Changi

Changi is the name of the Singapore international airport (there is no domestic airport in Singapore, as it's a city state, so no where else in this 'country' to fly...).

I find it a very appropriate name, just with reference to the Indonesian language, where 'changi' actually means ultra-modern, super-fancy, chic... and that's certainly a great description of the Singapore airport, and most of Singapore for that matter!  It was officially classified as a 5-star airport, and also unofficially on sites like sleepinginairports.com has been recognized as a fabulous place to be stuck in transit (if one has to be stuck in transit).

So that's what I am... and that's why you're hearing about this airport (from an ultra high-speed free internet connection in a swank free lounge/relaxation oasis)...

From Wikipedia:
There are many versions for the etymological roots of the name Changi. One source says that it comes from a climbing shrub, the changi ular(Apama corymbosa), which grew in the area. Another claims that it gets its name from a tall tree, the chengai (Balanscarpus heimii), which abounded in the area in the early nineteenth century. Changi could also be a variation of the local timber named chengai. This heavy local timber is commonly used for buildings and furniture, and is valued for its strength and renowned for its deep rich colour.

Seedy Drinks

I have a thing for bubble tea, or 'pearl tea' (milky tea with little tapioca bubbles, or as I used to affectionately call them, "globules" that are sucked up by a super-wide straw). Just ask my girls from Queen's... I was always up for a trip to the Chinese Bubble Tea spot on the corner of Princess and Division!

Since it supposedly comes from Asia, I thought I would be bathing in bubble tea here in Indonesia, but it turns out that it's not a phenomenon that has really caught on in Indonesia... next door in Singapore, however, there's no lack. (Isn't that just the thing about Singapore - it has EVERYTHING!)

On our visa trip there didn't leave us with much time to actually do anything... but we did manage to eat Indian food several times, get both a teh-tarik AND bubble-tea fix, and deal with my camera issue.

Anyway... this is the closest thing I've found to 'bubble' tea in Indonesia... Oh, I should mention, it's imported from Thailand what's more! It's basil-seeds which stay unnaturally floating in solution in this over-sweet liquid. mmmm....

My NEW Camera!!!

Well, unfortunately, my beloved Canon S1 IS bit the dust after a trusty 4 years... I took it in to the Canon Repair Centre in Singapore, hoping they would be able to revive it (it was working ok, except the focus)... Alas, they gave me the bad news that they were going to have to replace the entire lens in order to fix the problem, and that was going to cost me 300 Singapore Dollars (about 230 Canadian). That's a huge chunk of money for a camera model that is over 5 years old, and I figured I could upgrade for that same amount...

It helped that Canon was offering a 'trade-in' incentive... a little less than that same amount off any new camera I might buy! So that automatically ruled out 'switching teams' to a model that was recommended to me by Uncle Bruce.

Much deliberation ensued... I'm a terrible decision-maker for purchases like this... and I usually like to do my homework... but, since our visa trip to Singapore was a one-day affair, the decision had to be made virtually on-the-spot!

... and here's what I ended up with!

Canon Powershot g10 IS



It's not exactly the camera I wanted (my choice would've been the Canon Powershot SX1 IS, very similar to my trusty S1, but with 20x optical zoom, and still uses AA batteries!), but the SX1 doesn't have an underwater housing (I would have to get a third party underwater housing costing twice the price of the camera itself!)... so it was a toss up. The g10 has a Canon underwater housing, but only 5x optical zoom (a step back from my S1), and uses a proprietary battery pack instead of sensible AAs (something I detest on principle)...


Oh well, I just hope it serves me as well as my S1... here are a few test shots...

Gadget Girl...

I bought a chiPod... yup, that's right, no Apple iPod monopoly for me. This knock-off will do just fine - better in fact! The comparable iPod doesn't do 1/10th of what this little power pack can handle!



I hold in the palm of my hand an mp4 player, mp3 player, radio, camera, video camera, flash disk, ebook reader, picture viewer, and digital voice recorder... i think this little doo-dad might even brush my teeth for me, although since it didn't come with an instruction manual, i can't figure out the right buttons. Of course, as Martin says, if I were smart, I would just buy a new cell with all the above functions (as well as phone, email, internet and gps - I saw there are hundreds of Geocaches in Singapore - I would've liked to be able to catch a couple!)... but a gadget like THAT wouldn't cost me about 70$, now would it!?

The sound and video quality is actually very decent, and thus far I have had none of the nightmare-ish conversion issues that I've heard some people talking about with these fakies. Hey, I figure I might as well try it out... it beats the 400-ish dollars for an iPod that would do comparable things! Ok, so it seems I fell into the Singaporean techno trap...

Singaporean Sickness - Silver linings

Now, I would like to make a case for all relatives, family & friends of patients... I think they've got it worse than the actual sickie... not only are they super-ultra-stressed about said loved-one, giving care and compassion, and being a 24-hour private nursemaid surrounded by sickness, BUT they are cooped up going stir-crazy in a hospital room, and they're not sick! And of course, you feel guilty leaving the ill lying alone in their hospital bed to go out and get a breath of fresh air/sanity, when you know that's exactly what they wish they could be doing too!

HOWEVER... There were a few +'s in this Singapore trip. Especially once Martin was feeling a little better and back on his feet, and able to go out for small tours around the town. Singapore is truly a 'cultural melting pot', a dynamic mixture of many of the cultures found on this planet, which makes for lively mixtures of colours, sights, sounds, and smells... not to mention TASTES! I managed to eat Indian food at almost every meal (and I have a whole new appreciation for eating masala - haha! I don't know what it means in Hindi/India, but in Indonesian 'masalah' is 'problem'... so i've been literally eating up my problems!)

Interestingly, the city's fluidity doesn't translate into messy, dirty streets and unbelievably unsanitary conditions as it does in Indonesia; Singapore is so CLEAN (the hospital, the streets, everywhere)!

The overall hands-down, number one, ultimate bonus of this trip for me had to be...
the HOT water (in the hotel/hospital private room!)... which was especially appreciated since it rained the ENTIRE stay!

A few random pics from our Singapore Stay:

DRAGONFRUIT!


Forget the Komodo Dragons... This delicious tropical fruit is much more to my liking; and WE can eat IT, NOT the other way around!



YUMMMMMMMM............... You can find ANYTHING in Singapore! Including the wonderful little fruit stands where I found this dragon fruit; they sell every kind of fresh juices you can imagine (as well as cut up fresh fruit)!

UPDATE:

I am writing you from Singapore, where I find myself in a much more relaxed state of mind, and with a wireless internet connection right from the hospital room! Martin is doing much better, and although still weak, and tired, he is 'back to his chipper self' (as our boss says).

The doctors at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital are very capable, and taking excellent care of Martin; it is reassuring to know that he is in good hands. Thank you all for your thoughts and best wishes.



When we left Bali the doctors there had said that Martin had malaria, dengue, hepatitis, and liver damage... but they were confused about several of the test results. So, the doctors here, even as 'world-class' and capable as they are, still haven't figured out everything that is wrong with Martin. It appears that what was making him really sick was a mixed-malarial infection (which they are treating), but that may have also triggered, or been triggered by, something else. The dengue antibodies that they found in Martin's blood appear to be from the previous infections he had as a child (the doctors actually told us that there are only three kinds of dengue, and since he has had dengue three times already, he's only got one more to go and he'll be free of that worry!). The tropical disease specialist thinks that he has another type of viral infection, and they are still doing tests to check for that. The liver specialist says that although his liver function is still out of whack, it will improve with the treatment. In short, both doctors have said that Martin is going to be OK.

What a HOLIDAY! I have barely left the hospital for the guilt I feel at leaving Martin alone in the room with the wheezing, coughing, sputtering, grunting old man in the bed next to him, and screeching of his family members. I did escape to meet Lisa (a friend we met through our friend Cecilia, and hung out with on our first visit to Bali) for an Indian dinner last night, and to see the Harry Potter movie. I would buy the new book also, but it's an outrageous 53 Sing dollars here, so I think I can wait!

Funny thing is about this hospital... many people actually do come here on HOLIDAY!!! -- They book their hospital room like they would book a hotel room! And the options are wild: there are deluxe and superior rooms as well as suites (where the whole family can stay together while their loved-one gets whatever treatment they require or elect). Aaaahhh, private health care. Mount Elizabeth also happens to be situated in the midst of the posh "Orchard Road" shopping district, and room rates are competitive with some of the corporate hotels in the area, so hey, why not... visit Singapore, go shopping, and have a little surgery! Apparently many Americans are starting to do it... it beats the costs and the service in their own country, and the climate and shopping is world-renown!

They just moved us into a single room, which is much more comfortable, and now I can sleep on the couch!

back to Singapore again...

After the insurance company referred us to another clinic for a second opinion within Bali, they have decided to do a medical evacuation to Singapore. I heard the insurance company consulting doctor from the States say, in a tone of complete finality, "I do not think the course of medication is appropriate. Get him out of there NOW, N-O-W, NOW, that's all I have to say about this case" (I don't think I was supposed to hear this part of the conversation, and it scared me, naturally). What was even scarier is that after taking meds for several days, Martin is still the same. No better, and, seemingly, no worse. The first test they did for Malaria was negative, but the second one came back positive for ALL FOUR strains of Malaria (virtually unheard-of)! The third and fourth have come back negative again, probably meaning that the virus is hiding out in the liver, spleen or elsewhere (Malaria very often gives false negatives, but never gives false positives). So maybe there are complications; hope not. We are going to Singapore tomorrow to find out, escorted by a doctor (something I think this is an unnecessary precaution... I mean, he can go to the bathroom on his own, I'm sure he'll be fine for a 1 hour flight!).

Hey, the silver lining is if you get a medical evacuation, you're flying exec...



Keep Martin and his liver in your prayers!

Singapore!

I would never have imagined as I drank my first "Singapore Sling" at a bush party in Madoc that I'd one day be hanging out in it's birthplace, the Raffles Hotel. (The real thing is much better than the backwater teenage concoction, I must admit, although still slightly disgusting!) The hotel, a veritable landmark in Singapore, is swank; Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling both stayed there in their day... we're staying a couple of blocks away, in a place more within our budget!

Unfortunately we're not here on a pleasure cruise... we came so that Martin could have his hand repaired by a qualified surgeon.

Martin had a run-in with a window pane back in mid-January... but wait, it's mid-February you say! Yes, we went to Emergency at the public hospital in Manado... however the medical care there was LESS than adequate! At least, what I saw didn't inspire confidence -- the doctor opening Martin up farther to 'look around' for the tendon -- apparently their anatomy courses aren't comprehensive so they do their studies on live specimens! I had further proof that my hunch was right about the inferior repair of Martin's hand when, after 3 weeks, the tendon ruptured again!? At this point, we flew to Jakarta with our boss (who was just completing a site visit and review with us in Manado) to get checked out by a more capable doctor... Of course, we flew into Jakarta in the middle of the worst floods they have seen there in 5 years! -- the city was SOAKED ! ... BUT we were referred here, to Singapore, for surgery...

... and are VERY relieved. The surgeon was fantastic and did his best to repair the mess the Manado doctors made of Martin's wrist and hand... he thinks that Martin should recover full mobility and almost-normal sensation in a couple of months.



To the left... post-op... back of Martin's wrist, before he got sewn back up!






Of course, we're trying to make the best of our time here... Exploring the sights around this modern metropolis.... which doesn't even feel like it's part of Asia!? It's hard to believe they're neighbours with Indonesia... cuz these two countries are WORLDS apart!!! Anyway, we're enjoying the incredible variety of food, as well as our air-conditioned hotel room (complete with tv and hot water!!!) until tomorrow when we head back to Indonesia.