70s and 80s Kids

H emailed me this... I think I have read this before but this time around, it really tickled me and I found myself nodding in agreement!!

The good old days...
Message: For those who born in Singapore in the 70s and 80s. Fond memories......

1. You grew up watching He-man, MASK,Transformers, Silver Hawk and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, Ninja turtles, My Little Pony and Smurfs too.
My favourite were Ninja turtles and Smurfs... nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah...

2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug.The teachers said you must brush each side 10 times too.
Not forgetting that red colour tablet that we must use which supposed to reveal the plaque on our teeth.

3. You know what SBC stands for.

4. You pay 40 cents for Chocolate or Strawberry MILK every week in class.
I hate strawberry and vanilla milk then. I love the chocolate milk :) I used to either give away or throw away the strawberry ones.

5. You watch a very popular Malay dubbed Japanese drama on RTM1 about schoolgirls who possess powerful skills in volleyball called Meoro Attack.

6. You find your friends with pagers and handphone cool in Secondary school.

7. SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushion is red. The big red bell gives a loud BEEP!when pressed. There are colourful tickets forTIBS buses.The conductor will check for tickets by using a machine which punches a hole in the ticket.
There was a time I collected all the colourful tickets... but I think I threw them away some time back...

8. Envelopes given to us to donate to Sharity Elephant every Children's Day.

9. You've probably read Young Generation magazine.You know who's Vinny the little vampire and Acai the constable.

10. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery.

11. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.
I would follow daddy and mummy into the cinemas and sit on the steps so that they don't need to pay for me :p

12. Gals are fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie Dolls.
I love Barbie dolls then! Because parents couldn't afford, I'd always want to sew my own dresses for them and make jellewery for them...

13. You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.

14. You longed to buy tibits called Kaka (20 cents per pack), and Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week not forgetting the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring.

15. You watched TV2 (also known as Channel 10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.

16. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven are probably the thickest story books you ever thought you have read. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers.
I read Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley High :p

17. KFC used to be a high class restaurant that serve food in plates and let you use metal forks and knives.
Being able to eat at KFC was a luxury, you know....

19. Catching was the IN thing and twist as the magic word.

20. Your English workbooks was made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow.

21. CDIS were your bestfriend.

22. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you maths.

23. Waterbottles were slinged around your neck and a must everywhere you go.

24. Boys loved to play soccer with small plastic balls in the basketball court.

25. Teng-teng, five stones, chapteh, hentam bola and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too...
Aww.... I miss my zero point and five stones days....

26. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives, guppies and swordtail being the most important fish.

27. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Wally & Mr. Yakki. What abt Miss Lala??? And Zaki and Tini in Malay Textbooks?

28. We carry out experiments of our own to get ourself badges for being a Young Zoologist/Botanist etc.

29. Every Children's day and National day you either get pins or pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or dumb files with 'Happy National Day 1994'.

30. In Primary six you had to play buddy for the younger kids like big sister and brother.

31. We wear BM2000, BATA, or Pallas shoes.
I wore Bata :)

32. Your form teacher taught you Maths, Science and English.

33. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor quality.

34. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.

35. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm.

36. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday.

37. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $3 or more for pocket money everyday.

38. You see Wee Kim Wee's face in the school hall.

39. You freak out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.

40. Boys like to catch fighting spiders.

41. Collecting and battling erasers was a pastime for boys.
Hey I collect erasers too! I think I still have some of them with me...

42. Autograph books were loaded with "Best Wishes", "Forget Me Not", and small poems like "Bird fly high, hard to catch. Friend like you, hard to forget".
I'm quite sure all of my autograph books are still in my drawer...

43. Class monitors and prefects loved to say "You talk somemore, I write your name ah!"

44. There were at least 40 people in one class.

45. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried.

50. You brought every single book to school, even though there was one thing called the timetable.

Post-Gastroscopy & What Happened to Me

As mentioned in my previous entry, I had a gastroscopy procedure done last weekend. I just received my medical report on Monday. My gastro doctor is a very detailed and professional man. For my condition, he wrote a 2.5 page report!

Based on all the investigation results (gastroscopy, ultrasound, physical examination, biopsy), I don't have gallstones within my gallbladder. All my organs are normal. My symptoms are likely due to "a combination of non-ulcer (functional) dyspepsia * and non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease ** ". What a mouthful right?? My gastro doc tells me that my condition is due to stress. The only reason why I could be stress in the past 5 weeks or so was because of an individual UP. UP has been giving me a tough time at work. Although I only had spurts of time where I was really stressed by him over the 5 weeks, maybe my stomach cannot take it and its signaling to me that I am more than stressed than I think I am. In between my visits to the doctor in one week, I have lost 1 kg. Although I want to lose weight, this surely isn't the right way to do so.

I know clearly that it is not worth allowing immature actions, words and threats of man affect me, I cannot deny that I had been affected emotionally. There were moments of frustration, anger, irritation, indignant, defensiveness in between trying to handle it professionally, godly and lovingly with forgiveness. Yesterday my patience totally wore out and I lost my cool. I thank God that in the midst of all the saga, He has given me His word to encourage me, the indescribable peace after praying to Him, colleagues and friends who were there to support me and praying for me. Also thank God for providing Dr TLP who diagnosed my problem and helping my stomach to restore to its normal function. As I returned to him for review today, he gave me medication for the next 5 weeks with decreasing dosage each week. The medication serves to 'train' my stomach to be kuai kuai and one to tell my brains to sleep well and not be stressed.

Psalm 27 always comforts me in times like these: (verses 1, 11-14)

The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence

I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

I have nothing and no one to fear other than Christ my Saviour. Doesn't matter who comes in my way and 'oppress' me. Whilst I breathe on earth, I still trust in the goodness of the Lord. It is easy to be myopic and dwell in self-pity. It takes great faith and trust in the Lord who has already died for me and save me, that nothing is too big for Him to overcome for me and protect me. He is my refuge and my strength and in Him only do I hope and trust. UP can try to get me down but my Lord is in control and UP will not get his way without my Lord's 'approval'.

The saga has not ended but I know my Lord will reign!

* inability to digest or difficulty in digesting food : incomplete or imperfect digestion of food

** a highly variable chronic condition that is characterized by periodic episodes of gastroesophageal reflux usually accompanied by heartburn and that may result in histopathologic changes in the esophagus -- abbreviation GERD

What's in my Stomach?

About 2 weeks ago, I embarrassed myself by vomiting on the bus on my way to work. I had felt like wanting to vomit but I couldn't alight the bus in time and I sprouted like a merlion... That was a result of overeating. The night before, I had light dinner with my family before I brought W in search of roti john at Serangoon Gardens. That very night, I felt bloated (which wasn't too unusual because sometimes I get that when I overeat a little) but still went to bed. Was awaken at 3am feeling nauseous but nothing came out. In the end, vomited on the bus the next morning...

Just on Thursday night after a simple dinner at home, I felt something similar again - feeling of wanting to vomit. Each time I burp, I was careful that it was not vomit but just burping. After some medication and much burping (due to too much gases) I didn't feel much better the next day. I was prompted to go see a Gastroenterologist for a proper diagnosis of what's happening to me. The GE doctor sent me to do gastroscopy this morning.

The fact that I had to undergo a day surgery procedure really scares me. Doesn't help when I am already rather affected by some people who tries to be nasty to me at work. Had to arrive at hospital's Endoscopy Centre at 7.30am (alone by myself :( ) where they register me, do all the medical parameters check (blood pressure, etc), ask me about my medical history (which I had no story to tell). Then I was put to lie on the bed, awaiting the doctor to come. Lying on the bed for that probably 30 mins or so, many thoughts came through my head... what if it hurts like crazy? What if I was not properly sedated and I could feel the probe? What if I die from the procedure because I cannot wake up from the sedation? At one point, I decided that I shall just trust God and pray...

I really thank God for my Endoscopy Centre colleague who came and talk to me and assure me when I felt so alone... The Centre was one where I had went in to do an audit on its safe practices there in May last year and now I had to be patient under their care. From my colleague (she was the most senior nurse of the Centre), I learnt that undergoing sedation won't be such a scary thing. She also assured me that the GE doctor who's performing the procedure is a very good doctor and many of my colleagues also go to him. She also chatted with me and personally did the cannulation (insertion of a cannula which allows doctor to gives me sedation drugs intravenously) for me. When it was time for me to be wheeled into the procedure room, I could not think of anything... my mind was a blank. My doctor asked me if I was better last night, I said yes. I saw one nurse preparing the scope, putting the tube into the machine where it was hooked up to a display screen where the doctor is supposed to be able to see whats in my stomach later. Another nurse asked me to turn and lie on my left, set up a blood pressure monitor on my right arm and a pulse oximeter on my index finger on my left hand. He also put in an adapter-like plastic thing into my mouth. That was to keep my mouth open to insert the scope into my stomach through my mouth. I was told to close my eyes. And next, I felt a rush of liquids (cocktail of sedative drugs) flowing into my veins where the cannula was on my right hand. This was not painful at all. The next thing I knew, I slowly awakened at the recovery area. I lay there a while to regain my full consciousness before I was wheeled to the xray department to have my abdominal ultrasound done. This was to ensure that I don't have stones in my gall bladder. If I have stones in my gall bladder, it could stop the enzymes from going into my stomach to digest what I eat. And I would have to remove the stones via surgery.

At the end of the entire morning of ordeal, the GE doctor told me that there was nothing very wrong, except that the digestion of food in my stomach was retarded. My stomach muscles could not 'push' the food down into the intestines and so the food fermented and produced gases that made me burped and have the feeling of bloatedness. In fact, my mee sua dinner from last night was still in my stomach. It was more than 12 hours from my dinner and the time of the procedure. In fact I only could finish half my mee sua! This should not be the case. One polyp was also found in my stomach which supposedly had nothing to do with my condition. Doctor gave me 5 types of medicine (!!) for one week and required me to see him again in a week's time.

Inside my stomach - the little polyp (top right), doctor removing it (bottom left)
and the white spot left behind where polyp used to be (bottom right).
The polyp was sent to the lab for further tests.

See the white foamy stuff? Those bits are my undigested dinner from last night (more than 12 hours)!
The same foamy stuff was also seen on the above photo, top left.

My array of 5 medicine - 3 before food, 1 during food and 1 after food

The saying goes that health is very important. I got to realise that as I lay on the bed awaiting for the gastroscopy. Prior to this, I never had any procedures done on me. The closest was blood donation to donate my blood. Which also means that my hand had to be cannulised for the first time. I was assured that that was the most painful part (and that was true!). Thanks to the skills of my doctor, I didn't feel any less after the procedure. I regained my consciousness pretty well too - no dizzy spells, weakness, etc. Thank God that there was no stones and nothing very wrong with me... except that I have to watch the digestion of the food I eat ;)

Medical? Food? Blog

Spots emailed some of us to tell us of an interesting local food blog - I eat, I shoot, I post (ieat). Boy! The blog has lots of food recommendations! It is like a makansutra itself! What I like about ieat is that the photos are very nicely taken and makes the food looks really appetizing. Most (if not all) of the food recommendations are for local Singaporean food and there is an index for the type of food! E.g. if you have a craving for chicken rice, just look under the "Chicken Rice" section and there you go - 7 different recommendations and they all come with addresses and ratings!!

Spots said that ieat's entry on ice-cream reminded her of my entry on ice-cream ;p

What is most interesting is that I realised that ieat's author is a doctor (itreat) and (seems like) a Christian. He owns a GP clinic at Tampines. Reading itreat's blog, it is the kind of family GP clinic you would want to go to. I think there are very few GPs as such around these days... read their clinic introduction here. This is the first clinic blog I have come across... Cool!!

Well the clinic is too far away for me to go to. Besides, I have free medical consultations where I work ;)

Park in the City

The postcard-like photo

This is NOT the Botanic Gardens in Singapore. This is the Hyde Park in Sydney (not in London). I have been to Sydney 4 times and on my 3rd trip there in 2003, I visited Hyde Park for the first time. These photos were compliments from J's camera then... mine didn't turn out so good...

During my last trip there in last August, I heard that the authorities are going to cut down the trees in the park. I can't remember what was the reason they are doing it. But surely the park will look pretty different without the original trees... they have been there for years! 1 or 2 paths in the park look pretty much 'romantic' with the lights, trees and benches along the sides. But no, I did not pak tor (hokkien for dating) there :p

Fountain at Hyde Park (this was at sunset time)

A Retro Attempt

Was just sorting through my collection of photos and then I came across the above 2 photos. These were taken in August 2003 when I was at Chinatown. I remembered I was standing across the road waiting for my dad to pick me up. Looking at the stall, I couldn't resist whipping out my 2-month-old Casio Exilim. (This tells you that my camera is already 3.5 years old now...)

Don't they look like they were taken 2 decades ago? Accept that I think the $2 pomelo gave it away. I think pomelos don't cost $2 in those days....

Ripe Old Age

My maternal grandma turned 79 years old 3 weeks ago. But according to the chinese lunar calender, she is 80 already. As sis has to travel for work and not able to be around today, my family (and its 'associates') had dinner with her last week.

Chilli crabs at Long Beach Seafood Restaurant

Grandma with my family and its 'associates'

Today, 2 thirds of my mum's family gathered together to celebrate grandma's 80th birthday. My grandma has 19 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren, 1 of whom is born today. My cousin chose to have Caesarean done today (I think) of some auspicious day? time? Some of my cousins, including my sis, were out of town.

Usually other than Chinese New Year, we seldom meet each other in this huge gathering... I must say that I had quite a good time catching up with some of my cousins. From a couple of conversations with my cousins and aunties, I got to realise how some of them view work, marriage, having children and raising children. Most of them are non-Christians. Only a couple of my Christian aunties were there... I think I shall blog about my thoughts on this another day...

Thank God for my grandma having able to live to 80 years old and looking like she's only 60 (don't you agree??) Thank God for preserving her life. I will continue to pray for her salvation (I haven't been very fervent about it) and attempt to share Christ with her in whatever Teochew I can speak. I heard that she has accepted Christ at one occasion years ago... not too sure about it. But for now, I do know that she tends to be going back to her Chinese gods. Her belief is due to traditional beliefs and not because she is a avid Buddhist or taoist. I think down in her heart, she does somewhat believe in Christ. Prayerfully one day, she can see for herself the true Saviour and Lord who love her and sacrificed for her.

Grandma with 10 grandchildren & 2 great-grandchildren

Alas! One To Call My Own....

See my new Crocs! Alas I own a pair of Crocs. I've been wanting to get one but resisted and decided to be contented with my Birkies. Not until I see the mary janes version of Crocs, as I tried it on, I fell in love with 'em! Sis didn't know what to get me for my birthday. So for a 2-month belated pressie, this pair of burgandy mary janes Crocs are mine to own... although the truth is that I went to buy them myself and will claim it from sis :p W bought his second pair - hydro. He originally own the classic beach but due to long wear, its soles were clearly giving way...

Here's a little Crocs family photo taken in church last Sunday :O Crocs-power!

Its Cold, Fattening but Therapeutic

One food that fits the above description is ICE CREAM!! I have a love-hate relationship with ice cream. I love to eat ice cream but I hate it because it gives me additional sugars and they get stored up in the reserves of my body!

I used to be very happy whenever I drive into Malaysia and get to eat Baskin Robbins ice cream. BR is extinct in Singapore. Ask me the R&R stops (between Singapore and Putrajaya) that has BR for sale on the North-South Expressway, I can tell you where they are. Up towards KL, there is one at an obscure R&R stop (not the Ayer Keroh stop!) just after the Ayer Keroh exit. On the way back, there is one at the Ayer Keroh R&R stop. One time when I was in Malaysia for church camp, I ate 6 scoops of ice cream in 6 days! 2 scoops on the way up, 2 scoops at Mid-Valley Shopping Mall and 2 scoops on the way back. My 2 favourite are Jamoca Almond Fudge and a chocolate flavour (can't remember the name) which has a sticky texture.

In Australia, I also had quite a fair share of ice cream (a.k.a. gelati). In the past, I have heard so much about Passionflower Cafe at Darling Harbour in Sydney but I have never been able to try it. Finally, I got to try it when I was there last August!


W decided on the rose with (I think) camomile flavour while I chose (if I didn't remember wrongly) tiramisu. Sitting outside the cafe, indulging in the cool winter by the harbour enjoying ice cream with waffles... what a relaxing and carefree moment....

Going back a little further back, while I was at Wheelock Place one evening with MH and CL last June, we happen to see a newly opened ice cream counter which were giving out free ice cream! Being typical Singaporeans, we thought we'll join the short queue and get to choose the flavour that we wanted. Haato - I was told, it was the japanese word for heart. Since then, they have opened up 2-3 more counters/cafes in Singapore. On another occasion, I had tried their honey with camomile ice cream. It was a refreshing yet soothing taste.

MH with black sesame, CL with green tea and me with stawberry yoghurt

More recently, I finally was able to visit The Daily Scoop at Sunset Way. I have long heard about this little cafe kept in one corner of Clementi Arcade. One day, a few of us drove there on a public holiday only to find them closed. This time, I brought W there as I took an afternoon day off. Between us, we had 4 scoops to binge on: green tea with red bean, cherry brandy, honey vanilla and coconut ice cream. Of the 4, I prefer honey vanilla and coconut. Green tea was not too bad, but I somehow still prefer the green tea ice cream I made with red bean paste on it. As for cherry brandy, I prefer brandied cherry from Island Creamery.


Anyhow, TDS has quite many flavours available. I think the owners are Christian. On one side of the wall, there was "Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to us; He is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11" And at the side of the counter where plain water was available self-service, copies of Christian tracks were placed beside it for people to pick up, read and keep.

Featuring another ice cream cafe opened by Christians, W brought me to Blue Lotus in Brissy 2 months ago in November. I missed it in my August Brissy trip as this dessert lounge had relocated and W could not find it. This time W specially brought me there... BL really had the feel of a lounge... it doesn't quite look like a dessert place other than the visible ice cream counter. I had thought it was a pub lounge from the outside. (I have no photos of BL)

Coincidentally, my pastor's nephew and his wife T (her cousin owns BL) are working at BL. We had a short chat with T... although the ice cream are not made on its grounds, the variety of ice cream and desserts they offer were difficult to resist! :p I must visit again when I next go Brissy. Then I shall post up photos of the place and its food!

Last but not least, my favourite in Singapore at this moment, will have to be Island Creamery. I like it not because its name is "island" but because I like the flavours they offer and I never get tired of eating them. IC was famous for their Tiger beer sorbet. But I think they have stopped production of that flavour... From a small counter space at Serene Centre, they have expanded to a cafe a few units away from their original spot. Each time I go IC, the cafe is comfortably packed with people and its fans seem to patronise non-stop. On various occasions, I have bumped into doctors from my hospital with their family, my old JC classmates and friends and my church friends...

At IC a few favourites of mine include pulot hitam, kalua latte, reverso and brandied cherry! IC's ice cream are made on the premises, except for the new counter at Great World City. You can easily buy a 500g tub for $8! That's a pretty neat price for homemade ice cream and its cheaper than that from TDS.

Having all said and done, I think I shall attempt to stay off ice cream where possible and only have it as a treat once in a while... I should be shedding off kilos, so *ahem* please don't bring me anywhere near these places!