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| For all those who have been eagerly anticipating photos... well... My Photo Journal is complete!
Spent the last 2.5 days here compiling it. But so proud of myself.
Can't wait to show it to everybodY!
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| Well, in LiJiang, our team was complete for a while. But while Ash, Junhao and I move on to Shangri La aka Zhong Dian, henceforth known as ZD; Kelvin decided to go Chengdu, which is like out of Yunnan, so good luck to him and his loooong travels. ZD was renamed Shangri La 4-5 years ago to promote tourism in the region.
Our ZD adventures started out when we were 2hours into yet another potentially long bus ride. As I stayed up to watch Barca beat a 10men Arsenal, I was snoozing peacefully right in the front of the bus. I just opened my eyes all of a sudden, and *****WWWWHHHHAAAAMMMM***** (plus screams.....) the coach that i was in collided with a van! Wah, and i actually saw in slow motion (exactly like the movies), the van coming and our coach window getting smashed.
So every1 excitedly rushed out of the coach to get a better feel of wat was happening. The van had skidded across the road and overturned (it was quite smashed up). But amazingly, and THANK GOD, no one was injured.
After a while, and after every1's nerves had calmed, we realised that we were stuck in the middle of no where, in between LJ and ZD, with no vehicle! The bus driver's plan was to get passengers on to any public bus heading 2wards ZD, but only a few could get on at any 1 time. & U know how pple here fight and push to get their way? Yeah, basically, we will definitely have to wait a long time b4 boarding some bus. However, there was this God-sent taxi driver who came along and asked if we wanted to hire her cab. Price was ok, so off we were again on our journey. No more hiccups....for now dat is...
Reached ZD, and hp ran out of $. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Jus when we got into a new place, dunno our way around, and desperately needed to contact pple. Resourceful as we were, we walked a long way to buy a SUPER EXPENSIVE card (the only 1 available), but thank God again, we stumbled upon our connecting bus (which we couldnt find earlier). So off we were, 3h mountain roads, windy, hot, cramp.
Finally reached the school of the patient that we wanted to see... it was nice playing with the kids. Got invited by the patient's mum to their house, which she said was 1h away. NEVER BELIEVE CHINESE WHEN IT COMES TO GIVING TIMES. Our 1h journey became, 1h on the tarred roads-dinner stop-1h on tarred road again-1h on treacherous mountain roads. The van like cannot make it up the mountain roads man, rolled back couple of times, when we reached the home, it was already like 9 or 10pm. Thank God this house is quite an UP village house, nice comfy beds, warm weather too. So that was good. They were good hosts, feeding us with all the village food as usual (no diarrhoea this time) And we ate honey from the honey combs and walnuts from the shells.
Next day, back to the school. It was a combined school for orphans and cerebral palsy kids for their rehab. It was heartwarming to see the able-bodied kids carrying their disabled frenz around, helping them eat, brush teeth, wash face etc. We got dragged (literally) to the riverside to play with the kids. Boy, they really know how to enjoy themselves man.
Nice experience as it was, we were, at least JH and I were, exhausted from all the long bus rides, climbing mountains, horrid food, and ZD is our last stop b4 heading back to kunming. We've been 2 weeks on the road now. So we decided that we wanted to pamper ourselves and splurge on angsana spa, which some1 said was US$50, then grew to US$80, and in ZD, found out it was US$100. Thing is, we were so tired of being so grubby looking and feeling dirty all the time, we were looking forward to the spa sooooo much.
Hired a van to pick us bright and early next morn, feeling so excited, but guess wat, good things don't last long, all the roads to the city were closed cos some BIG SHOT LAMA FROM TIBET was arriving. like WHAT???!!!! (ZD is populated mainly by tibetian tribe pple) So we decided to call the spa, maybe there was some other road we could reach it w/o passing thru the city. Guess was the spa said? They were closed to guests cos they were hosting some VVVIP. (which frm deduction muz be the LAMA). ARGGGGHZZZZZ!!!! We were soooo looking 4ward to the spa since like after we look the sleeper bus and now, THIS!
Our driver tried to be nice, and volunteered to bring us to sightsee outside the town area, but being so sian, we had no mood and jus requested to be driving straight to the airport. We wanted to catch the 1330 flight back to kunming, we arrived at 1030, and the airport was closed! AIRPORT CLOSED???!!!!! Told to wait till 1200 b4 we could purchase our tickets, which we did, but at 12, NO ONE was there. Did I mention? NEVER BELIEVE CHINESE WHEN IT COMES TO GIVING TIMES. stupid. hiyah, finally managed to fly out of the Shangri La that aint such a paradise. (REFUSED TO TAKE ANOTHER LONG-DIST BUS, therefore the flight)
Landed excitedly in KMG, got onto a cab, and guess wat?! Massive traffic jam. It was a traffic standstill at some points. Our ride home, which would normally have been RMB20+, became 50+! wahlao. But, that wasnt the end! We found anote on the door informing us that our landlord changed the lock! So we had to call him and wait for him to come over and pass us the new keys. Wat a pain.
And I was so sad ok, my bed, my room, got taken over by some american podiatrist. I mean, wasn't her fault lah, dr tan sent her to bunk in with us, and since we were all away, she jus made herself feel comfy i guess. But I am still so sad la, jus wanna come back to a nice comfy bed to rest in, then dun haf. Anyway, since, kelvin's not with us, so I'm jus taking over his bed for now.BOOO...
anyway, treated ourselves to nice western food for dinner, so that was a bit of a comfort.
What a day... | | |
| ha, thx 4 reminding me about the toilets ps thomas. i shall elaborate more now.
Anyway, Ashley came, safe and sound all the way from Singapore. She was well received, cos she was carrying all our additional cash ie she was our bank. hahaha. We were worried this innocent-looking gal whould get cheated on the plane or something. When she arrived she started handing out $$$$, tonnes of it. And when she passed me this crumpled-looking used-to-be-white envelop, she said "Don't ask me where i took it out from." So ahem, i din wanna think about it. Haha, anyway, so glad she's here (& its not only about the $.)
When up to this village school to do health screening and health talks. Along the way, we had to stop by this official's school and u know, get the formalities done. So right, as with all long bus rides, shd use the toilet when u haf to chance. Well, u know like how in the FA Cup finals, Gerrard scored a 91min goal from 30m away? THat was how far away we could smell the toilet! As usual, with all toilets in china, its like holes in the ground, with/without a partition in between. Shit/paper/urine all around. So the trick is, go in, dun even bother looking for the cleanest hole, take off ur pants, pee, put on pants, and dash out, all within a minute. Oh did i mention, DO NOT BREATHE during this time.
Well, i think my tummy is too clean, can't take village stuff, so i had diarrhoea again. And so, I couldn't use the 1minute toilet rule. Blearghz. THis time, it was at the village school's toilet. This time, it was, Breathe thru mouth, take of pants, squat, and alwez keep ur eyes looking up, never look down, while squatting there...crap, accidentally looked down, "R THOSE MAGGOTS?????!!!!!, dun look down dun look down, dun puke dun puke, God please let this be the last time i need to use this toilet!!!!
Of cos immediately after, i went to pump myself with loads of pills again. haha. And thank God, i didn't need to shit till i came back. Of cos pee-ing 1 min rule still applies.
Anyway, we did health screening for the kids. It was quite fun actually, they are quite cute. I was testing their vision, and the eye chart was an "E" pointing in different directions, so they had to point. The small kids were so blur they ended up pointing in all sorts of different directions! And they dun speak mandarin, only Naxi. so it was quite a bit of a confusion, But we got thru it quite fast. heh.
Dat nite, we played mahjong with 2 of the teachers and 1 p6 student. Heh. It was good fun cos we had more time to interact with them. That nite it was cold... Junhao, Kelvin & I whipped out our huge thick sleeping bags designed to fight against the bitter cold. But ash only had this small lil' thing the size of the clothe i use to line my sleeping bag to prevent it from becoming dirty. Poor gal man. Heh, she really packed on layers of clothes.
Next day, we taught the kids brushing teeth and washing hands. Their nails were way too long, with lots of filth stuck inside. And water used for hand washing turned brown rapidly. haha. It was also quite cute to see them lined up in 1 row, squatting by the drain and brushing teeth together. heh. Kids are cute la. One kindergarten gal brought a bunch of flowers and started sticking them all over my hair and in my jacket. Hee. In return, I made doggie balloons for the gal and her frenz. hee.
3 of them are off to snow mountain now. Went last year so I din go. Still remember it was quite fun, Sherry and Ps Kenny throwing snow balls at each other...stripping all our jackets and see how long one can tahan in the cold...heh. last trip was fun, good mix of sightseeing, work with the secondary school students (shopping game, singing songs, cutting hair), and good work out (we climbed the thousand tortoises hill).
So tonight's Barca-Arsenal. heh. Then off to ShangriLa tomorrow!
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| Sorry no pictures... takes too long to upload.
The Kunming to FuGong bus ride was the ULTIMATE man. ULTIMATE. Its CRAMPED..its a sleeper overnite bus, so there are beds, but its super tight man, and so many pple squeezed in, cos kids share a bed with their parents. They smoke, and spit in the bus. The TV blasts cheesy MTV cheena music. THE WORST = THE STINKY SMELL! they dun bathe, they take off their shoes...i felt nauseus throughout the nite, couldnt even sleep. Fortunately had a window bed, so i had a teeny weeny gap for me to get some fresh air. Even still, it was the grossest experience. ULTIMATE.
Upon reaching FuGong, I had DIARRHOEA! shat like tonnes of times, backside pain. pumped myself with lomotil and charcoal. ha. So the purpose of the trip (and for enduring the horrid bus ride) was to see the patients (the cleft kids) in their home environments. So happened their homes happened to be some ulu village 4h trek up the hill! Its 4h of vertical ascend can! No descend, no plateaus, up up up 4h. When u think u are there, U aren't! there's just more UP to go.
But its really rewarding when u meet the kids and their families. Went to the house of this 12 year old gal (she looks more like 10 actually.) She had to go for the op alone cos her family was too poor even to haf 1 person come along with her. So when we saw the whole family, and saw how grateful they were, its just really rewarding. (Ok, so i din do the surgery, but hey, i prepped the patients, clerked them, comforted them, held their hands when the plug was being set, made balloons, etc, haha, counts for something i suppose) The families slaughtered lambs and chicken for us. Which is a real big deal, so had to eat, but of cos dat nite i spent entirely in the toilet.
Sunday went up to another village to visit. We were tired of climbing mountains, so we decided to rent a van up, which was a bad idea. The van had no power to go up, rolled back a couple of times, which was very scary, and the guys had to push it at some parts. Finally, when our hearts could take it no more, we decided to climb the rest of the way. Wah climb mountain to attend service man. U thiink going to church on sundays is hard, esp to go early for practice? Saw some teenage guys carrying bass guitars and acoustics, trekking to go to church too. Wah, impressive. Of cos I din understand anything that was being said in service, heh. Took holy communion. Interesting experience.
Had a divine encounter. When we finally got down that hill, we were waiting to hail a cab (which is actually just a motorbike with a trishaw like seating attached), the driver that came along was the dad of this other patient! This boy that we din intend to visit. Anyway, so since we were already on his cab, and his home was on the way, we stopped boy. GOsh, the boy is soooo cute man. And the parents like wanted to give us a LIVE chicken. eh, yeah, but we wouldnt know wat to do with it, so we turned it down. But next day, b4 we left the "not-so-God-forsaken" place (cos thought they are tribal, they are christians), the dad came to wait for us at the bus station and passed me a handmade tribal bag made by his wife!
Well, took another full day of buses to Dali, which was pure holidaying, but not very nice place lah, bit waste time, and finally landed up here in Lijiang. Staying in fren's apartment now. Get a few days rest b4 going to village. Thank God, they decided not to push us too hard. haha.Was supposed to give a talk on Stress, to the students here. BUt the idea of it just stressed us out too much. So fortunately, datz cancelled. heh. HEAR THAT ASHLEY? (we initially arrowed the task to her. haha.which stressed her too)
We'll hang around LJ, wait for ashley to come on sat, do some work early part of next week. Then from LJ go to ZhongDian (our LAST destination), where we'll go see 1 patient, then relax from then on. Go Spa, then FLY back to kunming, no more overnite sleeper buses man. NO MORE! FLYING'S the way to go. Can't wait to go Europe with Mumzy when i get back from China.
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| Well...continuation after the return from the trip with the ITE students.
We proceeded to follow Dr Diarra, this African doctor dat works in Yunnan also, to some village. Dr Tan told us it'd be a 5h trip. But as with all timings in China, 5h can mean 1h or mean 10h! We started out in the afternoon, n by dinner, we still weren't there! by night fall, we were still far away! and so we had to put up in some motel for the nite and continue travelling the whole of the next morn again.
Mind u, the roads aren't like PIE/SLE/CTE. they are mountain roads. we were sitting in this jeep and bouncing from left to right, to front to back, to up and down. At first i bravely tried to support myself by gripping the hand rails, sides of doors, back of seats, but it just got too strenuous i just decided to leave it and allow my head to bumb against the top of the jeep every now and then (ie. abt every minute)
The village was reallie reallie poor though. Quite sad, cows live with humans in the mud houses that are reallie filthy and dark and damp. Pigs/ducks/chickens and kid/adults drink/wash/play/shit/pee in all in the same water. wah, i'll never forget the sight man. its reallie...i dunno...sad. And in singapore complaining abt the slightest things! gosh.
Next up, we spent a week in Stone Forest hospital. About 2h drive away from the city (its reallie 2h this time). 3 of us med students and dr tan had to get all the patients in order when they arrive. Sort them out, clerk them, prepare to present them to the big shot doctors from singapore. So there was 3 days of preparing work. It was nice cos i got to play with the kids, spend time with them. They are reallie cute, but er, bit smelly cos they are quite poor, no clothes, no water to bathe and all.
So the big shot orthopods, plastics, and anaesthesia docs arrived and I had about 20 kids with cleft lips/palates to track. PLus some plastics patients. Gosh, all of them running ard, parents dunno how to speak mandarin (they speak tribal language), coordinating them was tough, but we devised a system that ran rather seamlessly. heh.
the next 3 days were packed with all the repairs of the clefts. Also, we had this 22 gal dat got an electric burn with no eye now, so she has a skin graft patched onto the area. PLus a boy with cystic hygroma, like where got see in singapore one? haha. in total, under plastics, we had 18 opearations.
the guys did the ortho patients, there were 9 ops, cos the ortho surgeons just felt that most could not be op-ed on, or no point in op-ting.
Its quite fulfilling cos the kids feel like crap and look like crap after the op, but like 1 day later, they are bouncing up and down again like nothing happened, back to their old selves.
it wasa hectic, busy busy week. First the HO in the wards, then go OT and help with anaesthesia, then maybe scrub up for the op, then back to anaes to recover the patient, then back to wards to check on them again. hah. it was great fun work and i enjoyed it.
TIring though, so im glad to be back in Kunming again for the next few days. relax relax. Next week gonna send some patients back to Fugong, which is hear is a 15bus ride (+/- 5hr) n then 3h (+/- 2h) trek to their villages. Gosh! Then we'll proceed for a long 2-3week travel around northern yunnan.
ELECTIONS! VOTE PAP!
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