i’m free!!! (takes in a deep fresh breathe, chokes, gags, and vomits my lunch out… nah, just kidding)

after four days of being stuck in the hospital, i am back! back at home at least.

since not everyone gets hospitalized everyday, i should blog about this, ahem, significant event. the process was… how should i say it, 10% fun, 20% embarrassing… ok, make that 30%, and 60% pain and discomfort.

before i got in

hmmm, i dunno what happened, but i started getting nauseous at around what, 3 pm in the office (let me check my twitter), ok exact time is 2:40 something. then i puked. after which i thought, hey, i’m okay, so i went back to work, only to puke again say ten minutes later. then i puked and puked and puked…. (i was like wondering, wtf my stomach got a lot of volume sia)…. colleagues asked if i needed to see a doctor or go home. i thought of the medical fees and was like, no, thank you very much, a bit of rest will do (a huge mistake). i thought of going home but i can’t even leave the toilet so i was like, “i dunno, i dunwan, i dunno” all the way. eventually my stomach was emptied, the nausea intensified, the pain kicked in and i started moaning or something. my colleagues tried to apply some medical oil but it didn’t help much. then i was like screaming and crying and groaning and doing all sorts things that i rather not remember. =..=|||

i weakly called my mom on the phone but she was stuck with the baby so she can’t come down immediately. my colleagues were quite worried, or irritated, i dunno, i was making quite a scene in the office, so they called for the ambulance. i was like, quite amused when the girl from the hospital told me to stop screaming cause it will only waste my energy (i was like thinking, i know it’s embarrassing but i can’t help it can’t you see). then i tried to stifle my erm, noises, and sort of hyperventilated, so when they carried down the cargo lift i was like, crying uncontrollably and my arms were stiff from all the hyperventilation.

(embarrassing max: i cried out “mummy!” when i heard my mom’s voice before the ambulance drove off)

when i got in

they kept asking me awkward questions like, “is there any possibility that you may be pregnant” (WTF?!) and “when is your last (ahem) period”.

there was a horrible moment when i puked out blood. (i was like O口O…… but oh well, that made up all colours of the traffic lights) they made me change out of my clothes into some blue garment, i was not sure what happened next, but someone declared that they have to admit me into the hospital, so they asked me which ward i prefered. like in a hotel they ask you, which room you prefer like that know. i was in pain but had enough sense to say i wanted the ahem, most budget ward (truthfully, i wanted somewhere comfortable because i was feeling really bad then, but come to think about it, a more comfortable room doesn’t make my condition significantly better, so i was focused on the cost more than the quality). so they made me change into pink pajamas and admitted me into a ward mostly taken up by grannies.

actually it was not that bad, the nurses are rather patient, and the bed was comfortable except for the heat. (but then again each of us have a fan directly above us, so, not much to complain about)

somewhere in the first night i went for the x-ray, was pricked with needles, injected with weird fluids and had my blood taken away from me and so on. they wanted to do a urine test on me but somehow i failed to give them samples.

the doctors came sometime in the morning, if i remember correctly (or was it at night? can’t remember). they came in a crowd, mostly males. (i was like, WTF?! only one to two females?! oh well, heck care la) they press here press there, ask here ask there, and concluded that i have to be observed for one more day or something. i forgot about the details.

and so i endured my first day in the hospital, trying to puke but nothing comes out most of the time. whenever i tried to puke it’s like i’ve four to five stomachs heaving at the same time. i remember i wasn’t allowed to eat and drink for the first two days.

the second day they got me to do the CT scan, off office hours cause i was in pain (initially it was scheduled on monday). i had to drink some water before the scan but i puked them all out anyway. the scan turned out to be quite alright, so they just gave me painkillers and something for my non-stop nausea.

the nights in the hospital were hard to endure, i can’t sleep for more than three hours, and had to stay awake with my discomfort. the heat in the bed forced me to shift my position, but any body movements made the nausea worse (even knocking on the bed made me uncomfortable). there were a few moments after puking when the pain went away for a while (even had strength to tweet), so sometimes when the nurse is not looking i would be digging at my throat, forcing myself to puke so i could be relieved of my pain for that awesome three to four seconds.

they started giving me food on the third day. i asked for liquid food, like porridge or something. in the morning i had oats. they were, not bad. but i had little appetite. could barely make five mouthfuls each time. sunday was better, i ate much of my breakfast, three quarter of my lunch and half of my dinner, and only puked once or twice. eating was a chore though. the nurses and doctors encouraged me to eat more and try to “keep my food down” (i was like, how the hell cna i do that?), since their diagnosis showed that i’m okay, and eating well means i’m alright to go.

i started sleeping better in the last morning in the hospital. had a few wild dreams, and was unwilling to wake up. sleeping was better. it had my mind off my pain, which always returned when i woke up.

there were a few highlights in the hospital that made my stay more bearable.

firstly, YJ and J came to visit, bringing with them well-wishes from friends and their atas apples (yet to be eaten). we walked around (ok, they pushed me around the hospital like in those sad sad korean dramas) and played a few card games. the visit distracted me from my discomfort much.

(JY wanted to visit but can’t make it in the end… sad! nvm, next time then! ahem ahem, touch wood touch wood)

mom brought a lot of food in hopes i will have more appetite. but nah, didn’t even touch half of them. i finished three-fifths of the mee sua she made, and had a few bites of the dried fig she bought in a packet. somewhere in the last night i had a mouthful of the raisin bread my father brought.

i heard that words about me being hospitalized spread among my relatives (before i updated my facebook). felt loved when they started calling my mom to ask about my condition. some of them even visited! and one colleague came to see me after my scan. thanks people!

my mom had to balance between baby sitting and patient sitting throughout my stay in the hospital, so there were a few times she got my aunt to look after the baby outside the ward. i heard that she was so charismatic, kept smiling at the old uncles, that they bought her a carebear, dunno why, but that made me smile.

after discharge

best result of this whole thing? ok, i learnt the lesson of not being kehkiang every time there’s something wrong with my body. AND… i lost 4kg!!! i was like so happy, closer to my ideal weight first time in like, what, three to four years?! just hope that i won’t gain back this weight… or else… all my hardship and pain wasted (讲到很像偶是专门住院减肥的)….

we went to see the Chinese doctor straight after discharge. still could not walk much so my mom had to push me all the way there on a wheelchair. had seven days of medicine prescribed, all ready packaged to be heated and consumed, and went through half an hour of acupuncture to make my nausea lessen a bit.

i think the Chinese doctor is much better than the western ones. the western medicine is more efficient in terms of speed, but they can really wear you down. anyway Chinese medicine felt more natural, and less syrupy (I HATE SYRUPY STUFF). so yeah, the medicine that the hospital described all went down the drain… nah, they are just plan B, in case the Chinese medicine didn’t work out. (nonetheless it’s still wasteful, the medicine we bought from the clinics were never finished, some wasn’t even opened, they all had to be thrown away. i wished there was a way to recycle these things)

still had little appetite. though the Chinese doctor encouraged me to eat whatever i feel like (as long as it’s not cold). slept a lot the first night back home (successfully slept throughout the night for the first time since Thursday), even dreamed of running man, European trips, and chocolate fondue from Starbucks. didn’t really got to eat the fondue though. SAD.

now i’m feeling so much better i’ve been sitting in front of the comp all this while to blog. shall get well soon. i wonder if i can get medical claims from my agent, when the company is already thinking of replacing me due to my long MC….

六年来，似乎过得平平淡淡。但是，离开的那一瞬间，曾经经历过的时光恍若放快的影片在脑海中闪过。他妈的，明明不是多愁善感的人，在看到昔日的照片，以及听到老师的祝福时，竟会感动得心跳加速，热泪盈眶。

不是不舍，就是心里有一股莫名的感情起伏，好像要炸开一般。

有人说，高中只是路过。但是，我想说，那些同学、那些老师、那些一起度过的时光、那些莫名的激动的娜娜一解释的情绪…这些都将会是，我毕生难忘的一段风景。

这一个我所感受到的强烈感情，或许会随着时间的流逝而淡化。但，那些回忆，将只会越来越深刻。

TToTT 因为没有注意，报告一直更改，来来回回打印了三份，bind了两份。浪费纸张。 TTnTT 因为没有注意，新的报告没有签名，反反复复回校回了两次，天下哪有像我这么爱上学的学生？浪费车油。 （邪恶地笑）不过，在学校看到那些还在为physics奋斗的同学们，我很不厚道地暗爽了一下。同学们，加油啊！！！

Ask: If you could become two people right now, what are the first two things you’d want to do?

[ G ] Yannis Gaitis - Heads (c1980)

Answer: One “me” will stay at home and continue studying and blah blah blah, fulfilling all my obligations and responsibilities and other crap. The other “me” will go backpacking around the world. but anyway, before that we’ll just look at each other and scream

Felt like blogging but didn’t have anything on my fingertips. So… Plinky asks: List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

travel luggage

1. traveller!!! (it’s a job right?)
2. a shopkeeper of a graffiti cafe where customers can “buy” a spot on the wall and draw/paint/do-whatever-they-want on it.
3. do odd jobs now and then

seem’s like it’s been forever since i last updated… oh well, i mean, weibo is so much more hooking than tumblr and i’m just not in the mood to blog recently. anyways, prelims is half-over and i’m looking forward to the holidays already. suddenly realise that this is probably gonna be the last time i’m looking forward to the end of exams and the start of holidays. TToTT haven’t really understood what high school life means to me, then suddenly it’s gonna be over. sad right? now i’m a bit lost for words so… bye bye!

went through my old thumbdrive and found this picture…. one of my favourites!!

cross a slacker with december holidays and you will get: holiday that seemed to end too early, and tons of homework undone…

cross the same slacker with the first two days of school: pile of homework accumulating fast, and no sign of completion anywhere…

Day 1 in Boston

The day before yesterday, we did a whole lot of travelling, from New on bus, York to Boston. We stopped on the way at a group of outlets to shop and have lunch. Had cheese and broccoli soup in a bread bowl. The soup is a bit too salty, the bread to thick, but otherwise it was delicious.

We went to a buffet restaurant for dinner. I had macaroni and cheese, nacho chips, corn, cake, orange sorbet and ice cream. Got very bloated.

We checked into Fairfield Inn, which is a very decent hotel. ^^

Day 2 in Boston

We went touring the city of boston, highlights: touring Harvard Univerity, and MIT. Harvard is… well, Harvard. While MIT is really cool. The campus is nice, too bad we can’t take any pictures inside the facility. there was this exhibit that shows that water moves in dropslets instead of being a stream released from the tap, really nice. Campus life there seemed great too.

We toured Harvard first, then we had a drive through MIT, and toured around the district. When touring the city, we also went into a church. The settings in the church is different from other churches, with its pews being segregated into square spaces, and all that. The man in the church told us about the participation of the church in America history. Quite intriguging, but i had limited knowledge of that part of history. Didn’t really understand the details of the situation. Lunch was settled at a huge food centre (ate mac and cheese). And we went to MIT after that. I forgot what we had for dinner, but i knew we did some shopping after dinner, and went back to the hotel to pack our lugguage. Sigh, should have brought a larger lugguage bag, so i don’t have to carry so much onto the plane… but then again, if i take a large bag, it will be tough getting it up the stairs in Washington and New York.

Day 3 in Boston/Last Day in the States

Yes, after a day of travelling, we came back to New York. Lunch was brocolli pizza and Subway cookies, while dinner was vietnamese noodles (ugh, damn full). We checked-in at a motel to stay for the night, and we will set off for Singapore next morning. Ah~ two weeks have passed in a flash, and it’s time to say goodbye… (waves)

Yesterday we went to visit New York Chinese School, which is like a weekend school or tuition centre for American Chinese to learn chinese (mandarin or cantonese). The students’ chinese were pretty fluent, for someone who grew up in the States.

We had some bread and tarts and went on to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The security check queue was looooooooooooong and draggy, but there were buskers along the queue to entertain us. A violinist played the Singapore national anthem (after asking where we were from), and there was this happy man with a mini-guitar-kind-of-thing singing impromtu. The tune is looped and repeating, but the lyrics were funny. It drew a lot of laughs from the crowd. He sang using some chinese words (which i guess he might have previously used to entertain tourists from China, etc): wo ai ni (i love you) and it was quite funny.

It was terribly cold on Liberty Island, with the wind and all. We didn’t go up to the statue but just took some pictures at the bottom. We did a tour guided by audio aids in the museum on Ellis Island. I was quite amused by this story when they were testing the intelligence of the immigrants, wherein a picture of a few boys digging a hole in the ground with the carcass of a rabbit beside them. It was intended to tell the situation in which the boys are burying their deceased pet, but it was interpereted by some a situation in which the boys were preparing to eat the rabbit (difference in perception as a result of cultural difference). We also saw medical instruments which were used in health check-ups, and there was this intrument that was use for eye inspection that looked really menancing. shudders

It was quite upsetting to know that many people became sick on Ellis Island due to the cramped living conditions. shakes head

We had udon for dinner and it was super delicious. then we went around to shop for souvenirs and supplies. Bought a stick of lip gloss and it sort of sucked. Smelled like cherry and it made my lips sticky… =_=

Now we’re waiting for Jason the bus driver to come and take us up to Boston…. Goodbye, my dear New York!!! blows a kiss

Wow, it’s day 5 already. Soon we will be moving up to Boston, and before you know it I’ll be back in Singapore.

Correction, techinically, it’s Day 6 in the morning, but nevermind. Yesterday we went to walk through Columbia University and the girls’ college next to Columbia to know about American University life. We talked to the students there (a Chinese guy from Columbia and a girl at the counter at the next university). They took a great variety of subjects and their majors made interesting combos: Political Science and Economics, French and Anthropology (Study of humans). They are more, how do you say it, view the arts and humanities more importantly. Some even did a basic major of what they were interested in before pursuing a professioinal degree in more serious subjects like Law and Medicine. Interesting.

After that we went to the Grand Central Station, the largest train station in the world, to look around and for lunch. Nice station, big and beautiful and everything. Had lunch at the food court: buttermilk sqaush (which sucked because it’s too sweet) with grilled cheese (which is really just cheese in between two pieces of bread). Had some Cookies and Cream gelato ice cream after that. Feel so sinful. Got to cut down on my lunch expenditure today (and for the rest of the trip).

We went shopping after that. An hour in Macy’s, an hour in Foot Locker and Old Navy, and an hour in K-mart. Bought some presents (people, don’t expect too much, things are rather expensive here….) and a pair of shoes (which cost more than 7 bucks, but that’s the bext offer i can get). Hopefully the new shoes are more comfortable to walk in. There’s still a lot of travel;ing today.

Speaking of travel, interesting things happen in subway stations and the subway trains. We saw a person playing the saw (as in, a violin bow and a saw that you can use to saw trees down) and making music. We also came across this pair of guys who are advertising for their album, i think. One guy is strumming the guitar and doing some simple beatbox while the other guy raps. And he raps good (though the lyrics are… well, whatcha expect from an advertisement?).

Dinner was Chinese takeaway and it was one of the best we had. Fried mixed veggies in tofu and mixed veggies soup (a lot of MSG, but it was tasty enough) plus rice.

Today we will be going to visit the statue of liberty, and go to New York Chinese School to see how Amerivan Chinese children and teens are educated here.

Waiting for breakfast….

my feet are killing me. done a lot of walking today.

been to chinatown, walked around new york city (wall street, ground zero, broadway, times square, etc). visited the Museum of Chinese in America.

had macaroni for lunch and pizza for dinner. yum.

will do even more walking tomorrow. god save my feet. TToTT

the day started off with cereals and fruits… and rain.

after breakfast we took the subway to the Museum of Natural History. Had to walk in the rain and wind. Umbrellas were turned and broken, and coats were drenched. =_= The ride in the subway was… interesting. the train was not as crowded as i imagined it to be.

Yes, the museum that we visited today was featured in the movie, The Night At The Museum. However, the museum doesn;t really look exactly like in the movie though. Nonetheless, the trip was quite fun. we had a guide to talk to us about the origins of humans. knew how to differentiate humans from chimps….

also saw the dinosaurs and African animals. there was an exhibit of snow wolves running that was really gorgeous but my camera refused to take. TToTT

We ate at the musuem. i had potato soup and bread at US$4.90. quite filling.

after that we went to Macy’s for a back store tour. Man the guide was SO funny, nad his oral presentation skills rocked! learnt more about how Macy worked, how it contributed as one of the largest department stores to the retail sector. The store is REALLY huge, with 10 floors and all that. but the price of the goods are beyond my budget…

we also went to the Old Navy and K-Mart to do somemore shopping. Bought an umberella just in case it rains in NY again. i want my coat to stay 90% dry next time.

before going to the K-Mart, we went to a Chinese restaurant (self-service style) for dinner, which consisted of fried mee, brocolli, tofu, and egg droplet soup.

on the way home a guy blowing a saxaphone at the subway station saw us and played China’s national anthem (god, he must thought that we are from China), with a smile on his face. LOL. followed by 童话 and 茉莉花. he played quite well, actually.

tomorrow we will be visiting more museums. should sleep early tonight.

Visited the Federal Reserve Bank, UN headquarters, the Singapore Permanent Mission to the UN, and then the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The bankwas a self guided tour, talking about money in the States and all over the world, how banks work, and etc. there’s even an exhibit of shredded notes that cost a fortune, together with a cart of US$1 notes. $_$

We then went to the UN head quarters, learnt about how the UN works, and even got to walk through the meeting hall, where the UN is haing a meeting. Can’t hear what they said in the meeting though. nevermind.

Had lunch at the headquarters. On of the most disgusting sandwiches i ever had. Ugh… Then we sent a postcard home. ^^ they said that the land that hosts the UN headquarters does not being to the US. so the UN had their own post office, and even fire saving squads (did they? i remember hearing the guide saying something like that).

Then we went to the Singapore Mission. Met people from SP, and had a dialouge together with the Singapore delegator in the UN. Supposed to be very experiential and educational. Supposed.. Scared of asking questions though.

We ended the day with dinner at… shit i forgot the name of the restaurant… oh, Sylvia’s.. if i remember that correctly. Southern cuisine. the chicken smelled good, looked good, ask the others if it tastes as good as it looked. I ad Macaroni and cheese, with salad. was quite ok.

went through the supermarket to buy water. spent 25 cents on the bubblegum machine. you know, like those that you see in tom and jerry? or the ones that the Young willy wonka spun out from the machines in the movie. very cute. the gum was… ok. =_=

heading towards another museum tomorrow, with a back store tour of Macy’s. We won’t be having private transport tomorrow. Hopefully my belongings will remain safely in my bag after the day. ^^

Visited the Holocaust museum today. It was really shocking that such a humongous number of Jews and other fellow humans were killed like sheep and chickens in the slaughterhouse, and experimented on like white mice in labs. What was even more shocking was how complex and detailed the information of the killing and experimenting process was recorded and organized. I mean, they made specific records of individuals (name, ethnic group, hair colour, etc) that were to be gassed or experimented on. Some weird obsession with neatness and being precise huh.

It’s horrible to know that these Germans who are highly civilized and educated can perform such inhuman acts on millions of other fellow human beings. After the Holocaust museum, had lunch at the train station. This time I shared an US$8 pizza combo with Yeejia. It was quite filling. Miss Rosy bought us subway cookies, which were 12 for US$5 something. Cheap.

We arrived in New York at about 7 plus. First impressions? Lights and people and music (well, Christmas is coming) and gosh there are so many vehicles and the bus is driving so fast. We checked in to the Pink Hostel, making a huge din going up the stairs. The stairs creaked so loudly whenever we stepped on them and no matter how much we tried to soften our steps. The room is very small, but cozy enough. It’s just that the wireless connection here sucks, again. Shall try again tomorrow and see how. (using Yeejia’s Mac now, which seems to be the only one that can connect to internet now)

We had Vietnamese takeaways for dinner and I got told off by a fellow resident for throwing the disposable chopsticks away (ok, she did it really politely but I feel like an idiot for thinking that used disposable chopsticks can’t be recycled. CUI TTM….). So full. Managed to finish the entire tub of noodles and I feel like a pig now. TToTT.