On Monday, i went to my company doctor to get medicine for my New Zealand trip. There is this particular doctor that i always see, and he's really nice.. We are like friends now. And he's always very generous in giving lots of medicine whenever i am going on business travel and also MC when i am sick.. (like 2 days MC for a minor flu!)
Anyway, i had a flu shot for the Southern strain of the flu virus.. And a whole bag full of medicine for my 9 months in New Zealand. It was SOOO much medicine that i felt embarrassed paying only the subsidized amount of $5 for all of that. There was vitamin C, creams for rashes and cuts and cold sores, drowsy and non drowsy flu medicine, panadol, diarrheoa medicine, gastric medicine.. you name it i have it! I also managed to get a contact of a doctor in New Zealand, my company doctor's cousin. What a small world!
When i went back to my office, one of my colleagues saw the huge bag of medicine and started laughing so hard i laughed too.. haha = ) I just look like a really Kiasu Singaporean!
After work today, i met up with Keson and his potential business partner, a Nigerian man named Tope and his wife Elizabeth, and their 2 year old son Teme. We invited them to dinner at Modesto's and chatted for a long long time.. mainly on political and economical situation in our respective countries.. It was a great night. They're really knowledgeable people with perfect english except for their strong accent. I could really sense the frustration that they are having with the development in their own country.
I think they must be pretty rich too, cause Tope must have had a good education to be able to speak so well and know so many things. And they travel quite frequently. Plus, they have a huge house in Nigeria!
The little boy was really cute.. but cranky cause he wasn't feeling too well. It was interesting the way they dress too.. the father and son wore clothes made of the same cloth and design, and the mother's dress was exactly the same design as a huge scarf that she used to wrap her baby. = )
A bit like the Malays' way of dressing in their Baju Kurongs..
During our dinner, K asked Tope how he keeps so fit and what exercises he does. Apparently, he is very very fit. And the guy just replied casually that everyday is exercising for him cause he walks a minimum of 10 km a day!! Wow!!
After dinner, we dropped by a pharmacy to get some Bonjela gel for the little boy's mouth ulcers.. I felt there was something disturbing about the way the parents handled the kid. I kinda liked the way they let him do his own thing, letting him run about the restaurant for a while before catching him up (versus immediately), letting him wail until he gets tired or something else caught his attention (instead of giving in to everything he wants) etc.. But there was a point when the boy's shoe came off, and he started biting at it. And the parents didn't stop him from doing that. I thought it was really unhygienic. No wonder the boy has all these ulcers on his mouth!!
Anyway, when Tope was at the cashier paying for his Bonjela gel, the cashier looked at him and casually asked: "Plastic?" Tope just stared back at him and said: "I beg your pardon?" The cashier must have thought this black man don't know how to speak English. But the truth is this black man speaks English 10 times better than him! We Singaporeans are just so good at shortcutting our words that sometimes it's an embarrassment! I had to explain to Tope that the cashier meant if he wanted a bag for the gel. Sigh...
Anyway, i had a flu shot for the Southern strain of the flu virus.. And a whole bag full of medicine for my 9 months in New Zealand. It was SOOO much medicine that i felt embarrassed paying only the subsidized amount of $5 for all of that. There was vitamin C, creams for rashes and cuts and cold sores, drowsy and non drowsy flu medicine, panadol, diarrheoa medicine, gastric medicine.. you name it i have it! I also managed to get a contact of a doctor in New Zealand, my company doctor's cousin. What a small world!
When i went back to my office, one of my colleagues saw the huge bag of medicine and started laughing so hard i laughed too.. haha = ) I just look like a really Kiasu Singaporean!
After work today, i met up with Keson and his potential business partner, a Nigerian man named Tope and his wife Elizabeth, and their 2 year old son Teme. We invited them to dinner at Modesto's and chatted for a long long time.. mainly on political and economical situation in our respective countries.. It was a great night. They're really knowledgeable people with perfect english except for their strong accent. I could really sense the frustration that they are having with the development in their own country.
I think they must be pretty rich too, cause Tope must have had a good education to be able to speak so well and know so many things. And they travel quite frequently. Plus, they have a huge house in Nigeria!
The little boy was really cute.. but cranky cause he wasn't feeling too well. It was interesting the way they dress too.. the father and son wore clothes made of the same cloth and design, and the mother's dress was exactly the same design as a huge scarf that she used to wrap her baby. = )
A bit like the Malays' way of dressing in their Baju Kurongs..
During our dinner, K asked Tope how he keeps so fit and what exercises he does. Apparently, he is very very fit. And the guy just replied casually that everyday is exercising for him cause he walks a minimum of 10 km a day!! Wow!!
After dinner, we dropped by a pharmacy to get some Bonjela gel for the little boy's mouth ulcers.. I felt there was something disturbing about the way the parents handled the kid. I kinda liked the way they let him do his own thing, letting him run about the restaurant for a while before catching him up (versus immediately), letting him wail until he gets tired or something else caught his attention (instead of giving in to everything he wants) etc.. But there was a point when the boy's shoe came off, and he started biting at it. And the parents didn't stop him from doing that. I thought it was really unhygienic. No wonder the boy has all these ulcers on his mouth!!
Anyway, when Tope was at the cashier paying for his Bonjela gel, the cashier looked at him and casually asked: "Plastic?" Tope just stared back at him and said: "I beg your pardon?" The cashier must have thought this black man don't know how to speak English. But the truth is this black man speaks English 10 times better than him! We Singaporeans are just so good at shortcutting our words that sometimes it's an embarrassment! I had to explain to Tope that the cashier meant if he wanted a bag for the gel. Sigh...
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