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Showing posts from October, 2008

Why do we have to wash before eating?

Last week was Infection Prevention Week - pls don't ask me why i know, if you don't already know, then I can't tell you either, so don't ask. These are the few things I'd picked up (pun unintended): 40% of inpatients die after acquiring infections in hospitals 2 types of "bugs" - bacteria and fungi generally, bacteria is spread thru water and fungi thru air when they colonise a healthy immune system, usually no illness; the immuno-deficient are the ones that fall sick Proper hand hygiene actually significantly reduces the spread of infections. What's proper? Always use soap (any type) and warm water. Rub hands for at least 15 seconds. How long is 15 seconds? 2x Happy Birthday song OR 1x alphabet song - YES, it's that long. Why 15 seconds? We want the soap to breakdown the oils on your skin, which fungi and bacteria adhere to, and the water washes them down the sewage, so the next time you pick food up or rub your eyes, the bugs don't get into y

Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party was an act of direct action protest by the American colonists against the British Government in which they destroyed many crates of tea belonging to the British East India Company on ships in Boston Harbor . The incident, which took place on Thursday, December 16 , 1773 , has been seen as helping to spark the American Revolution and remains to this day one of the most iconic events in American history. On Thursday, December 16 , 1773 , the evening before the tea was due to be landed, Captain Roach appealed to Governor Hutchinson to allow his ship to leave without unloading its tea. When Roach returned and reported Hutchinson's refusal to a massive protest meeting, Samuel Adams said to the assembly "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country". As though on cue, the Sons of Liberty thinly disguised as either Mohawk [2] [3] or Narragansett [4] Indians and armed with small hatchets and clubs, headed toward Griffin's Wharf (in Bost

The song that has been playing in my head all week....

Have you guys watched painted skin 画皮? I watched it early on this week and i must say i enjoyed it. Of course there's always a kick in watching a movie that has just been released. (it's just been released end-sept, if you want to know where i found it, send me an email...) It is supposedly based on a 聊斋 story - you know those stories with the supernatural elements - fox spirits, snake spirits, rock spirits, ghosts, etc. 陈坤's character has been compared to 张国荣's 宁采臣 (remember that? 王祖贤 was 小倩 the ghost, they fell in love blah blah...), but this time it's a foxy spirit 周迅 we're talking about, who's infatuated with 陈坤. 赵薇 is the wife who knows of 周迅's real identity, but guess what? no one believes her; not even her husband! so she turns to 甄子丹 for help to prove that she was right. 赵薇 gradually loses trust in her husband as she senses him being bewitched by the fox. 陈坤 finds himself being tempted but tries so so hard to stay true (aww..); he even rejected 周

Busy as a Bee can Be, i tell ya

it has been busy busy busy... choir practice has been going pretty well - i've realised i may not have the perfect vocals, but i can certainly sing in a choir. and the alto part is really quite interesting - cos we're never really on the melody (unlike the sopranos who have such an easy job), so it's interesting to hear the harmonising.... puts years of ABRSM theory into practice. belly dancing has stopped abruptly because someone from immigration decided that the teacher needed a work permit to teach the class - even though all proceeds go to charity and she doesn't pocket anything?! Hao-e and i have been taking turns getting sick. slept the whole long weekend away. the weather's not helping - it suddenly turned pretty cold this last few days. haven't turned the a/c on in the car - it was cool enough outside. just got nin jiom pei par gao from miles market and have been diligently taking it, but it hasn't helped much either. strepsils as well. ah well. frie

Boston - here we come!

It seems that i've caught the island fever - the feeling of restlessness you get from being "cooped-up" for too long on too small an island, segregated from civilisation and the harsh world. so, even though i'd vowed to be frugal, promised to spend wisely and i said my farewells to (i) Chopard Happy; (ii) Chopard Ice Cubes; and (iii) Omega Constellation..... i couldn't stop this, what you would call restlessness, an itch in the pants really. the brain just keeps shouting "GET OUT!". So after much punching of calculators, we are going to take a very short trip to Boston - Delta was a seat sale i swear! just a weekend, barely 3 days, for us to eat, drink and sleep Boston. we're going at the end of this month! yippee! brain has calmed down somewhat and eased up with constant shouting cos brain is now happily digesting the information on Boston - what to do, where to go, what to eat, what to see, how to go, blah blah blah!!! yeah, brain and body is happy