Sick Man of the East

That'd be me. Thank you very much.

Since last Thursday, I've been having these bouts of 'attacks' where out of the blue and without warning, I'd start sneezing, my nose would run and be blocked at the same time, I'd cough and wheeze compulsively until my voice is reduced to a tiny and hoarse croak. The worst of these 'attacks' happened on Friday night, when we went to Keming Primary School to attend their Mid-Autumn Festivel event, and on Saturday when we made a trip to the Bottle Tree Park. The strange thing was that the symptoms were really quite transitionary - a pill of Clarityn, bit of rest, and I'd be fine again the next morning.

This morning, however, was different. I felt unwell. The hoarseness in my throat didn't go away despite my deliberate attempt to get to bed earlier the previous night (after I'd expended like half a box of tissues blowing my puffy red nose).

"Better not let this drag on anymore, I thought. So I came to see you to grab some meds to hopefully put an end to this.", I replied the MO at the Medical Centre.

"Good call.", the MO said. "Not to worry. You'd be fine."

And then he sent me off to the prescription counter, to get these.


Potent stuff, these are.

1. Difflam: Suck on these for your sore throat; 4 times a day.
2. Piriton: For the flu; 1 tablet after meal; 3 times a day; may caused drowsiness.
3. Procodin: This is for your cough; 10mils 3 times a day; DEFINITELY will cause drowsiness.

"I know lah. This is the usual cough mixture that causes drowsiness right?"

"Er, sir. No leh. This one is very strong one. MO seldom give one.", said the medical orderly at the counter.

Ok....I thought. Like that today don't have to work liow lor. And I was right. After popping the tablet and downing 2 spoonfuls of the mixture, it didn't take long to feel my head swirling. I was nuah the whole day (not that normally I'd be exceptionally goot lut lah).

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I was supposed to meet up with Idy and Stardust today for lunch at Lucky Plaza, originally. Ended up the lunch appointment gotta be called off cos little Iden came down with a fever and mommy Idy had to rush back home to attend to him.

Stardust got her lucky stars to thank for not having to risk life and limb being ferried in a car driven by a half-awake man.

Anyway, I ended up walking over to Novena Square foodcourt to grab lunch by myself. And I saw this.




They were organising this Singapore-International bowling competition, or something, and had this two-lane bowling alley installed right smack in the centre of the mall's atrium. And from the second floor, you get to view the machinery that sort and position the pins working. Quite cool.

A visit to the MPH bookstore on 2nd storey later, I bought this, because it had a 20% discount sticker slapped onto its cover. Even then, it still managed to reduce my wallet's contents by $42.71. Wonder when I'd actually pick it up to read, and if it'd suffer the same fates as my recent book purchases which invariably ended up half-read.



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Oh, during lunch at the food court, I made two new friends from Taiwan.

I was carrying my tray with my lunch (Grilled Fish Set) on it, and looking for a seat in the very crowded place.

"Excuse me, are either of these seats taken?"

"Oh, no. Please." The bespectacled man gestured to the seat besides him.

The other man sitting opposite the first looked up from his plate and stared at mine. He was a little on the plump side and wasn't wearing any specs. "这是什么饭?", he asked me.

"啊。这是 "Grilled Fish Set". 我是在那个摊位买的。" I offered.
"哦不，我是想知道这饭里有什么，为什么是青色的？"
"哦。那是用斑兰叶煮的饭。"
"你是本地人吗？你的国语讲得很标准。" The slimmer bespectacled man spoke again.
"哈哈。是吗？还可以啦。呃，我是本地人。你们是外地来的吗？"
"是啊！我们是台湾人！"

And so we chatted while having our lunch. About food and about tourist attractions in Singapore, mostly. I found out that both of them are from Taipei, were here for leisure, and would be departing Singapore this coming Wednesday. They've already been to the major shopping arcades including Orchard Road and VivoCity, and have also visited the Mid-Autumn Festival decorations at Clark Quay. I asked if they'd gone to Sentosa yet. They said no, although they've been told about it. Told them that I just brought my family over there yesterday. They both seemed surprised that I'm married, so I guess they probably are single themselves. Both of them looked to be in their late twenties/ early thirties. The bespectacled guy (范) is working as a medical representative in some German Medicine Company. The other chap (李) is an entrepreneur who sells "过滤器". I wonder if they were the air or the water types. But I didn't ask.

Before we parted, we exchanged namecards and contact information.

“现在我们是朋友了。下次你到台北，来找我们。我们一定招待你。不必跟旅行团！”

Nice chaps, these two.