monitoring visits

hey peeps

i'm back!!! there hasnt been any update from me for i was too busy with work. 1 week monitoring in bangkok (at siriraj hospital) and the other week, also monitoring, but in singapore (at NUH). more of a closeout visit for the latter though.

bangkok monitoring was tiring for we needed translation most of the time. the doc was pretty fluent in english but not the study coordinators/ nurses. worse case scenario is that the patient case records are all in thai!!! and the dates are according to the buddha calender (for example, 2006 is 2549). the doc or what we call "investigator", is not always there when we do monitoring (will touch more on what monitoring is, in another entry. in the meanwhile, jus treat it like an audit), other than running clinical trials with us, he's still gotto run his daily activities (seeing his patients, doing the rounds, more research and what not). so we rely alot on the study coordinators who do the work (the paperwork) for the investigator most of the time anyway. however, the investigator is still overall responsible for the entire trial. i'll post some pics of my trip when i have more time. on the whole, the site (or hospital) personnels are very friendly and helpful and obliging and warm. well, that's signature of thais, isnt it? those evenings after work were gastronomically the best. my HK colleague and i went for thai food to jap to french to italian. i love the french the best. the food was good (prepared by real frenchmen) and cheap (comparing spore) and the ambience was good and cosy. for the weekend, OH flew over and we had sweaty fun. the weather was humid and hot (as if spore is not)! i didnt feel the heat until then for i was in the aircon place all the time and also becos we went to chatuchak market. the conditions at chatuchak definitely magnified the heat. we spent half a day there suppose to be shopping (heard so much raves abt it) but were sweating away instead. when we stumbled upon tis aircon shop, we practically stayed in there for abt 30mins (taking our time choosing OH's tees :P). we saw heard a few singaporean couples too. :P chatuchak is HUGE. loads to see but the place is really dirty. u wont really know until u leave the place. we both found our shins and feet totally black, all covered with dirt when we were going back. pollution is really bad in bangkok. when we were on our way to the airport on my last day there, we saw the sky above the city gloomy and dull. at first we thought it was the grey clouds and the rain is coming. then we saw the sky above the gloomy patch to be clear and blue. so it was really the polluted air like our housemate in syd told us before.

NUH closeout visit was more tiring than the bangkok one since it is a closeout. to give u an idea of the amount of workload for tis site.... on the last day which was yesterday, we packed all the docs (documents not doctors) and xrays and anything relevant to the study/trial into 30 boxes (think fedex boxes).... all for archiving. all for 100 over patients of a 7-8 year old trial. oohh... there is alot of stuff. make a guess how long the 30 boxes gonna be archived for? 2yrs? 4yrs? 5yrs? 8yrs? no no no no. ITS 15 YEARS!!!! yes, its so freaking long. a regulation stipulated by the FDA.

what meant to be a short update before i go do my last minute cny shopping, turned into a full entry. okay, need to go shit, bathe, eat and shop (clothes not enough. i only managed to buy 1 top, 1 skirt, 1 capri pants, 3 pair of shoes and 2 bags for myself in bangkok. all for S$75. cheap deal! thats not alot of stuff comparing to alot of girls. i expected more clothes, more shoes, more bags. so bimbotic. haha).

GONG XI FA CAI, Happy Lunar New Year! my most hated holiday is here.

what i miss most....

pitter patter... pitter patter...

had lunch for brekkie and brekkie for lunch.


today's weather in singapore (at least in town)....pictures say it all.

i cant believe i'm missing the apprentice, season 4 (as i write). too tired to be staying up for an hour. i'm so gonna go to bed now. i hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. its another day off on tuesday after one day at work tomorrow. how many holidays have we got so far?? plus the weekends and holiday-in-lieu. not forgetting the cny holidays are on the way. its really an added bonus working in singapore. :)

supper at geylang lorong 9

sidenote: it surprised me that there's a watsons in geylang. and tis lady practically stop all oncoming cars to cross the road. so dangerous!!! what a sigh of relief for her after she got across safely.

to summarise chronologically

1 jan 2006, sunday - 1st day of the new year. family lunch at din tai fung tampines. it was my treat. now broke. :P



2 jan 2006, monday - dad wanted to eat crab bee hoon, so together with mom, we went to one of hong kong street franchise coffeeshop for lunch. spent 39 bucks there. costly meal for 3 at a coffeeshop but it was all worth it. the meat were white and fresh and the soup really good. slurp. dad's treat so it was exceptionally tasty. haha.... what a cheapo!



saw a boy with his sister spraying the xmas white foam on a harmless cat lazing, not in a corner but in the middle of a amphitheatre and sort of was in the way, but definitely do not deserve the scare and spray. i was damn angry then and i cant reprimand the boy. can i? not my son so how m i suppose to do it. i kept complaining to my dad as we walked to the nearby shops to buy whatever they had to buy. electrical stuff i think. i really cannot tolerate animal bullies. WTH!!! i feel that kids and even some adults are not educated or taught to treat animals in the most humane way possible. even if they're not taught, isnt it in our nature to treat all living creatures with grace and respect???? my blood seems to be still boiling after all these days. many many years ago, alot of people will wonder how did a cat phobic like me get tis sense of righteousness for cats? honestly, even though i may be scared of cats, i wouldnt do anything like scaring or spitting at them. okay, so tis rant resulted from a spray can of foam. i miss meow meow!!! the first ever feline that got rid of my phobia. where art thou, meow meow? hope some kind soul took him in eversince.

bye bye poly notes!!!!! after all these years, its really time to go. mom is nagging anyway that they took up so much space in the store room. i know her next (or rather, as always) target is my smelly pillow.

recent obsession....


3 jan 2006, tuesday - hmmm....what did i do/go? i shld be doing my online training at home.

4 jan 2006, wednesday - went back to work with holiday withdrawal syndrome. too long a break is bad.

5 jan 2006, thursday - at SIR building settling a new passport.

6 jan 2006, friday - spent the entire day at work (it was supposed to be half a day for me). then to the airport for dinner. perhaps i was really hungry, the hokkien mee seems the best i've tried so far. u can try it if u're at the airport. lemme know if u think its nice too. T2 staff canteen, level 6 i think. u take the escalator up from maccas and then keep left. go up the ramp (used to be steps) to the carpark area. take the steps on the left of the lift lobby, up one level. btw, u cant take the lift for its downriding only.

7 jan 2006, saturday, (today) - the weather forecast says 24-29oC. wow, singapore is hardly within the 30s. nice weather. but rain is keeping us away from country manager's bbq. i dont feel like going anyway. i had enough of work & colleagues yday, now i jus wanna unwind and relax and zho-bo.