Singapore&#39;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;

Bloodbank@Dhoby Ghaut

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:

A stands for Art garden 2013

B stands for Botanic gardens

C stands for Chinatown heritage centre

D stands for bloodbank @ Dhoby ghaut

E stands for Esplanade

F stands for Fire station

G stands for Garden festival 2014