Wednesday 16 July 2014

Perth - A Short Trip

Made a short trip to Perth in June. Probably the best part was our visit to The Pinnacles. Will write a bit about our itinerary and hope that it will help those planning to visit.

How long it takes depends on whether you want to stop to smell the flowers or zoom straight to the Pinnacles. I'd say it'll take about 3 hours from Perth city to reach here. For us, we took a slow drive to Yanchep National Park before making our way to the Pinnacles to catch the sunset - we were told the best views were at sunrise and sunset.

What we didn't know was that the Discovery Centre closes at 4.30pm and that was the time we reached there. So we missed it.

We spent the night at Cervantes - small little town with a population of 500+!!

The next morning, we hit the road and did some town hopping - visiting Jurien Bay 30km up north, then down south to Lancelin (nothing much) and Two Rocks (very nice little beachside town) before ending up at Mary's Bed and Breakfast.

















Friday 14 February 2014

Blue-tailed Bee Eater

Was at Geylang Park Connector (near Dakota MRT) this morning when I saw this colourful bird dancing ever so gracefully above the waters of the Geylang River.

So difficult to get a nice shot...

another miss...
and then, finally it took a rest ... and I got my shot



Friday 7 February 2014

Blading and birds

Went to blade on 6 & 7 Feb 2014. On 6 Feb, bladed about 14km from Gerald Drive to Punggol Park. And on 7 Feb, decided to go all the way from Changi Beach Park to East Coast Park - 20km in all. This is what I caught on film...SD card!!
Finally, a passable photo of a waterhen.

So excited to "catch" a Red-breasted Parakeet and a Brahminy Kite ... first time.



And this very sociable hornbill


Wednesday 5 February 2014

ESWL ... a third time

ESWL - Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy...a big name for a procedure using shockwave treatment to blast kidney stones to fragmented pieces to be passed out. Long story short - I had 1 laser treatment and 2 ESWL so far for my kidney stones.

This time, I must document the procedure so that I don't forget. Hope this will help relieve the anxiety of first-timers of ESWL too. This is my 3rd ESWL after Dr Ong found a small stone ... again...in my right kidney, on my last visit on 2 Jan 2014. What a start to a new year! He recommended another ESWL - considered as a follow-up so that I need not pay so much (about $400 vs $800 if I start it as a new treatment - note this is after govt subsidy and covered by Medisave). Also told him the Polyclinic doc had said my creatinine level was high so he ordered a blood test at the next visit. Nurse Lin Hsiaoyan was very kind and said that I should tell the nurse on my next visit to do the blood test after they put on the "plug", so that I would not need to be skewered twice.

That's the plug
So here I am today and did exactly what Nurse Lin recommended (she was on leave unfortunately). The duty nurse also injected some saline - she was pretty good as I didn't feel much pain at the point of the plug. Just a note - had to go on low-residue diet the day before (24h) meaning no meat, no vegetables and no fruits. Then at 8pm, take 2 laxative tablets to clear my stools during the night - that didn't happen until the next morning. Normal breakfast on day of ESWL but no coffee or tea .And a painkiller at 10am which I almost forgot to take..

After changing into my lovely KTPH nightie which made me look so pretty, I went into the ESWL room and met the same doctor I saw the last time, I think he's a Filipino from his accent - nice friendly doc. Made to lie on the bed with the big hole at the side.

Pretty me in my nightie -
yes, yes, laugh all you like!! I still look pretty...


The bed with the hole.
The blue knob is where the "rubber band" is located.
The lower back (kidney) rests on that knob.

The clinical assistant (or whatever they're called) applied some gel on the region of my right kidney - man, that was really cold in an already cold room. Had to shift my position several times so as to get the machine to point its shockwaves at the right spot. I had forgotten that the doc will inject me with a painkiller that would send me into a listless conscious slumber. He did it through the plug and I didn't even feel a thing. A warm sensation swept over - like blood rushing to my head, at which point, I started feeling groggy and had to close my eyes. Couldn't sleep too. Now we're gonna to start, they tell me. And so it starts. 

Like in the previous sessions, it's like a big rubber band pulled and released again and again at the kidney area. One shot per second, I counted. 1000 ... snap ... 2000 ... snap ... like an ant's bite, they told me at my first session last year. This sensation I can bear, not much of a problem. It's the shockwaves that can be unbearable at times and today, I had some pretty painful spasms when they increased the strength of the shockwaves intermittently ... at least that's what I think they did ... because the kidney really ached, a dull but powerful ache where I needed deep breaths to control the pain. Strange, didn't felt that bad the last 2 times. After an hour which seemed more like eternity, they said it was successful and my stone had been blasted to smithereens ... actually it looked more like powder on the screen. I estimated I was "bitten" between 3,000 to 3,600 times at one "bite" per second in that hour. By then, the groggy feeling had sort of dissipated ... well. about 80%. Still, I was able to get up on my feet.

It was while they were cleaning up the gel that they found some abrasion on my skin. Never happened before in the last 2 ESWL so I assumed it must have been that the "rubber band" tension was set too high. No wonder it ached so much this time round. Oh well, so long as the stupid stone was cleared, there was no cause to be upset. Such things happen and it's not easy for the staff to tell whether one's skin was "thick" or "thin". Looks like I don't have thick skin!! I don't really blame them but I'm pretty sure some other asshole Singaporean will write a letter of complaint. The asst told me it's just a small abrasion but the plaster felt pretty big. It was when I took it off later that I realized it wasn't that small an abrasion. Ouch, stings when bathing! Was allowed a peek at the screen before I left the room - well, the before and after x-rays showed that the damned stone was gone.

Rested in another room while they monitored me for an hour or so. The same SOP, take blood pressure at regular intervals, drink water and when all was ok, I could only be discharged if I am able to pee. As usual, there was blood in the urine but other than that, all was ok. No pain, unlike the laser treatment when peeing was agony for a few days. That one was bad. Hospital policy was that I must be accompanied when I'm discharged and Joyce took the afternoon off to get me home. Thank you, dear wife. And it's back to KTPH in another month's time for a check. 

Talking about KTPH, fondly known to some as Kill The Patient Hospital, I really don't know what's all the fuss about. I like it very much, compared to all the other hospitals in SG. The land-scaping, the scenery, the service, the staff have all been wonderful. I think we are really fussy here in Singapore. I don't want to delve into an endless debate on the standard of healthcare in SG, but we Singaporeans are really fortunate and should complain less. Doctors and nurses are humans too and we need to understand that and empathize with them. 

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Treetop Walk (TTW)

Had the car yesterday so thought I'd go for the Treetop Walk. Had been wanting to do that for some time. I tried once some months back, but it started to drizzle hardly 15 min into the walk. So idea abandoned. Looked like a nice sunny day today. So, "kay kiang" (trying to be too clever) and decided to dig out my old army boots to give them some exposure. Halfway into the walk and it gave me blisters with another 4km to go. Lesson learnt - never use new shoes (or old shoes not worn a long time) on a long trek!!

For first timers, you can find more info on nparks website. (See here) I parked at Venus Drive and made my way from there. There are clear direction signs all the way so you're never lost. My walk was about 9.5km in total distance according to the app on my phone. Started at 10,10am and ended about 1.30pm. It's not a casual stroll and the terrain is slightly undulating, so be prepared to pant it out if you're out of shape. Wear a comfortable pair of walking shoes and make sure they're not too worn-out (see pix below for reason). I'd recommend long pants if you're concerned about insect bites though I did not encounter any (I was in shirt and pants too). Bring along an umbrella, you'll never know when you need it. And lots of water, but you can fill it up at the ranger station and also answer nature's call there when she comes a-calling! Enough of writing ...



View from Venus Drive Carpark

A little stream to add to the "romantic" setting

This part gets a bit muddy when it rains

You'll come across this little bridge after about 15min
Caution : Evidence of wild boar foraging in the forest

Evidence of an ancient civilisation? ... actually just remains of
a previous kampong that the forest has grown over

Saw a family of long-tailed macaques
You do the same for me later, right, buddy? Buddy?

Hard at work early in the morning

I simply love squirrels ... they're adorable

2 here ... there's a family of 5 running around there 
Nice flower


As mentioned, clear signs along the way


Idiots, idiots and idiots ... why litter in a nature reserve?

Some parts of the path run parallel to Island Country Club Road


Ranger Station


A modern toilet in the middle of nowhere ... hats off!

Drink your fill

It's a one-way round trip. Turn right to start and you end up
here again

Dangerous?

It's a sloping climb to reach the start point of the TTW

Then you go down


Another lovely squirrel ... this one found a piece of bread


The bridge at the TTW


Looking down

Nice view

You need to pay for the view - it's a long walk uphill after
the TTW and you walk a longer distance getting back to
the ranger station than getting to the TTW - be forewarned!



People who visit the TTW like to leave their "souls" behind
(soles!! get it?)

Saw so many - that's why you need a good and relatively
new but seasoned pair of shoes

Saying good-bye to me
And then I saw this on my way out...

Beautiful ... camera, camera, snap, snap ....

Went home to google ... it's a Blue Malayan Coral Snake!

Highly venomous!! One bite can kill a man!! Faint!!!