Hong Kong Trip 2010

Hong Kong was the first trip for the year. Went there with Wil from 1-5 Jan 2010, however, had no time to do a short blog on it till now as was really busy with work and looking for a house since back from HK.

I am currently on a 2.5 weeks break. This is a long awaited break since nearly 2 years ago, It was initially nearly a month break but has to be shortened due to unforseen operational needs at work. Whatever it is, I have enjoyed this break so far. In addition to the wonderful Taipei trip, I do whatever that I like, no pre-planning of to-do for every day, not much household chores, no calls and emails on work, and just rest and spending times with loved ones and good friends. I feel so good to hibernate!!!

Haha, back to HK trip. HK service standard is very good! The Airport Express was impressive with drop-off at several hotels. We bought the octopus card that could allow us to travel on its MTR for unlimited trips for 3 days.

I like the winter weather.

Visited Harbor City. We could still feel the Christmas and New Year ambience with the brightly lit building decos. Walked to the Avenue of Stars and managed to catch the well known "A Symphony of Lights" along the stretch.

Try out this shop at Tsim Sha Tsai for its Yu Dan Fen and oyster porridge.

The dessert shop "Xu Liu Shan" have lots of dessert choices.
Hmm... the only thing that I cannot really take in HK is its "Yuan Yang"... too bitter for me...

By sheer chance, visited the marketplace in Wan Chai. Wow, I like the goldfish shop and those selling fresh food. I sound like an auntie hor :p


Visited the Ocean Park too. Ocean Park has improved tremenously after the entry of HK Disneyland. The Dorphin show at the Ocean Theatre remains my favorite! Got to try their ferris wheel again, nice feeling. This time round, got to see An An and Jia Jia at the Giant Panda Habitat! First time seeing pandas... they are so cute!! I wonder if they miss their Daddy and Mummy in China.

Went up to the Victoria Peak. Must try out the Peak Tram if you are going to Victoria Peak k? It is an engineering feat to have train travelling up at about 45 degree angle. Victoria Peak has The Peak Galleria now and Madame Tussauds is housed in it. Got to see HK from Victoria Peak (though sky was a bit cloudy), and of course posed with lots of famous persons in Madam Tussauds. I am glad to visit Madame Tussauds. The exhibits are made with lots of fine-eye for details and certainly worth seeing.

Visited Lan Kwai Fong and SOHO. It was a long way up, and the Central Mid-levels Escalator is a long stretch of interconnected escalators. Visited Ladies' Market and Fa Yuen St too. Ladies' Market has shrank a lot; heard that most stalls have moved to Zhuhai.

Wanted to visit the Tsing Ma Bridge, however, we were too late... at the end, we had a feast at Tao Xiang.

After the 3 trips, I think I have to eat more healthily now and lose some weight.

Taipei Trip 2010

Went Taipei for bridal photography cum holiday from 15-21 Apr 2010.

I have always like the beautiful scenary of Taiwan, and it is really nice to take bridal photography in Taipei. My Significant Other, thank you for this beautiful memorable present! :-)

Another person to thank is my buddy, Xueling, who came all the way to Taipei to give us her moral support. Thanks gal! Hee hee, you're our 'Manager' in future ;p

It has been raining in Taipei when we were there. By God's Grace, the weather was extremely good on the day for our bridal photography and the photography session went very well. Halleluyah!

Managed to visit a couple of places in Taipei this time round.
Finally got to see the beautiful Danshui. Saw a bird eye's view of Taipei from Taipei 101 Observatory too! Wow, the lift is really a high-speed lift. Reached the 89F Indoor Observatory in less than 1 min.

Shilin Night Market has transformed! It is much cleaner and with more proper shop fronts now. Have also visited Wufenpu Garment Wholesale Area. However, the clothes did not seem to be wholesale prices leh. Maybe my negotiation skills need more practice!! Another night market visited was Shida Night Market. This is my first time going to Shida, and it is crowded as it is just next to the university. Visited Ximending too. Simply like the idea of so many shops are still opened at late night.
Realised that there are lots of Sogo in Taipei, and I bought a pair of shoes with sparking starfish on it.

We like the food from the stalls in the night market. We tried the 'smelly beancurd'. The one we tried in Shilin was apparently a famous one (overheard it while queuing for it) and it's really nice with the gravy. Others are mee sua with oyster, fried oyster, octopus soup, black pepper biscuit, onion biscuit, soya bean curd with chiko nuts, soya bean curd with nuts, soya bean curd with red beans, sausages and mo chi. We stayed at the Friends Hotel and there is this shop "My Home Steak" diagonally opposite the hotel which serves very nice steak and at extremely economical price (about $8 for the steak, bread, soup, dessert, fruits and drinks). Have to self-serve own soup and drinks.

On the last day, we visited several places of interest, including Botanic Garden, National Museum of History (however it was closed on Monday), National Taiwan Arts Education Cente, National Theatre and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Took lot of photos of flowers for the day.

It has been almost a week since back from Taipei. I still miss the scenery and weather there... :-)

Australia Trip 2010

I went for an Australia study trip from 8 Mar to 14 Mar, together with 5 other colleagues, mostly nurses. The main objective of the trip is to learn about Nursing Works. For myself, I am there for the objective of learning about lean nursing processes for redesigning of the ward layout to facilitate efficient and effective work processes, particularly nursing processes.

We went to 3 hospitals, namely Cabrini Hospital and Alfred Health in Melbourne and Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide. I am impressed with the bedside handover and systemic approach in handover, and the various approaches used to increase patient-nurses contact time.

In Melbourne, we have visited the Queen Victoria Market. I like the fresh fruits, vegetables, dried fruits and flowers. We have the pleasure of being one of the earlier batches of visitors to the newly opened Australian Garden (equivalent of our Botanic Garden). A large part of the garden is still under construction; believe it will be more impressive when I visit it next time! Next is Philip Island. I love the Philip Island Chocolate Factory!! I feel like I am in the movie “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. Almost submerged myself in the world of chocolates… Visited Koala Conservation Centre and saw koalas for the first time and got to know that Koala sleeps 20 hours a day!!




Saw beautiful sunset at The Nobbies.




Lastly is the most memorable Penguin Parade. We “upgraded” our admission ticket to view the penguin at Grand Pix, and it was a memorable sight to see the parent penguins coming back from the ocean to feed the baby penguins waiting at the shore.

We have also visited the city areas, including Bourke Street and Chinatown. We took the trams to travel around. It was quite fun. We even took a train from Flinders Street to Belgrave. Wanted to take the Puffing Billy but it was too expensive for us.



At the end, we ventured around the area and I went hiking with one of my colleagues. Guess what?? I saw my dream Tree House!! It was on sale and we are invited for its open house. So we went for the Open House happily. We stayed at the Parkview Hotel at St Kilda Road in Melbourne. It is a good hotel with good amenities and location.

In Adelaide, we had only a short tour of the Holdfast Bay, near to the Stamford Grand Hotel that we were staying. Glad to catch the sunrise at Adelaide.

I like the relaxed lifestyle in Australia. The only thing I am not used to is the early closing time of the shops. They closed sharply at 5pm or 5.30pm mostly. The team is pretty creative. Knowing that the shops would be closed by the time we reached Melbourne from Adelaide, we bought chicken, vegs and wraps from Adelaide supermarket and had “chicken popian” in hotel. The cost of living is pretty high in Australia.

It was a memorable trip with my 5 colleagues :-)

Today is the first day of Ching Ming.
Mum, sis and myself made our way early in the morning to Bukit Batok to visit my Dad.

I tried to hold my emotions but I couldn't.
My tears just rolled, as I missed my Dad very much!
I miss the times that I could tell him what I face at work and in my life, and hear his advice.
I could remember his smiles, his expression when he was angry and when he was doing his favorite carpentry works.

6 Apr is my Dad's Birthday.
Happy Birthday, Pa Pa!

The family miss you a lot.

Wedding DIY

I read a bridal magazine recently and there was this caption "Brides who DIY and still keep their day job". I was expecting to read on how they manage and see if there are anything that I can learnt. Nothing very much is being covered on how to manage. Learnt that one can DIY wedding stationary, scrapebooking, flowers and decor set-up amongst other things though. Haha, I shall try out some of these during my one-month leave! Good luck!

Rest time

It sounds kind of cliche to begin a blog starting with "time flies"...
However, time really flies, isn't it?

The festive season is going to end soon. In fact, most people have resumed their work this week.
You can see it from the packed train and road, and shopping malls are empty!! This is a time that we can get some good deals if we look around.

I have had the honour of getting the most glamerous project of the year at work. It has certainly kept me very much occupied that I have hardly much time to breathe at work... Positive mindset, hanging around with optimistic folks, have faith and practise how to let go... all these help in surviving... haha.

Anyway, I am looking forward to my one month break from mid Apr to mid May. Going to use this one month to do nothing except to dream, sleep more, shop more, read more, train up stamina (for stanchart run) and be an interior designer (if William and myself have got a flat by then)!! For a Type A person to do nothing, it means she is very tired and yes I am. I will be turning off my hp to get some peace from office.

Work is important for various reasons. However, work for life and not having a life for work! Increasing productivity needs to begin intrinsically with time for reflection and not working like a robot!

My 2009

In another 2 days’ time, 2009 will be over and we will be welcoming 2010.

Time flies. This time last year, I was busy implementing inpatient means testing in the hospital. Did not have time to do any reflection, just hope that 2009 can be a better year.

Looking back, what are the happy moments? What have I have achieved? What are my sad moments? What are my regrets?

Happy moments
1. I have accepted William’s proposal. I am finally settling down.
2. Glad that my mum is more cheerful now
3. Went for a family trip with Mum, Sis and Sis Joyce.
4. A chill out holiday to Batam with William (minus the part that I needed to coordinate H1N1 surveillance works from Batam)
5. Preparing for wedding preps. I am looking forward to the wedding photography in Taiwan next year
6. My sis got to pursue full time financial planner
7. When I am reminded of beautiful memories with father
8. Catching up with good friends. I simply enjoy gals’ talks particularly. We can simply talk and laugh non-stop!!
9. Completed 3 books and halfway through for some books. I like “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Abom the most.

What I have achieved?
1. I have achieved what I wanted in terms of my career, in terms of building up the dept’ strengths and capabilities and earning recognition by my nursing colleagues. However, this comes at a very high price. I really work hard, without supportive boss and extremely capable staff!
2. Managed to find time to go for a Turkey trip with Xueling and Jiayi. Turkey is really an exotic destination. It is an educational trip.

What are my sad moments?
1. When I miss my father
2. When my sis is upset over her relationship and career.
3. Lack of job satisfaction

What are my regrets?
1. I have neglected my health, as work is really busy and stressful, and trying to balance my personal responsibilities and personal endeavors with work. I am sick of falling sick. On/off now, I still catch colds very easily.
2. I did not spend sufficient time with my sister.
3. I did not meet my expectation of understanding more about faith.
4. Did not manage to do much prep to start up a business

I am overly disciplined and demanding to myself in terms of work and personal responsibilities. However, I am grossly lack of discipline in terms of taking good care of myself and understanding faith.

William and myself spent 1 Jan 09 in the hospital for implementation of means testing. I have promised myself never ever to spend the first day of a new year in a hospital anymore.

William and I are going HK on 1 Jan 2010! HK, here we come!!

I will think about my next year’s plans when I’m back from HK.

Glad that I have some time to do my reflection for this year.
Wishing all my loved ones and my good friends a Happy New Year! Be happy and do what you have been wanting to do!

I shall end my reflection for the year with a quote that I had read on Christmas Day this year, and touches my heart:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8)

Yum yum....

Busy bee is finally getting some breathers.

In fact, I started to unwind from last week already!!

It started with a wonderful dinner buffet at Merchant Court with Ivy and Danielle on last Thursday. Oh my goodness, so nice to get to taste the durian pengat again after 3 years (i think)! I had 2 big bowls :D Not forgetting the fresh salmon, mussels and the spread of desserts. The 3 of us had "retired" from buffet like donkey years ago, and this buffet certainly has started our appetite for more buffet. We talked about our work, some of our phobias (haha, for me is IV jab... painful...) and many other things. Oh, Ivy and myself received our first X'mas present for the year, brought back from Bangkok by Danielle. Thanks gal :)

The next buffet will be in end Dec with the rest of the "gang". I am looking forward to it to catch up with the rest, and of course getting to taste my durian pengat again :p

What's next?

The next day was dinner with a colleague. He recommended "Royal Cophenhagen Tea" at Takashimaya L2. The first thing that impressed me was the table x'mas tree made of custards. Was figuring real hard whether they are real custards. The tea range is exotic, but I am more of a coffee person. I can appreciate coffee more. Do you find "Royal Cophenhagen" familiar? Yes, they are famous for their procelain products. So the tea pot and the cups that you can find at this place have Royal Cophenhagen designs. Food is quite good, no crowd. Btw, the table x'mas tree is made of real custards. I could not resist asking the cashier before I left the place. This is the inquisitive me.

Over the long weekend, William and myself went Marina for a movie. We went Suntec first just to take a look at the bridal fair (after "tip-off" from my Sis). Well, they have bridal shops from Taiwan, Shanghai, HK and of course Singapore. I have never thought of taking wedding photography overseas, and yet it is going to happen!! We signed up for a wedding photography package and taking the photos at Taiwan. Ooo... I am excited about it! I have always like the scenary of Taipei, esp during Spring/ Summer. Signing up for the package also reminds me of the last family trip with my father. Pa Pa, I miss you. The trip to Taipei in Apr will certainly brings back beautiful memories of our family trip together.

Yesterday, William and myself went to a Thai restaurant at Serangoon Gardens. It's called Tuk Tuk (i think). Their Thai food is quite authentic. Most special of all is their durian sticky rice. I have always like mango sticky rice (it's my must have when I go Thailand), durian sticky rice at this place is quite good too! Their price range is higher than Thai Express.

Today, William and myself went to try out authentic Xinghua cuisines at Maude Road. Their fried fish tastes really good. But $9 for 6 small pcs is a bit expensive. The Xinghua restaurant and food have probably brought back nice memories to William, as his family used to 'ta bao' from this restaurant :)

Besides my next feast at Merchant Court with my mba gang, I am also looking forward to the semi-potluck dinner at Biyun's place on 24 Dec :D

It's year end. Time to unwind.
Let's all enjoy ourselves! :)

Busy bee

It is finally friday...
At 6.30pm today, I was simply relieved!

All along, my workload has been high. Last 2 weeks were especially bad!
Three concurrent projects are supposed to be launched on 1 Dec.
Another project will start to run from mid Nov once approval is obtained.
This is also a budgeting period in which I have to be really "thick skin" to ask for budget. It seems like everything and anything can be associated with Inpatient Operations. You can imagine how many papers and presentations I have to write and do.
All these are excluding the smaller projects that my team is supporting.
Yet I do not have adequate support.

I must say that I'm super efficient already, but hey, everyone has a limit. I am totally flat out. Things will only be brighter after end of the month...

Don't care now. Just do what I can lah.

Anyone can impart me with the skills to idle???

I will be on a month leave in Mar next year.
Haha, however, I am really not sure if I can wait till then.

I am tired.
I realise that I really do not know how to unwind. I had to go to the extent of buying a book " How to be idle" to LEARN how to idle. Haha, it didn't work, simply because I do not have the time to read it.

Looks like I need some wisdom to know how to be slack!!
Preferably can get to slack immediately will be ideal!

A bad day

I am doing a project targeted at improving discharges in the wards.
A multi-pronged approach were adopted and improvements have been seen.
The last lap is to electronise the system. This is a challenging one, as the system draws data from various databases. One particular component is tough. I had a 2.5 hrs meeting from 4.30pm to 7pm today to sort out the technical difficulties with the IT folks of three different systems!!
Oh mine..... NO SOLUTION was worked out at the end due to numerous reasons! Well, now I understand the complexity of each IT system and IT folks don't necessarily understand the system and lingo of one another.

I disagree with some of the management's decisions too. There are certain things that should be done immediately for staff welfare. Yet solutions that will only translate to unnecessary wait were given!

On my way home after a chill-out with my friends, two of us shared a cab back. The cab driver was very rude! We booked the cab from Raffles City taxi stand. He did not put a 'Call Taxi" upon arrival, put on an attitude when we boarded the taxi. Upon knowing that we were going to 3 locations, he was even more unhappy. When he knew that I needed to pick another person up after sending my friend home, he told us, " Your friend better be already waiting by the time I reach, if not I will just drive off". OMG.... what kind of attitude is this??? On my way home, another rude taxi driver. In my personal opinion, taxi drivers' professionalism can reflect whether a country is gracious. I am quite a frequent taxi customer (esp. if i work late), sad to say, maybe only about 50% of our taxi driver is professional ..... If Singapore wants to increase its service standard, maybe should target taxi drivers besides staff from hotels and restaurants.

The last thing is HDB regulation for combined income ceiling to be less than $8K to be able to apply for new flats. This is really a dinosaur rule that should be changed!

Arghhh... what's a bad day!

A meaningful reminder

When you lose wealth, you lose nothing.
When you lose health, you lose something.
When you lose character, you lose everything.

The Sound of Music

Doe, a deer, a female deer
Ray, a drop of golden sun
Me, a name I call myself
Far, a long, long way to run
Sew, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow Sew
Tea, a drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to Do (oh-oh-oh)
Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do

The Sound of Music (1965) is one of the movies that I watched in AVA room when I was young, and one that I would never forget.

I learnt to sing Do Re Mi
I learnt the meanings of love and joy.
I learnt not to run from reality.
I learnt to be brave.

When I was mending my skirt just now, somehow Do-Re-Mi came to my mind and I started to sing along.

Singing it 20 years later, it brought back beautiful memories and nice reminders.

Try listening to it, and tell me how you feel!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p5vnMZcU1A

A wonderful gathering with buddies

I went for a gathering with my buddies today at Vivo.
It has been almost 3-4 months since I met them.

Good to see the gals today!!

And I am very happy to know them one of them is going to be a Mummy soon, and it's a twin!This is simply awesome!
She is my first buddy to be married and now the first to be a Mummy.
All of us are happy for her and excited!

She has also changed her job to be in a better workplace.

This is triple joy!! Wonderful! :-)

Take a break, have a kit kat

I am always politically correct at work...
It's nicest when I am at home, with loved ones and good friends.

Sometimes, I feel like blowing my top at work, especially in the last 3 months.
However, somehow or another, I always manage to keep my cool...
This has its obvious repercussions with my health protesting.
Or should I say my health is putting a riot?

I'm not losing my goals here.
Just that I am clear that I need a long break.
Fortunately i know this is happening soon lah (finally hor...)

Life is a journey and everyone of us is a tourist.
Just take an unhappy incident as an unhappy encounter.
Take away the baggages and enjoy the rest of the trip.

Take a break, have a kit kat.. Haha.

Two times of unforgettable experience as a Patient

Sometime in late Jun 09, I was down with high fever. That was the time when community outbreak of H1N1 had just begun. . If I am just a general public, I just need to go GP for advice rather than going to A&E directly. However, as a staff, I was required to “report” directly to A&E for an H1N1 test. The nose and throat swaps that test for H1N1 were not exactly uncomfortable. The wait for the result was 6 hours. I spent like nearly 8 hours in A&E, sitting down and trying to wait as patiently as I can for the results. It was difficult to rest with TV in front of me and in a sitting posture. Luckily I brought along a book that kept me occupied a fair bit. When the results were out and I was declared “free of H1N1”, I felt so relieved!! The last thing I want is to affect my loved ones, friends and colleagues whom I have contact.

On last Thursday late morning, I was hit by a sudden throbbing headache during a meeting that affected the visual view of my left eye. The headache lasted longer than usual. I decided to take the PM off to see a doctor. Hence I proceeded to the staff clinic. I was referred to A&E immediately. I asked to be given MC to rest at home but was rejected. So I went to A&E reluctantly. At A&E, I was given a more detailed assessment and the doctor asked “Which ward do you prefer?” I was like “hmm… you mean I need to be admitted??” Hey, this is getting a bit too much. I did not expect to go A&E and I did not expect to be admitted all the more!! Why are all these happening? The doctors were worried that I might be having internal bleeding in the brain that caused the sudden headache and blurred vision. The first 24 hours was critical. My requests for observation from home or at A&E observation bay were rejected. Hence I was admitted reluctantly.

I chose an A class ward for more privacy. I went through a battery of tests… CT Scan, MRI, 4 tubes of blood for blood tests, eye checks and numerous times of neurological testings. I know the doctors meant well and they were following protocols. So I endured. Fortunately, thanks to God’s grace, all the investigation results showed no evidence of bleeding in the brain or problems with the eyes. To establish that there was no minor bleeding, the doctor advised for me to go through LP (lumbar puncture) which is also called a spinal tap. Oh, this is too much for me… I can’t imagine having to go through this. If it is for childbirth, I do not mind having to inject epidural. Hmm… I gathered that the MRI and CT Scan were evident enough that I am ok. So I requested the doctor to allow me to be discharged without going through LP and promised to monitor myself. So now I have to be good and really take good care of myself. Whatever it is, I am thankful to the care and concern by all the doctors and nurses.

Well, so what I have learnt and experienced from these 2 hospitalisation episodes?

One, I am not a robot. I cannot be working non-stop!! However, my job these days are very demanding. Requires almost 24/7 on standby and have to work shifts at times.

Two, health is really not to be taken for granted. I know this all along, but still did not manage to take good care of myself.

Three, I have experienced God’s healing power again. I am thankful to God for his blessings.

It is probably time that I change to a new job that allows me to have some breathing space, and have a one-month break before starting the new job. Coincidently, I got a call which offers a job opportunity on the day of discharge! How amazing? I know my prayers are heard by God. It’s clear that I should change job.

Last but not least, I am thankful to Wil and my mum for the love and concern and taking very good care of me, particularly Wil. My dear sis was overseas, and I was touched that she almost want to “chiong” from KL back to Singapore to see me. Thanks sis. I am also thankful to all my gal friends (BY, HY, YL, XM, XL, JY) and colleagues for their concerns.

I am resting at home now and glad to do so.

Mask wearing

One of my triage staff developed fever during the course of duty, and I accompanied her to the Emergency Dept. It turned out that she was H1N1 positive. Well, this made me "a close contact of a confirmed case" as per categorised by hospital protocol. As such, I have to mask myself for the next 7 days. Have to take temperature twice a day and monitor if I develop any symptoms for these 7 days too.

I am usually ok with wearing masks when I am on duty, whether it is surgical mask or N95.
Hmm... it's a different experience when I have to wear mask the whole day, from the moment I wake up, on the train, at work... Fresh air becomes so precious all of a sudden. Haha. I try to grab some moments of fresh air when nobody is around me within 1.5m radius ;)

I doubt I will be infected by the triage staff, as I have exercised full precautions.
My family members seem to feel that I have overreacted by wearing mask the whole day, however, the last thing that I want is to spread the bugs to family members and others.

Well, there are people who say that H1N1 is just like any other flu. It may be better to be infected now and develop immunity. Yes, may be true. However, if everyone exercises social responsibility, it can help to control the spread.

Well, I learnt to appreciate fresh air from this episode!

Cheers!

Turkey Trip (13-21 Jun 09)

Many years back, Xueling, Jiayi, Huizhen and myself went to Taiwan. That was my first long trip with friends. There was no budget airline then, and we took China Airline. After so many years, we decided to go for another long trip together. Huizhen was unable to join us, and so 3 of us went ahead and we chose Turkey! The flight took us 13 hrs.

Oh, Turkey is very different from what I thought. I had a good history lesson in Turkey! Its history dated back to 10,000 years ago and has been ruled under 3 different empires (Roman, Byzantium and Ottoman) at different times. If you like to see ancient Greek and Roman ruins, Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques, you will sure like Turkey! The present Turkey is the vision of Ataturk. He is a well-respected leader who led Turkey to adopt a secular democracy.

The country is strategically located between Asia and Europe. It has a mix of Asia and Europe culture.
Turks are warm people. It is summer now, weather is good. As for food, the one that impresses me most is the lentil soup. I was not used to it initially, but grow to like it gradually. The Turkish coffee and tea are strong! I have only tried once for the Turkish coffee. It’s like a strong Espresso, perks one up immediately.

Strictly speaking, we have only covered Western Turkey.
Upon landing at the airport at Istanbul, we went straight to Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sofia Museum, Blue Mosque and Hippodrome.

This is followed by a 6 hr drive to Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
At Ankara, we visited the Anatolian Civilisation Museum, Ataturk Mausoleum, Salt Lake.

Next is a 4 hr drive to Cappadocia, a beautiful city with beautiful natural landscapes.
Jiayi and myself tried out Turkish bath here. Oh, it’s quite an experience!! We got ourselves scrubbed thoroughly. At Cappadocia, there are many cave houses, castles, Grand Canyon look-alive landscape, beautiful sunset and chilly. The hotel that we stayed, Peri Tower Hotel, was like a castle!

There are 50++ underground cities in Cappadocia, only a few are opened to tourists. These underground cities have chapels, wineries, kitchens, and certainly well-designed to confuse enemies. The stones in these cities are volcanic stones that can literally breathe!! The dry constant temperature in Cappadocia is suitable for growing potato, pumpkin and other crops.

Other places visited in Cappadocia are the Pigeon Valley, Goreme Open Air Museum, Fairy Chimney.
We went to see carpet centre, in which we saw how the carpets were made from growing cocoons to weaving to the finished product. One carpet, which is silk on silk woven, is US$61,000!!

We watched the Whirling Dervishes Ceremony in the evening.

On Day 4, we made our way to Konya. On the way, we visited the Sultanhani Caravanserai, a “hotel” for the ancient traders and travelers. Konya is the most religious cities in Turkey. It is also a training ground for F16. In Konya, we visited the Melvana Mausoleum, in which we saw the smallest Koran in the world. At Pamukkale, well-known for its Hierapolis (cotton city) due to the presence of calcium carbonate landscape and thermal water, it is commonly visited by locals and tourists for its health facilities. Jiayi and myself soaked ourselves at Pamukkale, followed by a swim at the thermal pool in the hotel.

On Day 5, we moved on to Selcuk in which we visited Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary. We went on to Kusadasi.

On Day 6, we bypassed Izmir and Aliaga. Aliaga used to be a small fishing village but oil-refinery is one of the core business now. We visited the Pergamon City and Troy at Canakkale.

On the last day, we visited the Grand Bazzar and Spice Market.
We took a Bosphorus cruise from the European side of Turkey and saw the palaces, houses along the European and Asia sides of Turkey. The day ended with a belly dancing performance at Gar.

On the day of departure, guess what happened, I had food poisoning with diarrhoea and even vomited at the airport. Good thing Xueling was well-equipped with medicines to allow me to survive through the 13 hr flight back. My thanks to Xueling and Jiayi for being so sweet and caring!!

It’s a good learning trip, a good break from work, and a good time catching up old times with Xueling and Jiayi.

Public speaking skills

I believe many of us are impressed by the public speaking skills of President Obama.

I attended a workshop by YMCA Toastmasters Club on 3 June 09, which shared on the rhetorical devices used by President Obama. Here it goes on the list of techniques:

1. Rhetorical questions
2. Anaphores
3. Epistrophe
4. Mesodiplosis
5. Conduplicato/Hypophora
6. Anadiplosis
7. Asyndeton
8. Polysyndeton
9. Synectoche
10. Alluision
11. Alliteration
12. Assonance
13. Onomatopedia
14. Triads
15. Antithesis
16. Catchphrase

It's quite a mouthful, isn't it?
It is quite easy to see these devices being used in the speeches by President Obama, once you know these devices.

I guess knowing the techniques are not enough. One needs to know how to apply these devices tactfully and in the appropriate settings, accompanied by appropriate pauses, posture, tone and confidence. Practice will make perfect.

Besides these, I believe what makes President Obama's speeches stand out is his passion to ride out this trying time with the people and have the best ready for the future generations.

Cheers!

True and real

During the lecture series by Prof Alister McGrath at St Andrew Cathedral over the last weekend, he has shared many insightful thoughts.

One of the sharings that striked me is what is "true" and what is "real"?
"True" are the cold hard facts. "Real" is the relational reality.

Some things are true but not real, simply because we cannot feel it. It does not impact us at all.
Some things are true and real. It is happening and affects our life.

Upon deeper thoughts into "true" and "real", there are so many things that fall into these 2 categories.

Sometimes when we hear of natural calamities happening overseas, we know it has caused many to lose their loved ones. However, it may seems to be "just a piece of news" to some ...
This is true and not real.

We know of the technical recession. It takes one who has experienced the brunt of it (be it retrenchment, compulsory leave, shorter working work week, pay cut etc) to really feel it.
This is true and real.

Interestingly, there are something in middle too -"Semi-true and real" and "True and semi-real".

Science keeps advancing. New research findings may discover new findings that topple the old understanding. I love the aroma of coffee. Some reports say coffee is good for health, some says otherwise. Whatever it is, reports that I "feel" is correct or I choose to believe is real to me. This is "semi-true and real".

Singapore has been through SARS time. Though H1N1 has striked our shore this time round, somehow this seems to be "true and semi-real" to the locals. Why? Because people's memory are short and H1N1 is still considerably kind to mankind for now.

We know deep down in our heart on what are "true and real" in everyday of our life, especially if we take time to reflect.

I was sharing with an undergrad temp staff today that "the world is not exactly beautiful". I may sound pressimistic. However, we need some pressimism, coupled with knowledge and experiences, to understand what are true and real. However, life can be beautiful if we brave life with a positive mindset :-)