Hooray!! H1N1 alert status will be changed from ORANGE to YELLOW on Monday!

Haha stupid idiots.

I like my new theme. So fresh and white. Don’t you? I think I’m in love with white! Changed it back cos I’ve moved to a new blog. :)

And I’ll be gone on Monday!!! :D

FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

Why are they sabotaging me?!

I’m refering to the neighbour who firstly snipped off my back strap on my trekking Havaianas. Then after about a year, proceeded to take my black Brazil Havaianas (that are identical to Zw’s pair) without asking = STEALING.

What the fuck is wrong with you? I think I know who did it.

I am going to throw an egg at her door tomorrow.

I have been experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions the past few days as I watched the USA trip of a ping pong ball being smacked from court to court. :|

It was the swine flu’s fault!! All cos the authorities and the WHO being so bloody paranoid about tho whole thing. I’m not denying that there is a need to keep this situation under control and prevent the loss of lives, but personally, I feel that this whole thing has been overrated. Maybe I lack information from enough sources, but just look at the statistics: the number of people who have been infected and the number who have died from the virus. As of 34 minutes ago on Associated Press, the worldwide number of infected is 1447; the number of deaths is 26 in Mexico and one Mexican baby who travelled to USA to seek help. Versus the seasonal flu, 250 to 500 THOUSAND people worldwide die each year from it – and those who get infected?… Well, just about everybody, I’d think? A miserable 26 people… Only isolated in Mexico. Why is that? Is it in their genes? Weaker genes that make them succumb to the virus? No. Poor healthcare, hygiene and poverty makes it difficult for these people to seek medical attention. That was probably why the baby was brought over to the US to seek treatment in the first place. Please lah, even those who have been infected are allowed to be treated at home (read: NOT HOSPITAL). Just a couple of weeks of rest and they’ll be fine. Why? Because our bodies can overcome this on our own. That’s why we have WBC in the first place, ass****.

So back to the ping pong. First, we were all excited about the trip. Then came the news. We were skeptical of it and hopeful of going. Then the headlines grew in pessimism. We became fearful too. Told the others that there was a high chance that we couldn’t go. Got a call from my cousin in LA. She said that it’s really no biggie in the US – and coming from her (a medical researcher in a hospital) and her husband (a pharmacist) – we felt that the world was making a mountain out of a molehill. Our fears now weren’t that the entire city would be shut down by the time we arrived, but that by the time we returned, we’d have to be quarantined for 7 days. Big Bummer. And Daniel’s NS would get affected. Mom called up Mindef, they said that they’re pretty laxed about the regulations with regard to recruits and travelling, so it is ok that we go ahead. Asked Daniel if he will go, cos if he doesn’t go, we all can’t go. He finally agreed. YAY! Then he remembered that he had two fishing trips planned which clashed with the US trip (he’s a fishing freak). ZW and I were so bloody upset when he said he might want to bail on us. Finally, this afternoon I went to his bed to ask what his final decision was. He said that he’ll be going with us. YAY! So happy. But then again, he was in bed because he was having a fever… Maybe he was just dreaming.

Yesterday, found that Belle was suffering from a fever (by touch. I didn’t try using a rectal thermometer!!) and was very lethargic. She slept the whole morning away on my pillow… Curled up tightly and and won’t open her eyes. When I carried her, she just NUAHed (which is so unlike her usual self) and was like jelly. I felt like I was dragging her when I tried to carry her. She normally doesn’t sleep so soundly unless it’s night time. After she got up from her slumber, we noticed that she kept her eyes half-closed while going about her business. Gave her some eye drops but since it wasn’t prescribe, I didn’t dare to give her any more.

This morning, placed Belle in my straw bag and took a cab down to the vet (Vet Practice). Chip was pretty jealous that she didn’t get to go. Vet gave her eyes some kind of litmus paper test by placing the strip on each eye. Then, she dripped a dye onto Belle’s eyes to see if she was suffering from abrasions on her eyes. She didn’t have any. Finally, the doc peeled open her lids and saw that her whites were red. Doc says that Belle has conjunctivitis which could either be caused by allergies or virus. Let’s hope it’s not the latter, or Chip might get infected too!! Vet gave me an eye drop solution to be applied two drops, twice a day.

The whole time we were out – from being inside my bag, to the taxi, to the vet where I put her on the floor to roam around, to the taxi home – she was shaking and had her tail between her legs. She didn’t even dare attack the vet with her trademark growl and bite cos she was in an uncomfortable place and wasn’t sure she could win. But once I placed her on the floor of my condo lobby, she immediately recognised that we’re home and started wagging her tail violently and placed her paws on me while jumping! She is such a silly baby. Wagged her tail all the way home! :)

Today’s an important day for us! It’s our 100th Week Anniversary and our 1 Year 11 Months! :)

His face looks pasted but I assure you it is not!

Thank you baobao for such a wonderful 100 weeks! We’ve been together for 700 days!! Wheee~

Went on the tree top trail at the Southern Ridges this morning. Got up at 6.45am today, which is a feat!! Went with a bunch of middle-aged people from church so I thought I sure no problem. But I was mistaken. It was a 2.5 hour walk and I almost died. I think I have very bad stamina in general… :( Except when I’m in the water. HAHA!

Started at the foot of Telok Blangah Hill, the place I once frequented every week when I was a kid because I used to live there. I used to go up there every Saturday morning to catch tadpoles and dragonflies with our nets. You can say I was a tomboy, cos I was influenced by my brothers. Proceeded to the Henderson Waves next.

My mom with her fancy hat.

I think that the bridge is beautiful! It’s made of wood and links Telok Blangah Hill with Mount Faber. I like the waves and no two waves are the same. My dad asked me what I think was the function that the architect designed the waves for. I said to shield the sun (and also to provide rest stops for trekkers). He thinks it’s to prevent people from jumping, cos it’s pretty difficult to climb out of the bowl-like bridge into the traffic below.

Then we climbed up to Mount Faber where we discovered that there is a baby Merlion at the top of the hill and that it is a destination for tourists to visit. The view from the top is quite good. To the south, you can see the South China Sea and Sentosa (which doesn’t astonish me cos my grandma’s house can see the exact same view and more). To the north you see our concrete jungle of HDBs and even the CBD. There’re these markings on the ground to tell you the direction of Little India, Changi Airport, Botanic Gardens, etc.

Group shot. The green lines on the ground are the said markings.

After that we returned to Telok Blangah Hill and took the Forest Walk trail which is a long zig-zag metal bridge above the canopy.

A freakin’ long journey. Luckily we were walking down slope.

Dad and I on the bridge. He’s wearing a cap from Poland and I’m wearing a cap from Hungary, countries where my parents went on their Eastern Europe tour.

Notice the metal mesh flooring of the bridge. When you’re on the bridge looking down between your feet, you can see the trees below you. Got me quite scared from the heights!!

After the Forest Walk I tell you… I was really too tired already. Walked through the Alexandra Arch to get to Hort Park and we rested here while the drivers took a 30 minute walk back to the car park. Quite sad that I was too tired to explore Hort Park, which I intended to initially.

Being Labour Day, the trail was rather crowded. Saw many dog-owners bringing their dogs for a walk. Makes me wanna bring my bitches here for a stroll also, although they’ll probably give up after 30 minutes. (They’re princesses.)

Helpful Tips:
To any one who wants to walk the Southern Ridges, I suggest you park at the open carpark at Telok Blangah Heights (near block 60). Free parking I think. Make sure to walk from Telok Blangah Hill toward Hort Park instead of the other way around, cos it’s a downward slope… Makes your life easier. Also, I suggest parking another car at the end of your journey so that you can all drive back to your starting point. Believe me, it’s tiring. Lastly, suggest starting your journey early, like around 6.30am when the sun is barely up. We started at 7.40am which was a bit too late and we suffered from the sun’s beating for a great part of the journey.

PDF map of the trail, 9km in all!
Referring to the map, we walked the Orange, Brown, Green and Blue parts of the trail! :D

I’m adopting a wait-and-see attitude. I consider myself lucky that I still have 11 days to decide whether to go ahead and travel to USA. See if this flu blows over and everyone recovers, or whether it will spread even more. I doubt the former.

I gathered some information about cancelling the trip.

• ANA to refund tickets to USA and refund charges waived.
• I can cancel my local tour and incur a penalty of 10% of the total amount. But I’ve to act fast.

With all these cancellations going on, the travel industry is really going to be hit hard. Not just in the North American continent. My friends who have planned trips to Europe, Australia are all thinking of cancelling too. Looking ahead, what will happen to my Bali trip?

What an irony that the term in which my only goal was to PASS was also the term that I did my best in. If only I knew earlier. I’d have aimed only to pass every term. :|

Went over to my ex-student’s place to relieve Mel for a few sessions today. Gosh I really miss teaching. Especially good kids who do their homework and with average to above average IQ. God forbid I ever meet a retard again. Anyway, I doubt I’ll ever be able to tutor again after this relief stint, cos my future job will be taking a lot out of me – energy, time, weekends. (The only good thing is that I’ll be too busy to spend the miserable amount I’ll be left with after paying my debts. But I’ll be left with an amount that’s worse than my Uni allowance anyway. Woot.)

When I told the kid that I missed teaching, she said she missed me too! :D Heh.

Oh yah, and passed by my old place. Sigh. They changed our yellow lights to white lights. How bloody ugly!!! I would really want to go back there to live soon. But that that would mean moving away from Zw. :( Thankfully selling the place is not an option now, cos private properties are selling at all time low prices.