Just Some Rambling

The last 2 weeks have been eventful, to say the least. Several new experiences, good and bad, but there's a first for everything, and I'm happy to report that we are happy, healthy, and alive!

Last weekend was our diving trip to Tioman. We had a blast. We met the other divers at the dive company Friday at 7pm, then the company chartered a bus to drive us towards the Malaysian border. It took about 3 hours to get to the border, then after customs, we took a ferry to the island. We arrived at the resort in about 2 hours, checked in, and called it a night. Saturday and Sunday were filled with dive after dive, so we did a total of 5 dives in 2 days. We were so bummed that we couldn't find our underwater camera case before we left, so we couldn't take any underwater photos ourselves. However, our dive master brought a camera down so I'll post those pictures once I receive them. Saturday night was filled with Carlsberg, red wine, vodka, and scotch. Enough said. It was so fun hanging out with our new friends from France, Italy, Singapore, and the states.

We met up with a couple also from northern CA for dinner last week, and we visited a restaurant in Robertson Quay that served hamburgers, Thai, and Indian all at once. I had Pad Thai, Josh had a burger, and Lisa and Adrian had curry. That's the funny thing with Singapore, if you think San Francisco is a melting pot, this place is exponentially more so!

This past weekend was meant to be relaxing and filled with sports. Saturday morning, I went to my spinning class, then was on my way to cheer J on in his corporate tennis tournament against Microsoft. They were playing at the Yio Chu Kang tennis club which was bout 7 MRT stops away from Paragon, where my gym was. It took just about 20 minutes to get there. After the game, we were heading to lunch with people, and Josh started getting severe cramps in his legs. The cramps started in the calves, then went to his hamstrings, and eventually, even his toes and arms were cramping up. It was so bad that we had to get off the subway and he was laying on the platform due to pain. I tried to stretch him out but the cramps were continuous and getting worse all over his body. I was terrified. I had never seen him so helpless and in so much pain. The MRT station called the medics for us and we were on our way to the ER in an ambulance. During this whole time, I was making Josh drink sports drinks to replenish his electrolytes, and at one point, he drank pure salt water. After resting in the ER for 2 hours and being checked by the doctor, he was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis because his myoglobin level was very elevated due to muscle damage. It's normal for myoglobin to elevate during exercise, but not to this degree. Too much myoglobin can become toxic and eventually cause acute renal failure. They wanted to admit Josh right away to give him sodium bicarbonate IV. After some discussions, we were able to get discharged and implement aggressive oral hydration at home, but had to come back to the hospital for a blood work follow-up the next day. When we got home, Josh played king for the night, and I was at his service. He drank at least 7 liters of Pocari Sweat and water. He was feeling much better, but definitely milked it and ordered his servant around. The next day, we returned to the doctor and we were so happy that his myoglobin reduced drastically and the doctor cleared us. Moral of the story - do not play tennis for 4 hours in 90 degrees and 90 % humidity. Thank God he's ok now!

I also watched my first World Cup game last night at our British friends' place - England vs. Germany. What a tragic loss for England! World Cup is huge here, it's huge everywhere else but the U.S., every bar, restaurant, public squares all have their plasmas on when a game is going, it's quite an atmosphere!

Last thing, there's a big change in my life right now, I will elaborate on a later date. No, it does not involve babies.

Just a few photos before I sign off -

The gang in Tioman, relaxing at night. I had to wear my glasses at night because I dropped one of my contacts! Your vision gets better (things appear larger and closer) in water though, so I was fine seeing underwater.

Taken from the jetty just before boating out to our dive site

Not the Bora Bora beach we were at last year, but had its own tranquil serenity. We enjoyed it!

Jess bought this and I had to snap a photo. It was actually very yummy.

Shortest Workout Ever!

Just experienced my first full on tropical thunderstorm. It is powerful.

Yeah, thunderstorms happen, down pours go on for a while, then they stop, and the sun's out to play again. That's what happens in tropical settings. But today in Singapore, it never stopped! It's been pouring with heavy thunder since J left for work (at 8am), and at 11:00 am, I thought, it can't be that bad. On my day off, I wanted to be productive and catch the 11:15am spinning class and do a little bit of shopping on Orchard before coming home to cook and study for my test tonight. I packed up and stepped out with my umbrella. In 3 seconds, I was already wet, EVERYWHERE. I skipped over a few puddles and saw at least 3 rivers that didn't exist yesterday in front of me. There was another man in a suit following behind me because he couldn't figure out his own course! Hilarious. I turned around and he had to pretend he was figuring things out on his own! After 10 minutes, I only made it no more than 100 feet from the house and thought, what if this rain just doesn't stop, even if I make it to the gym, I have to fight my way back after having showered, etc. So, I decided to book a cab (because in the rain, cabs are scarce and it's too painful to stand and hail without knowing when you'll actually get one). The cab came fairly fast, I hopped in and the driver asked where I was going. Paragon on Orchard, I said, it's REALLY close. I thought he didn't want to drive far in the rain because he wasn't getting moving, so I kept emphasizing how close it was. Finally he said, I KNOW, but it's flooded everywhere, and I would have to drop you off a few blocks away and you have to walk in. There are probably only 10 blocks between my house and the gym, and if he can only drive 5 blocks, and I still have to get soaked and walk, it's just not going to happen. So I got out of the cab and up the elevator I went. I'm home and finished this posting, and it's only 11:28am. Shortest work out ever! Maybe if it stops raining later...

Our Calendars Lately

So much to do and so little time! That's how we've been feeling as we make everything we want to do become reality, yet trying to keep balance with work and enough rest so we don't burn ourselves out.

I was in Shanghai for 10 days and got back to Sing last Friday. It was a busy and productive trip with visitors from other headquarters, meetings, and processes roll-outs. Since my boss who usually takes care of hosting these things was on vaca in South Africa (*jealous), I had more to do than usual. It was great meeting up with some old friends and hanging out with some new ones. Having great company made this trip so much better than the last. Shanghai has a couple days off this week due to Duan Wu Jie - Dragon Boat Festival, so I'm studying for my scuba test and supervising the maid (she's new) at the same time as I type. It's nice to have some down time before this weekend, when we're off to Tioman Island, Malaysia for 6 dives. The last time we dived was on our honeymoon in French Polynesia, and everyone tells us we started our diving career with a bang there, and anything after would be hard to compare. And yes, diving in the Tahitian Islands was beyond awesome, but I can appreciate diversity. We don't have to see sharks, whales, and octopus everytime, it's also worthwhile to savor the pretty little thing nature has to offer. We've gotten our gears ready, but still need to locate the under water camera case in one of the boxes...

Some other things we've been up to - Josh has met several good tennis partners, so he's been playing tennis a couple times a week. Golf is not as easily accessible and affordable here, so tennis has substituted golf for now. Though, we found a spot nearby that has in-door golf, where they simulate a full course (or 9-hole if you wish), and the cameras calculate your data precisely, with a ginormous screen for you to look ahead. I'm not knowledgeable enough in golf to decide if it's yay or nay, but according to Josh, it's pretty cool! On my end, I finally joined a gym, Fitness First. The reason it took some time to search for one is that gyms are pricey here. We're looking at something comparable to LA Fitness back in California, for $150/person/month. That's more than what we were paying for the Bay Club in San Francisco! However, keeping healthy is priceless, as long as it's within our means, it is a spending that's a must in my book.

Even though we've only been away for less than 2 months, it feels longer. We miss home from time to time, mainly the people and the comfort. We may be planning a trip home this year around Thanksgiving timeframe. We'll keep y'all posted! For now, sending lots of greetings and warm hugs from the far east your way! Back to the diving planner calculating pressure group, total bottom time, and decompression limits...and the house smells like pine sol.

Just a few photos from Shanghai -

Best way I've eaten foie gras - lightly pan seared on both sides, served with a heavily stewed chunk of daikon, a few drizzles of truffle oil, topped with some radish slivers. At Moonsha, Bund # 5.

So gorgeous - The Bund at night taken on my phone.

Braving the World Expo with 400,000 visitors a day. Spain pavilion.

Admiring the China pavilion from afar since the wait to enter was 4.5 hrs. I'll go back to the expo another time during the week, at night. That's the only way to not cringe for lack of personal space.

Grateful for Timeless Friends

Tonight after work, I visited my friend Alice, whom I went to elementary school with back in the late 80s in Taiwan. I also got to meet her boyfriend, Stephen (soon to be Fiance, I hope, I loved him and she loves him too) for the first time. Since we decided on a night in, Stephen brought us Shanghainese take out, and we had so much fun reminiscing childhood stories. We caught up on the last 20 years of our lives that we lived separately in the U.S. and New Zealand.

Alice was my first ever BFF. We were attached by the hips in elementary school. I remember fondly how we walked home from school hand in hand, every single day. We did everything together and were super protective of each other. Our parents knew each other too, as her dad was a physician, like my dad, and doctors know each other in Taiwan, especially when they're similar in age. In fifth grade, when I had a tiny cyst in the upper right corner of my forehead, it was Alice's dad who operated on me.

When my family moved to the States in the early 90s, Alice's family moved to New Zealand. During our adolescence, we lost touch. I thought about her from time to time, but was too caught up in my immediate circles in high school and college to reach out. After 18 years of no contact, in 2009, I received a post card sent from Alice, and it was stamped as sent from New Zealand to San Francisco in 2004. The post card took 4 years to get to me, after being forwarded by different people and being returned to the post offices numerous times, as I had not lived at 1 address for more than 2 years since I started college. What a tenacious postcard to find its way to me and not get lost. It was fate. I was jumping up and down with joy to know that she had tried to contact me, yet sad to think that she probably thought I never wanted to respond to her. I immediately emailed her at the address she jotted on the post card, but I didn't hear from her. Apparently, her email had changed, but at that time I didn't know.

a few months passed by, and one day I decided to search for her on facebook. AND I FOUND HER! I was so happy to see her profile picture and glad it was a very clear shot of her face, not some random photo or artistic blur. I found out she moved to Shanghai to work in banking after college. And of course, I wasn't going to let her slip through my fingertips this time. She is one of the best people I know with extreme integrity and passion for life. Though we had missed the last 20 years of each other's life, we picked up right where we left off. Talking about the shenanigans in grade school feel like yesterday. One of the sweetest things for me, is to hear an old friend, a friend who has known my family, including my dad, talk about my dad. It reminds me of the carefree and privileged childhood I had. It puts a smile on my face. It makes me miss my dad, but it's the good memories that I cherish and smile for. Alice is that old friend, a friend through time, a timeless friend, who is here to stay. I'm so grateful I found her and it is obvious that we will not let each other skip out on any part of our lives again!

Alice and I recently