The Hope Killer Bill

Received the bill for my stay at The Hope Killer. It's managed to arrive sooner than No Use Hospital!

Therapy Rants

New client sharing transport with me. A lady who looked to be in her 30s with a bad leg. Although the transport plays the English station sometimes, she die die must broadcast her own songs from her phone. Gosh. Really don't get these people.

Cure For the Wrist

5 months on, my left wrist is still hurting. Should get some help already.

I expected Western doctors to just prescribe painkillers, so I decided to try TCM instead.

Expensive Shit

The orthosis vendor guy and a lady assistant came during lunch time to take my measurements. He asked for a pail and started making some kind of plaster to take a mould of my calves and feet.

The thing is going to cost $6k.

$6k.

$6k!!!

I thought $700 for the TLSO was bad, but 一山还有一山高! Dr L really thinks my pocket is a bottomless pit huh! Making me get this without knowing the cost!

I paid a $3k deposit. If only he accepts credit cards. Assuming a transaction charge of 3%, I still have 2% savings even if he passes the cost to me.

This sum could have paid for a holiday, but now I'm not going anywhere.

Sigh.

Morning Disappointing Tidings

Ehh how come he's coming for therapy today? :(

He told the driver it was because he had a medical appointment.

Chey! Still say it's because of the bad service? So it's because you are not free lah? Want to act tough, but actually got some other underlying reason!

Morning Glad Tidings

He really didn't come today! Hope it's permanent! Keep it up!

Transport was on time today. Now I know why it's always late.

And I can go home promptly after the end of my session. YAY!

Offloading the Overpriced Ointment

Good thing I have a PT scheduled so close to the Ortho clinic. Can go back to exchange the ointment. The pharmacist said that they tried calling me. So the missed call was from them.

Got my exchange and refund. All's fine.

The PT saw my new powered wheelchair. She's happy coz it's more convenient for them too now.

More Braces To Come

Follow-up at Ortho clinic today. Since the appointment was after peak hours and I had time on my hands, I decided to try taking MRT there with my powered wheelchair. Went smoothly. I guessed it's better since Father didn't have to transfer me on and off a cab and push me around.

X-ray first as usual. This time, I took the X-ray sitting. So many ways to get the desired X-ray. Is this what diagnostic radiography students spend 3 years learning in school?

After taking the X-ray, I went back to the clinic. Still early today, got to wait. Can't lunch first.

25 Minutes Wasted

The noisy guy is not only noisy in the transport. Today, he even quarreled with the staff. Well, usually he acted chummy with the admin staff, but I guessed he disliked the therapists. No idea what he was so unhappy with, but there were staff crowded around him, listening attentively while he gave them a earful.

Diablo III

Bought the game I have been waiting for!!!

I actually thought I could play it while I was on leave. Sigh.

Unlicensed Driver On The Loose

Rode the powered wheelchair out for the first time. Started with a low speed. This thing 反应迟钝 ley, only starts to move 1 second after pushing the joystick.

And reversing is hard! Reverse and turn corner even harder! Should I turn left or right to order to face right?

No wonder driving lessons are necessary.

Pills @ No Use Hospital

Curiosity drove me to abuse work resources find out what the No Use Hospital has been feeding me besides food and how much they cost. Dates are to the best of my knowledge. Generally, injections are more expensive than their pill version.

The Powered Chair

There's a conspiracy between rehab centres and the mobility equipment industry. I have been asked by my PT, S, again whether I was getting a powered chair. This time, I could give a positive answer, because E the social worker from The Hope Killer, has just contacted me with good news. Remembered that I had applied for fund by HSBC? So HSBC was feeling rich and has kindly decided to sponsor the purchase of a powered chair!

Depressed

How could I not be, when I have to be back at work TOMORROW?

Don't Speak

It's been nearly a month sharing the transport with this noisy guy who yaks non-stop during the journey. All I wished for was peace and quiet so that I could nap. Having to wake up at 7.30am is very taxing you know? *siams the rotten eggs*

Today, my ordeal was extended. For some reason, the driver decided to use Upper Thomson Road, which has a jam every morning. Maybe there's somebody new to pickup?

The noisy guy was not one who keeps quiet. He questioned the driver and found out he decided to travel via Lornie Road due to a traffic jam along CTE.

Ouch. Bad move.

The noisy guy wouldn't take it lying down. He started saying that the driver should have consulted him since he was "very familiar with the roads in this area, having traveled to Bukit Timah area for year". And he went on to describe the route he should have taken.

Father and I could only roll our eyes. I alone have 9 continuous years - try beating me? Yet we have not spoken a word.

By the way, the route he described is NOT the best.

Progress Report

Putting on weight! I'm sporting a double chin before I knew it. There is always too much food. Enough about eating more for healing. How can I consume the same portion as the rest if I don't even walk? Have to cut down already.

My toes nails are terribly soft. I used to have to press the nail clipper with 4 fingers and trim my toes nails after bathing so that they are softer. Now they crack and keep going whenever they a bit long. And the trimming process might crack them too. Argh.

Still having problem with toileting and transfer.

The scars on my face are still obvious. Plus a new pit right in the middle of my forehead, no thanks to that mega pimple. Thankfully, my cheapo beauty regimen has cured most of the other blemishes. Shall start trying the Asiatic Centella ointment of my face too.

PT at No Use Hospital today. Outpatient rehab really does not seem to be part of their focus. At least for the neuro department. There is only 1 PT and 1 TA at any given time. Large gym, but quite under-utilized. Funny that the doctors in the same hospital don't seem to be aware. Everytime ask me why only come once a month.

The canteen at Some People Died is pretty unappetizing. The teh tastes thin although the color looks ok. For cooked food, there's mixed vegetable rice, but the dishes look quite sad. Only half of the display shelf is filled, mostly with deep fried stuff - sausages, hash brown and the likes. Some oily-looking vegetables... and not sure what else, because I have no incentive to stop and find out. Maybe it's because there are so many food choices nearby. Pity the staff if they have to eat in on rainy days.

Seeing Colleagues After a Long Time

If I could go out to meet a friend, there was no reason that I couldn't go out to meet my colleagues... XD More so when the meal was going to be paid for and the place reasonably close.

Meeting a Long-Lost Friend

When I was still in the corner of Singapore, I was pleasantly surprised that Z, a friend from my JC CCA initiated a meetup. She offered to visit after I told her what I was up to, but I was sure nobody would want to go all the way there.

Goal Setting

The ~yawnz~ time of the year! As I was returning to work soon, my boss told me to do it. This time, she's doing it a bit differently. We were to submit a it in Word document for her to review first. Must be because the system was not very user-friendly.

The usual dunno-what-to-write. Still managed to come up with something.

Logged in to my email for the first time to send the document. The system wouldn't allow me to proceed unless I cleared some space first. Damn! Forcing me to read email!

Continuing Rehab

Some People Died never got back to me regarding the rescheduling of my third session. Looks like the twice a week arrangement was here to stay.

I have also changed my Friday afternoon slot in anticipation of my return to work. I figured I will lugi my leave if I were to reach home at 4pm and people started badgering me to work. It has become Thursday mornings at an earthly 10am.

Today was my second round of intensive physiotherapy. My monthly appointment at No Use Hospital.

Forgot to bring my TLSO! They didn't let me walk :((

While waiting for payment, I thought I saw C, my PT from The Hope Killer. Was she here for some conference? Interview? Or already quit liao? Haha!

杨门女将之军令如山

CNY, time for movies!

Star-studded, but so disappointing.

Did they have to dumb down the men in the family to emphasize the women's bravery?

And kept shouting "保护太君" when that was only a sub-mission. Old woman come battlefield for what? Zzz.

The numerous dunno laughing or crying faces of Cecilia Cheung.

I know she was supposed to be happy in one second and crying the next, but it came out weird.

From the movie title, I inferred that there were plans to make this a franchise. Guess it's not gonna happen.

Do not watch... 3/10

Rehab Follow-up

It's Dr E again. Still hasn't gotten her Hollywood fashion tape. Updated her on my rehab plans and lamented about the rehab department was unable to accommodate me. She expressed surprise, but I wondered if doctors are really clueless??

Asked her for some Anarex for my brother. This brought me to the pharmacy, where I noticed that a secondary school friend was listed as on duty. Somebody whom I haven't seen since J1. I don't even remember seeing her in university. I am not the kind to actively seek somebody out. Maybe 15 years ago, but definitely not now. I guess I would say hi, if we happened to see each other. She wasn't at the counters, so low chance. So ended up we didn't get to see each other.

Can't Wake Early No More

Second time waking up at 6am. Think everybody boey tahan already. I decided to request for a later slot, cancelling this session for now.

天与地

The show that got canned by TVB is finally out! So long, that 2 of the leads are no longer with TVB. And it got banned in China halfway, causing me great difficulty in sourcing for it!

Nice show. Different from the usual feuding women plot. Cannibalism, hidden reference to the Tiananmen Incident and the darkness of politics? Wa! Small case for a movie, but uncommon for a HK serial.

8/10

Zookeeper

Zookeeper is supposed to be a comedy, but I didn't find having to seek animal advice to woo a girl funny. It was painful to watch. But I finished it anyway haha.

First Therapy SessionS

When was the last time I got up at 6am??

Money-Sinkhole

I received the confirmation letter from Some People Died.

Sotong Fingers

When I saw HSBC's emailer about the rewards for abalone promotion, I jumped at it. We still have leftover from previous years, but it's cool not to have to buy abalone for CNY!

Although on hindsight, I should have gotten the Singapore Mint CNY coins...

Yesterday, Father went to redeem the abalone, but he was told to top up $68. Huh? Weird? I told him not to redeem first. What's going on?

This afternoon, I called the bank up to check. The CSO said that I had sms the code for points + top-up. Ehh did I? -______- Huh how??

The CSO was offered to help me to check if they could still give me what I wanted. They reverted with good news a few days later. Thumbs up!

南極大陸

Finished the annual Takuya dorama.

Summary: A bunch of untrained misfits and canines representing their country on a dangerous expedition in times of economical hardship.

Hmm... I don't understand the rationale of undertaking an expedition to Antartica post-war. By how much could a *successful* mission boost the people's morale? And surely not everybody cared for it. Wouldn't the money be better spent rebuilding the nation? But they did benefited the ship-building industry though (which seemed to be the only industry that benefited).

There was a little boy in the show, 晴夫, who babysat his baby brother by piggybacking him everywhere he went. When the guys returned from the Antartica, his baby brother had not grown at all.

Or he could be a new baby brother. Hmm.

Don't like this show a lot. Too many silent stare scenes during a fight.

5/10.

Assessment

My appointment was at 11.30am. From the map, the place looked like it was in the middle of nowhere. Father said he knew how to guide the cabbie. I hope it's true.

Adjusting Back to Life

Exactly 2 weeks post-discharge.

Shopping From Bed

Must-do-something-about-my-hair-getting-ripped-out-in-the-shower-every-morning.

Interview

It's not what you are thinking!

There's No Such Thing As Free Musical

On the day before I could go home, I received a sms from someone I haven't heard from for 4mths. The HR has finally sent L a letter, asking her for the Lion King money. How slow was that! Just nice, I'm going home tomorrow. Promised to transfer then.

And I forgot -_- Only remembered on Saturday. And after I transferred, I forgot to inform L. Settled everything on Sunday. Brain rusty!

Home Sweet Home

I'm getting my life back!

Father came early in the morning to send my stuff home. Then, Brother came here with him to pick me up. I was glad that one of my favourite nurses oversaw my discharge. I returned the unopened bag of diapers, requesting that she made sure that I wasn't billed for it. Hope that she can be trusted...

Bye! I won't miss here!

Social Assistance @ The Hope Killer

The social worker was a sweet-looking young lady, E. Upon hearing that the income ceiling for financial assistance was $1200 per capita, I decided not to bother with it.

Staff @ The Hope Killer

Therapists
I had the fortune of having 2 friendly ladies, C and S to attend to me for my physiotherapy. We had a great time chatting during my breaks.

Neighbors @ The Hope Killer

No super gum neighbors who chit chat non-stop this time.

Food @ The Hope Killer

26 days of Breakfast
As usual, I ate only the breakfast out of the 3 provided meals. Breakfast here was more varied.

Rehab @ The Hope Killer

Physiotherapy
My assigned physiotherapist was a big size Caucasian woman, C. So smart of them to pass me to a strong person! Think she was from Scotland. No jobs there meh?

Life @ The Hope Killer

Sleep
Dislike the mattress! It's the soft soft kind again. Sianz, standard across all hospitals? This time it's a problem because there's no aircon, so it could get pretty hot. Kind of regretted transferring :(

First Outing

22 Nov
Got a rude shock when the nurse told me about an appointment at No Use Hospital 7 days later only today. Tsk! Did they think patients and their families' lives revolves around seeing doctors? Certainly not me, at least!

She said they forgot to tell me about this one. Funny that she specifically instructed me to bring my home clothes to change into before going for my appointment. Why? Scared that I don't return and kapo the hospital baju?

I have an appointment to see Dr L just 2 days after this surprise. What a waste of time, money and leave to make 2 trips. Couldn't No Use Hospital have scheduled them on the same day?

I called in to condense this to the same day as Dr L's, but this clinic is only available on Wednesdays :(

Escape!

Ok my patience has been spent. This whole thing was starting to feel like a waste of money, especially the weekends.

Am NOT Faking It All!

Boss asked me to submit my MC. Aiyoh so kan jiong for what? Cannot wait till I return?

But that would be in March next year. Right.

Father passed it to J at office.

Hamper

1 Nov
When I was still in Way Point Hospital, my colleague, Q, told me that the team will be sending me a fruits basket. Since I could be discharging anytime, I asked her to hold it first.

Tour of the Premises

Sunday! Brother is here again. Put on my TLSO and off for a tour of the hospital.

Lost and Found

Sleep was ok. No noisy patients despite the size of the ward. My only peeve was the nurses turning on the light at 7am to go around asking patients to rinse mouth. I had my eye mask on, but I could still detect the light. They didn't try to rouse me, but there was so much activity that I couldn't even pretend to sleep anymore.

Argh.

New Home Away From Home 2

Got woken up extra early to bathe because the ambulance would be coming anytime after 9am.

Aircon Down! I'm Outta Here

30 October 2011
The fire alarm rang and not long after, I heard the aircon had broken down at 11am. I was ok with that for a while, until the staff opened the windows which led to the influx of the mid-day heat. Hot~

It's Sunday. Could anything be done?

Weird Rules

Breakfast was oats. The type that I was force-fed during my school years. Sulked.

I asked for toast instead. Guess what, they had extra fried noodles, so I could have it! YAY!

I preferred to bathe after therapy as I would be all hot and sweaty after the workout. The Indian nurse in charge of my room was willing to accommodate me. However, it seemed that I had inconvenienced her as
nurse kept coming to ask if I could bathe already. Eh... therapy was late today, sorry!

Finally, I was done by lunch time and the nurse could get on with her work. It was then that I understood that bathing patients was the morning shift's responsibility. The shift was ending soon, no wonder she was kan jiong!

Noticed the nurse bathed me with her shoes and socks on. Needless to say, they were all soaked. Why didn't she wear slippers, I asked. She said they were not allowed to.

?!

Didn't make sense. What about hygiene and staff well-being?

Thursday Morning Visitor

Dear therapists, please see me first as my friend is coming!

W came to visit me again. How thoughtful :)

我爱洗澡

The local nurse who chaperoned me here on my first day suggested that I try wet showering. Without my TLSO.

Not that I was against bathing or going without my TLSO, you know. It's just that the doctor hasn't okayed it. But I was game to try. I badly need to bathe.

And so I did.

She made me use the pink anti-bacterial wash on my hair and body since it's my first bath since so long ago. Like nearly 1 month! 1/12 of a year never bathe!

Feeling fresh but smelling bad! Due to the disgusting anti-bacterial wash.

Didn't feel uncomfortable without the TLSO at all. In fact, I was lovin' it. Emboldened!

DnD

Got asked by a colleague whether I would be attending this year's Dinner & Dance.

No... think I would still be stuck in hospital.

Actually, even if I weren't in hospital, I wouldn't feel like going either.

Do Not Disturb.

Visitors Galore

Gonna have lots of visitors today! Mother shampooed me yesterday in anticipation.

Happy

G found time to drop by since she was on MC (??? Geng! LOL). But she sure looked sick enough to need to stay away from patients.

But she's now near another patient (hmm...).

Good news! E has given birth to a baby girl :D

Neighbors @ The Corner of Singapore

The Malay woman who slept with the radio on got discharged the next day. PEACE.

Or so I thought.

Rehab @ The Corner of Singapore

All In A Day
Despite the lack of a gym, there wasn't a lack of rehabilitation activities and attention from the therapists.

Food @ The Corner of Singapore

Hospital Food
O man. The food.

Life @ The Corner of Singapore

New ward, new stuff!

First Weekend @ The Corner of Singapore

Saturday
The routine was more or less the same. The OT made me wheel myself outside. Into the sun. I must have not been outside for a long time, so the OT gave me the opportunity to get in the sun and also take a look outside. But the Sotong was unappreciative. Disregarding the lack of sunlight exposure, she would rather not risk her facial wounds pigmenting :P So the OT said ok ok we go back. Wahahaha!

New Home Away From Home

After breakfast, it's morning-movie time! Let's start with something really bo liao...

A teacher who had to work because her sugar daddy dumped her. So incompetent, that's she's the perfect model of the rotten in the US public education system.

Busy Day

Good morning! And I do mean very early morning - 6.30am. Gosh why do they wake people up so early just to rinse mouth??

Relac Sunday

Good morning! It's Shampoo Day! The ka cang was different this time - a hard plastic hair washing basin.

Life @ Private

Finally, no more blood-taking in the wee hours of the morning! It was 7am and the nurse was going around taking parameters, blood pressure and of course, pricking fingers. Rinsed my mouth with mouthwash. How I wished my toothbrush were here. The nurse asked if I would like to brush my teeth with the free toothbrush. Ah, might as well.

Dear phone was still by my side.

Still felt like I didn't have enough sleep. The time I sleep doesn't matter; what matters is that I get up after 11am.

Moving Time

A bed at the normal ward was finally available. But before I could move, I had to pass a few tests :\

The HD Resident

Makan
Got oats for breakfast. I don't fancy oats; in fact, they are on my banned list due to continuous forced-feeding for 6 years every morning more than a decade ago. But the hospital didn't give me a choice. Ah well, a hungry sotong eats anything. Didn't taste too bad initially. It was the sweet type with condensed milk. Not much oats in it, quite watery. As my stomach filled up, the oats got grosser. That's enough. Half a bowl gone, quite a feat.

'Tis The Season to Spend Money

...哗啦啦啦啦 啦啦 啦啦... *sound of money flowing*

Father had also been telling me about a discounted reclining bed from Rehab Mart. He even had took a video of the bed in action. If I were to require help to sit up in future, it would be useful and more back-friendly for my carers as well. I wasn't sure of the usefulness, but he sounded like he already wanted to buy it.

I was fine with it lor, since I was supposed to buy a new bed frame anyway. I'm still unsure of whether I would need the reclining functionality as I obviously wouldn't plan to sit bed all day unless forced to. Hence it was too early to invest in such a bed. But if a regular bed frame costs about the same (I have no idea), this might be a good deal?

Somebody has to test out the mattress first. And make sure the bed frame doesn't creak. Father wanted to buy a bed without even sleeping on it!!! He reasoned that from the video, we could see it's the thick type, therefore it must be good. And it's a reclining bed that actually doesn't look like a hospital bed. Normal people buy such beds so they could do stuff like read or watch tv in it and it costs a bomb outside. My ex-boss, Ms L has one too.

But weird ley, in the video, when nobody was lying on it, the mattress remained straight as the backrest's inclination was increased. To prove that the mattress could actually bend, the salesman jumped onto it. Actually even if Father tried, I didn't think I would trust his feedback anyway haha. My mother didn't want to waste time going to try it. For me, no try no buy, simple!

As with all promotions, they pressurize potential customers with short promotional periods. So Father managed to drag Mother down to try the mattress, despite her complaints that she had to go to the market, cook 2 meals and travel to and fro hospital twice a day. He bought the bed. No headboard, as I saw no need to pay so much for that. I'm sure I can find somewhere to hang stuff!

System 9 single bed with bluetooth remote control. Memory foam mattress, free memory foam pillow, for $1640.

I requested the nurse to contact the TLSO's vendor as I was still feeling uncomfortable wearing it. This time, a lady came. Not the same black-faced one who measured me. My complaint was that the TLSO was giving me a headache. The answer was that I didn't need to strap the neck brace so rightly. And the foam neck brace was flipping up my earlobes. No need to take it back to the workshop - just cut with scissors! As for the brace still cutting into my legs, the solution was to sit on a firm, flat seat. So the TLSO was here to stay.

I asked her for advice on caring for it. She passed me a booklet of instructions. Wipe with damp cloth, basically. Ok hope it can last for 2yrs.

And DON'T get fat.

The Masterpiece

It has been 1 week since the surgery. I have finally graduated to soft diet! Zero puking yay! Or just that I'm not predisposed to puking because last time I also never puke.

Yesterday, when my mother heard about it, she was excitedly thinking about what she could cook me. For once, I was excited too. No confidence in hospital soft diet mah.

Breakfast was fish porridge, fed by a nurse. It's very starchy watery, rice grains not as visible as Teochew porridge, yet not as smooth as congee. It's the same kind of fish fillet, minced, sparse. So little fish can never flavor the porridge sufficiently, so some artificial flavoring must have been used. However, for a person who has not eaten anything for 1 week, it's heavenly.

在HD的日子

So late in the afternoon, about 5pm. Hope the hospital never charge me extra day for ICU!

Hello Ward 27! Still a single-bed room (yay!) with glass doors. But this time I could see other patients in their rooms as well as staff at work outside. A blood pressure cuff was wrapped around my right arm and a finger slotted into a rubber thimble for measuring SpO₂. ECG leads stuck on my chest. All permanently :\ Aircon in this room was super super very cold! The blanket was so thin despite it being so heavy and holey that I needed 3. End result was I was further immobilized under the weight.

I was given the patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and shown where the call bell was. No point fighting the painkillers and nothing to do staying awake, so I just zzz.

One Night In Bei... No, ICU!

I awoke to nurses fussing over me. No idea what they were up to. It just felt like they were moving me around and setting up stuff. So op was over? This must be the ICU I supposed?

A nurse removed the huge breathing apparatus from my mouth that was so bloody big that it was pushing my teeth out (o no I'm gonna have buck teeth) and I wondered how the doctors managed to fit it in in the first place.

Then she stuck a suction tube down my throat to suck up the mucus. Super UNCOMFORTABLE, but the suction provided relief.

An oxygen mask was strapped to my face.

Air was blowing continuously into my nose and mouth. Sweet, sweet air. It made breathing so effortless that I felt I didn't need it at all.

I was told that I was having a fever, so they would not cover me with the blanket, to which I managed to muster a "mm", but whether she heard it was another thing.

After everybody was done and gone, I finally could get back to sleep.

Zzz...

D-Day

Got woken up super early, like before 6am, to bathe. Despite telling the nurse that my mother would assist me, she still insisted on following me into the bathroom. The reason being she wanted to ensure that I didn't wash off the markings made yesterday (Mother almost did, despite the nurse telling her not to rub so hard) and that I had to use their super strong smelling, drying and artificially pink anti-bacterial soap to wash. She should have mentioned earlier, so that I wouldn't wash with my own soap! Double soaping = super duper dry skin! Even my hair had to be washed with it! Luckily she didn't insist that I wash my face with that too hah.

Then it was back to traction. So strict on it. Seriously! Apart from being annoying, it didn't seem to serve any purpose!

The rest of the family came. Had to try very hard to keep quiet so early in the morning... noisy patient! Of course, our efforts, if any, were futile, because we still got to pack our stuff. Couldn't expect to return to the same bed later, right? I looked like I had been here for a week :X

Dr L and his group of students came to add on to the noise. He said that during the surgery, I would be lifted from anaesthesia briefly and called by name to move my arms and legs to check my nerve functions. I stared at him in disbelief. Not worried about pain. I had heard of this, but would I really be able to respond? Later never respond then jialat. What name I respond to? A wide variety since a lot of people mispronounce my name! So anything that sounds like it :P Which also implies that I responded mistakenly many times...

And it was waiting until 8.20am. I was wheeled out on the bed, with the traction and all. That's how serious they were about it. All the way to the operating theatre! The waiting area was bustling with activity. So many patients having surgery huh. Why did the place have to be so freaking cold? The cold air was penetrating my holey blanket with ease.

The operating theatre was actually warmer than outside lor. Everybody inside was doing something. I was expecting some students to stand around hah. I'm such a fine piece of exhibit wor~ Dr L greeted me before saying he was going to plan the surgery. Which made me worried for a second. Planning now only ah... ~_~

I was finally released from traction and got to play with the Patslide.

It dramatically reduces friction, making the transfer off my bed so easy. Just that it's very hard, hurting my shoulder blades.

Somebody swabbed my wrist with alcohol. I thought they were going to give me an injection, but I turned and saw them getting this thing with super thick and long needle and stuck it into my wrist! A tube was connected to it and I watched a clear, fluid travel through it into my wrist. So cool...

...

Last Day of Freedom

Despite being strapped up the whole night, I still didn't feel any discomfort this morning. Can I get rid of it since it didn't seem to be working?

The finger pricking spell continued. Sianz.

I could only recall the breakfast being very unappetizing. Of course Sister didn't want to share it with me when I myself didn't like it.

I got released because I had to go do a gait analysis. Yippee! The lady technician told me the purpose was to compare my gait before and after surgery, meaning I would have to repeat the test once I could walk. I was thinking to myself that could be years later at the earliest, or never... For the first time in my life, I wore a bikini haha. Look more like tube top with straps and boy shorts lah. She stuck some reflective balls all over my body, whose reflected light would be captured by the several cameras as I walked. I had to get up from a chair and walk about 5m, taking care to step on 2 tiles along the way as they were for measuring the force of my step. Shaky tiles lor, dangerous! Of course, I had to be helped out of the chair... walk with the wrong kind of garments (nowhere to grip)... walk after sitting for a long time (nearly 2 days)... deliberately step on something shaky... with cold air-con blowing at me... a few times... it's a miracle that I didn't fall over at all. So damn glad when it was all over man.

I declined the nurse's offer to bathe me as I preferred my sister. I must have hogged the bathroom for the longest time hehe. Because somebody had come to take my urine sample and were waiting for me for possibly the longest time. Well, it would have been easier if they had built a toilet bowl in the bathroom too!

When I returned, I realized a doctor was waiting to draw lines on me and draw blood :X

I was supposed to be back on traction immediately, but since I had to go for an X-ray and the nurses were too lazy to keep redoing the whole thing, they told me they would strap me back after that. No problem! :D Just that I was waiting indefinitely for the X-ray. No idea what they were up to.

Today's lunch was vegetarian horfun Mother bought from some vegetarian stall. She described it as ultra popular, need to queue up blah blah. Whatever. She's the one who wanted me to go vegetarian before the surgery. I would be happy with just fried beehoon. It didn't taste bad. Normal lor. Maybe it's impressive for achieving some taste without using meat?

Time for X-ray after lunch. Since I was in the hospital pyjamas, I didn't need to change into the gown. Difficult poses again. Only at the last picture did I realize that I still had that bloody amulet on me. It obscured something but still to an acceptable degree, fortunately. What kind of luck was it bringing me if I had to redo the whole batch of X-rays? From now on, such unnecessary burdens were banned from me. I don't want to expose myself to more radiation when I already had a lot this year. Or be responsible should I change clothes with or without my knowledge and lose that thing in the process.

A lady came to conduct a bleeding time test on me. She produced something that looked like the blood glucose test finger pricker, except that it stapled a hole like 1mm wide and 1mm deep in my arm!!! WTF need to be so deep or not? Then she pumped up the sphygmomanometer and we watched as blood oozed out of my wound. When the blood formed a nice little sphere, she soaked it up with filter paper. And this would go until the bleeding stopped. If it didn't stop then it meant I would bleed to death in the surgery, which in turn meant... hmm... go home lor? Well anyway of course the bleeding stopped. The lady removed her gloves before cleaning up, coming into contact with my blood in the process. Eww... she should remove her gloves lastly what.

The dietician came too.

The anaesthesia specialist came to tell me what to expect tomorrow. Nothing new. Just uh ya ok all the way. O it's an Indian doctor from India again. Was the whole anaesthesia department from India or something?

An old lady who just returned from surgery was vomiting non-stop. O no o no I don't want to be like her >+< J told me she also threw up after anaesthesia. Nooooo...

Found out that the yellow plastic bag was a trash bag. Cool! Can throw my tissue paper inside.

Dinner time! I'm not eating the hospital food, but I'm happy to be released. Shhh! Checked out the food today.

Same lor, only the 瓜 was different.

Yesterday's rice was too dry. Today's? Outside looked ok...

Walau inside wet like ketupat! I concluded that they made the rice very wet so hopefully it would come out normal after steaming inside the food trolley for goodness knows how long.

W and E came to see me! J couldn't make it as she had flu, very potent baby virus. Visiting hours were till 8pm, but we shamelessly chatted till 9+ when everybody were long asleep. Noisy patient! Then W asked why the nurses were giving me dirty looks and I told her that they were supposed to put me back on traction, which would require the labor of several nurses. Haha they'd better be off!

Finally time to be back on the traction. This time, the weights were increased to 8 lbs (3.6kg) on each of my calves and 5 lbs (2.8kg) for my head. Still tolerated it well. In fact, not much difference. What for man...

Mother's turn to spend the night with me. The call bell was going off every few minutes, she wouldn't be able to sleep like that! I asked the nurse for a solution. She said they provided earplugs due to the construction around. Really! Should have asked for them the first time round!

No more food and water from midnight onwards. Surprised that I didn't have to fast earlier. No problem, I don't drink before sleeping anyway.

I had to wake up super early to bathe tomorrow morning, but how could someone who chronically never slept before 1am, fall asleep so early? Heck care, I would be sleeping the whole of tomorrow anyway.

Sotong.Bored

Got to sleep till about 8am and I had to wake up because everybody else was up -_-. Brushed up and breakfast was served. Breakfast in bed, envy me! Ya right.

Dr L had instructed the nurse to monitor my blood glucose, so they were going to prick my finger before and after each meal. First prick, didn't think much of it. Wasn't THAT painful... My levels should be ok since the nurses didn't say anything.

3 pieces of bread, margarine (I thought that's like the worst lot of the fats?), jam, scrambled eggs, forgot if there was ham, and of course Milo. Diluted Milo. That's a lot for breakfast. I let Mother have the bread. The remainder was more than enough for me.

I was told to stop eating my own calcium tablets since the hospital would supply me. Er ok, I hope I didn't have to pay for it!

After breakfast, the nurse asked if I wanted to shower. Later! Will DIY. Pricked finger again. A bit itchy after that.

Nothing to do liao. Surf net lor. I had nearly forgotten what I was here for until the nurse reminded me. They were going to put me on traction after lunch. As such, I would be confined to bed. Sounded bad.

The physiotherapist came to do her rounds. She's an angmoh who looked like Nicole Kidman.

Very tall too. She's here to see what I could do and also to teach me some exercises I could do after the surgery. Like how to cough (hmm) and some limb exercises.

Prick!

Lunch was rice with a slice of fish fillet with a few strands of vegetables. The fish and vegetables were decent, but the rice cannot make it. Too dry! The soup was the worst, just water with a hint of salt. Fruits were salted - biggest booboo. So depressing! But it was all mitigated when Brother dropped by with something nice... couldn't remember what though!

While going to the toilet at the end of the ward, I noticed that there were actually beds of other classes further down. I spotted a single bed in a room. The room looked quite lok kok like the rest of the ward. So, apart from having a big room to yourself, you are sharing the nurses too? So much for class A. Save the money man.

Prick!

Dr L told me that he was going to give me a BMP to aid in bone healing. The trouble was it was approved by FDA but not yet in Singapore (?), hence not subsidized. It would set me back by $8000 (?) per pop and due to the long length of spine to be operated on, I might need 3 doses.

WHAT! Stunned. What kind of bone promoter was that? For consuming or injecting? Then I read somewhere that it has an extremely short half-life of a few minutes, so I guessed it's probably going to be implanted.

A young doctor came to interview me. O well, the usual stuff. Your brief history of time, testing your strength. Fine with that. Public hospital what.

A group of nurses came with lots of gadgets and bandages. Uh oh time for the traction thing! Of course, most of the nurses were trainees. Specimen-time again. My calves and head were strapped up and rendered immobile, with weights dangling from the ends. Oh, I even got a u-squeeze to aid in blood circulation. Well it's some calf wrap that you connect to an air pump. They even setup an overhead grab bar for me to lift myself up when I needed to use the bedpan. Ya... not allowed to go toilet also lor. Not that I had the ability to utilize it, but since they brought it all the way here, just let them setup lah. My only reprieve would be during meals, where my head would be released. Got to sleep in it too.

So the nurses were done and gone. Me? Ok ley, no excruciating discomfort as forewarned. I didn't feel stretched at all. Although I looked like a multiple fractures patient. I had imagined it to be some 满清酷刑, pulled in all directions like 五马分尸, but now I just felt like I was lying flatter than usual on the bed. Did they attach enough weights? I can take more. Seriously. Arms still free to use tablet, yay.

G came to visit me in the evening. Haven't seen her in 10 years I think? So nice to see her again. We were wondering what that yellow plastic bag stuck on my side rail was for.

Another doctor came to interview me. Same few questions. This time, I was dissed. I don't mind helping, but not before I gave this poor, innocent doctor a piece of my mind, nicely of course. Why must they come one by one? Cannot come together is it? I don't want to repeat the same thing over and over again. Ok now you can proceed. Haha poor thing, still double confirm if I was really ok.

There might be some secret student rivalry going on. The kiasu doctor would come and disturb patients to get ahead of their peers.

Prick! 5^th time today and my finger was crumpled already! Shall ask them to change finger next time.

Dinner.

Prick! What a prick that blood glucose test was! Very normal lah, can stop already!

Sister's turn to camp tonight. Before Mother left, she made me wear an amulet that would supposedly protect me from evils in an infested area such as a hospital. And it's so precious and holy that I had to take extreme care of it. Wtf.

Third Last Day of Freedom

The day has come. I was supposed to admit at 3pm, but at noon, the hospital called me to tell me not to come yet as they were out of beds. They would inform me when they have secured one. Uh ok... by today right? I wouldn't mind if they couldn't.

I got a call telling me I could admit by 6pm. :(

Reached there, requested to pay $6000 deposit instead. Because I got a Manhattan credit card too, can get rebates on just about everything! If only I could pay by installments later, can earn even more rebates lor. The admission procedure was simple and quick.

I was shown to my bed at Ward 51, Bed 4. No air-con, what I had signed up for. I had a window-side bed, except the windows were sealed due to construction outside.

That resulted in the area feeling very stuffy. I could even smell the difference from the corridor.

The ward was strangely spacious... 6 beds? Counted wrongly? I thought I was supposed to be in a C-class ward with 8 beds? Went online to check. Hey, this was a B2 ward! Free upgrade! :D Hey... maybe if I came in on Monday instead, I could pay for 1 day less AND get an even higher class?

My neighbors were all elderly women who were having problem with their bones. Fractures? So many old people get hurt huh.

And I realized that I forgot to bring the X-ray.

I had to wear the patient's tag on my wrist. Boohoo tagged now. So ugly. It has both QR and bar code. So kiasu.

Dinner time. I don't have. Not as if I would be eating that. Went downstairs to Kopitiam instead. Mum said something about abstaining from spicy food, but heck lah, the food there looked so boring lor. I wanted something strong-tasting before being trapped in a boring diet for the next 103 days. Tomyam ban mian again lor. Last time it was quite good, but don't know why this time it's so bleah. Quite bland apart from the spiciness. Sigh really should have gone outside to eat. Last meal also so sad.

Nothing to do now. Tour the hospital. Nothing to see lor, all closed. Not enough shops for shopping too. Boring... Ended up enjoying air-con at Can Rigged Win. No public Wifi at all. What happened to Wireless@Sg? Noticed their secured Wifi is all named after birds.

When I went back to my ward at 10pm, the door to the ward was locked lor -_-;; Every patient was asleep already. I must be the most happening patient around. Mum came even later to sleep over with me. The call bell kept going off every few minutes and it's the ancient type that went "BAIRRRR!". Sigh got to learn to filter it from my ears, I still have 2 more nights to go.

The Annual Stay Away From Home - The Day Before

No holiday this year, but I'm still gonna be away from home for a while. It will be the most expensive stay ever, but nobody will be envious of me.

And it shall be life-changing. It will sweep me off my feet. Whether I can get back up will be entirely up to me. One thing for sure is that I will be back taller and straighter.

No, it's not a motivational camp duh.

Before my life turned topsy turvy, today's mission was to eat and play like it's the last day I could do so.

Because it could be.

Whatever. Just enjoy!

Farewell

Last workday of the year.

I'm not leaving the team lah. A colleague was going back to country C at the end of the month, so we had a farewell lunch. Might as well, we haven't had a get-together for a long time!

We gathered at the meeting room outside. Yeah meeting room shhh! Menu was the usual Old Chang Kee, Pizza Hut and 933 Golden Pillow. Very uncreative hor haha. Same organizer mah, what to do.

Lots of loose ends to tie, but I'm glad I managed to finish all my outstanding tasks. Lots of stuff to bring home. Handed over my laptop, keyboard and mousepad to my colleagues. I resisted pasting a note saying no dirty hands on my stuff. Hope they won't be sticky when I return.

Meeting Up With JC Friends

This has to be the most successful class gathering of the year. The biggest turn up apart from wedding dinners. What a great time catching up. And that distance is no longer such a big problem with so many car owners among us.

DIY popiah is quite fun. You people should try that out for gatherings too. Check out Kway Guan Huat Joo Chiat Original Popiah & Kueh Pie Tie.

Sad to say, we only meet up once or twice a year, apart from wedding dinners. When weddings dry up, does that mean we might not even meet for years?

And booking people way in advance does not work. It's safe to assume that everybody owns a smartphone with organizer capabilities. When people claim to have forgotten, or not free (as if you asked at the last minute) e.t.c, it says a lot.

Last Proper Haircut of The Year

After my NNI and PT appointment in the afternoon, I went for a last haircut at Act Point Salon at Singapore Shopping Centre. I asked for a very short cut as I didn't know when I could come again T_T Think it's back to my mother's boring haircuts again ba.

Nice hair for the next 1 month yay.

Mid-Autumn Fatten-up Festival

The time of the year for exotic mooncakes! We went to the mooncake fair at Ngee Ann City again, because it's the only one available when we wanted to go. Bear with the crowd.

Mooncakes were generally more expensive this year. There was a new brand that was pretty impressive, but too expensive. Like >$50 for 4?

Tasted the TWG mooncakes. Seriously, they should stick to tea. I didn't detect any hint of tea in their mooncakes. They just reeked of artificial flavoring. Reminded me of how an ex-colleague told me not to drink TWG because it's flavored tea.

Probably tasted the most mooncakes this year haha. We amassed a pile of pamphlets, which would be used to determine the purchase. Brother left for work (yeah... on a Saturday evening) while Sister and I went to the foodcourt for dinner. I was not hungry at all, but eat first lor, before we bought any mooncake. Tried the mixed beef pho from Pho Hoa at the food court. Ok lah. Really not hungry. It might taste better if I were.

Bought baked skin chestnut mooncake $27.

It's chestnut season in Japan again haha. Inspired. Not too sweet, not bad!

Father bought the original 大中国 mooncake. Brother bought the "fake" 大中国 Hainanese mooncake. Our snowskin fix was our favorite Fairmont Sze Chuan Court mixed flavors, consisting of Dark Rocher Chocolate, Rum & Raisin Chocolate Truffle, Champagne Truffle & Chocolate Ganache and Baileys Chocolate. All the better with Brother's 30% staff discount = $39.69!

*Looks at tummy*

Friends

N made a new friend, D in the washroom and started inviting her to join us for lunch. D is from another project. Like N, she is from India and married with a kid too. This spelt b-o-r-e-d-o-m for me because all they ever talk about are husband, kid, India and they break into Hindi sometimes. I felt so extra.

Because of D, we no longer went for early lunch. It's either 12.30pm, when all tables are taken up, or 1pm, when I would be long famished. Most of the time, D could only go at 12.30pm and I would flatly refuse to go. N would try to talk me into going, by promising that there would be seats, which was very irritating. Seats will NOT appear just because you said so! I go also eat quietly one what, go for what? Surfing net over lunch is really more enjoyable.

N really didn't have to try so hard to get me to join them. I have told her very truthfully before that I really didn't mind eating on my own (short of admitting that I LOVE it actually). I couldn't tell if N was truly apologetic about making me lunch alone, because if she were, couldn't MY timing take priority? It's not just me, but everybody else has to take a backseat when it came to deciding when to go for lunch. D is and always has been the deciding factor and the rest doesn't matter at all, does N herself realize at all? Why try so hard to get a consensus?

I'm not jealous of D. It's just irritating seeing N struggle with the same issue everyday when I already know what is going to happen.

Something good that came out of it? Sometimes D wanted to go to the coffeeshop for a change, so I got to eat the fishball tanghoon. With lots of 冬菜.

I guess N and S will never speak again. I rarely talked to S too. Not that I'm a N supporter, but we really didn't have much to talk about.

N was visibly very upset one day. She and S met at the corridor outside. S stared at her, sped up and left the scene. Why couldn't S even stand seeing her now? Or has it always been like that? So many months later, N still had no idea what she has done wrong. I don't know either. I only have a speculation. So I just said maybe it's something she has done that offended S, but S allowed it to pent up until she finally exploded.

N disappeared frequently that day. Confirm 诉苦ing to her numerous friends. Might as well. She sit here also not working one, just fiddling on her mobile (probably 诉苦ing on sms) and sighing.

On a brighter note, I will be away from all these nonsense pretty soon.

Straighten-A-Sotong Part XIV

Damn. No Use Hospital Business Office called with bad news. After reviewing my financial situation, I was required to pay the full deposit upon admission. Hey! How could they expect me to cough up that sum within such short notice? Not that I couldn't, but it's still a shock! (Actually not so shocked lah, I was already mentally prepared to do so the moment I decided to consider the surgery) And they had already promised that I could pay a lower deposit :\

So in the end, they stuck to their promise, but I still had to pay the balance upon discharge. That's just postponing the shock by 1 week... so STUPID!

Should have gone for another holiday first and spend all my money! GAH!!!

Straighten-A-Sotong Part XIII

Arranged to meet my RO during lunch time. In the morning, I told N about it. Coz it will be weird if the person next to you doesn't know? I asked her not to tell anybody as I didn't want the vineyard to get to my RO before me. Actually by telling N, I'm prepared for word to get out already lah haha.

My RO only found time after lunch. I made N go away so I didn't have to find a room :P Well, I'm very heartened to know that my RO's first reaction was to show concern for me instead of for work. Feel so 小人 now *guilty* I told her that I might be back in 3 months, but might extend depending on my condition.

Now to get in touch with HR to find out if I'm eligible for the extended medical leave and what to do before I leave.

Straighten-A-Sotong Part XII

The final consultation before the admission. I had to first take an X-ray, so I went straight to the Diagnostic Imaging. However, the staff there "checked" and said that I had to see the doctor first. Huh? Ok whatever. When I got to the Ortho clinic, they asked me if I had taken my X-ray. See, I told them! Pissed! And I was sent back to take X-ray. Now, I could never be in time for the doctor's appointment at 11.30am so now I would definitely have to spend lunchtime here. Waste of time! The food sucks somemore!

I think the radiographers all recognize me already lor. All those 高难度 and weird poses. I was supposed to stay and wait for the films, but it didn't register when they told me, so Father had to go back to get them. Had lunch at the Can Rigged Win's Kopitiam. Aiyah still tasted the same lor.

Dr L has gone to the spine clinic at Can Rigged Win. Nicer waiting area, gentler lighting. Got free coffee and tea at the water dispenser somemore. And its own toilet! But it was a ridiculously long wait. Easily 2hrs long. Finished so many stages of Angry Birds that I was worrying that I could run out of stages. It's not that he was putting all other patients before me. I think there were only 2 people before me, including the person who was already in there when I arrived? 1 hr per patient!

Finally, I was called in, but Dr L asked me to wait and went out to another room, where I overheard him trying to talk a patient into having surgery. Angry Birds again for me lor. Shit man, I really hated this wheelchair. Butt damn pain and the push handles were in my bones.

O yeah my turn for real now. Dr L commented that from my MRI, I was really straight when lying down, so hopefully, we wouldn't have to break so many bones. Yay! But means still got to break lah? I wonder what he meant by breaking bones *shivers*

Q&A time.

Sotong: For about how days will I be in hospital?

Dr L: When did I ask you to come in?

Sotong: 1 week before.

Dr L: 1 week before? So many days? (you mean you don't remember??)

Sotong: Yeah! I was going to ask you if we really need 1 week. What are we going to do that is going to take 7 days?

Dr L: No need lah, I think you just come 3 days before.

Sotong: Great! (less boring!) And what would I be doing before the surgery?

Dr L: We will put you in traction, something that will pull your neck and feet and stretch your body, which some people find quite painful. We will see how well you tolerate it.
Sotong: :O

Sotong: About how long is my downtime? (can't believe I said *downtime*)

Dr L: Depends. (so 废) How many days of hospitalization leave do you have.

Sotong: About 60 days.

Dr L: You can take it all!

That's not the point, but nevermind.

Sotong: What exactly would be done during the surgery?

Dr L: From below the neck to (points a few vertebrae down) xxxyyyyzzz, from here to here, aaabbbbccc. (something about inserting screws to FIX the spine)

Sotong: Would I be able to bend my back after the surgery?

Dr L: Of course not. Your back has to be fixed to prevent further curvature.

Sotong: (shucks) So I will be all rigid?

Dr L: Yes, you will be very stiff.

Sotong: (sounds terrible lor!) Can I do this? This? (did a few movements)

Dr L: Yes you can still turn your head as only the bottom of the neck is affected. This is twisting of your trunk and doesn't require bending of the spine, so that is still possible. But bending to pick things from the floor cannot be done.

I think I can live with not being able to pick things up.

Dr L: From now till the surgery, do not take Chinese medicine.

Sotong: Huh? Ok...

And I will need to wear a back brace for 2 years.

And have to bring the X-rays for admission.

Dr L asked again for the surgeries I have had before.

Sotong: Scapulopexy.
Dr L: When was that?
Sotong: 10 over years ago... when I was 17... (Maths very poor, had to do a quick mental calculation) 12 years ago? (still not sure. Maths FAIL)
Dr L: By whom, do you remember?
Sotong: Er... J H I think.(Why do you need to know this?)
Dr L: Ok...

I still remember how that doctor looked like, although I might not be able to recognize him now 10 years down the road. But I sure do still remember the pain. I still blame him for that.

The very busy Dr L has another appointment that he's already late for, so he offered a handshake (weird? I think we were more like superior-subordinate kind of relationship than a cooperative equal. You don't shake hands with your boss, do you? Unless he's your boss-to-be at the interview stage), said bye and left the clinic, leaving the MO handle the rest of the nitty gritty. The MO suggested that I come in on Sunday instead, as there might be no bed should I admit on Monday. What? Make me pay for 1 more day when they should reserve one for me? Ah ok whatever.

He received a call on his mobile. I think the nurse from A&E was calling him.

MO: I'm busy right now, I can't come over. What is wrong with the patient? (pause) Can you ask the HO to do it? (pause) What do you mean he don't know how to do it? Ok, what is the patient having? (pause) Low blood pressure? What, patient said? Does he know the symptoms of low blood pressure or not? (pause) Put him on the phone please. (pause) Do you know the symptoms of low blood pressure? (pause) I know the patient said so, but do you know the symptoms? (long pause) You know or not? (pause) Yes... yes... no... ok ok I will come over later.

Gosh! A&E sounded like a dangerous place with HOs who didn't know what they were doing! FYI, HO a.k.a. the scary fresh grads that people speak of. Of course, not all HOs are like that, but this one really CMI. Good luck to that patient at A&E. I think my MO should really be there soon.

But he must be done with me first. I signed the consent, he did his part, gave me my MC and sent me to pre-admission counseling next door.

Today was really a day of waiting. Counseling also must wait. A lady entered, very slowly logged into the system and started fiddling around in such a way that you can tell she didn't know how to use it. She appeared to be looking for a certain functionality and when she found it, I think she didn't know how to work it. Keyed in some figures, went "eh?", started over... I almost wanted to volunteer my help just to make things go faster. Fortunately, she recognized that she needed help and went out to get it. Things went pretty smoothly afterwards. Got my new bill estimate, which, curiously, was still not far off the previous one despite the stay being 8 days shorter at 10 days. Just about $3000 less.

When I passed by the entrance of the clinic, I caught a glimpse of their list of specialists. Right on, or near the top was Dr J H.

O.

HEAD lor. Dr L's boss lor. Luckily I never complain about him hahaha.

I went to the Business Office to discuss the deposit. The same lady recognized me hohoho. Must be the horrendous bill size.

Good news! I could still pay $5000 deposit upon admission.

She noticed that the Medishield estimate was missing, so she advised me to go back to the clinic and inform the staff that Medishield estimates are mandatory now. Har... still must go back and pass message. My words got power meh? She should call the clinic for me. &*#*$(#

Went back to the clinic, waited somemore, passed the message and got a new printout. Finally I could go home.

Today's damage:
Consultation Services (SC - RV) $68.00
X-ray
 Chest (one view) $30.00
 Spine Scoliosis (More than 2 V $165.00

Subsidy -$145.00
Out of pocket $118.00

Googled traction, but still didn't have a clear idea of what it is. What pull my head! Sounds like I will be hanged! Painful somemore! Help!

Tomorrow, time for the inevitable... hope things will go well.

Free Lion King?

L lent me her name for the Lion King tickets, but so far the company has not charged us yet. It's already her last day today, so it's... free? :D

National Day

Sotong is so patriotic this year! Shall celebrate National Day this year, after a 2-year hiatus I think.

Of course, being a grown-up, instead of waving plastic flags and singing national songs, I have new ways of showing my appreciation for my dear homeland.

First, lunch at Auntie Kim's Korean Restaurant. This restaurant is highly recommended by my sister, so I shall go try it out! Haven't had Korean BBQ for a long time. Not counting Seoul Garden, the last time was 2 years ago in Taiwan. Took a cab there and almost missed the entrance to the carpark. The skillful driver reversed in through the exit ^_^;; Missed then jialat liao, got to u-turn, dunno where! The restaurant is located at one of those shophouses along Upper Thomson Road, so you can expect it to have a handicapped-unfriendly entrance.

The restaurant looked rather small. Glad I made a reservation. Must emphasize you want the air-con seats! That day was so hot and humid that we could have died eating spicy food out there.

First up, the appetizers. They were all so yummy that I could get by just eating them. Free-flow mah. But the restaurant sure not happy one haha. Say, has anybody tried doing that before? The potato salad-like thing was awesome! The kimchi was on the salty side, but still nice. I love salt. Yum.

The waitress' English was so heavily-accented that I could hardly understand her. Think she's the boss' daughter.

The highly-raved ginseng chicken soup with just a hint of ginseng. The chicken meat tore off the bone easily. Lots of goodies in the soup.

We also got BBQ beef, which we asked the kitchen to cook for us instead of DIY. After the experience in Taiwan, I'm convinced I can't do it as well as the cook, so let them do it, don't destroy the meat, make it worth the $$. Apply some bean paste and wrap in the vegee to eat. Sister did it for me of course. *empress dowager*

The bimimbap! 1 bowl for the 3 of us, but I was still filled to the brim. Why was the egg cooked? :(

So so so full! Luckily I didn't order the pancake.

Still had time to spare, so we walked over to Thomson Plaza. Nothing much there as usual. Had teh at Hans. Western food restaurant selling teh, hmm... Bought a new cushion.

Overheard a cheapo woman walk into a shop and asked very directly, "你们有 National Day sale 吗?" when there was no sale sign seen anywhere. And when the sales assistant replied, she still want to confirm again!! "真的没有?" *faints* Walk next to her also paiseh!

Went shopping at NTUC for provisions to sustain ourselves later. Spotted Haagen Daz sale with flavors still available! But couldn't buy now lah. Saw the Pure gummy that I bought from Japan! Damn expensive, but I want! Then bought a sandwich from Subway, cleared ourselves out at the toilet, bought newspapers and left. As usual, there wasn't any cab at the queue when it was our turn zzz.

Dropped at MBS. Watched the fireworks here 2 years ago too. The place was full of foreign workers lor. The odor was more evident at the casino entrance :X Went Cold Storage to look for drinks... very hard to find cheap drinks in MBS. Saw the Milo van. but long queue as usual. When can I have a Milo from the van again? Nothing comes as close as it. They were distributing sachets of instant Milo that could dissolve in cold water to make up for it, just needed to find a water cooler though.

The area where I camped the last time was out of bounds.

Found ourselves a great spot! Only con was that the sun was in our faces.

Not a big deal. There's a white board used for covering the electrical box.

Whiled the time away reading newspapers.

The sun hid behind the buildings soon.

Action started!

People from the marching contingent streaming into the cordoned area. Wa... special fireworks spot for them lor.

And the fireworks began! Spectacular! There goes my taxes! And nobody blocking me! Don't leave yet, still got round 2 de.

Too late for dinner, anyway it's crowded everywhere, so we went home. The cab queue was long as expected, but there was no cabs. Abnormal! Shouldn't the supply be endless here? Jialat lor, call also no use de. We waited in the line that hardly moved. The security guard also never offered to let us jump queue. Die ah die ah how many hours will this wait be? People in front, you really should take public transport you know.

A cab came and stopped next to us, offering to take us first. Really? Yay on! But it took us a bloody long time to drive out of the pickup point alone. I thought it was due to the ambulance parked in front, but it was stuck like us. Took us like 15min to clear the pickup point...

Carpark sign spoil liao. Negative lots available!

Missed call alerts started coming in. Phone signal sucks in MBS, with all the crowd.

Reason for the gridlock was because the road towards Suntec City was closed, so everybody had to u-turn. By the time we cleared the u-turn, the fare was already $9.70. Cabs were already hailed from the roadside when they were driving towards MBS. No wonder the cab queue was empty.

Dinner was Geylang beef horfun. I thought I surely had to eat instant mee after fireworks, like 2 years ago.

Cow-selling Notes: In The (Mad) House, Yo!

On week 2 of April, Mr B, the user from Irritating Mad House sent an angry email about his Cow-selling Notes reports not generating. I didn't understand what he was talking about. Haven't even develop what, of course not generating lah. After clarification with the TL, I realized that there was an existing cow-selling report based on the old database table. Only Irritating Mad House has this report. After the new cow-selling notes went live, the data was no longer flowing to the old table. Hence no report was generated.

OOPS. This was undeniably our fault. Looked like existing reports were left out from the impact analysis of the specifications. At least for me, I didn't even know this report existed! And of all institutions, the screw-up had to happen to Irritating Mad House. Cham!

Actually, Irritating Mad House didn't want this CR at all. But all the others wanted it, and it was more difficult to exclude an institution than to apply for all, so Irritating Mad House had to accept it. For free. Not such a bad deal eh?

Since they didn't want it, no impact analysis was done for them. But it was also not highlighted that their report would cease to exist.

I don't know what to say.

Of course Mr B was not going to take ”no more old report anymore” for an answer. He threw a fit and demanded his report as he needed to give it to his boss. No, the new report was unacceptable.

What's wrong with the new report! More details what! What was the thing that couldn't be derived from the new report? This Mr B really got problem! And probably his boss too. Is there anybody at least marginally normal there?

No choice, TL and I had to write a query immediately to extract the data for him. Must fit into the format of the old report. In the end, it looked really crappy. I was sure Mr B was going to scream again.

Surprisingly, Mr B was placated. Got something to 交货 can already? That's so unlike him.

Something was up his sleeve. We knew it! He demanded we ”restore” his original report - with this new format he was proposing. For free. And he even provided the folder name to deposit the files in.

In short, Irritating Mad House first made things difficult by saying don't want don't want. The result - a free CR landed in their laps. Wait for us to make a mistake and 顺便 upgrade report. So 奸!

Well, we broke their report, didn't we? Lose liao lor.

Since I'm blogging about this, you must have guessed that I kena arrowed to do the report lor. Mr B provided the format he was expecting. Waa want to extract type X,Y but not Z, into 2 separate Excel files with different headers.... REALLY TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION.

Haiz.

Mr B's requirements were not perfect of course. They will result in permutation of data and I'm not sure if he would like that. I requested the AiHiss contact, T, to confirm with B, but T also scared haha. In the end, for things that were not too major, we made our own assumptions and hoped for the safety of our heads.

On a brighter note, Mr B's requirements didn't include columns with 1000 characters. I am not interested in finding out whether DTS packages have the same weird problems as SSIS. The good (and bad) thing about DTS is that there is no control over the formatting of each Excel cell (not that I know of), so I could get away with not fixing cosmetic issues. ”It's like that! Technical limitation!”

The UAT went smoothly. Phew~ Rolled out 2 months later.

Apart from production issues, we were done with cow-selling notes. It could be the longest CR I have ever done. Don't want to hear from it again!

Ready, Get Fat, GO!

Yeah yeah it's the month to get fat!

After artery-clogging crabs, 游油 rosemary chicken, rich Brotzeit and high blood pressure-inducing Santouka all in the space of 1 week, here's the finale - the precursor to diabetes - cake!

This year, I got a cake from Swissbake. Less atas haha!

A very humble oreo cheesecake. Why? Just felt like eating lor.

Cheap and good!

Oily Rosemary Chicken

Colleague dapaoed lunch for me from the bistro. I thought they got me 油鸡 instead.

It's practically swimming in oil, appalling!

I tilted the box and let as much oil drain as possible before eating it. Left the salad and most of the fries alone as they were SOAKED.

Movie Monday

Believe it or not, more than half the year has gone, but I haven't been to a single movie yet, with the last one being Avatar back in Jan 2010?! Which movie could do the honors of breaking the spell?

How about the upcoming latest installment of Transformers, Dark of the Moon? I had caught the previous 2 movies on my computer *cough cough* and felt this is a series justified on a large screen. Looked up the schedule for it. Wow there were more 3D screenings than normal 2D. Spoilt for choice! Even Mother was interested, so how about a birthday outing? Shall wait for the booking to open then.

Lately, there has been a lot of buzz about how wonderful Transformers would look in IMAX. Inspired! 2 of my friends were even taking leave to watch on a weekday :O

I checked out the schedule for IMAX in Lido. Ehh so few slots ah? Why did it look like they only had 1 theater and that single theater only has so few seats? Why only 1 screening daily? What were they up to for the rest of the day? And all weekend seats were already gone, up till the 9/10 Jul weekend?? And that's the one and only IMAX theater screening Transformers??? The other was Omni Theater, but can't expect them to screen Transformers right.

How about waiting for the 16/17 Jul weekend's schedule to release and chiong it? Luckily I saw the advertisement for Harry Potter on Lido's website (I subconsciously filter out internet advertisements)... if it were to be released on 14 Jul, this meant it would be taking over the IMAX theater... meaning no more Transformers once Harry Potter is released! So, if I want to watch IMAX, I must watch on a weekday, where seats were still aplenty. That's not a tough choice to make. Brother and Sister too, just that Mother couldn't make it. Too bad... :P (unfilial daughter!)

Let's make this a long weekend cum pre-birthday celebration. :D $19.25 each, ouch!

Slept till 饱饱, got dressed and went out with Father. First, lunch at Ngee Ann City's Crystal Jade Kitchen. No queue at all, abnormal! Ate the prawn horfun and dimsum. Tried 流沙包 for the first time. Delicious! But too bad my appetite wasn't in top form today. Then we went for a walk at Taka basement. They were having a Hokkaido fair with lots of yummy food! If we had known, we would have eaten here :( Bought instant ramen.

Then we walked over to Shaw House.

Empty Orchard on a quiet Monday afternoon.

The dumb thing was that it was really inconvenient for a wheelchair to to Shaw House. Had to walk down the side of Ion, cross over to Wheelock Place, down Wheelock Place and finally cross over to Shaw House. All under the hot sun. Irritating!

Then the next thing was, the lifts to the theater were different from the shopping lifts. There would be no problem if one could take the escalator lah, but I had to use the lifts at the back of the building. The lift brought us to the carpark, and the only way back to the aircon was by steps?? Fortunately a guy who knew the way around showed us a secret walkway where we emerged from a well-camouflaged wall in the box office. LATE!

And of course, got to climb stairs up to our seats, in the dark and people had to make way for us because we were sitting in the middle. Sorry peeps :X

Got to wear those humongous and heavy specs. I didn't experience the nauseousness reported by some. The new female lead was another 大花瓶. Smart one though, for she wore heels when she didn't need to run and carried with her an extra pair of flats to change into when she had to run through crashing buildings. Aiyah, if you would overlook the depth of the plot and just focus on this film's selling point (special effects!), then it's a really enjoyable treat for the eyeballs. IMAX looks so much better than 3D!

People exiting the theater at the end of the movie. I think the credits were 3D too.

There was a queue of cabs outside. Cool! We were going to have dinner at Mellben! I had made a reservation, but seriously, I shouldn't have bothered. Super empty at 6.30pm and we were given a table that would have seated 8 comfortably.

Got a drink each to quench our thirst since the movie. Butter crab was still good. Got 馒头 to mop up the gravy. Crab beehoon appeared to have dropped further in standard. The soup didn't taste sweet enough. Or I'm getting immuned. Crabs were still fleshy and sweet though. Deer meat was tough and just normal. Deep fried seafood tofu, still good. I think we ordered very little ley, the restaurant must be very disappointed in us haha. Total damage of $147.80.

Dinner kept getting interrupted by phone calls from work because it's production deployment tonight. Already told the guys to raise their questions last week liao, but dunno no questions or bo hiu me. Now then keep calling. Those were not even my files, still keep calling and expect me to pass messages to the author! Got sian and just ignored my phone. My crab beehoon soup all cold liao lor knn. Poor phone, must be so oily now. *sayang*

When we were leaving, the queue was long! So late already, those people not hungry meh?

And it was tough getting a cab.