Coping with Haze

Shanghai was affected by a serious haze problem last week. For days, the city was shrouded in heavily polluted air and the highest AQI (air quality index) recorded was at a hazardous level of nearly 700! In some places, visibility was so bad that someone had wittily described the situation as an "airpocalypse". The sky was almost black and it was very dark, very gloomy as if the world was coming to an end! 

According to a local daily, many cities across China have been hit by intense air pollution in recent years, much of it caused by emissions from coal-burning power stations. The current dry spell (there's no rain since October!) did not help much either.

During these suffocating days, mummy's main concern was to ensure that I didn't fall sick, especially after being informed by my school principal to take precaution because many children were already taking sick leave from school. Despite the situation, I did not skip a day of school and on the worst-hit day, my school declared an early dismissal (half-day).

Back at home, mummy increased our intake of fruits that are rich in Vit C and frequently boiled lung-nourishing soup for us. The worst is now over and we're happy to have survived these bad-air-days while maintaining our good health :)

This is the view from our apartment window... one taken on a hazy day and other on a clear day. See the big difference!

Never leave home without a mask!

On the last hazy day (it totally cleared up the next day), we went our for a "celebration" meal... Our favourite pizza and pasta joint at Saizeriya :)

I like this mask with dolphin and cherry prints, given by my BFF (as a compensation) because she broke mine a day before :p

My First Dental Visit

Last week, I complained to mummy several times that I had a toothache. On one of the nights, the pain was so intense that I could not eat my dinner. Every chew hurt! Daddy then made an appointment for me to see a dentist on the nearest Saturday.

My very first experience in a dental clinic

Upon examination, the dentist found not one but three cavities on three of my teeth. 3 cavities??? HORRORS!! Despite the strict oral hygiene imposed by mummy, which includes daily flossing since age 3, mandatory mouth-rinsing after food, closely monitored brushing and minimal intake of candies, I still ended up with bad teeth. After all the effort she had put in to take care of my teeth, this news was a big blow to mummy. At the same time, she also regretted not bringing me for regular dental check-ups... all the time believing that her preventive measures were good enough. Silly her! 

I had one big cavity on my pre-molar (milk tooth) and two tiny cavities on two of my first molars (permanent teeth). All 3 of them required filling. It was here that daddy and mummy learned a shocking fact that I already have permanent molars at this age. So ignorant! *shake head*

Daddy and mummy's brave little girl... although this was my first tooth-filling, I remained calm throughout the entire procedure and was very co-operative! I was not scared at all :)

The decayed pre-molar was the one giving problem because it had affected my gums, causing swelling and inflammation hence the pain. The dentist only dealt with this tooth for this visit (we have to make another trip there to settle the other two later because the dentisit did not want to traumatise me with too much drilling in my first visit). Just a simple procedure of tooth filling for this one tooth and guess what? Daddy was slapped with a RMB930 (RM465) bill!

Slaughtered!

As mentioned before in one of my earlier posts, healthcare in China is extremely costly. Luckily daddy's company insurance paid for most of it, so daddy needed to fork out only RMB60 (RM30) for this visit. Phew!!

After leaving the dental clinic, we went for lunch and shopping as usual (our favourite weekend pastime) and look what mummy found...

Cute floss!! Yes, she is quite obsessed with dental flosses so she immediately grabbed a pack and suggested I bring one to school so that I can floss my teeth after lunch every day! @-@

Onion to the Rescue!

Last Thursday night, when we were getting ready to go to bed, I complained to mummy that my left ear was a little painful. Mummy paid no attention to it :( Later that night, when I was supposed to be already asleep (I am currently still co-sleeping with daddy and mummy for more warmth), mummy noticed that I kept tossing, turning and making a lot of noise, obviously very disturbed by the discomfort and could not sleep well.

It was about 11pm and daddy was already sound asleep while mummy was still Candy-Crushing :p when I woke up crying. I told mummy that my ear was very, very, very painful. I cried until I vomited as usual (hmm, what's new?). Mummy was about to hand me the vomit bucket (only just 1ft away) when I couldn't hold it any longer and threw up on my pyjamas, bolster, bed and quilt. Aaaargh!

After cleaning up the mess, mummy quickly Googled for an easy (and temporary) home remedy for earache. She browsed through many tips and suggestions (mostly recommended vinegar) until one of the threads caught her attention. It had 87 comments and many of the comments were positive feedbacks, thanking the contributor for sharing.

Since we had onions at home, mummy felt that there was no harm in trying it too. She followed the instructions closely... Sliced the onion, heated it over the stove fire and placed one piece in my ear (when it has cooled a little). The onion gave me instant relief and within minutes, I dozed off and was fast asleep. No more tossing, turning and crying. The onion really worked like magic!

This was the reason why onions worked :)

When I woke up the next morning, the pain was gone. However, over the next couple of days, I could still feel a very slight pain in my left ear every now and then. Daddy and mummy decided to bring me to see a doctor just in case there was an infection, which could lead to complications later.

On Saturday, we went to a hospital to consult an ENT specialist. The doctor examined my ears and revealed to daddy and mummy (through enlarged photos on the screen) that both my ears were stuffed with a huge amount of ear wax! My ear wax is the wet and sticky type (very hard to clean but mummy still helps me to clean them from time to time).... so the doctor did a thorough cleansing on both my ears and found a slight infection near my left eardrum. I was given some ear drops to clear the infection. The doctor also cautioned me not to let water get into my ears. When I go swimming, I'm encouraged to wear ear plugs.

Cleaning in progress...

This "machine" was used to suck the sh** out of my ears ;)

International Friendship Day and Friendship Woes

How I ended up schooling in an international school is entirely due to a twist of fate and maybe, luck. Up until late last year, daddy and mummy were still preparing me for Std 1 in one SJK(C) near our home back in Petaling Jaya (we only got news of our impending move to Shanghai in late Oct 2012). Everything that they had planned for me earlier did not materialise. Instead, we were all thrown into a whirlwind of events, including a complete lifestyle-restructuring, before settling comfortably here.

Well, here I am now, enjoying the many privileges of studying in a "guo ji xue xiao". Fostering international friendship is probably one of the best experiences for me so far. Mummy is happy to note that I have made friends with children from around the world. They are J from Korea, T from India, P from Spain, J and Y from Singapore, H from Malaysia, E and M from Taiwan, C from Brazil, A from Italy, M from Hong Kong and R from Japan.

Last Friday was International Friendship Day and we were encouraged to wear traditional costumes from our native countries. Luckily mummy did not forget to bring along my baju kurung. I have been wearing this same old outfit for all the cultural events in my kindergarten since I was 4 years old!

From left: 4 years old, 5 years old and 6 years old in the same baju during my pre-school years at Peter & Jane kindergarten.

Now... soon-to-be 7 years old but still donning the same baju... in China :) Oh, and it's not that I did not grow physically. Mummy bought a size 8 and had it altered (shortened the bottom) for me to wear when I was younger. It fits perfectly now and she doubts it will still fit next year ;)

Circular for International Friendship Day... I guess my ethnic costume should be cheongsam but err, nevermind... :p

From the circular that I brought back from school, mummy understood that there would be some snacks on sale too so she gave me RMB10 as pocket money to buy something to eat. This was my very first pocket money and it was an equivalent of RM5.00!! Daddy and mummy only had RM0.50 the most during their time but of course that was more than 3 decades ago hehe. I have never bought anything before in my entire life and mummy had to give me lessons on how to buy things… how to pay and receive change if there is any.

Mummy was eager to find out what I had bought with the RMB10 so that was the first question she asked me as soon as I alighted from my schoolbus that evening. To her shock and disbelief (couldn't believe I could be so naive and silly), I told her I did not get to buy anything because I gave the money to a friend. This friend saw the money in my purse and asked for it. I wanted to please her so I handed the money to her without any hesitation! International Friendship Day ma… whatever my friend wants, I give la… @_@ (ok, I did not say this. It's just mummy's sarcastic remark)

Mummy was not very happy with my "whatever... anything goes... never-say-no" mentality. She felt that I was being taken advantage of and I was also an easy prey for bullies. Earlier on, this friend also demanded for my dough figurines (3 of them that I made every week at my craft class until mummy had to intervene and put a stop to this). She also took away small gifts (rewards) given to me by my teacher for my academic achievements. Mummy did not know how to deal with this problem so she handed it over to my class teacher.

With friends come joy as well as problems. I feel very comfortable talking and playing with my friends but I find it extremely difficult to approach them when they borrow my things without returning them. I dare not open my mouth to ask. This has led to some of my belongings (mostly small items like erasers or pencils) dwindling in numbers. Despite numerous warnings from mummy to take care of my belongings, the situation kept getting worse. From one to two to four missing coloured pencils, I came home one day with just these...

More than half gone! How pathetic...

Daddy and mummy kept telling me that it is not difficult to ASK for whatever borrowed from me that is not returned. After all, those things belong to me and they are righteously mine! I really hope I can overcome this fear soon! (Fear of approaching people to ask for something)

Hotel From Hell

*Note: This is a journal of our experience and NOT a hotel review. Therefore the name of the hotel will not be mentioned here. If you would like to know the name of the hotel, do leave your email in the comments box or if you have mummy's email/Facebook, do drop her a message :)

Recently, mummy bought a hotel package from a "discount company". At only RM135, the package came with a 2D1N stay in a hill resort, a 4-course dinner for 2 and a buffet breakfast for 2. After paying and securing the booking, daddy and mummy decided to read some online reviews about the hotel. Bad mistake. They should have done this before buying the package, not after. Lesson learnt. Some hotel reviews rated the hotel 6/10 but some individual reviewers gave the hotel very, very terrible remarks.

One of mummy's friends (who have stayed there before) even told her to bring our own bedsheet and comforter! Mummy knew then, that we were in deep trouble. Daddy and mummy prepared themselves for the worst. However, things turned out to be worse than the worst that they had expected! Yes, it was THAT bad. Although they have stayed in many budget hotels before, none of them came close to this *HORROR*. The following photos will do the talking...

We were given a 1-bedroom studio apartment. The apartment building looks ok from the outside, but inside, it is far from being ok!

The wall of the carpark... mummy thinks this looks more like a scene from a horror movie. Yucks-o-meter 1/10

The whole building is very old, rundown and ill-maintained and every single wall in the building has hideous stains such as this. Yucks-o-meter 2/10

Everywhere you look, you will either see moss or brown stains!

The one and only lift. It is... *holds breath*... awfully and nauseating-ly stinky! Yucks-o-meter 3/10

The corridor leading to our unit... pathetic! Yucks-o-meter 4/10

Eye-sore and horrid! Yucks-o-meter 5/10

Totally mouldy and moss-y! Yucks-o-meter 6/10

Our room... overall damp and dusty. Don't believe?

Here's the evidence... mummy ran a piece of tissue paper across the headboard of the bed and this was what she got. Yucks-o-meter 7/10

The living room... the cushions on the sofa look worn out and dirty *geli*. I was forbidden from sitting on it after my bath :p Yucks-o-meter 8/10

The tv... this was the channel (it's TV2, there's no cable tv, sorry) with the best reception and it was in black and white, extremely grainy and the only sound we could hear was zzrzzrzzrzzrzzrzzrzzrzzrzzrzz. We turned off the volume and watched blur, silent tv for 10 minutes. After that, we gave up and turned it off for good hahaha! (If not for Super Trio, we wouldn't have bothered watching it at all) 

The balcony *no eye see*

The bathroom looks at least 3 decades old and has a hole on the door... sad!

The 4-course dinner turned out to be an economical fare of white rice with a selection of 4 dishes... chicken kurma, "kembung" fish, chilli omelette and stir-fried "kangkung". While we tried our best not to complain about the food, the sitr-fried kangkung was just too "sandy" (not thoroughly washed) for us to accept. Sigh! Yucks-o-meter 9/10

It was a sleepless night for daddy and mummy. While I snored peacefully between them on the very crammed queen-sized bed, both of them did not (and could not) sleep a wink. Daddy complained that his pillow was smelly. Mummy complained that it was too cold (about 16C although no air-con or fan) so the both of them stayed up the whole night, reading their books until 4am... *yawn*

The following morning, we went for our free buffet breakfast. We told ourselves to focus on the positive and hoped not to encounter or see anymore yucky things. As we were eating, both daddy and mummy caught a whiff of something unpleasant at the dining table. It was a foul "cockroach smell". They thought the smell was from the table cloth so they moved somewhere else but the smell still lingered on. When mummy lifted her cup and took a sip of tea, horror of all horrors, she discovered that the foul-smelling cockroach stench was from her cup!!! There, specks of black and brown stains were seen on a few parts of the cup. How could mummy not see it??? Mummy immediately felt sick to the stomach. She had a tummy discomfort the whole morning.

Utterly disgusting! Confirmed from this cup. After removing the cup from the table, the smell was gone. Gosh, mummy ate cockroach sh*t! Yucks-o-meter 10/10

Yucks to the max! How in the world did this hotel get a rating of 6/10? Mummy could not find one thing good not-unpleasant about this hotel where she could award 1 point to. All she can say is, this hotel is totally unfit for human occupancy!

While daddy and mummy couldn't wait to FLEE from this horrible place, I, on the other hand, was blind to all the ugliness and flaws. I even commented "I like this hotel... I want to come again!" Daddy and mummy *roll eyes* *shake head* *slap forehead* LOL!

A 5-Minute Terror in the Mall

On Sunday, 27th March 2011, at 8:30pm, something happened to me and that incident will forever be etched in daddy and mummy's memory.

We were in Amcorp Mall, right after a book-buying spree in BookXcess. While browsing something in Hot Value Mart on the LG floor, I went missing! The 3 of us were walking together all the time but when daddy and mummy moved on to the next aisle, I did not follow them.

Within a few seconds, as soon as daddy and mummy noticed my vanishing act, they called out my name. There was no response. They immediately combed the shop aisle by aisle, looking for me. Nope, I wasn't in the shop. Panic-stricken, mummy ran out of the shop to scan the whole area outside, hoping to spot me somewhere but no, I was nowhere to be seen!

Soon, the frantic search began. The anxiety level in mummy was so extreme that she felt dizzy and nauseous and nearly puked at the thought of not finding me! Negative thoughts filled her mind too, as she recalled reading about missing young girls in the newspapers that were never found.

The short, 5-minute search felt like an eternity as they walked around looking for me in vain. Just when mummy was feeling hopeless, trembling in fear and close to tears, she saw me emerging from the Giant supermarket nearby. I was holding the hand of a security guard, crying uncontrollably but silently! If only I had cried a little louder or screamed my lungs out or whatever...

That was truly a traumatic experience for all of us and we have each learned a valuable lesson from this ordeal.

Lesson for me: I must always, always stay close to daddy or mummy and never leave their side. I should also hold one of their hands at all times, if possible.

Lesson for daddy and mummy: This is a wake-up call for them... to always stay alert and be aware of my whereabouts. All this while, they thought such incidents would only happen to other people... especially negligent parents who never supervise their kids. Now, they know. It can happen to anyone in just a split second!