Little-Wonder.Net

28 October, 2008

Macau Part I: No, I am not below 18.

23:04:23 | Daily Life, Travel | writebacks (2)

I miss Macau already.

Struggled to ease myself back into my usual school routine and the truckload of backlogged work for the whole of today. Was very much tempted to simply sit and stare at the photos I took in Macau but I practically forced myself back work by constantly snapping my wandering mind back to reality.

“Girl ah. This is no longer Macau. You are in friggin’ school, with your butt parked on a friggin’ uncomfortable (but familiar) black chair. And Frou Frou is in front of you. So, go and do your work NOW!”

It worked. I managed to debug all my code in one afternoon. Haha, yay.

Not to mention an upcoming assignment due in four days (which I completely forgot about) and more readings. And when I was doing that former assignment, all I had on my mind was Macau, Macau, Macau.

Gee, what’s wrong with me?

Anyway, I guess it’s time to put school aside and talk about my trip, eh?

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I’ve too many things to talk about, so I’d be splitting the whole Macau trip into a series of entries which will be posted as the days go by. The rest of the entries are already in draft mode.

When people mention Macau, the first thing that comes to mind is … gambling. It figures, considering how Macau has 28 casinos in all and practically every hotel has at least one casino. Our hotel is no different.

There was one extremely big one which took up practically 50% of the ground floor, and it was built in such a way that it was right smack in the middle of the resort premises such that one has to actually walk through the casino in order to reach the lift lobby, to the hotel rooms, or anywhere else for that matter.

And all entry points to the casino were guarded by … well, a guard.

That bright yellow uniform (worn by all security guards in Macau) has become all too familiar to me now. I’ve been stopped and questioned by these yellow-clad nuisances umpteen times because I looked like I was below the age limit for entry to the casino. (18 years old, for your information.)

Like hello? I just want to go to my friggin’ room. Do I look like I’m even remotely interested in your one-armed bandits, roulette and whatsoever crap?

I think I nearly bit the head off at least four security guards. In fact, I recall getting stopped by similarly evil security guards when I tried to enter a casino to look for my mum back when I was 14 on board a cruise ship. That one, I understand - because I was four years below the age limit.

But hello? I’m still getting the same shit at the age of 22?!?

Each time I get stopped, I was torn between laughing out loud or just screaming in frustration. Repeating to multiple, different security guards stopping me at various entry points that “I AM 22 YEARS OLD” gets pretty tiresome after a while.

Was quite tempted to craft out a huge sign that states “I am not below 18!” (In both English and Chinese) and wear it around my neck, so that I would no longer be hassled each time I have to cut through the casino just to get to somewhere else in the resort. But just imagine the potential embarrassment.

For the record, I don’t gamble. And never will.

The casino was quite a sight though. It’s practically a sea of gamblers. And I’ve observed a couple of hard-core gamblers at work as well and discovered why gambling is so addictive - and swore to myself never to be sucked into this black hole.

The casino was swarming with hookers as well, and it seemed like they were targeting mostly men who were alone. My mum and I were practically standing from an elevated area and observing these hookers do their thing. It seemed like they were failing in their bid to lure, because they were getting rejected one by one. (Hehehe.)

On the whole, Macau’s mostly about gambling (for the gamblers), and shopping (for people like me). Photography buffs will also love the place because there is just so much architecture around. Sight-seeing wise, there is nothing much - apart from Senado Square, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf and The Ruins of St Paul’s Church. And perhaps the harbour view.

I will proceed to talk more about all these in the subsequent entries. ;)

Stay tuned for Part II.

22 October, 2008

The day of double oopsies.

23:17:37 | Daily Life, School Life | writebacks (4)

Oh hai. So I’ve disappeared for a while - mainly because I’ve been up to my elbows in work clearing a backlog of assignments and even attempting to complete (or at least partially) some future dated assignments just for the sake of lightening the weight on my shoulders.

This is mainly because I’d be heading to Macau (and Hong Kong) for a short holiday with parents from tomorrow, for about 4-5 days.

Of course, I’d like to go there with a clear mind, don’t I?

Okay, maybe not quite. I’ve scheduled quite a few readings and topic revisions (and some coding for FYP) to be completed during the trip itself, which I’d work on mostly at night. The daytime will be strictly reserved for play. Heh.

Yesterday was particularly hectic, and I was particularly scared that I would be finished by the time the day is over. One make-up midterm (which was supposed to be last Monday which I missed because of my little A & E episode last Sunday and the ensuing medical leave, on top of two project meetings and a presentation that easily counts for 30% of my final grade.

If I were to grade myself on how I survived yesterday, I would say that I had barely scraped through.

Let me start with the midterm.

Two essay questions, with the time limit of “25 minutes total” emblazoned in bold right before my eyes.

However, I have absolutely no idea how I interpreted the time limit as “25 minutes each“. As such, I was still happily putting the final touches to my answer for the first question at 20 minutes, which was when the professor came along and snapped me out of my reverie by announcing that I only have “a few minutes left”.

Panic ensued.

I screeched (yes, screeched), slammed the paper over and started writing furiously for the second question which was … still blank at that point in time while the professor looked over my shoulder in puzzlement.

All that was on my mind at that exact moment was “WHATTHEFUCK WHATTHEFUCK WHATTHEFUCK?”

Needless to say, my handwriting on the second page was like chicken scratches. With a huge arrow drawn from my answer in green and a little message - Sorry for my terrible handwriting here!

At least I’ve managed to write down everything I wanted to write - although of course, one can never be sure whether I’ve managed to get every point. But come on, one essay question completed (more or less) in five minutes reasonably satisfactorily. Give me some credit lah!

Next, the presentation during Social Psychology class.

Basically, my team and I were pretty much gung-ho about the whole thing and I daresay we delivered a pretty good presentation overall.

(Albeit corny - because we were talking about social loafing and so we’ve added images of bread loaves on a couple of slides. Not to mention an honest-to-goodness fake croissant which we held up occasionally to emphasize the words ‘loaf’ or ‘loafing’. I think the class thought we were nuts.)

Plus, we were all dressed in red … to match the colour scheme of our slides.

All went well until the question & answer segment, which was when I started feeling woozy … mainly because we’ve been standing in one position for too long. I think I nearly passed out at one point, and my groupmate was hissing at me to grab the table. But later on, I keeled over slightly (and attempting to hide my discomfort from the rest of the class by cowering behind the table), was spotted by the professor who then instructed me to sit down immediately before I actually fainted for real.

Darn. Stupid illness.

I’m wondering how I’d cope in Macau, because methinks we’d be doing a fair share of walking. (And my tolerance level even for this simple activity currently stands at 15 minutes.) Considering the fact that I’ve been relapsing every day for the past one week, it’s pretty worrisome.

I raised the concern to my mum, who responded with - “It’s okay, we can always rent a wheelchair from the hotel.”

To which I screeched - “I am so not going to sit in a wheelchair. I have my PRIDE.”

(Knowing that people are sure to gawk at a young, healthy-looking girl with no broken limbs in a wheelchair, without knowing she has a heart condition. Nothing against wheelchairs or wheelchair-bound people, of course.)

Ah well.

Meanwhile, I’d ought to head off to complete my packing, as well as to clear my sleep debt before I catch my 2.10 p.m. flight to Macau tomorrow.

And I will definitely update from there since I have Frou Frou with me. With pictures, of course. ;)

Until then, have a very good night.

13 October, 2008

Mamamia! A&E again!

23:25:35 | Daily Life | writebacks (3)

Major relapse yesterday, and ended up being rushed to the A & E. (For the second time in three months, har har har.)

Was feeling faint all afternoon - but by the time I’ve finished my bath (and possibly losing 1 litre of fluid from my system through sudden diarrhea), I could barely stand up. And that was when my concerned mum flew into a panic and whooshed me all the way to Mount Elizabeth A & E.

Can’t remember much from the whole thing apart from this particularly good looking doctor. (I couldn’t believe my luck when he walked into my examination room. There were … 5 doctors on duty at the A & E that day and I managed to get him! Lucky am I!)

Possibly the youngest doctor there as well, who empathized with my situation, ordered a battery of tests and was constantly apologizing for the lag time between each one. (Because the A & E was extremely crowded yesterday.)

Arrrr! Why apologize? It’s part and parcel of being in an A & E, isn’t it?

Seems like Mount Elizabeth Hospital places their service standards as one of their top priorities - unlike government hospitals. Mount Elizabeth never ceases to amaze.

Second most distinct memory was this elderly nurse who wanted to jab me in the butt (WTF?!??). I refused, giving the excuse that it is not my nature to ‘moon’ people or flash inappropriately. (Hehehe, I can still crack jokes in this situation?!?)

The nurse was laughing throughout, constantly remarking that I was so ‘cute’, and ended up jabbing my right arm instead - and insisted that I lie down during the jab.

I wondered why, but didn’t ask.

Received the answer to my question only after the whole thing was over - apparently, it hurts like fuck. Honestly, I’ve taken loads of jabs in my entire life and this one - I can safely say, is about five times worse. You can actually feel the harsh needle prick, and the burning sensation as all the fluid goes in. (Ordinarily, I would barely feel anything.)

The nurse too, also mentioned that she made me lie down because some people might faint from the sheer pain and the last thing she wanted was for me to topple on top of her.

Hmm, so I look heavy, eh?

Went home after with a throbbing arm and extreme drowsiness. (Read: High on drugs.) Went home and konked out immediately for … nineteen hours straight. No kidding.

Whatever it is - I’ve gotten a couple of days off school with strict instructions to rest from mummy dearest.

Plus, I ended up missing a midterm exam (which I studied for over the past four days), and missed my coding deadline. Right now, my schedule is even more fucked up than before.

Just felt that I should reiterate my little A & E escapade.

Plus, I’m curious - has anyone ever received a stream of apologies from doctors/nurses alike for delays while in the A & E?

The mind boggles.