poreans originate from) we celebrate by eating 汤圆 or sweet dessert dumplings. uncle, auntie and me did end up eating meat dumplings at a super authentic (read: dirty, smoky) small restaurant. but yeah, pity tt tj still can't eat dumplings... winter solstice is also the shortest day in the year, and it was v cold today (i think it reached sub-zero) which was v shiok but v cold.

the HR woman went to see the doctor tdy, we managed to catch him while he's doing his rounds, he basically told us tt tj's improving well and if CT scan on Monday is fine, then he can be discharged (i.e. send home to S'pore)! and tt's good news for all of us, and we're hopeful, after all he doesn't feel any more pain in his internal organs... but yeah, the rate determining step now is still his company's arrangements to send him back. so far we still don't have a good indication (despite having pushed for an answer as to when he's gonna be evacuated since one week ago) they only told us tt they're arranging it and it lies on Monday's CT scan. but yeah, while talking to the Doctor the nurse who accompanied tj from yulin to xi'an called and asked to talk to me, and asked me abt his current condition, including wat he's eating, whether he's still breathing pure oxygen and how he currently pees/shits etc. i asked y she asking all tt, they said they're making arrangements... which to me is good news too. at least somebody is doing something...

he asked me to post a few pictures to assure everyone he's ok. so here they are:


taken 2 days ago on 20 Dec 06, the stitches on his face were just removed so you could still see the remnants of the bandage.


today 22 Dec 06. he looks so much better with don't you think? =)


the bruise on his left back. looks absolutely painful.


close-up of the scar on his right cheek. tell me if you think it's manly and cool...


both of us. i'm wearing only a blouse and pants cos it's warm indoors. and it's hard to take a photo w/o having a double chin when u're lying down...

remaining hopeful for Monday. hope we all get a nice Xmas present from his company... and he gets to come home for new year...

new arrival(s)

busy day for the driver today, he had to make 2 trips to the airport. the project mgr left, a china HR rep came down, and tj's dad came down too.

we kinda miss the project mgr, cos he was the only helpful one, who'll help us make phone calls to arrange for stuff... HR rep wasn't v helpful, didn't even stay long to see him to find out how he is, seems like she's only coordinating the insurance matters related to tj's accident. they haven't given us any straight answers yet, despite us pushing and pushing since last week, and now tt it's Xmas and everyone else is enjoying their holidays, it seems like our case is just swept under the rug, and tt's super demoralising.

tj's only beginning to see the seriousness of the corporate situation, including the costs involved in medical evacuation. but he still remains hopeful tt his company will take care of him. yes they will, they have indicated tt they'll get him home, but they didn't say when. 3 months later is also getting him home you know?

the better news of the day: tj just moved his bowels. haha i can't believe tt i'm blogging abt this, but yah, we're really just grateful for small things like these tt show he's getting better. his internal organs also don't hurt now which definitely is good news. but then constantly lying flat on his back has put abit of strain on his tailbone so it hurts and he can't sleep properly.

he just has so much food cravings. hp he'll be cleared to eat dairy soon so he can maybe have a bite of the xmas log cake he so craves...

gonna try spending as much of Xmas with him, decided to fly back on Xmas day, and get ready, maybe have to fly back to Xi'an if he has to stay there longer. sighz. everything seems to be hinged on Monday's CT Scan, i really hope he'll be fine... and tt the doctors are responsible enough not to go on leave on Xmas... we need something to give us Xmas cheer too...

the big baby

getting more and more used to seeing him lying down on a bed not being able to move. but we count our little blessings, yesterday he was allowed liquid food, and tdy robin and auntie went around shopping for more "food" for him, so they bought more basins, towels, topped up phonecards, bought baby food etc.

and yes, he's like a big baby tt cannot do anything himself, we feed him, wash him (his face, hands etc.) and an attendant helps clear his pee and shit and is there generally to help him when we're not around. tt's the system in china, nurses don't do menial work and there are no ah mahs to help, so we hired the 24 hr attendant, who's duties above all, includes looking after his drip to see it doesn't run out. and his mum treats him like a big baby, bought him a children's book at the bookstore, and only remembers that he like snoopy as a kid. hmm...

anyway they removed the bandages for his face, he has these 2 parallel scars on his right cheek... which he thinks look manly and cool. for me... ok lah... they don't look tt deep so i think they will lighten over time. and there's always concealor

as time drags on, there's little/no news over his evacuation, and w the project manager leaving tm, there seems little hope that tj can be back b4 the new year. which is frustrating, and we've had enough trying to play corporate diplomatic games with his company, and the newly assigned contact point is being such a bitch. she told his father this: "tj will be there for a long time, won't it be v troublesome if you all keep flying up and down to visit him?" tj's father was totally hopping mad when she said tt, and he's really a v v v patient man who doesn't get angry at all. of course we'll go down, we'll take turns to keep on flying down as long as he's here, we won't leave him alone. anyway tj's dad is flying over tm, and we're now deciding our schedule now, and tt includes me flying back probably on 25th december, going to work for the next few days, and flying back down when tj's mum is back in s'pore. we're now running into visa problems, or rather lack of visa, cos we can only stay legally w/o a visa for 14 days, and since we don't have a visa in the first place, there's nothing to extend. and when tj was listening to our travel plans, he looked sad, knowing tt he's causing alot of inconveniences to us. but yeah, we won't give up, and we will do wat it takes to make sure he's well and back in s'pore.

i hate the situation now, but our hands are quite tied as the events unfold and become clearer to us. i just wanna to go home w tj, and tj just wanna be able to enjoy all his fave xmas goodies. unfortunately, he has to wait until next year...

tj went for a CT scan this morn, the system there really is a pain in the ass, and alot of diy. they'll literally go outside to ask young guys to help lift a patient up onto the CT scanner etc. and being inexperienced, they end up hurting the patient, my poor tj who has a broken pelvic bone and fractures at different places...

after tt he made his way out, into a so-called "private ward", which is in alot better condition than the normal one that he was going to be placed in. which is good, so tdy we spent his bday w him, first his mum talked to him (while i went back to hotel to make phonecalls and send emails) and later in the afternoon it was my turn... nice to finally see him and he says seeing me makes him smile alot, but i have to be careful not to say funny stuff cos it hurts when he laughs, and seeing him being so vulnerable makes my heart ache. but at least he can drink some fluids including porridge water, which in this part of china is like red bean soup w/o the beans and sugar.

ct scan results were out, on all counts there seems to be improvement for his spleen and liver, but now both kidneys appear hurt (it used to be only one) and there's fluid accumulation in his chest cavity. but the chest one according to the doc is some reaction by the body due to stressors from other parts of the body and he didn't sound tt concerned abt tt.

we still dunno when he can be back. they've arranged for a ct scan next monday, and there's no next step from then on. everything hinges on his suitability to be moved, which makes sense but tt just means tt we're in here for the long haul.

on a separate front, we're quite frustrated w his company, our official coordinator who has been quite helpful so far suddenly left without a word, uncle had to frantically call and call him, until a colleague told us we went to myanmar... i mean i can understand tt he has to go attend training and wat not, but at least have the decency to tell us, and arrange for a replacement? but no. he just left w/o a word and w/o handing this over to anyone. not to mention tt his replacement's been such a bitch with regards to travel arrangements for tj's bro. i got two separate company ppl to call her, and they talked until they were mad at her, but she refuses to budge cos it's "company's policy, if i bend the rules this time, then next time everyone wants the same thing" you mean she wants another accident to happen? so now tj's bro is not coming down, and we have to start thinking abt planning schedules so tt there's always someone w him while he's here, and being without a visa, we can only stay here for a max of 14 days.

thanks all for ur well wishes, he's unable to reply ur msges but he's touched by the concern. he wanted me to take a picture of him and post it on his blog but i found it quite weird... not to mention his lappy's usb doesn't seem to read his camera...

tt's abt all for tdy. frustrated at my helplessness... but yah, gotta remain strong...

happy happy (for now)

went to see tj and dr in the afternoon. finally got to see tj, he looks quite all right, he sounds ok, and he just seemed happy to see me, and i was v v v glad to see him, and the bonus was tt he looked fine... so i can be relieved on tt count. he just wanted to get out of the ward, wanted to be able to eat something (he hasn't eaten for 5 days i believe) but i told him to be 乖乖 and not eat first, make it home first and food can come later. i told him tt he had to voice out his own opinions if not nobody will know, and when i try to voice out his opinions my voice has little weight cos i'm not exactly family.

so tdy's a day of good news, other than getting to see tj and seeing he's fine, we also saw the doctor, who informed us that results of tj's blood test is good, his red blood cell count is back to normal which indicates tt the internal bleeding has stopped. they will do ct scan tm morning to assess the internal damage to the organs. and he can be moved out of ICU into hopefully a private ward, where there's more privacy and it's cleaner. if not then a normal ward will do, but the conditions there really not good, so we're keeping our fingers crossed on tt one. he's happy and we're happy tt he can get out of ICU.

when will he be back, i dunno as yet, gonna extend my leave and stay longer to accompany him. doc said decision can be made on saturday/sunday. not very happy w the way his company and insurance company is handling this issue, am working w his bro now to try to diplomatically get our way... hp to get him back to s'pore asap. i really can't stand the state of china's hospitals...

in the meantime, if u're reading this, tj's b'day is Dec 19! please send him a happy b'day greeting and send him ur regards at his china mobile no.: +8613619122457. You'll be charged internet sms rates though, and he won't reply you (must save money), but i'm sure he'll be glad to hear ppl care.

sightseeing

not supposed to go visit him in the hospital tdy, and since the doc isn't arnd, we decided to go sightseeing to while away the time. but b4 tt, we went to the ICU to pass him some stuff, which included his spare hp battery, some love notes, the book yun lent me (One More Day by Mitch Albom), wanted to pass him his mp3 player, but then the battery was flat, so borrowed a portable movie player from adam (the company guy who's accompanying us) to pass to him in the morn. we stood outside the ICU to get the nurse to pass him stuff, and the v cheeky adam walked into the ICU pretending to be an ignorant angmoh, saw tj, and waved to him. stupid ang moh.

so after tt i received an sms from him saying he's v glad to receive the goodies so he has something to do... which was good enough news for the day. so we made our way down to visit the terracotta warriors (兵马佣), a famous tourist attraction in Xi'an. it was interesting and quite amazing, will blog abt it separately another day when i'm in a better mood. after tt we went for foot massage too. which is a good way to relax after the tense emotions tt we've been facing the past week.

his aunt and uncle called him secretly and he answered the phone, so emboldened, i went to call him too, though the conversation was super brief, and he was super whispering, i was happy to just hear his voice, and i hp he was happy hearing mine too... we're hopeful tt he can be moved out of ICU tm so we can take care of him. but we'll see how it goes.

next steps: another blood test will be taken tm to monitor his red blood cell count, we'll talk to the doctor tm and see him during ICU visiting hours, and hp tt he gets out of ICU. in the meantime we're working towards getting him home as soon as he is cleared for evacuation.

i finally have the password to his lappy, so was talking to some of his friends on msn. glad to receive so many well wishes. keep ur prayers and regards coming, i will pass them on to him. its always good to know ppl love and care for u...

fingers crossed, but we're hopeful...

hands are tied

spent the morning getting more rest and getting things done, left for the hospital at 1.30, waited for the doctor who was on leave, tried to get medical records (for 2nd opinions by tj's uncle and other docs) but can't cos the doctor's on leave, queued up till 3 to see tj, but couldn't cos though the visiting hrs for ICU is "everyday" from 3 - 4 pm, weekends are not considered part of everydays. go figure, then later when the field administrator guy went to pass them the towels etc. (in China, relatives bring the patients their food, bring the nurses toiletries to wash the patients) he got to go in for a short while to talk to him! disappointed tt i didn't get to talk to him again, and i know he's really bored, but at least we got to pass him our notes and he passed us one, so when i saw his note i was v v happy, cos it's something from him...

china's medical system really pisses me off, but i'm trying not to let it get to me, trying not to insist too hard to break their regulations, yes i'm a foreigner but tt doesn't make things ezier just cos i'm foreigner, though i do wonder if i'm ang moh would it have made a difference. but yah, dowan to make them pissed off, cooperate, so tt tj can come back sooner. but it's counter-productive when his father and mine say "can't u ask the company to let u see him longer" and things along those lines. how can we? it's a common ICU, it's not just tj we shd be worried abt, but the other patients, alot who have just completed surgery and prone to lots of infections... but yeah, just hp tt our small notes keep him gg, let him know tt we love him lots and explain the situation to him better...

for now, our hands are tied, cos just waiting for him to get well. but we're trying on the side to make the insurance company to commit to evacuating him as soon as he is stable, we don't want him to go thru any more delays.

other than tt, his vitals are stable, at least now he's cleaned up and feel better... i miss him more than ever, being so near yet so far, and though it seems tt i'm making a wasted trip, i'm glad i came, i'd like to think tt he feels better just knowing i'm 10 min away... i just wish i can see him soon though...