placement

if u’ve been wondering how come i’ve only been talking bout touristy things, i’ve only started my placement last tuesday at this private hospital called jaya buddha hospital. its on this street they call it the ‘medical street’ where all the dentists, clinics, pharmacies and govt hosp is.

so there are bout 6 doctors there maybe, kinda like an outpatient hosp. i think only bout 5 patients staying in there at the moment. anyway, i havent been doing much work now, just observing the doctors, or more like shadowing them. but they’ve been explaining lots to me.
basically whenever i see them in the room, i just walk in, pull a chair over n sit in the consultation. they’ll turn over n explain to me in english, or like when i shadow the dermatologist, he’ll put his magnifying glass over n i’ll see those impetigos, leprosy, christmas tree shaped fungal infections etc.
or like whenever i go on rounds with the physician, he’ll lend me his stethoscope n i’ll listen to the crackling sound of the lungs of those patients with resp infections.

and then after 2 days, i got so depressed and lonely cos the only ppl who speak english are my host father n mother (not much), and the doctors. but the doctors r u know, (older) doctors, like they r just not interested in anything else.. n the nurses can only speak a word or 2 english words so naturally yes i’m down n depressed..

n i hate dhal bhaat. actually i dont hate it that much but i think my mummy will know best when it comes to my eating habits – JAMIE DONT EAT THE SAME FOOD OVER TWO CONSECUTIVE MEALS!! moreover they r just mixed veg, lentil soup n rice. i need my meat weih…. n because they’re al veg n stuff my stool’s pretty soft and light coloured (TMI maybe?) so they r alil bit uncontrolled.. ah wat the heck!

anyway, i tried to build a good relationship with the doctors n like they’ve offered to take me to the govt hosp next week (yeaaah!! we’re not allowed there unless we’re brought in by a doc) n like the dermatologist is performing some kinda electro coagulation on someone’s penis.. so nice to watch i guess.. he’s gonna use the electrodes to coagulate something there i think, not too sure, will get to know more next week.

and like i met up with an english volunteer ystd nite he just got here in chitwan from kathmandu, its his last day today so he brought me to where his placement was.

and u know what? its this run down shabby government health post where plenty of villagers come in everyday with like skin infections, fever, cuts, burns, unwanted pregnancy etc n refuses to go to the hosp cos they have no money, so like, i for the first time tody performed my AHEM solo surgery.. lol! i incised the guy’s skin WITHOUT ANY ANAESTHETIC, and basically just pressed with all my might the pus and abscess out his wound. his hand was inflammed like a huge thing! and the so- called qualified doctor there (they all have no qualifications) just points at either me or Tom and go like, “ok, u make incision, take it out. go” i really felt so nauseous i had to sit down for a while cos i saw stars n my legs were just weak at that point !so i did like a million bandages today, even prescribed amoxycillin and paracetamols and omg, my last patient was a boy who had an open wound right to the bone it was so bad but the funny thing was he wasnt crying at all! n then when we wanted to give him the tetanus jab he screamed like hell.. oh man, i relly felt like crying too really.. Tom actually bought the anti tetanus thingy for the lil boy cos the shabby place ran out of it. n we gave him chocolate after that. so yea, Tom jabbed him n i rubbed him with alcohol.. but still, everything felt so unreal.

so anyway, i’ve found a pretty good restaurant here now with the best toilet i’ve seen in 3 weeks (i’m serious!!!! reason is they have a toilet bowl, toilet paper n flush and no floating piss n shit n no pee smell) so i’m just gonna eat there every once in 2 days so i can crap there as well.. a whole meal of chicken pizza, hot choc and fries costed me 240 rupees which is 2.40 euro and i was filled to the brim!

okay, thats it for now. back to my lonely state again tmrw. my typical day starts at 6.09am (my alarm) and i cycle to the hosp to start work at 7am, get back for lunch at 10am, and back to the hosp at 2pm – 6pm. but now i’ve told the guy at the health post i will be back every 3 days in a week so my days would be 7 – 9.15 backfor dhal bhaat, and 10 – 3 at health post on sundays, tuesdays and thursdays and then 3-6 at hospital. it helps take my mind off home anyway! loads of cycling to do!

adios ppl!

2nd week in Nepal

been a hell of a rollercoaster ride in my 2nd week here. 1st four days we were at Lamatar, a really remote village at the hilly regions of Nepal.. We had to get used to the village life so we essentially had dhal bhaat every single damn meal and the portion was so small i feel like i could just die there. surviving skills surfaced of course. most ppl were so sick of it they just didnt finish their food so i tried to eat as much as i can, u know, an empty stomach will only make everything worse.. then i didnt go for the trekking, cos it was raining and muddy n all that crap n i just wasnt up for it. washed everything with rain water, and everywhere was just muddy up to the heel so to be honest i didnt like it too much. and of course, we slept with mice. in a fuckin stupid hut fit for cows. sigh, but anyway, the ‘experience’ wasnt that bad, it was just very very poor living conditions.

on friday, which was ystd, we set out to Chitwan, the terai part of nepal, and we white water rafted down a grade 3 river. was very interesting and probably one of my best days here so far. then we had to take a 3 hour bus ride. and there wasnt any space to sit so we had to climb up the roof of the bus.. very painful for the ass but the view at the t0p was just BREATHTAKING! Very high up waterfalls, the rapid waters, all the mountains.. was quite worth the danger i would say. and we’re staying at this cottage hotel in the national park with good food, non-piss smelling toilets and good activities. like we went on a boat ride this morning to see crocs and to the elephant breeding centre.

alright, have to get back for lunch now. till then, take care!

the end of my first week

my my, how much does time fly by.. its been one week already i am here in nepal and everything’s good and fine.. went on a lil trekking adventure yesterday along the hilly regions of nepal and the view was breathtaking of course! mm what else, alotta good stuffs been happening, we’re going to the village tomorrow to get used to living in minus 6 toilet conditions (toilet ratings from 1 to 10) lolx..

Nepal

hey ppl, just a short update now waiting to board my flight for a mountain sort of experience..

nepal so far is okay..myfirst day here was terrible to say the least,never felt so down in my life before.. sigh.like i couldnt sleep and kept thinking of familiar things n stuff.. but yesterday and today has been great so far, i’m able to sleep ..

i cant freaking log into my facebook account damn it.. n this space bar doesnt work.. (i’m inthe internet cafe)

i wanna check my facebook inbox !!!!!!!!!

ok my time is almost up! might go trekking this weekend. yes, me, trekking,lol! and also theres supposed to be a full solar eclipse of the sun now.. but its still bright.

anyway, catch up with u all later on.. i’ll see if i can go online again. been trying to buy those simcard with internet but i havent gotten them yet!

namaste people!!!!

many goodbyes

oh man, this is it. flight to london leaves at 5pm. i've packed everything n i think i'm ready, physically..

mentally, i'm not so sure.. i dont know how well i'll cope there, the food, the culture, the people, the language. and also the people and things i'm leaving behind. i know its just 5 weeks, but still, it's a freaking long time if u wanna think about it..

my 42 inch tv, my wii, my bed, my fluffy pillows, my high speed broadband connection, my volleyball, my pots and pans, my everything.... this is goodbye ok? dont miss me too much..

my friends - grace, fiona, yy, bernice, jolynn... gonna miss u girls to bits.

my new found friends in netherlands whom i feel like i've know for years - floris, janneke, klaziena, karin (and the whole committee), sam, balqis, akshay (i'm spelling his name right here), victor, andres, young, amr, and the list goes on and on.. you people are huge part of my life!

my volleyball mates - saidhbhe, christin, lydia, denise, deb, kat, marion, katrina, arianna, clair and yes of course alot more... miss playing vball with u all for almost the whole part of summer

of course my family, thanks for letting me go..

man, this sounds like an Oscar... or some kinda sad farewell.

whatever it is.. thanks guys for helping me out one way or another.. it sucks to leave n i'm afraid to bits but i guess i'll just move forward for now.. i'll try to update as often as i can!

see you again! jumpa lagi! zai jian! adios! ciao! tot ziens! au revoir! sayonara! slan! and of course, namaste!

More curry puffs - Fundraising Stage 3

Today, I made curry puffs again. I swear I have a backache from standing too long now.. So here I am lying down on the bed, probably gonna fall asleep soon cos I'm always sleepy like that. I still have more dough to roll out another 12 curry puffs, or if my business instincts kick, I might make 16? I have more than enough chicken curry anyway..

So pictures will come up soon. And after procrastinating for so long for this, I'm finally gonna bring the curry puffs over to charlie's or langkawi or (hilan) LOL to see if they can help me sell them. Long story short, I just need a resource to sell them!

Anyway I sold 10 curry puffs to a boy last week so my fundraising total is now ...

345 + 25 = 370 euro

Great, about 1130 euro to go..

Cant give up... and cant procrastinate no more...

Fundraising aside, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to skip the pre-departure workshop on the 4th of July. shite la right.. thats like the ultimate opportunity to go meet the other volunteers and yet I'm not in Dublin right at that date.. hmm...

Vaccinations

ZzZzZZzz

i'm so sleepy right now, cant sleep last night cos i dozed off at 7pm - 11pm, woke up and bathed, and stayed wide awake till 6am. had to get up at 10am for an appointment with TMB (Tropical Medical Bureau)..

so i got my Typhoid + Hep A (Hepatyrix), Diptheria + Tetanus + Polio (Revaxis) jabs today. The doctor was an old lady who made the 50 Euro consultation fees quite worthwhile in my opinion.. i dont know if she was explaining so much to get me to have more jabs or shes just plainly concerned. oh well. benefit of doubt anyway.. i have to go back there again for the Meningitis ACYW, and she recommended the Malaria tablets that I have to take for 10 weeks (!!!!!!!!!!) ZZzzZZ and probably bring some anitibiotics as well since we all know how weak my stomach and lungs are when it comes to infections..

all for prevention, yes i know, thank you Dr Chan. Hospital-acquired infections, Mosquito-borne infections .. all prevention for the greater good. (wait is there such a word as greater good?? haha) dont trust anything i write, my brain's not working and the vaccinations are working its magic on me.. n according to Dr Lucile just now, i'll get short term memory loss n confusion as one of the side effects. after she injected me on both sides, she kept talking and talking and asking me questions so i would answer her. and she asked me if i know why she asked. coincidentally, she was asking me what time is good for her to ring me up for the Men. jab.. so i answered "because ppl usually dont come back??"

duh, how would i know.. but she told me, "i asked becos most ppl by now would have fainted already, or would feel like fainting. so i'm getting u to talk more" i was like, whaaa? and no, i did not have any feeling of such, except now maybe.. i wanna sleep!!

good afternoon (night), people!

Puff - ered

Alrighty, next fundraising effort - curry puffs !

Everyone likes curry puffs, less ingredients needed and more value for money.. why not eh? so i called Jean up and asked her to teach me how to make one of those lil magic..

Here're the pictures -

Jean deep frying them

My turn... my hair looks weird argh.. =\

the resulting curry puffs. wonderful stuff i tell u. ALL hand made, no curry puff moulds all whatever.. loads of effort, fairly tiring.. made 24 and no prizes for guessing who bought 13 of them..

I'm selling them at 2 for 5Euro. Anyone interested, just drop me a message..

the not so exactly food for thought

if u cant bring Mohamed to the mountains,

u bring the mountains to Mohamed !

The Cookfest - Fundraising Stage 2

If u read the earlier post, you would know that I and a couple of helpful friends went on a huge (its huge to me cos we were all burned out by the end of it) cookfest where we prepared 50 portions of boxed meals to sell to the RCSI Malaysian students and also a few UCD-ians. I actually set a modest target of 40 boxes earlier but when I received about 32 orders from RCSI a day before, I knew I just had to up it to 50.

The boxed meal was a portion of fried rice vermicelli - with sliced chicken, properly sliced very proportionate carrots, not-so symmetrical chinese cabbages and spicy sambal - vegetable fritters and banana fritters for dessert. Grace, Fiona and I did the fried rice vermicelli and banana fritters while Yin Ye did the veg fritters in her own home.. I was actually very amazed at how we could pull this off, and the food actually tasted quite good for my standards, and we all know how high my standards can be when it comes to food..

So the meal deal was priced at 5 Euro. Which was very very worth it if you ask me. I would so totally buy 3 boxes of it and save it for 3 meals, serious! At least that was what I did when some of the malay boys sold nasi lemak to us earlier in d semester. I mean, 5 Euro for Malaysian food, and I dont have to cook but just microwave. couldnt get any better.

Now the best part of this all was I actually got all the ingredients sponsored by Oriental Emporium! Thanks Mr Oriental Emporium. Too bad I didnt get his name, but oh well, I'm sure I can ask him when I go back there to get my stock of asian food aka instant noodles. And seafood. So Grace and I were there, just throwing things into the supermarket trolley and at the end of it all, we showed the trolley to him and the packets of bee hoon were covering everything below it. He never even bothered to see what we took, he just nodded his head and said, "okay, u can pack them up!" Seriously, both of us were stunned at his generosity and we were like, "really? really? omg laupan, thank you so much!!"

here's the OE boss/manager.. (OE sounds like Oeding-Erdel huh?)

So we got like 9 huge packets of beehoon (rice vermicelli), 9 boxes of chicken fillet etc etc that it was so really impossible for 2 ppl to carry them, so I called YY n Fiona to the rescue.. Then on the way we went BK for tea. I didnt eat anything cos I had McDs for lunch..

me at Burger King..

the stuffs we got from OE and bananas

Then the next day which was Sunday, it was all work work work.. and some play in between in the form of Wii.. You should totally see Fiona play wii boxing! Hillarious!! I actually got it on video where she *ahem* lost to some old Mii guy, but I think the file might be too big to upload on Blogger.. oh well I'll check it out later! And we cooked until 2am - I checked it was 6 hours altogether my hob was switched on.. *ouch electricity ouch*

So Jon came over and brought dinner for me, such a sweet guy, and hung around abit and soon became my taster ie. he 'prooftasted' kinda like proofread if u know what i mean, the beehoon. And he kept saying it lacked the oomph taste or not salty enough or too spicy! lol.. I think he's forever gonna be my prooftaster cos he prooftasted my curry puffs too, which will be my Fundraising Stage 3.. Good stuff anyway since he has a very good tongue.. err.. i mean tongue for taste, dont get me wrong!

Fiona on the Wii

why you never see me doing work.. is cos my hair's in a total mess!

i need my yearly straightening routine.. yikes!

garlic girl..

carrot girl

Woke up the next morning and brought them food to RCSI, my first time there. It looked very much like a hospital if you ask me.. Go in entrance, right hand side is reception cum security, left hand side a glass case with those RCSI memorabilia, some seats, further left, hallway with doors and some awesome skeleton paintings on the wall with old-ish looking words, right in front of entrance is lift and staircase.. exactly like a hospital!

waiting for the first years to be done with their paper..

All in all, cookfest was a huge success cos instead of my modest 40 boxes, I managed to up it to 50. Although the return wasnt alot and it was really tiring, it is still something. And I'm glad there are many people who are willing to support my cause..

Thank you so much to all who helped out !

Fundraiser

Total funds raised to date - 345 Eur

To place a contribution, 

Paypal account - tanwenyen@gmail.com

or email tanwenyen@gmail.com for more details !

At The Beginning

When I had the vball awards night last week, I went on my first fundraising attempt for the trip to Nepal. Out of the 20 plus people who were there, I managed to ask bout 15 of them, from which i managed to collect a good sum of 90.80 euros. I’d say it was a pretty good start, considering it was only pure donations. Some gave the miserable 2euros while quite a few gave a whole big 10, but regardless of the amount i’m still grateful nonetheless. The thing about me, i just HATE (a huge word i know) asking people for money, and sometimes help. i know its a bad thing (the help part), but i dont know why, i find it really hard to ask a person for money.. i feel as though i’m begging for it which i’m not, i think. i find myself helpless when it comes to such situations and it brings me to being hopeless.. lol. anyway, i could have gotten much more than 90.80 if i asked those others and i know it because they so happen to be those working ones like Megan and Gianma, but oh well, its done. 

My second big effort will officially begin tomorrow. I owe this huge effort to Grace, YY and Fiona especially cos they have been such a big help! 2 nights ago, I was really feeling down because I got rejected by a zillion supermarkets that I called up to do bag-packing. Apparently they were all booked right to the end of the year! So I was talking to YY, and earlier Grace and I have discussed about some kinda cooking fest to sell to UCD-ians but that was too close to exams. So the idea of selling it to the RCSI-ians came up,  n poof! it was a plan. yay hey! Next day, all 8 of us went galivanting to Belfast and we planned things out from there. 

So tomorrow, we’re going to town to get groceries n i’m gonna cook char bee hoon and banana fritters. BIG HUGE pressure man. it has to taste nice. at the same time, i havent really been cooking much lately! so yes, big huge pressure there. Gonna call Grams later to get some cooking tips. Boy, I havent spoke to Grams in ages! Feeling so bad about this now, i really miss her.. 

And then we’re gonna cook on Sunday and deliver them to RCSI on Monday.. so far I have 23 orders. I’ve put a modest target of 40 now, but i really do hope more orders will come pouring in tomorrow or the day after. Fingers crossed. 

Also, I just got my Meningitis C jab today in the Health Centre for free. The doc was really cool, she wrote down a list of jabs I should take, not that I dont know already from the TMB website, but she kinda emphasised the importance of taking those booster jabs like Revaxis for Polio, Diphteria and Tetanus along with Typhoid and Hep A and also, hold your breath, Meningitis ACYW (lol, those are the OTHER strains lah) ..  Maybe I should steal those jabs from lil baby Katelyn instead of paying them myself.. bah! Got an appointment with TMB anyway in the first week of June. 

Gonna book my flight tickets next week.. then call up Nepalese embassy in London to make sure they give me that visa when I get to the customs. So everything on this side is pretty much still on hold until I have flow of cash from that 1500 euros I need to raise.. 

Hmm.. what else? Yeah I guess this is my first entry for the trip! Second entry, I’ll write on my project there and where I’m based. Till then, good night! 

Pilot

Someone wise once told me, "Stop being so afraid of what everyone thinks and do want you think you should do"

I never really thought I was scared of things or what people think of me until one day, I had one of those self reflecting days. I realise that the more grown-up I am, the more reserve I become. I know I am no longer the same free-spirited person I once was. The person who could speak my mind whenever I like without worrying about being judged, the person who laughs at the slightest jokes.. And then, I came to the conclusion, that this is what we call.. 'Growing Up'.

Why is it that we fear outcomes? 

Sometimes I also wonder, what exactly is my purpose in life? If God created humans to create other humans, then I guess God must have skipped me in the line. Because somehow, the main objective of why humans are created - to love one another - is not present in my life. Sure, I do love those around me. My parents, siblings, relatives, friends.. but there is still an empty void in my heart. One that is not filled, one that I am sure is the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle that will complete my life someday. 

In the mean time though, my hands are filled with all other things I know is important to shape the person I will become. One of which is the craziest decision I have ever made so far - probably can be equal to getting married in the future - to go to Nepal all alone. I must have been out of my head when I sent in the application to Volunteer Abroad.. 

It is however, confirmed. So no matter what reservations I have of it, no hot showers, no toilet flushes, Typhoid and riots in the streets, there is no backing out and no looking back. Part of me feels like I'm finally living the dream, something I should have done a year or two ago, and the other part of me is a total freaked out mess. I really am trying to make this journey as joyful as possible with those around me who have been helping me so much and supporting me I sometimes feel so helpless. Mummy and Grandma, first of all, thank you so much for even considering letting me go. I understand that it is difficult to even agree, what more I didnt even exactly ask for a permission but went ahead applying for this. The greatest love of all is truly this, knowing that you cant let go of your little girl, worrying for me day and night, but yet, you know this is what I want and you let it be. 

I now also understand how difficult fundraising can be.. So to all my friends, thank you so much. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for helping me, one way or another, giving me this opportunity to go out and see that part of the world.  

I really do fear the outcome of this trip. And I really do fear the process of it too. Naturally, I would want everything to be smooth sailing but I know it is impossible. Bumps and scratches are the essentials in moulding a person to become a beautiful 'sculpture'. And to weather them all in good and tough times are what determines an outcome..

So to everyone, myself and those whom I will be working with in Nepal, here's to what God is creating us for. Cheers!