Week 3

Sorry about the extended delay in this post: I've taken the time to fully relax after 14 weeks on the go (since mid-March) to recharge my 'bludge' batteries ;).

That, and sorting through almost 8500 photos from this trip.
Also, I'm updating the Marina Bay and other posts that require DSLR imaging - check them out tomorrow!

--Saleem
PS - shout out to Rabil and Jeremy for the food talk! =)

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Monday: ZZzZZZzZ

After last night's delight at experiencing the Singapore Flyer and the Skypark, I ended up sleeping late at 1am. This, along with other late nights from during the week, summed up to become a massive sleep debt.

The result: me sleeping in past my usual wake up time of 6.30. And though I tried, I missed the free shuttle bus at 8am from Novena. The next bus would come in 30 minutes... too late for me to get to work on time. Checking the local bus schedule didn't help: the next bus would get me there, just as late. So I flagged down a cab... and it wasn't cheap - a price to pay for sleeping in. The fare was 'only' S$5.30 by the most direct route, but a peak hour (am/pm on weekdays) surcharge of 25% kicked it up to S$6.50... Lesson very well learnt. NEVER SLEEP IN AGAIN!

Anyhows: spent the rest of the day doing investigations and pre-testing alongside the new Intern, Yuan An. Just like the other fellow Alaric, they're in their final year of their Dip. Optometry programme.

That's about it: I went home with Michelle and Andy, only to crash in front of my iPad at 6.30pm. Next thing I know, 'twas 9.30 and they'd left a note saying they'd gone out... Ah well. Sleep debt cleared!

(No pix today)



Tuesday: Squashed. Noms!

Those two words summarises the whole day.

Today, my assignment was to stand in and assist the doctors (if necessary)... and stand I did. 3 hours with Doctor Lim in the morning, followed by a continuous 4 hour session with Doctor Theng - my feet were rather squashed afterwards :( Unfortunately, reception stuffed up this week, overloading and triple-booking Dr Theng's timeslots... which results in one very overworked doctor.

Highlight of the day: standing in the Treatment Room, observing an IND - Incision and Drainage of a chazalion (eyelid lump). Icky icky and bloody is all I'll say.

Evening, as far as I'm concerned, is when the fun begins! Tonight I had organised to meet up with Rabil and Jeremy: two Facebook buddies who I 'met' almost 5 years ago. These two were amongst the earliest gamers on a Facebook game we all played - "Scratch and Win". Despite what you may think, we aren't all insane to play games on Facebook, and this is the first chance ever to meet up with these guys!

Dinner was over by Serangoon Gardens where one of them lived: a well-known hawker centre that goes (appropriately) by the name Chomp Chomp. Finding a table was a nightmare... fortunately those two were already seated and had ordered something by the time I arrived a bit late.

Above, you see the results of Jeremy and Rabil's experience: White Carrot Cake, hokkie mee, mutton and chicken satay skewers, and Spicy Sting Ray. And this MASSIVE pitcher of Iced Lychee drink (with added aloe vera).

Dessert: Rabil suggested that I try this soya bean dessert. Now initially I was a bit hesitant - I drink soya bean drink at home sometimes, and it's not on my favourites list at all. After my first mouthful of this Almond Soya Bean, however, I could hardly be any more wrong. This soya bean pudding was GREAT! Strong almond flavours came through the soft pudding... and only S$1.50 each!

Well... That's about it for another night. Pity we all forgot to take a group shot... maybe next time.

A shout out to Rabil and Jeremy for this great experience!!

Wednesday... By Day one form, by Night another...

Yes... Work was routine and boring again. So onto the food:
Canteen lunch today is mee siam goreng with chicken nuggets and samosa. Although the last two were cold, it was still an enjoyable alternative item to nibble on :)

Dinner tonight, at ION Orchard: Paradise Dynasty - one of the six popular restaurants of the Paradise group.
The main feature is that it is a pork dumpling place, but also branches into la mein ('pulled noodles').

It was a feast! Not my kind of feast, unfortunately - all the Xiao Long Bao's have pork in them - not my meat. To enjoy this place, one has to be a porker! They also provided a guide on how to eat them, and in which order!

We also had a number of other dishes as well (otherwise, I'd starve, and there'd be no more blogposts). Anyways, it's one place you should go to - not just for the XLB, but also to enjoy Beijing/Shanghainese cuisine in a restaurant environment.

And yes: the girls insisted on a bit of dessert too :P

But the night wasn't over just then! Half of us then caught the train - over to Hougang MRT station and the street market right above.

Now street markets are fun - you can get almost ANYTHING there! Cheap sunnies, clothes, stationery stuff.

Food-wise: chow tou foo (Stinky To-Fu), Jelly Coconut, Soya bean dessert (not as good as last night's though), and much more!

One last event for the day: Andy pulled out his RC Helicopter, providing an hour's worth of delight for us boys =)

Thursday: LASIK Day! All hands on Deck!

Morning was rather hectic, with up to 6 patients arriving at once. So we were flat out.

Lunch: a fishy mistake, ordering this from the Canteen: fried fish of some form... WITH BONES! So for every nibble I had, there were at least 2 bones, if not more - needless to say, I took a few bites and then gave up. Fortunately, there were still some leftover Grass Jelly with Longan from yesterday =)

After lunch, things were quite quiet - boredom set in. So we were allowed to go home a little early!

Dinner tonight was at Plaza Singapura: Itacho Sushi - a Japanese place recommended to us. In my opinion - there is quite a decent selection of Japanese food in Singapore, and this place was no exception. Restaurant food is nice, but expect to pay the 'surcharge': +7% GST, and then another +10% service charge on top - so about +18% overall. It worked out to be about S$35 each, but worth it.

And that was pretty much it for a Thursday...

oh wait... I snacked on some macarons too :P

Friday - TGIF!

Work.
Afternoon: more work.
And that pretty much sums it up - finally it's Friday right, end of my first "full" week at Eagle Eye Centre Mt Alvernia...

Oh wait: I still have to work Saturdays too :(

[Aside: actually, I didn't this week - we negotiated with Optom Shandy earlier on, to have a full weekend off - and it promises to be a great weekend!]

Highlights of the day: nothing much, really.
Dinner, on the other hand: Chinatown (again) and chicken!

Tonight, we made good on an earlier promise not to miss out on the Tian Tian Chicken Rice.

Yummy! For S$24, we got a whole chicken and also 3 bowls of chicken rice (S$0.70 for a large bowl of rice). We wanted veggies too... but they were all sold out. Good thing we got there when we did at 7.15pm - the store already had a bit of a queue, and come 7.45 (whilst we were still eating), they started closing up and telling late diners that they had sold out - no more chicken (just like us a few weeks ago).

Anyways, that's about it: us boys attacked the chicken from both sides, leaving behind a trail of sauce on the plate (of course, Michelle ate a bit too!).

Dessert tonight: at a place recommended by Eva - didn't catch the name of it, but just off Chinatown. Despite being completely bloated from the whole chicken, I JUST managed to stuff a little bit more down... but only just.

The whole trip homebound on the MRT was an agony - my stomach was THAT full!!