All's Clear

M had her MRI scan 3 weeks ago. We visited the doctor at the SGH ENT Clinic last week for the results.

After a 2-hour wait (we arrived earlier than the appointed time but the delay was caused by the clinic anyway), the doctor told us that the scan shows that there is no tumour (there was the greatest worry we all had). Also, nothing seems specifically wrong.

So, the doctor's conclusion was that M probably had some viral infection in the inner ear, which then causes the 'balance'/giddiness problem as well as the apparent impaired hearing in the right ear. With good rest and medication to deal with the giddiness when it comes on, the ear condition should improve over time. The doctor warned, though, that in some cases, the recovery of complete hearing will take some time.

Whatever it is, we are all very relieved that there is no major problem now. M still gets some giddy spells every now and then but she seems to be able to cope better now.

M lost her voice last week because her throat had become inflamed. According to the doctors, it was probably some viruses at work (the bug seems to be going round even in my office). So rest and some symptomic relief medication were prescribed. And M is now beginning to have her voice back.

心结没了

闷在心里好几个月，独自苦恼、独自烦。

现在，得到了启示，想通了。。。。

别再自转牛角尖，自己辛苦，没人管。

心结解开了，仿佛重生了一样。

快乐与否、烦恼与否，不是自己看着办？

WF is 6!

One of the most significant events, if not the most significant event, in August every year is WF's birthday.

Party at CH School

WF celebrated his 6th birthday in CH School on the eve of his birthday this year. It so happened that M also had her appointment at the ENT Clinic at SGH that morning, so I took the morning off to accompany her there. After that, I went in to office before going off soon again after lunch with my colleague.

R went to work in the morning but took the afternoon off to join in the celebration. WY was there, too, after he had returned to CH School after taking his CA2 CL Oral exam in KHS that morning. M declined to come because she would have no patience with the waiting etc.

As was done last year, we made WF's celebration in CH School a very exciting time for everyone in the school. It isn't so much as we want to 'show off' or 'make it a habit' for WF to enjoy 'grand bd celebrations' all the time, but more importantly, we want WF's final birthday celebration in CH School to be as memorable as possible - afterall, he will be bidding his teachers and friends goodbye at the end of this year because the K2's are all graduating this year and will be going on to their respective primary schools next year! :)

Also, we made the celebration a multi-purpose affair.

You see, the enrolment in the CH School this year is something like 150% of last year's crowd and so, we figured that a 2kg cake (which was what we bought last year) would not be enough for everyone. Going by what we know of the children's (especially WF and his K2 classmates') appetite for the fresh, soft and delicious chocolate sponge with blueberry filling cake from CreativeBake, we also guessed that even a 3kg (maximum size for non-customised orders) was unlikely to be sufficient.

So, eventually, I decided to get 2 cakes instead! One was a 3kg Transformer-design one and the other a 1.5kg 'boat-ful of animals' design one. And to kill 2 birds with one stone, I arranged for the message on the smaller cake to read 'Happy Teachers' Day!'.

Hence, 'multi-purpose'. :)



The gifts for WF's classmates in the K2 class comprised a packet of milo premix and some Oreo biscuits wrapped prettily in an Ikea plastic mug. The younger children in other classes got some Munchy biscuits and 2 candies, with no mug.



The Teachers' Day gift was a simple Ikea vase, which we decorated with some pebbles, also from Ikea.



When we arrived at CH School, the children were just getting up from their afternoon nap. The teachers organised the children at the assembly area. Everyone sang our birthday boy the birthday song (in English, then Chinese and then Malay). WF cut his cake shyly, followed by the teachers cutting theirs.



Whilst the Chinese teacher (this is usually a privilege reserved for the form teacher but since the former teacher had been away on medical leave, the job was given to the Chinese teacher instead) helped to cut the cake for distribution to the children in their respective classes (WY and his BASC friends helped), I got the K2's to pose for some photos. These small little ones were all so easy in front of the camera. See for yourself!



After the cakes have been distributed by WY and his BASC friends, the children tucked into their share and enjoyed themselves. Many asked for 2nd helpings, some even tried to 'chope' theirs before they finished their first serving!



After the cake, WY and WF handed out the vases to the teachers and staff. They all thanked us and those not in the classes with their charges, came over to say 'bye' when we left for home at about 4:30pm.

I Just Wonder

If I have no mortgage loan to service, but I do not work, in today's terms, how much money will 'I' need to survive 'decently'?

Let's see:

Utility bills = about $80 (with a generous buffer, in case on some days I cannot stand the heat and need to cool myself using the aircon overnight)

+

Breakfast = about $50 (maybe some days I need to take a break from the plain white bread that I have to contend with almost all the time, so I treat myself to a packet of fried carrot cakes or some kueh-kueh)

+

Lunch = $150 (maybe some days I feel the urge to order a fish dish - which can cost $2-$3 by itself - because I get sick of the white rice plus vegetable plus tofu combination)

+

Dinner = $150 (catered, so it's more convenient for me because I don't have to hide from the scorching afternoon sun everyday or brave the heavy rain which comes on every other week)

+

Subscription to newspapers = $25 (in case some days I feel like buying a special edition or a magazine, I will have about $3 to play with)

+

Some small indulgences = $50 (maybe I need to service my spectacles, or maybe I need to replace my worn-out socks or t-shirt etc, or maybe I need to take a taxi because it is raining or because I am really so tired walking when I go to see the doctor)

+

Medical bills = ?? (this can be anything ranging from $25 for a GP consultation because I have a cold/cough/fever to $? for follow-up visits to the group of different specialists who look after different aspects of my health)

Are you surprised at the aggregate? Sigh.

The 'E' in ENT - Part 2

During the Deepavali holiday, CP and WY were poring over the past year exam papers to prepare for WY's year-end exams when M started to feel giddy as she got up from the floor. She had been watching tv.

All that we could do was to help make sure she didn't fall etc. M moved to her bedroom and rested. The giddiness eased off only much later in the evening.

The following day, CP took leave to run some errands in the morning. In the afternoon, she accompanied M to People's Park to visit a different Chinese physician whom M's friend had 'strongly recommended'. This physician holds some 'doctorate' TCM qualifications and is supposedly very experienced.

The physician said that M's blood circulation needs to be improved, and it is because the blood flow is weak and cannot reach her head that she experiences the giddiness and nausea. So his suggested treatment was to build up the body strength. He gave M 3 packs of herbal stuff to boil and drink to '补血'. M did so with the 1st pack.

The next morning, however, M woke up and complaint that her right ear was 'blocked'. I imagine this was something like what we would usually feel if water has gone into our ear during a swim etc.

She was rather uncomfortable, but proceeded with her morning exercise and marketing trip nevertheless. But alas, when she returned at 7+ am, she told us that she had begun to feel unwell and fortunately, a friend was with her. Her friend, on seeing her 'condition', had walked her to our block before returning home when they were done with their exercises.

It turned out that that friend of M's does not believe in TCM and Chinese physicians. So she urged M to consult a western medicine doctor instead and offered to accompany her there.

M thought about it a while and decided to pay the ENT specialist at Parklane Mall another visit. So after M had a quick shower as we got WF ready for school, we all set off together. First, we picked up M's friend and then sent WF to school. After that, we proceeded to Selegie and dropped off the 2 elderly ladies at Parklane Mall. M insisted that she did not need either R or me to go along.

About an hour later, M called me in office and updated that the doctor had observed that the '胫' (hokkien: "goon") in her right ear seemed enlarged. M did not 'dare' to tell the doctor that she had taken the herbal concoction earlier. The doctor gave M some medicines. M felt the ear 'un-blocked' after that and there was no more giddiness. She felt much better after that.

Yesterday, M went on her follow-up appointment with the ENT Clinic at SGH. This time, she was seen by a relatively inexperienced Registrar (just graduated kind of young doctor). Senior Consultant directed M, a subsidized patient, to the young doctor at the end of our 1st consultation at the ENT Clinic - can understand why, lor. 什么医者父母心，骗人的！我说，他们是看有钱、没钱之心！！)

The Registrar conducted some hearing tests with some kind of tuning fork and found that M couldn't pick up the sound when the fork was placed behind her right ear! The hearing on the front and on all sides of the left year was fine.

So the Registrar ordered an MRI scan for M. This is scheduled to be on 12 Nov. A fortnight later, the Registrar would review the results with M.

R and I have arranged - R will accompany M to the scan whilst I will go with M to review the results. We hope everything's all right.

The 'E' in ENT - Part 1

In the past 2-3 months, M has started to have dizzy spells every now and then. And these giddy attacks have had such impact on everything, it's really quite worrying.

Amongst the earliest of these attacks in these recent months were:

1) several mornings when I would wake up at 5:30am to find her sitting upright on the sofa, sometimes awake and other times snoozing away;

2) several mornings when she would return from her morning exercise/marketing trips in a 'dazed' and uncomfortable state, almost always heading to the toilet for a quick shower before slumbing onto the sofa or onto her bed, not daring to open her eyes because the room would be 'spinning';

3) several times (including one morning, barely 10 minutes after I reached my office) when I had to rush home from work because M was feeling so terribly unwell that she called and asked in her most feeble voice, “LP 啊！我不知道为什么，头又晕起来了。我看你不可以去做工了！很要紧啊！”;

4) twice when she asked for housecall by that B51 Quack - once 'successfully' (B51 Quack 'happy' only!) and once not, because on that latter occasion, I managed to persuade M to go with R to the A&E instead for a more thorough check (the A&E doctors found nothing wrong after keeping her for observation for the entire afternoon that day, then sending her home with a referral to the ENT Specialist Clinic a week later);

5) at the ENT Clinic at SGH, M underwent some hearing tests and was given the all-green. The Senior Consultant examined M's ears and found nothing abnormal. He explained that our sense of balance ususally deteriorates with age and unless the giddiness persists continuously for 6 months or so, there is not need to go for further investigations or detailed scans. M was given biloba, which she took;

6) one day when M suddenly remembered that there is one 'very good' ENT specialist at Parklane Mall who had resolved her post-nsal drip problem, so R accompanied her there for a consultation. The doctor said that there was nothing wrong;

7) several times when she visited a Chinese physician at a community clinic run by the Buddhist Lodge - the Chinese physician concluded that M had a weak digestive system and that is why the 'gas' from the system would give rise to some 'pressure' which then travels upwards to the sensory organs in her ears and thereby causing her to feel giddy and nauseous - the recommended treatment is to strengthen the digestive system (with some medicine prescribed by that Chinese physician) and once this is achieved, the giddiness will 'automatically' go away or be reduced.

For several weeks, M religiously took the medicines to strengthen her stomach. Things went ok and all seemed well and good, until Deepavali.

That day, M was sitting on the floor to watch her tv programme in the living room while CP and WY were poring over some past-year exam papers. Then, as M stood up, she suddenly felt an acute sense of imbalance. And then, the 'spinning room' syndrome returned. With vengence.

三字经

古人的智慧，真的能耐岁月的考验。


小的时候，对《三字经》是一窍不通。或者，应该说，从来都没有听过。只是，在某些电视节目中，偶尔听过那开头的几句：人之初，性本善；性相近，习相远。。。。


几个月前，WY 为了文化艺术团的绿团表演节目， 背诵起了这《三字经》。我在几年前，逛书局的时候买下来的一本精美封面的《三字经》，终于能排上用场了！


也就在差不多这个时候，我也第一次打开这本‘小孩子的书’来翻一翻。 不一会儿，就一口气地读了好几行。


当然，其中有很多行，看起来似乎很简单，一下子就明白了。更有一些，读起来有一些似懂似不懂。


总之，我开始对这些‘智慧之言’，有了一个初步的认识。也开始对它另眼相看，好像有点‘不可轻视’的感觉。


因为，它行行都好像很有道理，都是对我们起着警惕的作用。


《三字经》也让我有很多的感触。


****************************


昨晚， 我接了通电话。话说不到几句，便挂了线。


事情的对或错、好或坏、应该或不应该、可以或不可以、往往都只是因为个人的立场和观点不同。。。。。 或者，真的是“习相远”了吧？

Trying To Figure Out Why Cannot Publish

I have a whole update on August happenings and September accounts waiting to be published onto this blog. But somehow, whenever I try to do this, it fails.

So, I shall try again later. Be patient.

F1?! Bah!

Yesterday morning, R and I were caught in the massive traffic jam on our way to work. That inaugral F1 thingy - what a terrible, lousy start for us to this "singaporegp season"!!! We took over an hour just to get to our office. Our average travel time is about 20 minutes.

I think we close our major roads too massively, too readily and too often these days. So what if we get onto global TV for a few seconds?! Is it really a worthwhile exercise if we have to paralyse ourselves in exchange for it? And that is not yet considering the economic costs this fiesta incurs!

Reminds me of the Chinese saying: 打肿脸皮充胖子！Working commoners like us suffer. Sigh.

Last Week of July

After many weeks of problem publishing, this early-August entry is finally posted:

*******************

As always seems the case, the past weeks just slipped past us more swiftly than we would have wished. So let's just do a quick stock-take.

Friday 25 July

WY's Grade 4 piano exam at Katong Mall in the morning. R and I brought him to school after the exam so that he could join his class for lessons for the rest of the day. In the afternoon, he attended his Wushu training in school.

By the time we got WY to school, it was about 20 minutes before the ERP gantry would be switched off for 2 hours. So, R and I decided to drop by at McDonald's at Kallang for its $2 breakfast (Sausage McMuffin plus tea). At McDonald's, we noticed that there were many like-minded people sipping coffee over some newspapers while waiting to go into the CBD. So, conclusion: everyone prefers to contribute their $ to McDonald's to LTA's coffers - at least, we get to have a hot drink at the former.

Saturday 26 July

Chinese classes (and Music for WF) for the boys were as usual. R accompanied WF to his music class, though, because I had to go to POSBank to get my worn-out ATM card replaced. The new card cost me $5 - they saied cannot waive the fee notwithstanding that the replacement was needed because of wear-and-tear. *shrug*

For lunch that afternoon, we had sandwiches at Subway at Kallang. This is one of our favourite quick-lunch stops because for almost the same price as we would usually have to fork out for lunch at, say, any fast food outlet or foodcourt, we can have some more wholesome, high-fibre bread and fresh, crunchy lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes etc. And WY and WF both love the cookies that come with the meal sets, of course.

CP's tuition for WY was an intensive session that afternoon because we had to attend a concert that evening. YP and the rest did not come for dinner that day.

I had bought the tickets for this concert called 风中少林 several months ago. It was basically a mega-dance production incorporating some 功夫 movements. Standard of performance was ok although I prefer the production called A Touch of Zen, which WY and I watched last year, to this one.

We had to get our bags checked at the door of the theatre that day because a Cabinet Minister and several of his kaki-Ministers-of-State etc were also attending the concert, which was announced as having been 'supported' by some real estate developer company (I didn't know till then). At the end of the concert, these VIPs went on stage to take a photo with the performers. R managed to take a photo of this before the usher stopped us. (Actually, why cannot take ha? The general prohibition against phot-taking is limited to during performance time, mah.)

The rest of July

The rest of July were mostly 'ordinary' stuff like going for the weekend classes, getting WY's hair cut for the first time at Sri Nada in Parkway Parade. It's amazing how the some of the barbers there look almost exactly the same as they had appeared almost 2 decades ago, except maybe with less hair or some white hair.

Rain or Shine??

The weather these days has really gone haywire. One day, it pours. The next day, it shines. One day, it is chilly. The next day, it becomes scorching hot. And then it becomes cold agan, and so on.

This morning, when we sent WF to CH School and then WY to his piano exam in Katong, the skies were quite fair and bright. I thought it would be a good day as far as laundry-drying is concerned - quite a fair load of semi-dry laundry is still waiting to be sunned because the odd, fickle weather the past few days has caused the load to pile up.

But alas, close to noon, it suddenly poured so heavily that all my colleagues and I could see outside our non-openable office windows was a white 'blanket'. A colleague who had just returned from the ground floor told us excitedly that the rain had even come splashing into the exhibition area as the glass doors at the main entrance of our building were opened! This was quite incredible, considering that we have a porch with a depth of at least 5-6 car lengths from the road!

Sigh. I think the Earth is really unwell now. Hence all the earthquakes, floods, torrential storms, hurricanes, droughts, rising sea-levels etc happening across the globe. It's kind of scary.

Trucks Can Come Rolling In!

It looks like the works at the KPE worksite are in the final stages already.

Now that they have removed the working bridge that had been constructed to allow the trucks to cross the P Canal, the most convenient way now to allow the trucks to enter the worksite (on our side of the P Canal) to finish up the remaining work, is to create a temporary access between our block and the children's playground.

And so, about 2-3 parking lots near the playground cannot be used for the time being. And every now and then, we see a dump truck rolling in! (On the evening that these photos were taken, work had stopped and the trucks had gone off already.)

Didn't Go On Course Afterall

I was scheduled to go on a Knowledge Management Workshop on Thursday. Unlike previous courses, this had been a very 'precious' time-slot because everyone in the office was very edgy about being selected for interview with some SQA Assessors who were on a site visit from Wednesday to Friday last week.

Most people tried to find some excuse to take leave one way or another, or somehow be away from the office during Thursday and Friday, where general staff would be called upon to meet with the Assessors. Hence, I also was very thankful that by a stroke of luck, the Workshop had been scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

So I escaped the SQA interviews completely, lor!

*************************

On Thursday morning, my alarm clock went off and I got up. That was 5:30am. As usual, I went to the toilet (without spectacles, but can still see although 'blurly').

Then, I was about to proceed with my weekday kitchen routine of boiling water, cleaning the table, etc when suddenly M called out to me, “LP 啊！倒一杯烧水给我，帮我拿药。”

“啊？你怎么啦？！我没看到你还在床上。我还以为你出去运动了！”

“我头晕，不敢起来。你帮我那一片头晕的药，在红色的皮包里。还有一片黑炭，在绿色的袋子里。”

After fumbling a while, I located the medicines and gave them to M with the warm water.

Seonds later, she let out a loud burp. I asked, “你要吐吗？” With much difficulty, she got up. With her right hand on the wardrobe, she sat up. Then she said, “让开！”

I dashed out of her room, clearing the chairs in the living room doorway and the floor mat just outside the kitchen. I hurriedly switched on the toilet light, and M had barely reached the toilet bowl when she turned Merlion.

It was quite bad and I had to let her sit on a stool by the toilet bowl where her head remained over. I lightly patted on her back and asked, “你好一点吗？肚子不舒服吗？是不是像上一次一样，吃错了东西，不消化？”

“没有啦。只是突然间头晕，吐了一次了。现在是吞了药，才再吐。”

I helped her to the sofa after she was done with the vomitting. “是不是感冒了？有发烧吗？” I asked. She said, no. No fever, no blocked nose whatever.

So I let her rest sitting up a while. I went to get R up (ok lah, it was just 20 minutes earlier than usual for him).

Later, M took some sips of the hot water, then went back to the bed to lie down.

I proceeded to prepare breakfast for R and WY and also the water bottles etc. When I was done and R and WY were taking their showers, I checked on M. Yes, true, no fever. But she explained, “我睡到半夜，大概两、三点钟的时候，转身一下，突然间颈项感觉痛一下。我听到‘叭’的一声，头就开始晕了。起来吐了一次，很辛苦。”

“为什么不叫我？” I asked.

She said, “哪里有用？我知道你睡得像死猪一样，哪里叫得醒的？” Sigh. It's true it is not easy to wake me up by shouting across the rooms.

Then, as I told M to sleep a while more first, she told me, “我看你今天不可以去做工了。要不然，如果我一个人在家里晕倒，就糟了。”

My first instinct then was, ok lor, it is ok to skip work, no problem. Then I remembered about the KM Workshop. Oops! How?! It's generally a very troublesome process in the office to write to HR to 'justify' absence in a course.....

Get R to stay at home instead? (He offered to take morning leave.) But then, what about F who would be expecting to meet up with R at the Urology Centre that morning?! Or, maybe I could skip the morning session of the course and go only in the afternoon? But then, someone still should remain with M at home even in the afternoon, not safe to leave her alone, right?? But R needed to be in his office for an important meeting at about noon.

So, after some quick but hard thinking, I called YP to see if she could be the one to meet up with F for his appointment with the urologist instead. But alas, she said she also had an important meeting with her director which she could not miss. Sigh.

Eventually, I decided that R would proceed to meet up with F as planned. I would just give the course a miss anyway. What the heck about 'justifying' to HR my absence!

After WY went to school, R returned to get WF ready for CH school. I took a shower before they went off (just in case M, who was sleeping, needed something).

At about 9am, M awoke and said she felt better already. But I suggested that she consulted a doctor anyway, just to make sure things were ok. Naturally, I suggested the GP whom I usually visit and whom I had also convinced F to consult now (instead of the B51 Quack). M was very hesitant and said that she didn't quite trust that GP. See her experience with the splinter.

But in the end, I managed to convince her. I gave the GP a call to see if the clinic was crowded. It wasn't at all. In about 20 minutes, M and I were on our way.

M declined to take a taxi. So we both walked there. As the morning sun had begun to feel quite hot, we shaded ourselves with our respective umbrellas and made some detours here and there, just so as to avoid the sun.

When we arrived at the clinic, the GP's ever-talkative assistant was so shocked to see me and said in a stuttering voice, "Erm, erm.... Dr O has just gone off just moments before you appeared."

"Where did she go? I just called her," I said. "Somewhere near, just opposite only," the assistant tried to be helpful, "Maybe you could get your M to sit down a while to wait for Dr O?"

"Can you give her a call on her hp?" I asked. "I will if she carries one, but she doesn't," the assistant replied.

By now, M was already fuming mad (about the GP not being around, despite my call earlier). M barked rudely at the assistant, “她去哪里？对面的巴刹买菜啊？” The assistant nodded hesitantly. “她当什么医生？我们打了电话来了，她还出去买菜？！让病人在这里等？她算什么医生？”

After lashing out at the helpless assistant, M marched off furiously, 'scolding' me for getting her to go see the GP. Sigh.

On our way back, we dropped by at B51. M declared that she still preferred to see this Quack. So, we went in to the empty clinic, only to hear the Quack chatting on the phone. After a few minutes, the Quack still didn't call for M. So the impatient M knocked on the door of the consultation room and gestured to the Quack. The Quack then finished off his chat and then started the consultation.

He took M's blood pressure (a little on the high side). Then he asked again and again what happened etc. During all this time, I noticed that to save costs, the Quack had now done away with the medical record cards that we typically see doctors use. In its place, he now clips lose pieces of A4 blank paper together, folding them into quarters and use them for scribbling! What a cheapo, this man is!

Anyway, his advice (given only when I insisted, because he didn't say much to M) was, in summary, that there may be some transient blockage in some blood vessels in the neck. And when the blockage cleared/moved, it probably affected some part of the head/face (where M complained of a little mild numbness in the morning). Hence the giddy-ness and vomit.

I am not totally convinced, lah, so I quizzed him about the medicines that he would be prescribing to M. In gist, he said he would give her a mild 100mg Aspirin (for 'normal people', it is usually 300mg), which is good for the heart and blood circulation, like something to 'unblock' the blood vessels. He would also give her some anti-giddy pills and something for relieving vomitting.

Then I told the Quack, "Dr Y, I am now very concerned with the medicines that you prescribe to my parents. Do you know that the antibiotics that you had given to my F previously for his lung infection gave him such a bad reaction that he had to get a biopsy done at the NSC?" At his request, I gave him F's name so that he could 'put it in F's records' the allergy.

The Quack tried to defend his prescription and asked 'innocently' in his HK-English slang, "Did your F came back to tell me that he was allergic to the antibiotics? I didn't know about it."

I promptly reminded him, "Oh yes, he came back to tell you and to show you the massive rashes that broke out. But you told him that the rashes would be gone and all he needed to do was to complete the course. Then at the same time, you gave him another 2 boxes because you were going on your vacation. You told him to finish those 2 boxes, too. This was just before you went on your vacation."

He pretended to ponder to try to recall.

Anyway, then he saw M's records and asked her about the anti-fungal drops that he had given her. I hadn't the faintest idea about this, but apparently, M had gone to see him about her toes, which probably had some fungal infection. And for that (fungal infection), he had also given her antibiotics (?!) - but M later showed me the antibiotics which she hadn't dared to take in case she also develops some allergic reaction to it.

Later I told M not to take the antibiotics because if it were fungal infection, antibiotics won't help and are absolutely unnecessary and not suitable.

M and I spent the rest of the morning at home resting - she, on the bed and I, on the sofa. Yah, somehow, both of us were so tired out. I was awoken later by the GP's call - the extremely embarrassed doctor apologised profusely about the incident and specifically asked to say sorry to M. I told her that M was resting.

Then at about 1:30pm, I had to go get WY from school because WY's supplementary lesson that day had been shortened due to some P1 registration work which his teacher was to be involved in. As the dismissal time was an odd 2:15pm, WY was not able to take the school bus. The plan was that M was to have gone to fetch him from school. Now I had to be the one getting him home. M said that she was alright to be at home all by herself for the time I would be out.

And so I brought WY home quickly soon after a brief and simple lunch at the GE coffeeshop.

By the afternoon, M was feeling ok. She said she was well enough to cook the sliced fish porridge which she had planned for dinner that day. So I let her do the cooking.

In the meantime, WY completed his school work and then we went through some revision on the CL textbook. Soon afterwards, WY had his dinner and had to get ready for his piano lesson (which had to be rescheduled because he would be involved in his school concert the following evening).

By the time WF returned home from CH School, M was as ok as on any other day. And she told me that I could go to work the next day and she would be alright. But then, with only one-third of the Workshop left, it was really pointless attending the course the following morning. With my colleague's help, I later learnt that HR had agreed to arrange for another course date for me instead.

Who Cut Your Nails?

I was just cutting WF's nails last night when I suddenly remembered that WF once popped this question to me:

Who cut your nails when you were a little girl?

Do you remember?................................... I do.

It was mostly F.

Walk!

Once upon a time, I used to walk home from the office after work. Those were the days when work ended at 5pm and the skies would still be sunny and bright when I stepped out of my office building.

I chose to walk home because this gave me a little aerobic exercise (and 'endurance' training); I was never comfortable with the idea of embarrassing myself in front of those sleek and well-toned health fanatics sweating it out in a gym. The various equipment looked quite confusing and too sophisticated anyway. Besides, gym memberships cost money.

Walking home, I figured, would also allow me the opportunity to explore the little nooks and corners that I would so often pass by on my morning bus rides to work but never quite had the chance to check out 'properly'. By walking home, I could check out the small lanes in Kampong Glam, for example, and feel almost like a 'local back-packer tourist'.

I was at first not certain of the distance I could tahan walking. So I started out telling myself that I would just cover about a quarter of the bus route that I would otherwise have taken to get home. On most days, I did a walk-then-bus-ride routine; occasionally, I took a bus first then walked the last quarter of the journey.

Gradually, my stamina built up and I became a little more ambitious. The 'walk' portion became extended and before long, I found myself walking home the entire journey.

The savings in bus fare was, of course, a bonus (although in those days, bus fares were very affordable). But more importantly, what made me feel even better about getting home completely on foot was the feeling of being 'in control'. I could quicken my pace if I felt it was getting late or dark; I could also check out different routes (cutting across big, empty fields or void decks etc) if I felt like it. In short, I totally enjoyed the 'freedom' the walk home brought me.

The best time I had ever clocked for the brisk walk home was about 45 minutes. Not bad an achievement, hor?

**********************

It was a pity, however, that I hadn't kept up with that walk-home resolution and discipline. Some time after getting married (and then expecting WY), I went back to the bus and MRT.

**********************

Then, some time before WF came along, we got our Mazda. From then on, I took the 4-wheels to go home almost everyday. It soon graduated from being a luxury to a necessity because office hours were extended first to 5:30pm, then to 6:00pm.

These days, it is also quite common for me to be able to go off only nearer to 6:30pm. (And to a large extent, R's late knock-off time also contributes to this.)

But whatever time it is, the truth is that I have gotten used to getting on the car at my office building's main driveway. What walking? No more, lah!

***********************

Since last week, however, I have been 'forced' by a Big, Evil, Ever-Hungry Monster to start to walk a little distance again. 'Forced' because if I don't get out of the CBD on foot, we would have to incur a total of $5 every day just so that I can hop onto our own car at my office building's driveway.

$5 = $3 to get in + $2 to get out, of the CBD. $5 just so that I can get onto our car to go home = ridiculous, isn't it?!

And so, nowadays, the SOP is that I will take a 10-minute walk out of the CBD to wait for R along the roadside. We will then take the CTE to connect to PIE and head towards CH School to pick WF (and also WY on some days) up. Cost of taking this route = $1.

In case anyone is still wondering, what Monster?.................

(picture borrowed from flickr)

Monster's been closing in on us in the CBD from NSEW, Top and Bottom............

When Things Go Wrong

On Sunday, whilst waiting for WY and WF's classes to be over, R and I took a break at McDonald's (because all seats at school had been taken up - many by snoozing parents).

It had been an exhausting week. I felt so mentally drained and tired. Generally tired.

I told R, "I think it is very scary when things go wrong with our body. Really very scary, hor. One Wrong can lead to another Wrong, which in turn can lead on to so many other Wrongs. It's really frightening."

Nodding his head, R agreed, "Yah. That's why in today's context, it's either be healthy and able or die quickly; cannot be sick."

Sigh, so depressing.

***************

Last week, I suddenly received a call from the GP whilst I was in the office (toilet). She said, "Hey, LP! Your F is sick, you know or not?! He is here at my clinic with very high fever of 39+ degrees. He says he has stomach ache and he complains of giddiness. He's having diarrhoea, too. Are you aware?"

Caught unaware, I could only utter an embarrassing "No, I didn't know. He hasn't told me anything."

The GP continued, "I have examined him, his pain seems to be localised over the gall-bladder. The part of his stomach where the liver is located seems to be a little swollen. Has the other doctors he is consulting done any liver screening for him before?"

"The one at NSC did when I accompanied him there some time ago. Everything was cleared, all ok," I told the GP.

The GP then said, "Ok, then this is what I want you to do. Monitor your F for the next 3 days to see if he develops any jaundice. If he does, bring him to seek medical attention at once. Check his eyes rather than skin because by the time jaundice shows up on skin, it would have been too late. You know how to check for jaundice, right?"

I was quite stunned. Ha?! Jaundice = liver problem, correct?!

The GP then went on to explain that for some patients, a localised pain over the liver/gall-ballder accompanied by some swelling over the area and high fever may suggest a gallstones attack. If jaundice sets in, then there could be reason to suspect blockage of the gall-bladder. If any blockage is not attended to, the gall-bladder may burst and that would lead to a potentially fatal condition. She added, "Of course, this is only a suspicion only, lah. I hope he is merely having a common flu only. But it is good to exercise more caution."

"Ok, I'll take a look at him this evening," I told the GP.

"So now, how? He complains of giddiness. I have given him medicine for his fever, diarrhoea and stomach pain. He told me that he has come by taxi because he cannot walk," the GP said. "So, should I ask him to take a taxi home now?" she asked.

"Erm, I guess so. I cannot run there now....." I was at a loss as to what to say. I know this sounded so bad, but I really couldn't just drop all and just run off. In any case, it was less than half an hour to the clinic's usual closing time.

So after the GP hung up, I called R on the phone and told him what the GP had just said. I asked R to see if he could make a quick trip home to check on F during his lunch hour.

(R later updated me that he had contacted F at home, and F had reassured R that he was alright. Just needed to take his medicine and rest. So R didn't go back home.)

By the time I returned to my work station after talking to R, my head was spinning. For the rest of the afternoon, I didn't do any real work.

But I managed to google a little on gallstones attacks etc. Everything I read added to the fear and tension in me. It was quite scary thinking how a person's abdominal cavity could become septic if the gall-bladder should burst, how the pain associated with a gallstones attack can sometimes even mask a heart attack etc.

***************************

When I visited F that evening, he didn't look very good. In fact, he looked quite pale and sounded quite weak. He said his diarrhoea had been very bad although after taking the GP's medicine, the fever had subsided and the stomach ache had gone.

As instructed by the GP, I checked briefly on the whites of his eyes (so that I can compare if there is any change in colour in the next few days, mah). Then I reminded him to take sips of water to make sure he didn't get dehydrated.

He pointed to the half-drunk can of 100-Plus standing on the dining table and said feebly, “医生叫我要喝这个。我买了一罐，喝了一半了。不错，现在喝了比较好，口没有这么渴了。”

Aiyah, just one can?!! “我楼上有好几罐。迟一点我拿给你。你拉肚子，应该喝这个来补充水分。可是别一下子喝太多。”

I went home after reminding him again to call me if he should feel unwell again in the night.

After a quick shower and dinner, I packed the cans of 100-Plus we had at home into a carrier. Then I asked M if she could help to cook some plain porridge for F the next day for his lunch. And to buy during her morning marketing, a can of preserved 菜心 to go along with the totally bland porridge. M agreed. She also agreed to bring the 100-Plus to F at the same time.

***************************

The next day, I went to the office and managed to complete a fair bit of work in the morning.

At about 1pm, M called me to tell me that F was looking for me. When I called F, this was what he told me in a very worried voice, “LP 啊，你帮我打个电话问一问医生，我从昨天晚上到现在，很想小便，可是去了厕所好几趟，都小不出来。为什么会这样？”

I was quite shocked to hear this 'new problem', and told him, “现在诊所已经关了。医生傍晚才会回来。你现在还有没有发烧？肚子还痛骂？”

F said, “烧已经退了。肚子只有一点点痛，没什么。只是小便小不出来，肚子有点胀胀的感觉，很辛苦。医生不在，那好啦。不要紧啦。”

I felt so helpless when F hung up the phone on that note. I mean, what could I do? What should I do? Should I return home immediately to check on him? My head began to feel a little light again, like the day before.

And also like the day before, I couldn't do any real work after that. My heart just went heavier and heavier thinking how F was coping alone at home. And I kept wondering if his fever had been 'artificially suppressed' only because of the fever medicine prescribed by the GP. What if the GP's suspicion about the gall-bladder problem came true? And if jaundice really set in? How? What was I to do??

It was really very disturbing and confusing with all these "how's" and "what if's" going over and over again in my mind. It didn't help that there was no one with whom I could share this load.

Finally, at about 5pm, I called F, “F，怎么样了？有好一些吗？”

F said, “尿还是小不出啊！我站了半小时，还是放不出来！！”

I asked, “你有喝水吗？”

“哎呀，我喝了好多水，可是，怎么小都小不出！我站半个小时，尿还是没出来，我能怎么办？！”F replied in a rather exasperated voice.

But because the GP's clinic would be open only at 6pm, I told him that unless he wanted me to accompany him to the A&E, there was nothing that I could do except wait till 6pm when the clinic opened, then we would be able to check with the GP.

F said, “哎呀，那没关系啦。不要紧啦，不要紧啦。” Then he abruptly hung up the phone.

After about 5 minutes, an idea suddenly struck me. I called F again.

“F， 你现在去准备冲个凉。然后，把你所有正在吃的药准备好，放在一个袋子。医生的诊所六点开门，你把药带去那里。我在那里跟你会合，我下班后，竟快赶到。如果医生建议我们到紧急部门去，我们直接从那里出发。”

Although F was at first reluctant (especially when I mentioned A&E), he agreed to the plan.

And so, once the clock struck 5:30pm (my official knock-off time on Fridays), I dashed off and in under 15 minutes, I was on the MRT train. By 6:10pm, I had arrived at the clinic. After waiting about 10 minutes, F came on foot (he said he couldn't get a cab during the peak hour then).

We saw the GP and told her F's problem. In summary, the GP's advice was this:

a) amongst F's medicines, there were possibly 2 medicines which sometimes could cause the patient to have a urine retention problem - the antihistamines prescribed by TTSH for sensitive nose and the tablets prescribed by the GP for the stomach pain;

b) given that F no longer had stomach ache, he could stop taking the stomach pain tablets. For the next 2 days, F should also stop taking the antihistamines. The effect of these medicines would generally ease off in about 6 hours or so;

c) based on F's confirmation that he had last taken the stomach pain tablets at 4:30pm, the urine retention problem should therefore ease off by about 11pm and so, if F was able to 'hold it' till that time, then the bladder should 'automatically' empty itself;

d) if, however, the discomfort of a full bladder was unbearable, then F could consider the catheter treatment to relieve the discomfort. Basically, this involved the doctor inserting a tube into the urinary tract to drain off the urine. For this, a trip to the A&E would be necessary.

Not unexpectedly, F opted to 'wait it out'. Contrary to what he had told me earlier, he said that the discomfort was bearable. He insisted that there was no need to go to A&E.

We walked home, therefore, after getting a loaf of bread and a 1.5L of 100-Plus from the Econ Minimart next door.

On the way, F told me how his eyes have become quite sensitive to glares these days. The NSC doctor had suggested that he puts on sunglasses if he needs to go out during the day (he goes to buy his lunch). But since several days ago, he had stopped using his pair of sunglasses after the lenses cracked when he accidentally dropped them on the floor. His eyes get tired easily too, when he watches TV without the sunglasses, he has cut down on his TV time. F jokingly commented that perhaps because of this, the electricity bill for the past month had actually declined!

Then he also told me that ever since he started his L treatment, his hearing has deteriorated in his right ear (the 'problematic near-deaf' ear). I told him that he should then highlight this to the NSC doctor so that the problem could be sorted out early. Waving his hand and shaking his head, F said that it was no use because all that the doctor would do would be to refer him to yet another specialist. “看一个又一个的医生，吃他们一个又一个配的药，那么多，吃到我都怕了！没有用啦。” He went on to say that his plan was that after he had completed the L treatment, he would then consult the doctor (I think he meant the GP) for his hearing problem.

I also asked him if he would now like to get hearing aid. He said no, he still had the money that HA gave him for it, but he would use it to fix the hearing aid later if this was needed. F also said that given M's incessant 'scolding' each time she saw him nowadays, it was better that he does not get any hearing aid first. Sigh.

As we reached our block, F told me that he planned to retake the test for his vocational licence. I was quite shocked and told him to forget about driving the cab again even after he recovers. But he said, “没有事情做，很辛苦，时间很难过。等我好了，我可以再去驾一驾，时间比较容易打发。”

I didn't want to argue with him, so I said nothing more, lor. Then after helping him to adjust the brightness of the TV that BK had bought for him, I left for home. WY had to go for his piano lesson that evening.

**************************

At about 8am the next morning, I called F to see if everything was alright. He said that since he had neither water nor food the night before (after our visit to the GP), he didn't make any trip to the toilet at all till 4:30am. Whilst at the 'big business', the bladder also emptied itself. So, he felt better already.

With that assurance, I proceeded with my own Saturday schedule of lessons for WY and WF. R had to go to work that morning.

Then, at about 12 noon, F called me. “LP 啊！我今天早上到现在，没什么能小便。只是一点点，现在肚子又有些胀胀的感觉，很不舒服。你帮我打个电话给医生，看看为什么我已经没吃那两种药了，还是不能顺畅的小便。整个早上，只是一点一点。”

This time, it was me who felt exasperated. I suggested to F to call the GP directly and asked for her advice first. Then if he needed to go to the A&E, I could bring him later in the afternoon. There was no way that I could leave WY and WF (who would be dismissed in about 45 minutes' time) in the school then and go home immediately to bring him to the doctor. R was at work in his office.

After about 20 minutes, I called the GP and spoke to her. She told me that F had just called her minutes ago and told her that despite having stopped taking the 2 medicines that had been highlighted by the GP, there was still quite a bit of discomfort because the bladder still could not be completely emptied. The GP said that this probably suggested that there were some other underlying conditions which were causing the urine retention problem. 2 common possibilities would be: 1) urinary tract infection and 2) enlarged prostate.

She suggested that to help relieve F's discomfort, he should go to the A&E to receive the catheter treatment. The GP explained that the doctor at A&E would then put F on oral antibiotics (since the insertion of the catheter would predispose F to infection) and also refer him to the urinology specialists for a proper assessment subsequently.

So, it became clear that a trip to the A&E would be inevitable afterall.

After picking WY and WF up, we all grabbed a quick bite and proceeded to the studio which we had booked at the music school where WY is scheduled to take his piano exam in about 2 weeks' time. WY spent the next hour practising on the 'exam' piano there whilst WF and I waited for him. (Credit must be given to WF's patience in waiting that one whole hour without 'disturbing' WY.)

When WY was done with the practice, we met up with R. Then we drove to Kallang to buy the herbs that M needed in order to make some soup for WY (and WF). After R's lunch at the food court there, we all went home.

The boys had their showers and finished the work which I had assigned them. CP had something to attend to that day and so could not give WY his Saturday tuition. The plan then was that R would bring M and the boys to YP's place for dinner (the arrangement had already been confirmed the week earlier) whilst I would bring F to the A&E before joining them again.

And so, I left R and M to deal with WY and WF. They only had to make sure that they remembered to bring my fresh clothes with them so that when I joined them at YP's place later in the evening, I would be able to take a shower there.

******************

F and I took a taxi to the A&E. After a brief and superficial Triage screening, we were ushered to the 'Fever Zone'. Almost all the 20+ seats were taken up at the waiting area. F, who had already put on the face mask which the staff had handed to him, also urged me to grab a mask for myself. I did so.

After a while, a young doctor came and I went through the story of what F's problem was, what medication he was taking etc (showed him the box of medicine which I had asked F to bring along). And then, they proceeded with the catheter treatment.

From then on, it was a long and frustrating wait for me. I shuttled between the open doorway (furthest from the 'Fever Zone' and with the only access to 'fresh' air), the enclosed waiting area (with patients waiting to be seen by the doctors or to be admitted to their wards, several coughing away) and the 'Fever Zone' (where F was lying on a bed and being attended to). I was concerned that F might need me to translate something to the doctor/nurses or might need my help to get the nurses (who kept walking around all the time) etc.

Each time I peered in at F and saw him lying down on the bed with the bag of urine being drained off into hanging by the side of the bed, I felt very sad. No words can describe my feelings then.

I remember that when F had his heart attack some years back, it was also me (and R) who had brought him to the A&E. At that time, there wasn't much of this sadness although the sudden-ness of the situation then was a bit shocking. I felt mainly fear and anxiety then. Not sadness, like now.

F's urine looked a rather shocking and weird shade of brown/red. I was at first shocked to see the colour of the urine but F gestured to me and muttered to me that he had taken a particular type of medicine prescribed by the NSC doctor. This medicine was to be taken only once a month and it was expected to colour the urine and stools. F asked me to explain this to the doctor, which I did.

The A&E doctor said the colour was ok, but as a sort of SOP, they would do some blood tests and urine tests for F anyway. I think they were trying to see if they could rule out any urinary tract infection etc.

Whatever the doctor said to me, I had to go near to F to translate it to him. That way, I think he felt more assured.

After a long and tiring wait standing around (I had avoided sitting at any of the seats and leaning against any part of the walls/handrails), the clock finally struck 8pm. I began to feel a little impatient and very uncomfortable in that odd-smelling face mask. I sent several sms to R to try to pass time. Through sms, YP also asked if I would prefer her to go and join me at the A&E. I told her there was no need.

Eventually, as the doctor signed off the discharge form and the prescription etc, he explained that the catheter would have to stay inside F till his appointment with the urologist in about a week's time. This was because the bladder's muscles would usually need time to 'get back to work' and if the catheter was removed immediately, chances were that the urine retention would recur almost immediately the very next day. The urine bag (which hangs externally - the A&E does not carry the urine bags whose design allows it to be secured inside the clothes) attached to the catheter will therefore act as F's 'temporary bladder' in the meantime.

The doctor went on to explain that the urologist would be the one to remove the catheter and assess F's condition. And as explained earlier by the GP, the doctor prescribed some antibiotics for F (I requested the doctor to specifically check through F's box of medicines to ensure that there was no other antibiotics or other medicines which should not be taken together with the one he was precribing).

After that, the nurse motioned to me. She said, "I will teach you how to drain off the urine and clean the bag." I was shocked into silence momentarily. "Erm, I think you have to show my F. I don't stay with him, so he will need to do this by himself. It's more important that you show him how to deal with the bag etc," I explained with mixed feelings of shock and embarrasment. 'Shock' because I hadn't expected the nurse to assume that I would be helping F to drain off the urine etc. 'Embarrassment' because the nurse was not wrong to assume that F's daughter should be around to care for and help him etc.

Anyway, the soft-spoken lady proceeded to demonstrate to F how the catch on the tap could be released to drain off the urine and then how it should be locked again. At each of these steps, the relevant part of the tap had to be cleaned with either alcohol swaps or warm water. (I told F that I would get alcohol swaps for him since then he wouldn't need to worry about boiling water for this purpose.)

As I stood by F's side watching the whole process, I suddenly wanted to cry. My eyes reddened and I could feel tears welling up. I quickly looked away because I didn't want F to see me this way. F appeared very positive about the bag (like a little child watching earnestly his teacher show him how to work a special apparatus during class) although he did complain that the catheter inside him was causing him some pain. The nurse reassured him that some pain would be expected since he was 'new' to this. I felt even sadder on hearing this.

After the nurse was done with the 'lesson', I settled payment and collected the medicines for F. F said he felt much better now that the bladder was no longer full. In fact, he no longer felt the giddy-ness or nausea he had when we first arrived at the A&E. I helped F to scribble on the medication packaging the pharmacist's instructions on how and when to take the medicines etc, in Chinese.

I asked F if he was ok to go home himself as I was planning to join R and the rest at YP's place. He said yes, he would be alright. After seeing him off in the taxi that came along, I hopped onto another to proceed to YP's place. On the way, I tried not to think further if I should have gone home with F instead.

When I arrived at YP's place some 30 minutes later, I took a good shower and then had the dinner which YP had kept for me. Then I updated M and YP on F's condition.

All the boys were happily engaged with the TV, XBox and the computer. The post-dinner Saturday evening is always their 'Happy Hours'. WY and WF always look forward to this.

We went home only at 10:30pm after the Channel 8 News was over. By the time we reached home and got to bed, I was so exhausted I couldn't do anything but sleep.

************************

On Sunday morning, F said he was alright when I called him in the morning. I reminded him to take the medicines prescribed by the A&E doctor and to avoid dairy products because that would contradict the antibiotics. Then I also reminded him about cleaning the tap with the alcohol swaps etc.

“知道了啦。我懂得消毒啦。我会记得把手消毒好啦。” F said.

I was a little shocked to hear this - what sanitize the hands with the swaps?! The swaps are for the tap!! So I reminded him on how to do the cleaning as shown by the nurse. “护士是叫你把那个袋子的开关消毒，不是叫你用消毒巾擦手！你用了开关，把开关擦好了，再到洗脸盆，用水龙头的水洗手！手，不需要用消毒巾消毒，可是要洗得干净！要记得啊！”

F replied rather impatiently, “好啦好啦。我知道了啦。”

Sigh. That day, when R and I brought to F his lunch and dinner respectively, he looked alright. Not so weak-looking anymore although still rather tired.

*************************

M voluntarily offered to buy lunch for F on Tuesday after getting to know that F had gone out on Monday to get lunch for himself, with the catheter inside him and the bag hanging by the pocket of his bermudas! F appreciated that, and when I asked him this morning whether he prefers M to get for him rice or porridge, F said the lunch M had bought for him was good.

So, I conveyed this 'feedback' to M, who will buy lunch for F today, too. F had said that he prefers rice to porridge. (I think this is indication that he is feeling much better now - on Sunday, he had asked for porridge.)

F's appointment with the urologist is this Thursday morning. I will be on course that day, so cannot accompany him there. Instead, R will run out of his office to meet up with F at the Urology Centre at about the appointed time. Hopefully, the session will end before noon, because R will need to run back to his office for an important meeting from noon onwards.

I really hope that everything will be ok and the catheter need not be depended on from Thursday onwards. I pray that this Wrong will be Righted soon.

'Extra' Laundry Preferred

Last Saturday, I went to attend a briefing on the CH's K2 curriculum and also the PTC for this term. These took an entire morning, which was far longer than I expected.

Anyway, at one stage of the discussion, one parent noted that the K2 children's shower time has been revised from 12 noon to about 10am. The class teacher confirmed that this is indeed so.

I thought nothing of it - what's so bad about getting the kids to shower earlier anyway? Outdoor activities, if any, are usually in the late afternoon just before dismissal and so, from what I see, the change in shower time does not 'impact' on the children's state of 'cleanliness' much.

But, to my surprise, some parents actually protested and said that getting the children to shower at about 10am (which is soon after the official assembly time of 9:30am) will defeat the purpose of getting the children to attend school in school uniform! (You see, CH requires the children to attend the assembly in school uniform but after their showers, the children will change into their home-clothes and stay in their home-clothes for the rest of the day.)

One parent even went so much as to say that getting the K2's to shower at 10am will then just mean unnecessary laundry (of the briefly-worn school uniform) on the part of the parents! Another parent added that he might as well get his son to shower before coming to school, then!

I was actually quite taken aback at the parents' response to this change in shower time. To me, it is ok - no, in fact, I would prefer to have the children shower early so that they will freshen up in the morning and their young minds can probably think and absorb the lessons better.

Then, imagine my shock when one of the 'protesting' parents suggested that perhaps, the children can be allowed to re-wear their school uniform after the early showers! That way, he said, the parents won't need to do 'extra' laundry!

Although the class teacher and school director were at first quite surprised at the suggestion, they said they are open to such an arrangement if that is the parents' preference. I immediately asked whether this would be made compulsory. I don't agree to it, ah! The school director replied that it is not; it will be arranged only if the parent of the child asks for it. She went on to stress (after some prompting by the class teacher), however, that even if the child were to re-use his/her school uniform after shower, he/she will still continue to be required to bring an extra set of clothes to school as a standby - in case the uniform gets soiled in class or during meals etc.

*******************************

Yesterday, when we went to pick WF up, WF was in his school uniform. In his Comm Book was a note from the class teacher. It read something like this:

Thank you for attending the PTC..... As discussed, your child will wear his school uniform before and after his shower every day. This will also train him for primary school when he goes to Primary 1 next year. Please ensure that he has an extra set of clothes.......

Woah lao!!!!! I = 火冒三丈， 七孔生烟！

How could they do this?! Just because 2 or 3 children's parents say that they prefer to have their children re-use the soiled school uniform after shower doesn't mean everyone will now have to follow suit, right?! And just what 'training' is this all about?! Training to tahan being unkempt throughout the day?! That can be left to the Army later, lah!!

So, I gave the class teacher and school director a rather stern sms, requesting that WF not be compelled to re-wear his soiled school uniform after shower. I also pointed out that there was no consensus at the PTC that all the children will re-use of their school uniform etc. I told them that we don't share the concern of some of the other parents about 'extra' laundry; our priority is hygiene and health.

I think they got the message. Both have replied my sms to say that they are ok to continue to let WF change into his fresh set of home-clothes after his shower. From what I see of the class teacher's sms, I think she also supports the 'extra' laundry.

B89 Wet Market

The B89 Wet Market has been vacated since about 2 weeks ago. It is set to be demolished. In its place, a brand new market will be built in a year or so (the notice pasted on the wall downstairs says the new market will be built by March 2009).

I think this is a classic case of "One Man's Meat Is Another Man's Poison". 有人欢喜，有人愁。

The stall-holders are, of course, the most directly affected party. From what M has shared with us, many of the more elderly ones (who had literally slogged their youth away at this market for the 20-30 years of its operation) have opted to retire. Others have chosen to either take a break from this work (and take on some other temporary jobs to earn their living in the mean time) or relocate their businesses either temporarily or for good. A handful of the more fortunate ones who have sufficient savings to tide them over the rebuilding period without having to source for other income, have mentioned that they could do some travelling or grandchildren-minding during this time, too.

For regular market-goers like M, the options are quite obvious. The alternative markets that they can (and will probably have to) 'explore' now are relatively nearby. There is a 2-storey (but rather quiet) wet market at B37; there is another single-storey (but busier and more popular) one at GE. M prefers the one at GE because there is a better mix of stalls and the quality of grocery available there is generally better than that at B37.

I haven't been visiting the B89 Wet Market regularly these days. But I can easily empathise with those who are reluctant to see the aged 'old-style' market go. Afterall, I had spent many Sunday mornings during my growing-up years accompanying M to this market on her Sunday marketing trips, where she would 'buy more' grocery because 1) everyone would generally be at home for both lunch and dinner on Sundays; and 2) Mondays are the rest days of almost all of the market stall-holders.

Actually, for those Sunday marketing trips, it wasn't like we stayed the whole morning or entire afternoon at the market. In fact, the majority of those trips were much more brief than that the time we would typically spend doing grocery shoppng at the supermarkets these days. On average, each Sunday trip to the B89 Wet Market (including buying breakfasts of noodles or porridge or 面煎馃 etc) would take no more than an hour or so.

It was only during the pre-CNY period that M would need to spend a longer time picking up the freshest of fish, pork, poultry, vegetables and fruits etc because she had to 'stock up for CNY'. I remember that for those special 'heavy shopping' trips, it was a real challange to jostle for standing space amongst excited like-minded 'aunties', some of whom were armed with trolleys big and small (got to be extra careful not to be knocked by their trolleys!).

Many a times, M would be concerned for my safety (she was afraid that I might fall onto the wet, slippery floors or be scratched or knocked by the aunties' trolleys) and would instruct me to go wait for her at some specified corners/spots (which had more breathing space) whilst she made the purchases at the stalls. At times, I was only too glad to run off to these waiting corners/spots with the plastic bags of grocery already bought earlier (some aunties could be really unreasonable in their elbowing etc). Other times, however, I would stubbornly refuse to follow M's instructions because I also wanted 'a piece of the action' ('helping to choose' the vegetables or just simply watching how M went about selecting the pomfret or chicken also good, correct?!).

Despite the brevity of those trips and the frequent frustrations (of having to be 'sent out' to wait at the waiting corners/spots mainly because I could not 'out-jostle' those trolley-armed aunties), somehow, the memories of those marketing trips are very dear to me. They have a special place in me and I shall always cherish them. I guess we could call it my 'bonding time' with M in those days.

It was during those Sunday marketing trips that I learnt that to check for freshness of the fish, we should look to see if its eyes are clear; 'cloudy' or 'blurred' eyes are a tell-tale sign that the fish is no longer fresh. As for prawns, it is the 'crsipy-ness' of the prawns' shells and the firm-ness of the prawns' heads that indicate whether they are fresh; soft, slimy shells or loosely-attached heads show that the prawns' freshness has already been compromised. One more thing about prawns - we must not carry the prawns in the same hand as we carry food such as soya-bean milk or achar because the pointed, needle-like protrusion at the prawns' heads would almost certainly prick the plastic bags and the soya-bean milk will never find its way home and the achar will have been drained even before we reach the carpark.

I always found it a challange when we came to the butcher's stall because the aunties (M included) would rattle to the butcher the names of the various parts of the pig that they wanted to buy! There are so many different sub-parts/categories of ribs that even today, I remain clue-less as to what to tell the butcher - so I either point to what I want or I let the butcher know what dishes I need the parts for and the butcher will show me the parts suitable.

The B89 Wet Market had a big airwell right in its centre. This space used to be occupied by the poultry sellers who during the earlier years (until about 1990, I think) slaughtered their chickens 'live' in the market. I remember that this was the most stench-filled and noisy area of the market because not only would there by the aunties' haggling over which hens they preferred (the sellers would then reach into the the cages to get the selected hen), the terrified hens would be clucking away noisily in the cages. I don't blame the poor hens - who would enjoy watching their comrades go under The Slit by the slaughterer, right? Sigh.

After a while, this 'live' slaughtering practice was stopped. From then on, the poultry sellers sold only fresh chicken that had been slaughtered at some hi-tech, hi-hygiene (or so they say) slaughter houses. The air-well area was cleared of the cages and the spaces occupied by the poultry stalls were reduced to about half. The area became a holding area for various stallholders for their plastic trays/baskets etc.

I believe M also feels reluctant to see the familiar B89 Wet Market go. Afterall, this has been THE 'must-go' stop of her daily routine all these years. In a way, it has been to her what our offices are to us today.

But she also agrees that the market is old and it would be good to give it a new lease of life by having it rebuilt. So, I think she also looks forward to the new market that will replace the old, familiar one.

On a macro-level, it would be accurate to regard the B89 Wet market as the real community centre. Despite the lack of modern facilities (we still had only the stairs, new markets have ramps as well as lifts) and fanciful floor tiles that we see at some new markets, the B89 Wet Market had very much the people's Life and Soul. It was here that for good or for bad, the aunties and uncles would get together every day for their morning fix of coffee or tea and an exchange of the news and gossips of the what, where, who, when and how's.

On the 2 final days of the B89 Wet Market's official operational life, I armed myself with a camera and made my way there. My intention was to capture as much as I could, some images of this all-important venue before the bulldozers move in. What to do, a die-hard sentimental, cannot help it.

How silly I felt, however, when I went there because by this time, many of the stalls had already ceased operation and many were also in the process of being cleared out. About 80% of its usual bustle had gone. It didn't feel the same anymore.

(Lesson learnt: Never wait till changes have been announced before photgraphing the environment because usually by then, irreversible changes have already begun. Also, the scenes of the bustle on our annual special late-night trip to the B89 Wet Market on the eve of every CNY Eve to buy whatever 'last-minute' stock needed to tide over the CNY holidays, will now remain only memories to be cherished.)

Nonetheless, I managed to capture on the camera some marketing-actions (not quite the jostle I mentioned above but ok lah, just imagine a thicker crowd and some trolleys behind the aunties). I also snapped some shots of the various waiting corners/spots where M used to 'send' me to to wait for her.

Bird's Eye View - Day and Night, from our place.



M goes to market real early, about 6am. There was also a time when I would join her in the 气功十八式 exercise routine, but I stopped after a while because it felt a little awkward to be the youngest amongst a whole horde of aunties and uncles. Today, I still recognise some of the regular faces at these exercise sessions. The workout crowd is many times thicker than what is in this photo because most of the aunties had already gone to market by the time I took this photo!



Usually, M would proceed to the upper storey first. We usually climbed up the external staircase nearest to the bread stall (which was back-to-back with the laksa stall) and head for the fruits, followed by eggs (if needed) and then butcher and any dry-goods like dried shrimps etc. M has many friends amongst both the stallholders and customers at this floor. They would all call out to one another cheerfully and greet one another.

The elderly fruit seller (a jovial old Teochew man) had long been succeeded by his more grumpy son. Their stall was completely empty by the time I took the photo. The Indian man (the only Indian stall that I know at the B89 Wet Market) still faithfully ground his spices 'live' at his corner stall as I took the photo. M bought from him the appropriate concoction of spices for her various curries - chicken, ikan, vegetables etc.

The friendly aunty who sold coffee powder also sold a wide range of biscuits. R and I used to buy our supply of biscuits from her during our university days (for R's stay at the Temasek Hall). I am glad that I also brought WY and WF there every now and then. As is obvious here, the biscuits were completely gone by photo time.



This was the air-well. Forever bright and sunny. The cages and basins and basins of blood-stained water used for slaughtering the chickens are, of course, long gone. I would peer into the air-well from upstairs at times when waiting for M at the various waiting corners/spots upstairs. The slaughtering action as seen from upstairs would remind me very much of the women folk slaughtering chickens on festive occasions during our kampong time.



The butchers were also located upstairs. The stall that M usually patronised was the corner one manned by a scrawny old man. His equally scrawny son had taken over the business for some years now. They were always obliging when M (and later I, too) requested them to have the pork slabs rinsed under tap water before having them minced. This was one stop where I would almost always have to go to the waiting corner/spot because excited aunties would not leave any gap for small kids like myself to peer in at the display (last time, there was no chiller and so the meat was displayed openly on the table).



At the far end of the upper floor, there was a row of shops selling clothes, fabric, sundries like shampoo, talcum powder, toothpaste and sewing materials like needles, thread and the like. At one point in time, there was even a tiny aquarium that sold more wriggly worms than fish! By the time the photo was taken, all had been closed.

M would sometimes buy our shorts and t-shirts (I remember I had to replenish my supply of shorts quite often during my primary and secondary school days) from one of these shops. M would also buy some of her t-shirts there. While waiting for her, I would pause to look downstairs towards the food centre. I always found the roof of the food centre very interesting - there were so many layers of this black black slabs. I have no idea what they are called.



Once we were done upstairs, we would usually proceed downstairs at the staircase nearest the curry powder man. At this staircase (the drier of the 2 internal staircases), it was common to see one or two makeshift hawkers with their baskets of homemade/home-cooked food. On the morning that I took the photo, one aunty was there. She was offering some steamed yam kueh, I think.



The ground floor of the market housed the stalls selling the 'wet' stuff. Fish, vegetables, poultry, fishballs, 咸菜/achar, tofu etc. Extra care had to be taken when manouvering amongst the maze of the stalls. The 2 stalls offering cut flowers were also located there. The 'extra' row of display of vegetables displayed by one of the side stalls facing the food centre wasn't 'original'; it was a relatively new 'self-extension' from one of the side stalls.



The final stop would usually be the food centre. Usually, M would buy an assortment of breakfasts for us - prawn noodles, fried beehoon, fried carrot cakes, 九层糕, 面煎馃, porridge, 油条，butterfly firtters, mee siam, laksa (there used to be 2 rival stalls at one time, but only one survived to the end) etc. Mostly, M would vary the items each week, taking into consideration particular likes or dislikes of some of us. We usually would buy the warm soya bean milk, too.

Some of our old favourites had gone since long ago. I am not so familiar with some of the newer ones. But overall, the looks of the stalls had stayed about the same.

The morning I took the photos, I specially ordered a packet of fried carrot cakes (the 'black' one) from one of the few carrot cake stalls just so that I wouldn't feel so 不好意思 just taking the photo of the uncle at the wok. I also bought a total of $9.50 worth of kuehs from the stalls.



The various waiting corner/spots were usually just outside the boundary of the market. They were either at the open space near the laksa stall, or the space outside the 咸菜/achar stall facing Pipit Road, or the corner closer to the 面煎馃 stall immediately behind the porridge stall. At times, the marketing would become quite heavy and while waiting for M, I would place the plastic bags (we had to bring our own used plastic bags for marketing last time - in those days, it wasn't a practice for stallholders to supply fresh ones) on the ledge to rest my hands - see the elderly lady and her pandan leaves? It was somewhere there.

And of course, another main waiting corner/spot was the telephone booth just opposite the laksa stall. The design of the booth then was more traditional than that shown in the photo here.



On our way home, the stuff which M and I would carry would usually be so heavy that M would sometimes suggest that we take a break at the basketball court. So we would carefully rest the bags of vegtables, pork, fish etc on the stone benches without letting go of these bags. After the blood circulation on our palms came back, we would resume our walk back home.

I am happy that the stone benches are still around today. Same for the good, old basketball goal posts. As I snapped a few shots of the goal post, one old man came by and gestured a 'thumbs-up' to me. I guess he meant that it is good that I bothered.



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Demolition works started promptly within a day or 2 after the B89 Wet Market was vacated. By the following weekend, all the stall infrastructure, tables and stools were cleared out. Most of the black black slabs on the roof of the food centre had also been removed.