Monday, June 24, 2013

Singapore's D stands for bloodbank @ Dhoby Ghaut

Dhoby Ghaut has been one of my favourite 'town' shopping area after i shifted to hougang just because it's on the northeast line... =) 

Secondly, the many restaurants (canele, fruit paradise, ajisen, mos burger etc) with no/short queue to choose from even during peak hour makes it another of my favourite location to meet-up with friends .... i hate queues.... totally spoil my mood for food.... =S

and thirdly, Diaso is there.... =) ... 

but of cos i wun be so bo liao as to recommend Dhoby Ghaut on my blog just because of the 3 reasons above..... 

the main reason why i'm recommending Dhoby Ghaut as one of the 26 things in my Singapore's A to Z blog challenge is because it housed a blood donation centre; 







Dhoby Xchange (Near Exit B)

#B1-05/06/07/08/09 

11 Orchard Road 

Singapore 238826



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my first "experience" with blood donation was as a JC 1/2 student when the nurses came to school and did a mass blood donation drive .... but managed to escape it cos i was slightly underweight and was weighing just 1 kg less than the minimun requirement of 45kg...


and since then, i had never taken any initiative to donate blood thinking that my blood type must not be in much demand since it's a super common blood type until i saw jess's fb post that it was needed to help save 3 lives and that supply was low 2 weeks ago while i was in taipei....

wanted to do my part when i returned last week but due to the haze (excuse) and my power procrastination level (main reason), i only managed to get my S moving today just so that i could blog for letter D.... the power of this blog challenge... =P

 but better late then never... alvin went along too cos he was the only A who was available to accompany me on a monday afternoon.... too bad he's still too young else we could have donate together.... 
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 the whole process took less than 45 minutes....it started with a nurse using her thumb to assess the size of my veins on both arms to determine which arm should they draw blood from... 

 once determined that my veins are suitable, i had to fill in a 3 - 4 pages long registration form that determined my eligibility as a blood donor... 

 once done, took queue number to see the doctor who went through the key points in the registration form and to double and triple confirmed that i'm not any one of these below

followed by a measure of my blood pressure and a finger prick blood test 

 And the final step...
donate blood!!!

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 actually, it wasn't painful at all.... i guessed the thought of blood donation and the anticipation of the needles were more frightening than the actual act of drawing the blood.... (-.-!!!)

 the nurses were all very friendly and comforting.... knowing that i was a first time donor, they were always checking on me to see if i was feeling okay and kept reminding me to drink more water and to do what was stated on the '10 post donation care tips' bookmark which was given




a box of iron supplement in vanilla flavour was given as part of post care too... =)...



 i'm so proud of myself cos  i made a mini positive impact in this world today..... clap clap clap clap.... heee... =) 



 and yes, i will be back... probably in nov so that alvin, angela and mr ang can all go together... =) ... if i can do it, i made sure they can do it too.... wahahahhaa....


the red dot was where the needle went through.... it looked just like one of the many mosquito's bites which i gotten from taiwan... =S

i wonder ..... does donating 450ml of blood make me lighter by 450g too??? if that's the case... i just lose half a kilo of mass today.... =) 


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other posts in the Singapore's A to Z blog challenge series:

X stands for ?????
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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

back to the 80s @ tamshui

street artist just outside the train station





it's not called 淡水老街 for nothing....it's a street that will teleport you "back into the 80s", as coined by alfred after seeing all the old school kind of pasar malam games .... 








 alfred having a go.... not bad for a first timer... =) 

and for his superb marksmanship, he received an inflatable toy hammer which he gave to a cute little girl shortly after... 




bought some switch stickers at NT$50 (S$2.15) each from one of the gift shops



 and this is how 'taipei 101' looks like on my toilet switch... =) 




 also bought one of these... guess which one???? 

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not my favourite kind of ice cream, i prefer the more creamy kind, this was more icy, but was fun watching them create it... =) 

and boy, it melted so fast that it was dripping everywhere and mummy had to step in to salvage it... =S 




prefer the german pork knuckles at feng jia night market ... this one got smelly smelly pig smell.... no like.... 



i luv taiwan muah chee...   



it was a joy eating all the snacks under the cloudy sky... =) 

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and out of nowhere along the street was this unique/strange museum

it's a very tiny exhibition room about the size of a 3-room flat that showcases many unique creatures - live & preserved 



Siamese tortoise 



tortoise with high arch shell 


albino tortoise with a pig snout 


not really interested with all the weird looking creatures but had fun with the photo booths.... wahahahaha





and this marked the end of my second taipei trip in 2 consecutive years.... 

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raohe night market

my favourite night market in taipei and one that is furthest from the train station i assumed.... i had to checked with at least 3 people on the direction before i finally reached my destination ... 


famous pepper biscuit stall right at the entrance 

din try as we were put off by the super long queue ... =P  


performance art - stylo uncle making a glass squirrel


super yummy snacks along the way... =D






11 pieces of tim sum at only NT$10 (S$4.30)







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Wulai waterfall

just 5 minutes away from the hotspring and at the end of wulai old street was a mini train station



with mini trains that ferry visitors to and from wulai waterfall in less than 6 minutes

alternative was to walk the 1.6km up-slope on a pathway which they termed "Lover's Trail" (情人步道).... my suggestion is to take the train up at NT$50 (S$2.15) and walk down Lover's Trail instead....



the mini train that can only ferry 11 people at any one time



lots of greenery along the train ride up/down


video taken during the trip down


was surprised to see a cross up in the mountain... asked our cab driver about it and he said it was erected to commemorate the priest who was killed by falling rocks in that area 20 - 30 years ago...





Wulai waterfall

though not as majestic as the one at shifen, it has its own charm, like a sexy lady, that can make you stare at it for a long long while



with water that flows towards the hotspring area



us resting in the mini museum


had a little fun playing with the stamp provided ... =)




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walked through wulai old street once more to go to the main road for bus/cab back to taipei


wulai 小吃....
luv the 小米麻糬 with sesame topping and 石板炒猪肉片... both were major yums



alfred was delighted to see that his favourite snack was available at the 7-11 at xindian station and couldnt resist buying a bowl... his 5th bowl out of 6 for this trip...
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