Hey there, didn"t expect a blog post so soon did you?
Well, I sent an email to friends and thought I"d edit it down a bit and put it here.
Yes, very lazy I know.
I don"t really have much of anything that is quite as exciting as other elective destinations, so you guys will have to do with a quick summary/diary entry of whats happened so far...
After disembarking the plane, I went with priorities first. I found myself some internet to let the masses on Facebook know I was still alive.
After that I managed to work my way through customs (impossible to find a working pen to fill out those immigration cards!) and snuck my 16kg of uncooked beef and fish through the "nothing to declare" line. Yes, thats right, my parents priorities on packing were to get fish and beef to family friends. Luckily, I was allowed to bring 2x23kg of bags, which is actually a ridiculously large amount. Packing everything I could think of amounted to about 20kg.
Stepping outside, I discovered one thing:
Singapore is hot.
I"ll say right now that going from 12 degrees or so to 30 degrees or so is killer. I have no idea how the Canadians do it.
Apart from that, what strikes you is the humidity, with sweat dripping off you as there is no way it can evaporate into the already water filled air.
Oh, the pollution and population ain"t great either.
There were about the population of Adelaide trying to get onto each train I wanted to get on. Luckily, I had 40ish kg worth of frozen goods to use to clear some space. It worked surprisingly well.
Arriving at my destination (family friend's apartment), it seemed like everyone smoked. The lower level is a shopping complex type thing (which I think is the same with every building in Singapore...) and all the shopkeepers would be chainsmoking their hearts out. The only places that weren"t smoke filled were the food places. Everything looked so appealing, especially after airplane food (fake scrambled eggs and baked beans? Really Singapore Airlines?).
Have to admit, the view from the 14th floor is quite good. The layer of smog you can see silhouetting the city not so much.
My cough has gotten worse, and seeing a doctor at the hospital (they have a staff clinic), cost $10 and the bastard barely examine me. Wanted to send me for X-ray until I argued that he was a fscking moron and to try, I dunno, doing a respiratory examination? He ended up prescribing some cough syrup (which I"ve discovered is one of the ingredients of what I believe the cool kids call "purple drank") which hasn"t helped spectacularly, and I"ve taken the first two days off.
Had a brief stint in the anaesthetic setting with a breast tumour removal. Got to experience the "Time Out" thing that they had in our Patient Safety Workshop, they found incorrect consent! The system works!
Surgeon still went ahead with it following the consent they got and chased down extra consent. Not sure how that worked considering the patient was under a general.
Had an infection control lecture with N95 mask fitting. Not exactly very exciting.
Then there was a 5 hour ENT (LaFort I) operation. That was hell boring.
The consultants and regs love to drill you here... Luckily, my "mentor" is really nice and is happy to explain things to me when reply with "I don't know..." Which happens quite regularly.
But yeah.
Food is great here though!
The hospital cafeteria is like a super food court! You can get so much asian food for so cheap! A plate of noodles for $1. Almost everything is under $5. Crazy stuff!
Anyway, I think thats all I have for now.
Ciao!
There were about the population of Adelaide trying to get onto each train I wanted to get on. Luckily, I had 40ish kg worth of frozen goods to use to clear some space. It worked surprisingly well.
Arriving at my destination (family friend's apartment), it seemed like everyone smoked. The lower level is a shopping complex type thing (which I think is the same with every building in Singapore...) and all the shopkeepers would be chainsmoking their hearts out. The only places that weren"t smoke filled were the food places. Everything looked so appealing, especially after airplane food (fake scrambled eggs and baked beans? Really Singapore Airlines?).
Have to admit, the view from the 14th floor is quite good. The layer of smog you can see silhouetting the city not so much.
My cough has gotten worse, and seeing a doctor at the hospital (they have a staff clinic), cost $10 and the bastard barely examine me. Wanted to send me for X-ray until I argued that he was a fscking moron and to try, I dunno, doing a respiratory examination? He ended up prescribing some cough syrup (which I"ve discovered is one of the ingredients of what I believe the cool kids call "purple drank") which hasn"t helped spectacularly, and I"ve taken the first two days off.
Had a brief stint in the anaesthetic setting with a breast tumour removal. Got to experience the "Time Out" thing that they had in our Patient Safety Workshop, they found incorrect consent! The system works!
Surgeon still went ahead with it following the consent they got and chased down extra consent. Not sure how that worked considering the patient was under a general.
Had an infection control lecture with N95 mask fitting. Not exactly very exciting.
Then there was a 5 hour ENT (LaFort I) operation. That was hell boring.
The consultants and regs love to drill you here... Luckily, my "mentor" is really nice and is happy to explain things to me when reply with "I don't know..." Which happens quite regularly.
But yeah.
Food is great here though!
The hospital cafeteria is like a super food court! You can get so much asian food for so cheap! A plate of noodles for $1. Almost everything is under $5. Crazy stuff!
Anyway, I think thats all I have for now.
Ciao!
