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Hello bloggie, here is me. Writing at this early? Well, I woke up at 5.15 am, a first for me this year and it was so nice that I think I should try to do so for the rest of the holiday…hopefully I would really do so.
Anyway, I was supposed to wake up at 3.45 am, to catch the tail end of this HBO movie, Mad dog and Glory. How I started to watch it was totally unplanned, out of pure luck while flipping channels. However, I missed the ending—I had planned to skip the boring fighting part, returning for the ending but, you got it, I strayed to other channels for too long and when I returned, the ending song was playing. The suspense got to me, just a little but I guess I have to give it up, since I had missed it. Well, after I check for its availability for other time slots.
Mother woke me up. She was the one who was supposed to wake me up at 3.45 am but she had wanted to let me sleep and woke me up at 5.15 am and still asked if I wanted to go on sleeping. Awww…wonder if she really stayed up the whole night as she told me she had planned to, to do housework, having slept earlier. Anyway, she said if she had known I had wanted to wake up that early to watch a television program, she would have woken me up. I did tell her before I slept but I guess that croaky soft voice sounding out jerky sentences consisting a few faded words of my sick throat did a mangled job out of it.
Despite that slight disappointment, I had a good time. Mother took me downstairs and I could shoot some baskets without feeling awkward since not too many people are around to witness my dismal skills and no one is using the basketball court. The basketball court is always occupied whenever I wanted to use it thus the only available time slots are the morning and very very late into the night, rather unfortunately.
At the outdoor gym playground, there were a few elderly people exercising and a young woman. I used the hand and hips exercise machines before Mother brought me to the marketplace for breakfast. Then, we went home.
The morning air was absolutely delicious and probably an adequate reason to wake up early to.
Anyway, when we reached home, Mother had to prepare for work. She also had to remind me to take my medication. Why, oh why. I had blissfully forgotten about it.
Last Monday, 6/11/2006, I had diarrhea.
On Tuesday, 7/11/2006, it was gone. Replacing it was a fever of 38.2 and Sister had to bring me to see a doctor at the Jurong polyclinic as well as get medication. She said I had intestinal infection which starts with diarrhea, followed by a fever and a cough. Of course I had the obligatory sore throat along with the fever but my throat always felt better after I ate the porridge Mother bought for me daily for breakfast.
The doctor prescribed round medium-sized tablets to bring down my fever, lozenges, a bottle of liquid cough medicine and packets of horrendous powder for my diarrhea which I had to mix with a FULL cup of water and down it twice a day. The fever medicine was despised because it was difficult to swallow and the packet of powder for diarrhea was abhorred because not only was it distasteful, it does not dissolve fully in the water, warm might I add. Thankfully, I only finished 3 out of the 6 packets I was given.
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On Wednesday was oral presentation, over and done with now and best forgotten.
On Thursday, my fever finally broke but things do not get better. It was replaced by a major headache.
On Friday, I was well enough (still had a headache whenever I changed positions) for the Singapore Biennale and I went to the Cityhall one with my mother. Unfortunately, I only managed to visit the Cityhall one. At least the entry fee was free and the guide book had a 60% discount and I got it for $6 rather than its original $10. From 9th November to 12th November, entry to all venues was free and items were discounted.
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Afterwards, I was relatively well with the exception of a throat feeling rather strange, until this Tuesday, 14 November, I had diarrhea yet again. Déjà vu.
A slight cough started and blossomed on Wednesday, 15 November, when I had to go to Chinese Orchestra and stay in air-conditioned rooms, and afterwards, stupidly visited and stayed in the air-conditioned Jurong Regional Library for a couple more hours to do research for my brother’s birthday card and present. It was only natural that my cough worsened.
On Thursday, 16 November, Sister brought me to the private clinic which was less than 5 minutes walk from my home. The doctor checked me with an ice cream stick, some ear machine thing and a stethoscope. He diagnosed me with the flu plague. It was quick. The fee was $14, comparatively higher that the polyclinic’s $6 something.
I was given antibiotics, tablets twice the size of my previous fever medicine. The counter lady said it was a capsule but when I opened the packet containing it, it was a tablet. To me, capsules are those oval things made of plastic-like material and very cool looking. Tablets are those purely powder compressed into a hardened form. Well, I don’t know. I was given a bottle of cough medicine again and small round tablets for throat inflammation and some more for phlegm.
I make a vow to never visit that clinic despite its vicinity. Clearly there is too much faith in the patients or some lack of common sense if they give large things for the patients to swallow when said patient has a throat condition. Well, I do not know if the polyclinic is the same since I never had the chance to find out. Also, there are no details as to whether the patient should consume the medicine before or after, with or without food, or how to partake (as in chew or swallow the tablets) the medicine, other than informing me to take the 2 spoonfuls of cough medicine, unlike the polyclinic. We are supposed to assume. huh.
Still, I should not put it down too much. It must be hard work getting to that stage but I wish the private clinic would at least improve on its service and the afore-mentioned areas. The counter woman is not really amiable and the atmosphere there is just too dead.
I had fond memories of the Doctor Lim private clinic near my old primary school, Rulang Primary School. The staff is friendlier, for one thing. My mother brought me there all the time and always informed the doctor to give me liquid medicine is another point. Unfortunately, it has closed down. Ah well…what a pity. I had not gone there for a long time because I am usually very healthy I think this is the first or second time I had fever this year.
I do not get it. Is “this Monday” 13th November or 20th November? I think that “this Monday” is 13th November because it is in “this week” and 20th November as “next Monday” since it is in “next week” However Mother says that 13th November is “last Monday” since it has passed and 20th November is “this Monday”……nevermind, I shall stick to my own version. It is less confusing and I feel that it makes more sense.
I cannot believe I wrote over a thousand and three hundred words for this journal entry. Of course I had also spent about 2 hours too. Oww…I think I am developing a headache. If I still have the cough this Saturday, I am so not going for Chinese Orchestra.
(1332 words)
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