Swine Flu

The news has been heating about the epidemic in Mexico. Cantoland bosses are watching very very carefully in anticipation of hitting this tiny country.

Because let's face it. It is gona hit us. With the ease of travel nowadays it's just a matter of time before someone comes back with it. There are suspect cases in China as we speak. WHO has risen the alert to 4, which is just short of a pandemic. Cantoland is sitting at Serious level 1. I personally think it should be sitting at Serious level 2 to reflect the cross human transmission in a foreign land, but I can understand that they do no wish to freak people out.

People are freaked out already. My clinics are 30% lower with people choosing not to come to the hospital for fear of cross infection. Or maybe they heard that the podiatrist is down with a cold yet still at work. My assistants are all drugged up to prevent themselves from succumbing to my cold -_- .Accident and Emergency was pretty quick on it's feet when I went to see them this morning. I know, abuse of emergency services... But it was pretty much an emergency. I had finished my medication and my cold was showing no sign of abating with the next available out-patient appointment 36 hours away and 20 patients booked in. I needed medication fast *sheepish*. I was out the door in 15 minutes flat with my new prescription.

My staff are all prepared for a possible pandemic. We are going to be tellytubbies in our blue scrubs, disposable tunics, masks and face shields. It shall be an interesting experience, just like SARS.

I just hope that I get well enough to go for the Bun Festival on Saturday. I lurrvee Bun Festival!

Horrible Weather *Gaahhhhhhh!!...

It's been raining... It was raining when I woke up, and hasn't stopped. So much for my plans to go out and get some sunshine and a new book to read. -_-

The cold is a getting better but showing no instant signs of abating. :( Thus the medication continues. I had the sudden need to do laundry and have sent just about everything to the laundry lady. I also have weird food cravings for things like penne pasta, baked potato with tuna and cheese, dimsum and cream puffs.

I settled with yummy cream puffs to take my mind off having to eat congee all day (again!)

Life sucks.

Battling the Cold

I bet you didn't know that prostitution was legal in the little city state of Singapore. I didn't know either. But trust the government to make it legal so that they can legitimately tax the profits as the Dutch government is trying to do.

I am currently at home reading random news excerpts in between sleep and medication. I was hit with the common cold (why is it called common when it doesn't feel that great??) on Wednesday and have been off work yesterday and today in the hope of recuperation. My clinics are all totally messed up now. :( I have chaos to look forward too, as my assistant very gently reminded me when I went back in to work today to attempt to sort out some paperwork.

But that is all for next week. I shall enjoy the rest of my unexpected long weekend. I have a weird craving for tom yam soup.

Dear Diary...

Some friends are coming over this week for Easter. They are determined to max out their credit cards and empty their bank accounts. It is quite frightening to see women so motivated. We are also doing the mandatory sightseeing of Cantoland and Macau so that there are photos to show the parents when they head back.

Today is Good Friday. Fasting here is nowhere near as intense as home. We are supposed to take no meat in our 'two light meals one heavy meal' fast. Failing which, we should donate a generous amount to the church missionary fund. Holy Thursday mass was a publicity drive to generate income for the missionary work for the church in China. It seem to work, because everyone stood up and put money into the donation boxes. They probably collected in excess of a hundred and fifty thousand local currency in the ten minutes. Hit them where it hurts, and in Cantoland, it's the wallet.

Today was spent cleaning. I have cleaned my windows three times, and still they smudge.. :(

I am also going to Mass the will start the whirlwind round of shopping in my local area and then to Causeway Bay.

Tomorrow is Dimsum and more shopping, then to dinner and drinks at the clubs and pubs in Soho and Central.

Sunday we will head to Macau with the American and friends for sightseeing and more shopping. I wanted to go to the spa but was out-voted.

Monday is the usual Cantoland sights with dinner of the most famous roast duck in this country.

Tuesday to Thursday I have to work, but I have their schedule packed with shopping expeditions and food hunting.

I don't anticipate any sleep this week. Or I may just collapse in exhaustion.

Guinness Book of Records CantoPod Editon

I broke my own record today. You get days when you see pretty little shriveled up toes that just happen to pop off and is put into a doggy bag for people to bring home to put on their mantlepiece. Then the clients miraculously heal up really quickly and everyone is happy.

You don't get days like that very often. It normally takes a bit of wriggling and twisting and a lot of waving of hands and saying magic words before the digits auto-amputate.

Today, five little pigs went to the podiatrist and never made it home.

I am so proud of myself.

Spring Cleaning

My 3 Inch Lotus Shoe Collection

I have been procrastinating for a while... My dirty laundry is sitting nicely in the laundry bag while my clean laundry is piled in a heap on the floor as I couldn't be bothered to put them back into the closet. The closet is full anyway. But I really should be putting my clothes away instead of pulling socks from the pile every morning. It's not that I have to wash, dry or even fold the clothes, labor is cheap here and someone else does it for me. At least I don't actively pay someone to iron my clothes... That's because work clothes come ready pressed.

However, some friends will be visiting during Easter and thus I should have finished my cleaning by then. Nothing better than a dose of housepride to get the cleaning done.

I went out with the bankers on Friday for drinks and dinner. It was good to see some I have not seen in a while. In fact, I probably see them more often than one of the other guys who stays on the same floor as I do. It also reminded me why I should not be in my line of work. I don't get to flaunt pretty heels everyday. Hefty price to pay for your work clothes to be laundered for you? Saturday was a nice relaxing day with Dimsum, shopping, dinner with the American and drinks with some other bankers. I should really stop shopping. You see, you get a skirt that doesn't match anything else you own. Then you look for a top to go with it, and then a belt and so on and so forth. The only thing don't have to get anew are my shoes, but that's because I have a lot of those already. But this weekend I am the proud owner of some very pretty porcelain beads to be strung up into a belt. I probably won't even wear it with my new skirt...

I can't wait to declutter! Spring is here and it's mating season. The boss is away and I am running the ship. If I have my way, it would be nice and light clinics, but I only have a pair of hands that cannot work miracles, though we get pretty close. I am interviewing a guy who used to work at HSBC, and will hopefully have a new assistant by week's end. Somehow my assistants are all male and are getting younger and younger.*shifty eyed* Research has proven that people work better when motivated. I am planning for when we have three young single female podiatrists working together in the next few months. :) I am anything if not a considerate boss. Ha!