When I left Beijing for a trip to Singapore two weeks ago, there were snow flurries, the trees were mostly bare, & buds & shoots were just peeking out from their winter hibernation.
Now, two weeks later, there are greens & pinks & yellows & whites & reds all over. Bulbs are sprouting from the groud & temperatures are warm enough for shorts & sandals!
Unfortunately, despite Spring's renewal, there still sits a haze of smog. The Earth renews itself every year. But I wonder what damage we inflict on her with the pollution that spouts into the air every day.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Star Sighting
Guess who I walked past in the transit lounge of Changi Airport Terminal 3?
David Archuleta, runner up of last year's American Idol. Didn't recognize him at first until I heard him laugh the bashful way that he does.
He was smaller & shorter than I expected - probably why I didn't recognize him immediately. He was walking with an airport staff (maybe he is an unaccompanied minor???) in the opposite direction that I was going. When I heard his laugh, I turned around then saw some salesgirls gawking at him & muttering "American Idol...."
If he was David Cook, I would have run after him immediately!
:)
David Archuleta, runner up of last year's American Idol. Didn't recognize him at first until I heard him laugh the bashful way that he does.
He was smaller & shorter than I expected - probably why I didn't recognize him immediately. He was walking with an airport staff (maybe he is an unaccompanied minor???) in the opposite direction that I was going. When I heard his laugh, I turned around then saw some salesgirls gawking at him & muttering "American Idol...."
If he was David Cook, I would have run after him immediately!
:)
Saturday, April 04, 2009
HUMID
I'm sweatin' like a hog here in Singapore....every move I can feel the droplets of sweat forming.
Ugh.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Excuse my absence
I've been awfully quiet lately, not because I have nothing to say, but because I have just been INCREDIBLY BUSY in real life (not that blogging is not real; it's just that blogging is writing about life, but in the meantime, I am too busy living life to be writing too much about it, you know what I mean?).
Meetings on meetings on meetings because of my volunteer work in school has meant less time for blogging. Although the words still churn in my head, especially when I am walking monotonously on the treadmill for 30 minutes, I can't find the time to write it all down. Plus the fact that SATs are coming up soon for son #1 (which means constant reminders for him to do practise tests - yes, I am an Asian parent), AND college lists have to made in preparation for college applications this fall (AAAHHHH!!!!) leaves me with just enough time to religiously maintain my "gymming" every other day, a relaxing body massage on weekends & some chill out time in front of the TV on some nights (although most of the time is spent looking at the screen while hubby channel surfs - Grrr).
I hope to blog more about the process of deciding on colleges for son #1, the impending empty nest syndrome, and peri-menopause (yes, I am that old).
Till then, please bear with me....
Meetings on meetings on meetings because of my volunteer work in school has meant less time for blogging. Although the words still churn in my head, especially when I am walking monotonously on the treadmill for 30 minutes, I can't find the time to write it all down. Plus the fact that SATs are coming up soon for son #1 (which means constant reminders for him to do practise tests - yes, I am an Asian parent), AND college lists have to made in preparation for college applications this fall (AAAHHHH!!!!) leaves me with just enough time to religiously maintain my "gymming" every other day, a relaxing body massage on weekends & some chill out time in front of the TV on some nights (although most of the time is spent looking at the screen while hubby channel surfs - Grrr).
I hope to blog more about the process of deciding on colleges for son #1, the impending empty nest syndrome, and peri-menopause (yes, I am that old).
Till then, please bear with me....
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Impressions from China - More Snow!
It snowed again last night through this morning.
However, with temperatures above zero today, most of the snow has melted except for some patches on the grassy areas.
Luckily, I took some snowy pictures...
Snowy landscape
Chinese method of shoveling snow...with shovels & broomsticks
Environmentally friendly snow shovel
Snow rabbit
However, with temperatures above zero today, most of the snow has melted except for some patches on the grassy areas.
Luckily, I took some snowy pictures...
Snowy landscape
Chinese method of shoveling snow...with shovels & broomsticks
Environmentally friendly snow shovel
Snow rabbitThe forecast says more snow next Tuesday....crossing my fingers!!!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Impressions from China - Snow
"By the way, it's snowing," my husband said as he was leaving for work this morning.
That had me jumping out of bed in child-like glee to look out the window.
I don't know why, but snow brings out the child in me, making me all excited & jumpily happy, if you know what I mean. Even though today's snowfall was more of a flurry, just the sight of the white flakes drifting down was enough to put a smile on my face. Most of it melted on the ground as the ambient temperature was not cold enough to keep it solid.
But still, it was nice while it lasted. I guess I would be telling a different story if I was one of the folks living in the Mid-west of the USA experiencing their 76th snowfall of the year..... :)
That had me jumping out of bed in child-like glee to look out the window.
I don't know why, but snow brings out the child in me, making me all excited & jumpily happy, if you know what I mean. Even though today's snowfall was more of a flurry, just the sight of the white flakes drifting down was enough to put a smile on my face. Most of it melted on the ground as the ambient temperature was not cold enough to keep it solid.
But still, it was nice while it lasted. I guess I would be telling a different story if I was one of the folks living in the Mid-west of the USA experiencing their 76th snowfall of the year..... :)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Impressions from China - Pants on Fire
A friend of a friend took these pictures of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel fire right next to the CCTV building (aka "the giant underpants"). He took them as he was driving past the site.
Unbelievable. Hard to imagine that fireworks caused this.
We drove past the remains of the building today. It was a sad sight, a grey shell, covered with ashen-grey soot. It almost looks like if I touched it with my index finger, the structure will crumble into...well....dust.
There is lots of talk about how it could have been a purposefully set fire for the sake of insurance (read: arson), but it's just talk.
But this being China, who's to say what's true & what's not....
Unbelievable. Hard to imagine that fireworks caused this.
We drove past the remains of the building today. It was a sad sight, a grey shell, covered with ashen-grey soot. It almost looks like if I touched it with my index finger, the structure will crumble into...well....dust.
There is lots of talk about how it could have been a purposefully set fire for the sake of insurance (read: arson), but it's just talk.
But this being China, who's to say what's true & what's not....
Thursday, February 12, 2009
ROFLMAO!!!
I love David Letterman!!!
Don't know what's up with Joaquin Phoenix....is he on drugs or something???
Don't know what's up with Joaquin Phoenix....is he on drugs or something???
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Bedside Manners
This is an interesting article from the New York Times. The physician-teachers who taught me in medical school, & my seniors when I was a houseman ranged from the truly compassionate whom the patients loved, to the abrupt (& scary!). And as a practising physician, I saw the same range of different bedside manners in my colleagues.
Communication is one thing. But to be able to be compassionate especially when dealing with patients, I feel, is just as, if not more, important.
I wonder how NUS "teaches" bedside manners these days. I know that in my day, there were certainly no such modules; it was look & learn, which, as you can imagine, left a lot to be desired.
Communication is one thing. But to be able to be compassionate especially when dealing with patients, I feel, is just as, if not more, important.
I wonder how NUS "teaches" bedside manners these days. I know that in my day, there were certainly no such modules; it was look & learn, which, as you can imagine, left a lot to be desired.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Amazing Technicolor Family
Reading this article about President Obama's multicolored extended family, it gives me hope that we are entering an age in the USA in which we celebrate diversity instead of propagate prejudice.
Even in Singapore which prides herself in her multiracial, multicultural society, on the surface, this harmony appears prevalent. However, dig deeper & you will see that age-old racism still exists, & xenophobia is quite rampant.
I sometimes read the Straits Times Forum page online, & notice that each time there is criticism about some aspect of Singapore, or when someone suggests improvements using examples from another country, the racists & xenophobes crawl out of the woodwork & start slinging mud at the writers for daring to say bad things about Singapore or that other countries can actually do things better. I find it annoying as hell that people can be so closed minded to everything foreign, ESPECIALLY in a country that supposedly prides itself in being so damned tolerant of the different cultures who live on this tiny island. Talk about hypocrisy.
Personal experience has also colored my vision (pun not intended) of the extent of prejudice & xenophobia in Singapore, with comments (not complimentery) made about my childrens' accent/nationality when they attended a local school in Singapore for a few years.
Together with recent events (both personal, as well as nationally) which, to me, shows that the Singapore government is losing/has lost its soul & compassion, I am not sure anymore that I can make Singapore my home again, nor do I think that it's a good place to raise a family. Oh sure, it's a great place to make money & lead a comfortable life. But apart from the material comforts, I believe that what's in our hearts & souls also needs nurturing....& I am not sure that Singapore has what it takes to do it. I hope that I am proved wrong...
Even in Singapore which prides herself in her multiracial, multicultural society, on the surface, this harmony appears prevalent. However, dig deeper & you will see that age-old racism still exists, & xenophobia is quite rampant.
I sometimes read the Straits Times Forum page online, & notice that each time there is criticism about some aspect of Singapore, or when someone suggests improvements using examples from another country, the racists & xenophobes crawl out of the woodwork & start slinging mud at the writers for daring to say bad things about Singapore or that other countries can actually do things better. I find it annoying as hell that people can be so closed minded to everything foreign, ESPECIALLY in a country that supposedly prides itself in being so damned tolerant of the different cultures who live on this tiny island. Talk about hypocrisy.
Personal experience has also colored my vision (pun not intended) of the extent of prejudice & xenophobia in Singapore, with comments (not complimentery) made about my childrens' accent/nationality when they attended a local school in Singapore for a few years.
Together with recent events (both personal, as well as nationally) which, to me, shows that the Singapore government is losing/has lost its soul & compassion, I am not sure anymore that I can make Singapore my home again, nor do I think that it's a good place to raise a family. Oh sure, it's a great place to make money & lead a comfortable life. But apart from the material comforts, I believe that what's in our hearts & souls also needs nurturing....& I am not sure that Singapore has what it takes to do it. I hope that I am proved wrong...
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Impressions from China - Fireworks!
It's fireworks galore tonight, right, left & center! 15 more minutes till midnight & it's the first day of the Chinese New Year (gong xi fa cai, everyone!). I put my hands on the window pane & I can feel the them vibrating as the sound waves from the crackling explosions hit the glass. I expect the cacophony to continue till past midnight as the villages that border our compound celebrate the coming of the new year.
We bought our own fireworks to light, which we did tonight out in the freezing cold. So much fun it was, lighting up & then running for cover, with fingers plugged into our ears to shield them from the explosive sounds! Growing up in Singapore, where fireworks were banned, I am now making up for all the deprivation with my sons! (Note: yes, we are careful!)
This is the view from our living room....
We bought our own fireworks to light, which we did tonight out in the freezing cold. So much fun it was, lighting up & then running for cover, with fingers plugged into our ears to shield them from the explosive sounds! Growing up in Singapore, where fireworks were banned, I am now making up for all the deprivation with my sons! (Note: yes, we are careful!)
This is the view from our living room....
Monday, January 19, 2009
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Condolences
My heart goes out to the Travoltas on the death of their son, Jett.
I can't imagine anything more devastating than losing a child....
I can't imagine anything more devastating than losing a child....
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Quality
So what does the Toyota automotive manufacturing process have to do with health care?
A lot, apparently, according to the book, The Best Practice - How The New Quality Movement Is Transforming Medicine, by Charles Kenney.
The author relates the history of the Quality Movement in health care in the USA, in a story-telling narrative style that turns a book on a potentially dry topic, into a page turner. Mr Kenney uses real-life stories to reveal how the health care industry in the USA has slowly realized that quality improvement processes that have traditionally been used by the manufacturing & aviation industries can be applied to health care systems as well, to minimize "defects" (or "adverse events" in the medical world).
I think this book with the mouthful of a title is a must-read for medical professionals to serve as an eye-opener. Quality in Medicine certainly was something of a revelation for me when I worked for that brief period in health administration.
As medical students & then as clinicians, we were never exposed to the "outside world" as far as systems & processes were concerned. We were taught the way our predecessors were taught: mainly by the mentor-apprentice method, the student imitating the teacher, & oftentimes, picking up on bad habits, and operating within an environment of "blame & shame" so that errors remain hidden & buried under a culture of fear, and hence, hindering any possibility of correction.
This book tells of how a handful of people with radical ideas & persistence dared to challenge, & subsequently, changed & improved the quality of health care, starting with their own work environment.
I am inspired by their stories.
There is Hope yet.
A lot, apparently, according to the book, The Best Practice - How The New Quality Movement Is Transforming Medicine, by Charles Kenney.
The author relates the history of the Quality Movement in health care in the USA, in a story-telling narrative style that turns a book on a potentially dry topic, into a page turner. Mr Kenney uses real-life stories to reveal how the health care industry in the USA has slowly realized that quality improvement processes that have traditionally been used by the manufacturing & aviation industries can be applied to health care systems as well, to minimize "defects" (or "adverse events" in the medical world).
I think this book with the mouthful of a title is a must-read for medical professionals to serve as an eye-opener. Quality in Medicine certainly was something of a revelation for me when I worked for that brief period in health administration.
As medical students & then as clinicians, we were never exposed to the "outside world" as far as systems & processes were concerned. We were taught the way our predecessors were taught: mainly by the mentor-apprentice method, the student imitating the teacher, & oftentimes, picking up on bad habits, and operating within an environment of "blame & shame" so that errors remain hidden & buried under a culture of fear, and hence, hindering any possibility of correction.
This book tells of how a handful of people with radical ideas & persistence dared to challenge, & subsequently, changed & improved the quality of health care, starting with their own work environment.
I am inspired by their stories.
There is Hope yet.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wolverine!!!
Check this out...
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD
Opens May 1st.
PLEASE let it be released here in China!!!
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD
Opens May 1st.
PLEASE let it be released here in China!!!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Impressions from China - HoHoHo
Overheard at a local supermarket, this familiar Christmas jingle...with a twist...:
"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one house open sea..."
"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one house open sea..."
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Holiday Season
This Christmas, we will be spending the day as a nuclear family unlike last year when our extended family came to Beijing to visit & we had a house full of laughter, love & cheer. That's not to say that we won't have these sentiments this year, just to a smaller extent. :)
Bittersweet, really, as my older boy will be heading off to college in less than 2 years, & this will be the 2nd last Christmas we will have together as a family before he ventures out into the great, wide world. More than likely, we will be living on different continents, at least for a couple of years - hard to predict in a semi-nomadic family like ours.
From my experience, it doesn't really matter where you are in the world....if your loved ones are with you, the warmth of the holiday season does not diminish as long as we are together.
Wishing all a safe, happy holiday season (despite the dismal economic outlook).
Bittersweet, really, as my older boy will be heading off to college in less than 2 years, & this will be the 2nd last Christmas we will have together as a family before he ventures out into the great, wide world. More than likely, we will be living on different continents, at least for a couple of years - hard to predict in a semi-nomadic family like ours.
From my experience, it doesn't really matter where you are in the world....if your loved ones are with you, the warmth of the holiday season does not diminish as long as we are together.
Wishing all a safe, happy holiday season (despite the dismal economic outlook).
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Not quite a Merry Christmas
"Shares slump in view of economic climate!"
"Terrorists bomb Mumbai hotel!"
"Blue chip company slashes xxx jobs!"
"Dismal economical outlook in near future!"
"xxx Bank to lay off xxx jobs!"
It's quite depressing reading the news headlines these days. Right, left & center, we are inundated by bad news...it's enough to make one just want to crawl under a rock & hibernate until things start looking better.
Even the health care industry hasn't been spared. I would imagine that the pay cuts & layoffs would affect just the senior management, since the actual doctors, nurses & paramedical staff are not that highly paid in the first place? At least, not compared to the kazillions of dollars that CEO's & senior folks get paid in salary & bonuses. Besides, there always seems to be a shortage of clinical staff in the primary care sector anyway, so cutting their salaries would seem rather short sighted.
So I hope that's not going to happen.
But then I'm not an Economist, I'm just a doctor, so what do I know :).
Just speaking from the heart.
"Terrorists bomb Mumbai hotel!"
"Blue chip company slashes xxx jobs!"
"Dismal economical outlook in near future!"
"xxx Bank to lay off xxx jobs!"
It's quite depressing reading the news headlines these days. Right, left & center, we are inundated by bad news...it's enough to make one just want to crawl under a rock & hibernate until things start looking better.
Even the health care industry hasn't been spared. I would imagine that the pay cuts & layoffs would affect just the senior management, since the actual doctors, nurses & paramedical staff are not that highly paid in the first place? At least, not compared to the kazillions of dollars that CEO's & senior folks get paid in salary & bonuses. Besides, there always seems to be a shortage of clinical staff in the primary care sector anyway, so cutting their salaries would seem rather short sighted.
So I hope that's not going to happen.
But then I'm not an Economist, I'm just a doctor, so what do I know :).
Just speaking from the heart.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
TCK's
This is an interesting & different perspective on President-elect Obama & his new team....
I think it will bring focus on the growing population of Third Culture Kids in the world that we live in. With all the conflict that is going on these days, perhaps the future lies in the hands of these young people who have grown up appreciating that there is more to the world than just what lies within their own little community or country.
We'll see.
I think it will bring focus on the growing population of Third Culture Kids in the world that we live in. With all the conflict that is going on these days, perhaps the future lies in the hands of these young people who have grown up appreciating that there is more to the world than just what lies within their own little community or country.
We'll see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)