I feel very insecure about having to leave my swiss army knife behind. But for the sake of saving time by not checking in any luggage, it has to be this way. Somehow just hung up over stuff like that, being worried and disturbed about the impending rain in Shanghai on Fri and Sat, the chap that comes with it and whether my holey yet most comfy shoes and bag will be soaked through. I'm thoroughly paranoid about rain now. Especially since it'll be humid in Shanghai, stuff can't dry fast. Never used to be so concerned about the weather. I remember how we survived those mad rains and floods in the USA, and it never really bothered me although roasting my only pair of work shoes on the heater didn't dry them enough for the next day. Maybe it comes with age, or I'm just so traumatized by Beijing's crazy weather that I'm afraid to take any chances. Boo.

That aside, an exciting but tiring 3 days await! :)

I hope nobody steals my bike when I'm gone, and there won't be strong wind causing a domino effect with my bike at the bottom. 18 May 2010, my bike's birthday! Haha. Quite sad that I'll be missing my fave hip-hop lesson tmr too :( It's the highlight of every week!

I can't wait for my bike.

I can't wait for the peaches.

I hope it doesn't rain in Shanghai although it most probably will!

I can't wait to buy a tuner.

I can't wait to buy shoes.

I want this good life never to end :)

Advantages of a cold shower:

1. It stimulates your neutrophils such that you’re left with a warm fuzzy feeling from head to toe after shivering in the bath.
2. It’s truly refreshing.
3. You save on electricity needed to heat the water.
4. You learn to adapt to the cold.

Ok I can’t think of anymore. I just hate being left shocked and shivering when I expect a nice warm bath. And this must be at least the third time it’s happened to me. Thank goodness Winter has left us. I better go blow my hair dry before I catch a cold.

I had my first bike ride on Beijing roads today! Cool stuff, loads of fun although only a short distance :)

And I had my first peach since last summer! First peach of 2010, looked so pretty and smelled so sweet, cost 3.6x the price of peaches last summer, but tasted kinda disappointing. Juicy, but not sweet and soft enough. Maybe I shouldn't have been so eager. A few days riper would have been better!

Saw a patient with 血栓闭塞性脉管炎 (Thromboangiitis obliterans - I had to google translate it) today, and it amazed me how optimistic he was talking about wanting to amputate his leg, as if it were an ordinary topic under the sun. He said it was ironic how when he first got diagnosed at another hospital, they suggested amputation but he rejected it cos his foot hadn't rotted yet and he could still walk. But now it's so painful at night and his toe has turned black, he thinks amputation would be a better option so at least he could have relief from the pain but now the doctors here think it's better to wait and try to treat it first. He has diabetes too, but is happy enough that his brain and kidneys are ok, so I guess that's what keeps him happy - counting his blessings and looking on the bright side of life.

Somehow the patients at the 周围血管 department strike me as an optimistic lot, bonding over things like the loss of toes and gladly showing us their rotten legs.

the biggest rain since last year

The weather here is crazy beyond imagination. Coming from someone who has only experienced SG's dull and predictable weather for the past 22 years. Yesterday when I left school it started to drizzle. Within seconds the rain grew into a full-fledged storm of sorts, complete with lightning. (and thunder? I was too busy navigating the swimming pools to notice) The rain was so heavy and the droplets were so big that my brolly offered little refuge. Only my head was left dry. My shoes and socks were completely soaked, as well as my jeans up to my thighs and my jacket sleeve and back. And my bag. What a tragic, demoralizing night to the eve of an exam. I tried to air my footwear to no avail at macs. Worst thing is, after getting to macs the rain lightened to a little drizzle and stopped for the night, leaving us to wallow in its cold and damp aftermath.


And today, sensing the sky getting darker, I chionged out of the house for my paper and when I got downstairs it was drizzling. 5 minutes later, there was a hailstorm. Practically small stones falling from the sky. Of course I was busy trying not to get my jeans, bag and shoes ruined before the exam. Practically ran the rest of the way to school. And when I got into the hospital lobby the sky immediately became clear of rain again. Can you imagine how suay it felt? I'm fine with hail, just not coupled with rain. Lucky this time my shoes and socks weren't soaked though and my jeans dried faster. After the exam and 2 periods of lessons, I walked out of school to a clear, beautiful day with only little puddles left on an otherwise dry ground with no other hint that it had rained so heavily just a few hours before. Torrential? Totally. So I trotted home happily to clear skies, a 40kmph cool breeze, sunshine and falling petals. The fact that that stupid perv we're planning to castrate was absent from the bus-stop made the day an even better one :) In good spirits though I'm so tired from the bad night, headache and fitful sleep. 1 paper to go! Before our long-awaited month-and-a-half-long hiatus :)) (Which of course encompasses alot of other shit in non-exam forms but shall be worried about that when the time comes)


It's funny how the last time I got caught in such heavy rain and experienced a hailstorm was in Virginia 2 years ago. At that time my shoes, socks and bag were soaked through too but at least I had the hotel and hostel heater to roast them dry on. Today I was astonished to find that my bag was still wet from yesterday's rain. I miss having the sun in my backyard to bake my stuff in!

The "cotton wool" blizzard continued today. So did the hot and stuffy weather. With warm wind. Yikes. Is it really summer already? My wardrobe ratio is still warm clothing > summer wear! Looks like I need a major reshuffle. Am thinking of letting my slippers come out of hibernation. But I shudder at the thought of rain and spit and all sorts of crap that can potentially contaminate my feet and slippers.

The air is really bad. The gigantic white flakes of dunno-what flying around everywhere in horrifyingly high densities makes me paranoid. Of hypersensitivity reactions, IgE, hay fever, pollen grains and all that scary crap attacking my poor respiratory tract. Which always bears the brunt of all season/ weather changes.

Thank goodness there's aircon in class, but the outside hot-inside cold sleepy syndrome reminiscent of last summer's lessons is threatening to come back! I felt it today!

I can't wait for these 2 papers to be over. Got a million things waiting to be done. I can only say we can travel lighter and lighter but if you take into account all the sweat which means more changes of clothes, I'm not sure I prefer travelling in hot weather. But I suppose anything beats having to hulk around in layers huh?

It's so warm now that the number of people on the streets have tripled. I'm not sure I like that - pretty scary at night. I chionged home again today just like how I chionged home in the cold cos of the freezing wind the other night but somehow I think I still prefer the latter cos I'd rather it cold and I have the entire street to myself. Ha.

Beijing is so extreme. It's either too cold or too hot. I want the temp to remain in the lower 20s! Dreading summer boo. Or maybe it's already here :(