My Fight with CA

Going into Round 2

2010-03-09T03:06:00.000-08:00

3 weeks have passed since my 1st chemo and I am now going for the 2nd one soon. I thank God for making it easy on me for the first time. Except for some minor side effects, I have not experienced any serious side effects like vomitting or diarrhea. I am also blessed to have the presence of so many loved ones, especially my hubby by my side as I went thru the first round. Going into 2nd round, I feel a bit uneasy as I have heard different stories from ex-patients, and I am also worried about how my body would react to further treatment. I pray hard that I would be able to manage any side effects that may happen to me, and I pray even harder that I would have little or no side effects.

My hubby is also not going to be around this time, so this will be a real test on me. I must remain mentally strong as I face this myself, and remain positive in the face of any obstacles. To date, I have already been strong enough to shave off my head, two days after my hair started dropping in clumps. It was pretty frustrating to pick up the mess in the house, so much so that it is easier if I just went out, since I would not have to pick up the mess if I am outside. I like my baldness now as it is much cooler, and easier to manage. The only downside is that when something drops on the head, it can be pretty painful as there is no hair to cushion the shock. It actually happened to me the other day when my mom accidentally dropped the clothes hanging rod on me. Ouch! That when I really wished I had some hair.

A week into treatment

2010-02-25T16:34:00.001-08:00

A week has passed since my first chemo. To date, I would say that I have coped well, given that I have no major side effects like vomiting or diarrhea. However, I have had a host of other symptoms like dry mouth (ongoing), sore throat (ongoing) loss of voice (only for 2nd day), gastric pain(3rd and 4th day), pain in lower, back and middle back (3rd-5th day), sore gums(ongoing) and the latest being urinary tract infection. The symptoms differ from day to day, and I never know what to expect each day. My appetite is still good but I have started to lose some sensory perception in my taste bud. If I eat solid food, I will have no sensation in my some parts of my tongue but if I drink soup, I will be able to taste the food pretty well. Doctor said that the sore gums is an indication of my low blood count, which is 1.9 to date, pretty low (for a normal person should have at least 4.0). Before treatment, my white blood count was a good 8.6, and 6 days into treatment, it is dipped to 3.2 before dropping to 1.9 now. As a result of the pain during urination, I rushed to see my oncologist and it was found out that I have some infection due to the low blood count. Dr Karmen gave me some antibiotics and I was also given a booster jab for white blood cells. However, I dread giving myself the jabs over the next 3 days. It takes a lot of courage to watch any injection, what's more to inject into your own body.

I am also getting more and more confused over what to eat or what to avoid. It is not easy keeping track of what I should eat given that my symptoms vary from day to day.

Round 1 out of 8 (or 6?)

2010-02-23T15:41:00.000-08:00

My first chemo was carried out on the 4th day of Lunar New Year. Except for another patient and myself, the clinic was pretty quiet, probably because not many people would like to undergo chemo during the Lunar New Year period. It could also be the fact that Dr Karmen was not in the clinic that day.

Sometime during my treatment, a female patient came in for a blood count. She sounded very negative upon learning that her blood count was too low for the next round of chemo. This affected my mood a bit, but I decided to shut myself out from such pessimism, as it was only my first chemo and I still have a long way to go.

All in all, my first chemo lasted about 4.5 hrs. I had thought that it would finish by noon, but this was my first time doing chemo and the nurses apparently would have to administer the drugs slowly. Chemo is like being put on drip (which I am quite used to by now, as I already have had drips thrice while I was in China). The nurse gave me some anti-vomitting drugs, followed by a bag of Carboplatin, Taxotere, and Avastin. I only felt discomfort when I had to visit the washroom several times('cos I drank lots of water during chemo). Going to the washroom is quite a chore, as I had to get the nurse to help me push the "drip machine" (an apparatus which monitors my drip) all the way to the entrance of the toilet before I enter the toilet. Even then, the toilet door could not be closed completely and I had to endure some pain or discomfort in my hand (which was injected for the IV) when I tried to pull down or pull up my pants. Lesson learnt-wear a skirt the next time.

There were basically very few things that I could do during chemo. This was because my right hand was rendered "useless" by the drip and I could not even hold a book properly. I ended up flipping through the pages of magazine, instead of reading. Then I watched some TV programs, dozed off a little before chatting with the nurses and my relatives who came to visit.

My hubby and brother accompanied me on my first chemo. They also picked up lunch for me and I was terribly grateful they managed to get me my favorite fish porridge from Amoy Street. It was quite an experience doing chemo therapy and having lunch at the same time. Halfway through the chemo, my other bro and sis-in-law visited and brought along some snacks as well. With so many well-wishers, it definitely made my first chemo experience a pleasant one.

The week when my life was turned upside down

2010-02-18T15:50:00.001-08:00

Singapore

We arrived sometime near midnight on 7 Feb(Sun). After an exhausting flight which totally blocked my eardrums, it always felt good to be coming back to our home sweet home in Sg. We are so glad that our house is pretty well-equipped, 'cos we always seemed to have everything we need to survive here, whenever we return to Sg.

On 8th Feb(Mon) morning, I met up with my Aunt at Mt A hospital before heading to see the doctor that she had kindly arranged for me. It turned out to be a female doctor by the name of Joy. I definitely felt more comfortable with her as compared to the male doctor in China. Joy did an ultrasound scan on me and also several core needle biopsies(later, I learnt that she took out 7 tissue samples from the infected area). The biopsies were definitely not pleasant. I had to be given 3 local anaethestics jabs, before being stapled/punched several times on my breast. I was very glad that I did not watch her as she did the biopsies. When Joy told me that it was over, I looked down at my breast and was horrified to see my breast covered with bloodied tissues papers. Apparently, Joy was trying to hint to me that day that something was not right with my breast. She mentioned that the ultrasound scan looked funny but I was not quick enough to catch her hint.

After the doctor's visit, hubby and I caught up with my aunt over lunch and we later visited my parents in the afternoon. I later met up with my brother and his family over Nyonya dinner that night. Though I was still feeling okay, I was starting to be wary of what I ate. For example, I starting to avoid eating prawns, just to be safe than sorry. However, never in my mind, did it occur to me that my world would be turned upside down the next day.

We were to scheduled to meet Joy again on 9th Feb at 11.30am. However, I had a hard time waiting for a cab near my flat, so I called Joy's clinic to tell them that I might be arriving late. The nurse who took my call was very unaccommodating and insisted that I must not arrive late, as there was another patient coming in at noon and Joy had to leave for a surgery at 1pm. In the end, I managed to hail a cab, only to arrive that around 11.45am.

Joy gave us the shock of our life when we stepped into her room. Apparently, she had thought that her nurse would have hinted to us earlier over the phone to prepare us for the bad news. However, the nurse did not mention anything except to tell us not to be late for appointment. We were therefore not prepared when Joy told us that the results were bad. She then went on to explain what the histo report meant, but my mind was in a blur, confused by all the medical terms in the report. I asked her to put it simply to me, what it meant and she said that the lab test results showed that it was breast CA. I asked what stage it was, only to find out that it was pretty advanced (Stage 3). As mentioned, I was mentally prepared for cancer, given my family history. However, I was definitely not prepared for such an advanced stage, as I always thought that it would take a long time for cancer to develop to Stage 3. Given that I only discovered this problem about 2 weeks ago, I never understood how it could be Stage 3 now. I had experienced no sudden weight loss, nor any loss of appetite. What's more, I just had a full-body checkup in the US in Nov (before leaving for China) and in Dec upon arrival in China, and everything was cleared. How did this ever happen to me?

I later asked Joy for the worst scenario and she said that I would have 2 more years to live. Hubby and I were totally devastated by the news. We could not stop crying in front of Joy and she had to offer us tissue papers. It took us some time to calm down. Joy said that she would have to send me for further tests, namely a blood test, ECG and CT PET scan. After leaving the clinic, my hubby and I decided to visit the chapel for a quiet moment to collect our thoughts. At the ECG clinic, I broke down again, only to be comforted by a Chinese nurse who reassured me that everything would turn out well in the end. I was very worried about my ECG results not knowing if the cancer has affected my heart.

I had to attend a briefing that afternoon at the Orchard Rd clinic where my CT PET scan was scheduled to take place on the next day. I called my brother to tell him the news and asked him to see if he could pick us up from Mt A. I was very thankful that my brother could always be depended on when I need him. Later, I could only remember that I was tearing away wherever I went to that day, be it at the cafe where we lunched or at the receptionist desk at the Orchard Rd clinic where I was briefed. Exhausted from all that had happened, I went home and later called my in-laws and my aunt to break the news. My mother-in-law, my sis-in-law and my aunt came by my place later in the evening to comfort us. Very grateful to them for being there for us in such times.

As required by the CT PET scan, I had to fast for at least 6 hrs before my scan at 9am on Wed morning. This was because I had to be injected with some radioactive tracers in my body which would be able to pick up some glucose content for diagnosis. After being injected with the radioactive tracers, I would have to lie still for an hour for it to flow through my entire body before I could be scanned. This is my first time doing a CT PET scan but I thought it was cool to be wheeled into something like a space capsule. The Filipino radiologist was very professional and he was able to make me feel calm about this (although I really dislike the idea of subjecting my body to any radiation). The whole process was about 3 hours long, and I was not supposed to have any contact with young children or pregnant woman after my scan.

I went back to Joy for another consultation on Thurs after my ECG, blood test, and CT PET scan results were out. My blood test was fine, and it didn't even show any tumor markers. My ECG was slightly off probably because I was very emotionally distraught when I took the test. However, Joy said that there were some questionable areas in my T7 vertebrate and my pelvic bones in my CT PET scan results. Nevertheless, she said that I should start chemo straightaway given the aggressive nature of my cancer, and she recommended a few oncologists. My aunt who was also with me then, also brought me to see Dr Wong who is a family friend(he treated my grandmother when she had cancer). Dr Wong was very kind and he gave me a very thorough examination and analysis of what my test results meant. He even put me in contact with one of his ex-patients who had breast CA so that I can set up my own support group. He also lent me a book which was written by his ex-cancer patient to motivate me to stay strong. At that point, I wished I had seen him instead of Joy in the first place.

Later that afternoon, we visited the oncologist at G Hospital who was recommended by Joy and further endorsed by Dr Wong. This was my first time visiting an oncology clinic and it really saddens me to see patients from all walks of life. There was a young teenage boy, some middle aged ladies, as well as foreigners who were ill with cancer. I wished something can be done quickly in medicine so that a cure can be found.

Dr Karmen turned out to be the most interesting doctor I have met so far. We had earlier heard from Dr Wong that Dr Karmen was from HK and she could be very straightforward with her comments. For some people, they might find her blunt but hubby and I actually liked her style-straightforward, to the point and she doesn't hide things. She was also very professional in her dealings. What's important is that I liked the fact that she has good connections with the rest of the professionals in the industry. She was also able to arm-wrestle her way for me to get an earlier time slot to do an MRI scan on my bones the following day, even though the clinic that was doing the scan had wanted to schedule me for a later time slot.

Dr Karmen suspected that I could be a ER+ case and I might qualify for a clinical trial on a new drug, pending the results of my MRI scan and my ER report. However, my family members were very skeptical about the trail, as I might be subject to certain restrictions and they wanted me to have the best care I could have. The next thing that Dr Karmen brought up was the cost of the whole treatment. Apparently, it would take me 4 chemo sessions, a surgery, followed by another 4 chemo sessions and a radiation. Suddenly, we had to reassess our financial situation and check to see if our insurance policies actually covers me for this. It is never easy having to deal with emotional and financial issues at the same time when dealing with such a disease.

My aunt was also very kind to ask me to move in with her while I was undergoing treatment. However, I prefer to stay put where I was as I was more comfortable in my own place where I have all my stuff with me. Later that evening, my hubby's former schoolmate, who is currently working in NCC dropped by to speak to us about my condition. We were terribly grateful to him as he came all the way to our place even though he had just knocked off late in the night.

On 12th Feb (Fri), I went for the MRI test for my bones. It took longer than usual, as I was breathing too heavily initially and the machine could not produce images clear enough for diagnosis. I also felt that it was definitely more claustrophobic and noisier doing may MRI, than a CT PET scan. An hour later, I collected my test results from the clinic and headed for another consultation at Dr Karmen's clinic. I was hugely relieved to learn that my bones are fine, but was sad to learn that I was a triple negative case, which means that my cancer belongs to a very rare type of cancer, and there was no single drug for that. Nevertheless, Dr Karmen told me that she had consulted her colleagues in other hospitals and came up with a treatment plan that would work for me. I would be given Taxotere, Carboplatin and Avastin, and of course some drugs to help me combat the side effects of chemo. (Frankly speaking, all these terms were pretty new to me, and I have no idea what they are all about. Of course, I do know more about the drugs now after researching on the internet and consulting our doctor friend. In fact, I wished I had taken biology in school so that I can have a better understanding of some medical terms. Luckily, my hubby had studied biology and he stayed up every night doing research and reading medical reports on the net, on my behalf. Terribly grateful for that.)

Dr Karmen had suggested that I could start chemo on Friday itself, but I was having second thoughts about it. This was because I have yet to sink in all the facts after what seems like a roller-coaster ride week. I was definitely not mentally prepared for it. Worse still, I have yet to tell my parents about my condition and we were supposed to be having reunion dinner that night with them. The timing of all these was bad-right before the Chinese New Year. However, Dr Karmen was very understanding and she respected my decision to postpone the chemo to the following Wed. I would start right after the CNY break. Though she would not be in the clinic that day, she gave me her cellphone so that I can call her during any emergency. Later that afternoon, we visited my in-laws to reassure them that everything was fine and I was going ahead to seek treatment next week.

We went home that day, much more relieved and reassured than the previous days. The only thing that was lingering on my mind was how and when to break the news to my parents.

Short but eventful trip to HK

2010-02-18T15:15:00.000-08:00

Shanghai to Hong Kong

We missed our flight HK on Friday night, due to a dishonest taxi driver who took us on a long route to the airport. Normally, it would only take us 15-20 min to the airport but we ended up spending 45min on the road and missing the cut-off time for checking in our luggage. Since we were rescheduled to fly out on Sat night, we decided not to spend our night in the airport but to return to our apartment in SH. On Sat morning, we decided to take it easy and went out doing some last-minute shopping. After lunch, we went home to get ready to leave early for the airport. We had arranged for the taxi driver (who took us home from the Pudong airport yesterday) to pick us up today, as he seemed pretty savvy with the traffic in Shanghai. However, he did not turn up at all and we had to arrange for the security guard to hail a cab for us. It turned out that the security guard asked for a bribe of 10rmb from the taxi driver who wanted our business. In the end, we found out that the taxi driver had taken us on a longer route, probably to recover the "bribe" that he had to pay the security guard at my condo. So much for dishonest taxi drivers and security guard.

At the airport, the staff at Dragon Air gave us a hard time by faulting us for having an excess baggage of 3kg. I was very angry with them for making me repack my bags on the spot, and not helping me with loading the bags on the weighing scale. Handling the luggage further aggravated the pain in my right armpit. We were then told that our flight would be delayed and that meant that we were scheduled to arrive in HK near midnight. Even though we arrived at the airport early that day, things were not plain sailing. Sigh. Hubby told me this was nothing compared to the experiences he had when he took domestic flights within China on his business trips.

We arrived in HK near midnight only to find that one of our luggage was missing as it might not have been on the flight. In the end, we had to lodge a missing luggage report at the airport and by the time we arrived in the hotel, it was 2am. The next morning, we met up with my hubby's colleague who was visiting his girlfriend in HK over dim sum. Then, we later met up with an old friend who is currently living in HK (also over dim sum). The airline called sometime in the day to say that our luggage has been found. Apparently, it was tagged all the way to Sg and the ground staff had left it at the transit area, instead of loading it on the conveyor for arrivals in HK. I swore that this is the last time that I would fly with Dragon Air. If not for the wrong tagging, we would not have to go through all these angst and worries.

Given that we had only a day in HK, there was very little time to do any shopping and sightseeing. What's more, we had to leave for the airport early so that we could retrieve our missing luggage before checking in for the next flight to Sg. At the airport, we finally had to chance to savor the delicious soup at one of our favorite restaurants in HK (AH YEE LENG TONG) before boarding the flight back to Sg.

How it all started

2010-02-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

Shanghai, China

I woke up on 28th Jan (wed) morning with something like a sprain under my right arm-pit. Initially, I thought I might have slept in a wrong position and sprained the muscles under my armpit.

On 30th Jan (Fri) morning, I woke up to find a painless lump (the size of a Sg 20-cent coin)on the upper part of my right breast. Sensing that something was not right, I quickly emailed my 4th aunt in Sg to ask her to help arrange for me to see a doctor in Sg, since I had planned to return to Sg in the following week to spend CNY in Sg. My aunt used to work in a hospital in Sg, and I was pretty confident that she would be able to help me find a good doctor.

Soon, I started having difficulty stretching and raising my right arm. It was difficult to even do simple tasks like reaching the can of soda on the upper shelves in the fridge, putting on my winter clothes like pullovers, or even using my fingers to press the pump for the shower foam. Then, I started to feel this unbearable tightness in the lump, it was as if the pressure building up inside the lump could cause the lump to burst anytime. On 31 Jan (Sat), I decided to call up Parkway Health Clinic in Shanghai to arrange to see a doctor. I had wanted to see a female gynaecologist initially, but was told that I could only see her a week later due to her busy schedule. In the end, the staff referred me to see a locally trained Chinese male doctor who was supposed to have 15-year year of experience with breast CA.

On 2nd Feb(Mon), I went down to Parkway's Xintiandi branch to see the doctor. After examining my breast, he told me that I might have some infection and he would have to give me antibiotics(in the form of an IV drip) over the next 3 days to fight the infection, and he also recommended that I go for a mammogram and ultrasound scan the next day. However, both hubby and I were not very comfortable with him, as we felt that he was very reticent. I also didn't quite like the clinic (as it was located in a dingy local hospital) and the room where they put me on a drip(as it seemed more like a storeroom), so I asked to continue with my next treatment at their branch in JW Marriott Hotel which has a more conducive environment.

On 3rd Feb (Tue), I had my second drip at Parkway's JW Mariott branch. The nurse who administered my drip could not get the antibiotics to flow smoothly and she had to manipulate the needle several times to get the liquid flowing. It was one of the most unpleasant experiences I ever had with needles poking in my body. Then, I was told to go for lunch and come back in an hour's time for my mammogram and ultrasound. By then, I was having some reservations about doing a mammogram as I did not like the idea of exposing my left breast to unnecessary radiation. The nurse called my doctor in the Xintiandi branch and he told me that an ultrasound would suffice. Hence, I only went for an ultrasound scan after lunch. The sonographer (ultrasound specialist) showed me the scans she made, highlighting to me a cyst and fibroadenoma (both of which are supposed to be benign) on my left breast, and a cyst as well as the lump on my right breast. She felt that the lump could have been an abscess(of less than 2 cm) which has caused the area around it to be infected. She also highlighted several affected lymph nodes underneath my right armpit. She even went to the extent of suggesting that I be put on drip until Friday so as to lessen the infection.

On 4th Feb(Wed), I went for my 3rd drip. By then, I could feel that the lump is not as tight as before, and I could raise my arms more easily. However, there is still pain and it is very sporadic. I could be feeling fine most of the time, but when it hurt, it really hurt badly. For example, I could not sleep one night as the pain was simply unbearable whenever I lay horizontally in bed. The gravity pull on my breast would cause pain to the parts of my breast where the lump and lymph nodes are located. I ended up sleeping propped up on my back and stuffing a cushion under my right armpit so that it would not hurt.

I went back to see the male doctor on 5th Feb (Thurs) for a diagnosis after my ultrasound results were out. The doctor felt that there could be 3 reasons for the lump and the infected lymph nodes, namely a normal milk duct infection, TB (which apparently can happen outside the lungs), or cancer( for which I was mentally prepared given my family history). He felt that for a better diagnosis, doing a fine needle aspiration on the infected area would suffice. However, I was supposed to be leaving for HK on the following day, and the result for the fine needle aspiration would not be out till Monday, I asked him for a report as well as copies of my scan results which I could bring back with me to Sg for a second opinion with the doctor that my aunt had arranged for me to visit. The doctor also gave me antibiotics to be consumed orally over the course of next 3 days as I travel between HK and Sg.

Long Time No Blog

2009-03-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

It's a year since I last blogged about my life in Philly. So many things have happened in my life over this past one year. I've also travelled to other places within the USA (e.g. Hawaii, Texas, Carolinas and Georgia, Boston) as well places outside the States (e.g. Canada and Germany). Now that I'm coming almost to the end of my 2-year stay here in Philly, I thought I should do a listing of some of our most/worst memorable places and experiences here. So here we go, starting with restaurants, given that we are such foodies and Philly is such a wonderful place for dining.

List of the best restaurants/eateries in Philly:
• Black Fish (contemporary American, chef formerly from a center city French restaurant)
• Distrito(Mexican, medium plates, funky atmosphere)
• Jong Ka Jib (soft tofu stew, heavenly especially during the cold winters of Philly)
• L'Angolo (simple but excellent Italian dishes)
• Parc (at Rittenhouse square, very typical French bistro food but very well-done)
• Rx (organic western food in University City)
• Taste of Portugal(out of town but worth the drive there)
• Sagami in NJ(the only decent Japanese food around)
• Aya's Cafe (reasonably priced Mediterranean, they never fail to impress us everytime)
• Tiffin (easily the best Indian in town, they do take-out)
• Carmine's Creole Kitchen (southern cuisine on Main Line)
• Cafe du Laos (only decent Thai/Cambodian food in town)

List of affordable and good eats in Philly:

• Wokano Restaurant (dim-sum)
• Honey's Sit N Eat(kosher breakast, try the pork tacos)
• Cafe Estelle (our most recent discovery, they serve organic breakfast)
• Dim Sum Garden (at 11th & Arch, we love the shiao long bao)
• Minar Palace (reopened recently, very good and cheap Indian food)
• Tony Luke's (pork sandwiches which we think are better than John's Roast Pork)
• Standard Tap's (pub food in the Northern Liberties)
• Shiao Lan Kung (szechuan chinese food, good for late night dining)
• Jim's steak (apparently better than Pat's or Geno's, according to hubby)
• Vietnames restaurants like Nam Phuong, Pho 75, Pho Xe Lua
• Ants Pants Cafe (Australian style-breakfast)
• Seafood Unlimited (affordable seafood in Rittenhouse area)
• Myung Ga(our recent discovery in NJ, good Korean food, they serve the most number of appetizers so far among all the Korean restaurants we've been to)
• Nan Zhou (excellent hand-drawn noodles)
• Sang Kee (the roast duck is even better than what we had in Hong Kong)
• Kabobeesh (excellent Kebabs, the staff was very kind to offer me a scoop of every side dishes when I first went there)

List of restaurants which we feel were overrated:
• Django (most horrible service we ever had)
• Vetri (pricey, given that it is very ordinary Italian)
• Meritage (style of cooking was very normal, nothing fancy)
• Morimoto (pricey and the ironical thing is that sushi was not fresh given that it is a Japanese restaurant)
• White Dog Cafe (nothing special, ordinary food)
• Lacroix (forget about their restaurant week special, nothing even close to what French food should be)
• Alison at Blue Bell (ordinary, not worth the drive to the suburbs)
• Melograno (we had a bad experience here, kitchen nearly caught fire when we were there with friends)
• Sabrina's Cafe (getting worse everytime we were time, the last time we were there, we had burnt fries)
• Tangerine (pricey for the kind of cooking)
• Farmicia (very ordinary dishes)
• Margaret's Kuo (nothing Chinese about the food here, totally American Chinese, even for desserts, they serve ice-cream instead of the traditional Chinese Dessert)
• Miran(easily the least authentic Korean)
• Thai Chef & Noodle Fusion (I've had the worst Pad Thai in my life here)
• Uzu(crappy Japanese restaurant run by a Korean chef)
• Ms Tootsie's (nothing even close to southern cooking we had in North/South Carolinas, you can tell that they used frozen chicken for their fried chicken)
• Devon Grill Seafood (pricey for ordinary seafood dishes)
• Fuji(easily the worst Japanese food we had here, service was bad too for a Japanese restaurant)
• Marathon Grill(chain serving American dishes, nothing extraordinary after being here for 2 years)
• Zinc(expensive, given that it is just ordinary French food)
• Joy Tsin Lau (now that we've tried most of the dim sum in Philly, this is easily the worst)
• Continental(crappy fusion food which is overpriced)
• Singapore Kosher (first of all, there is nothing Singaporean about the food here. Almost everything is deep-fried. Dim sum tastes horrible.)
• Barclay's Prime(pricey but ordinary steak)

Interesting dining experiences both within and outside of Philly:
• Marrakesh(group dining the Morrocan way, i.e. everyone dips his/her hands in the same dish, sharing the same food, excellent food. Do go with a large group for the fun.)
• Cafe Valentino at Rittenhouse (they bring out the raw food and meat in a cart to show you how fresh their ingredients were. the piano and the music add to the romantic atmosphere.)
• Buffet at a restaurant in Lancaster County(amazingly huge station)
• Mrs Wilkes restaurant in Savannah, Georgia (excellent southern cooking in a communal dining room, you get to meet people from all walks of life)
• Giovanni's shrimp truck or any of the shrimp truck in Honolulu
• Lunch in a vineyard at Niagara Falls area (Peller Estate which truly lives up to the Zagat rating for "extraordinary")
• BBQ in Texas(rustic country style food, excellent meat)
• Eating crabs sold by the dozen in Maryland (be it in St Michel's or Baltimore)
• Having a Lu'au on Maui Island (good entertainment and food at Old Lahaina Lu'au)
• Mi Terra in San Antonio (Most glittery decoration in any restaurant so far)
• Eating KFC fried chicken on Jasper Mountain (nothing about the food but the experience was most unforgettable)
• Queuing to get free coffee at the original Starbuck's cafe in Pike's Place Market in Seattle, only to find out the coupon was no longer valid
• Rushing into restaurants 10 minutes before they close for the day (kudos to all the restaurants who were gracious to accomodate us even though we arrived late in town-Goode Seafood Company in Texas, Milan Indian Cuisine in Charlottesville)
• Long but fruitful search for Yanagi Sushi on Honolulu

Philly events

2008-02-21T08:15:00.001-08:00

I have been quite lazy recently in blogging. Even my hubby felt so. This was partly due to me being occcupied with other stuff and also partly due to my own procrastination. For a start, I should try to blog about some of the major events in Philly in the recent months.

2008 COUNTDOWN

While there were plans for us to go to New York to take part in the countdown to 2008, we decided against it as the weather was too cold and apparently, we would have to stand in the cold from 6pm to get a good spot at Times Square. Hence, we spent 31 Dec 2007 in Philly, as we heard that the celebrations were equally good. On New Year's Eve, we joined the crowd for the countdown to 2008 and the fireworks at Penn's landing. The fireworks was awesome, a full 45-min worth of viewing pleasure. Furthermore, we found a good spot and were able to get a good view of the fireworks which was literally right above our heads. In fact, some soot from the fireworks fell on us! Here's a video clip of what it was like.

NEW YEAR'S DAY-MUMMERS PARADE

On New Year's Day, we went to watch the Mummers Parade which was apparently, one of the oldest and largest parades in US. In fact, the people who were participating in the parade came from all walks of life in Philadelphia, mainly the working class. For them to put up something like this is really commendable, these working adults would have to sacrifice their after-office hours to rehearse for the event. They even made their own costumes which was really funny. The Mummers Parade is a whole day event. Although it should start at 9 am, the actual thing itself did not start until noon due to a slight rain. We managed to catch the comics section of the parade along Broad Street before heading to Chinatown for lunch (which,by the way, is probably where restaurants stay open even during all major holidays in Philadelphia). We love the fun-loving nature of the people who took part in the parade. They would come up to us and joke with us. In the evening, we managed to get a seat among at wooden benches set up at the main judging area(Don't ask us how we did it) and we joined the crowd to watch the string bands. However, we finally succumbed to the cold as it was freezing and we decided to head home to watch the rest of the parade on TV. If I get a chance next year, I would watch the fancy brigades at the Convention Center next time, where it is indoors and and there are comfortable seats. Here are some of the photos taken during the parade, one of which is a funny shot of pigeons which were forced out of their territory and had to watch the parade from a distance.

Eclipse

2008-02-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I actually got to see a rare sight, a total moon eclipse, last night. I was actually waiting for the bus when an old lady came up to me and told me about the eclipse. The moon was right above me and it was starting to be covered in the shadow of the Earth. What a sight! Apparently, the next total lunar eclipse will be in the year of 2010. How lucky I was to have witnessed something so rare! Here's a picture that I snapped using my cellphone camera.

Year-end holidays in Las Vegas

2008-01-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

Finally, my hubby had an almost 2-week break. After exploring the option of visiting South America or Mexico, we decided to abandon our initial plans to visit those places, as the air-tickets and hotels were too expensive. Instead, we decided to spend our vacanes in the US, given our limited budget. Hence, we ended up in Las Vegas as none of us had visited the place before and we also managed to find a relatively cheap package.

Off to Vegas we went. Our friends who had visited Vegas before gave us some tips before our trip, therefore, we were quite prepared for the trip. For example, we were not surprised to find that there were slot machines at the boarding gates and the baggage retrieval area in the airport. We were also not surprised when our hotel told us that we would have to pay $15 per night to borrow their coffee-making machine. While we like Vegas for its cleanliness(the streets are much cleaner than those in Philly) and spacious sidewalks, we were appalled at some of the prices of stuff. For example, a bottle of drinks can easily cost $3 at the convenience store in a hotel or a theatre.

While we were there, we watched two Cirque du Soleil's shows,'O' and 'Mystere', though I prefer the former to the latter. Mystere seems somewhate lacklustre, especially so after we watched 'O'. We felt that we should have gone for KA(which seemed somewhat more spectacular on the promotional video which was screened on the TV in our hotel room). We also managed to catch the David Copperfield's show. While I was not very impressed by the magic and the scale of the theatre(perhaps I have seen most of his best performances on TV), I found that he was really funny and he could really make the cut for a comedian.

Besides being famous for its show, Las Vegas is also famous for the many buffets in the hotels. We tried the buffets at Bellagio and Planet Hollywood(Spice Market) and we must admit that the latter is so much better in terms of quality of food. The range of food is much better at Bellagio but the cooking is so-so. The buffet at Bellagio also cost more.

On Christmas, we went a Grand Canyon tour. Initially, there were plans for us to rent a car and made a road trip. However, we decided against it as it would be too tiring to drive there 4 hours and try to make it back to Vegas in another 4 hours, all within a day. We wanted to relax and take things easy so we left the driving to our coach driver. He was very knowledge and funny too, so we were glad to have gone on the trip. Grand Canyon was really impressive but it was cold there(afterall, the viewing areas were located on higher altitudes). The next time we visit Grand Canyon, we would make a trip down to the bottom of the gorge and explore it from below. On the way back to Philly in the plane, we actually managed to see the Grand Canyon from above. Here are some of the shots along with photos of Las Vegas Strip itself.

Aerial view of Grand Canyon

The snow on the rocks at Grand Canyon

Nightview of the Strip

Thanksgiving

2007-11-28T16:40:00.000-08:00

Last week was the Thanksgiving holidays! Finally, hubby managed to get a break from his hectic schedule. On Thanksgiving, we had dinner with our friends at S' place and there was so much food that we were all knocked out by the end of the dinner. Here's a picture to show the amount of food we had.

Dinner was real fun 'cos we cracked funny jokes, made stupid comments and even shared on the origins of Thanksgiving, albeit with a little twist to the actual story.

After dinner, some of us played Wii. It was my first time playing Wii but I must admit it is really a good work-out if anyone is thinking of slimming down. The boxing game is so tiring that I felt that I could have another round of turkey. I also realised that Wii can be addictive and dangerous too for it is easier for one to damage the TV screen if one is not careful.

Later on in the evening, some of us decided to do the crazy thing for once in our life, i.e. join the crowd in midnight shopping on Black Friday. Therefore, we drove to an outlet mall about an hour away from city. There were people who were even crazier than us 'cos many cars have arrived before us and we had to wait for another hour before we actually got into the car-park. Nevertheless, we had fun, playing games to kill time and keep our driver, E, awake while he waited to park the car.

When we finally got into the mall, it was about 2.30am and we shopped for about 2 hours after that. Perhaps it was the fatigue of waiting, or pehaps it was the fatigue of having spent many hours preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, we decided that we really could not carry on shopping anymore. When we got home, it was 5.30am and really knocked out by then.

Nevertheless, at the mall, I overheard other shoppers that they were going to check out the sales which start at 4 or 5am in other malls. I wished I had their stamina....

Singapore from another perspective

2007-11-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

I've been really busy since I went back to Spore for a short holiday. Even after I returned to Philly, so many things have happened that I just do not have enough time to even blog about them. Perhaps, let's talk what I noticed during my short trip to Singapore.

1. Singapore is very crowded now. It is literally impossible nowadays to get a seat on public transport, such as the buses or trains. Even if it is late at night, there are always many people around. (I miss having a car when I was back...)

2. The thing that is hot now in Singapore is property. Everyone is talking about making $ from selling their houses or apartments. I even have real estate agent calling me to ask if I wanted to sell my place. Such things would seem impossible a few years back as no one wants to live in a ulu place like mine.

3. Singapore is clean! Indeed very clean, as compared to other parts of the world, especially Philly. At least, I feel happy if I were to walk on the streets wearing expensive shoes because the shoes will still be relatively clean.

4. Singapore is warm now compared to Philly which is very cold(near 0 degree). I miss the days when I can wear camisoles, short-sleeved shirts, bermudas and slippers.

5. There are now many new structures in Singapore. Well, at least, the Ferris wheel is almost ready. When I left for Philly a few months back, they were still trying to put in the cabins.

6. Many old condominiums have been torn down to make way for new condos(What a sad thing though 'cos I really like the architecture of some of the older condos.)

7. Some of my students have grown taller(indeed taller than me now)!

8. Many changes at my former workplace, ex-colleagues leaving and new staff joining the team. Sad to see some faces go but I wish them all the best.

9. My apartment in Singapore seems somewhat bigger and cozier. My bed back in Singapore apartment also seems different now that there are some changes to it. I miss my own apartment. The feeling for a rented apartment is somewhat very different from those when you have your own apartment.

10. People seldom use "Hi! How do you? Nice to meet you." in Singapore. Perhaps, it is just my own feeling. Somehow, I have met so many people in Philly that I tend to use this even when I was back in Singapore.

Crimes in Philly

2007-11-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

I seem to be hearing more stories about crimes recently. To list a few, these are some of the recent happenings:

1. Robbery & assault at 7-11 store in centre city which is very near my apt!
(check this out: http://video.nbc10.com/player/?id=188766)
2. Shooting somewhere at 22nd & Sansom (Hubby was at a restaurant nearby 30min before the shooting!)
3. A woman who was sexually assaulted by someone who invaded her apt located at University City
4. A fatal shoot-out in a food establishment at 38th and Chestnut.
5. Taxi-drivers who worked with robbers to rob passengers

This is freaking crazy! Why are crimes so out of control here?

Thanks to all readers!

2007-09-29T06:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who have been reading my blog faithfully! I am going to take in your comments and put in some changes. Besides a note on some of my grammatical mistakes(ahem.. you know who you are), I have also received requests to put up a tagboard and more photos. For a start, I will start with the easiest task of them all, i.e. to put up some photos. Here are some photos of New York which I visited recently. My apologies if the pictures look fuzzy 'cos this was taken with hubby's cellphone camera, as the usual forgetful me has forgotten to bring the camera along on this trip.

Times Square-heart of Manhattan

Our hotel room in the Westin Hotel-our 2nd time there and we still like the place very much.

Intellectual Stimulation

2007-09-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a talk at hubby's university. The talk was given by the Indian Finance Minister, Mr Chidambaram, who came here at the invitation of the biz school. Though his speech was so-so(probably because it was drafted by a bureaucrat), the Q&A session was really interesting. The Finance Minister demonstrated great charisma, intellect and an amazing ability to memorise statistical figures. Through this session, I learnt that there were actually about 2.5 million Indians living in the US(which explains why there are so many Indian students here), and that the income tax revenue for India has increased by 33% in the first half of this year. India is also the only country which will have a working population that is large enough to support its population of retirees all the way till 2040. I can't help but be amazed at the economic might of India and the strong determination of the nation to become a world leader in future. Sad to say, there should be more non-Indian students attending such sessions because it is such an eye-opener. In fact, after the talk, we bumped into some Indian friends outside the auditorium and all of us ended up commenting on the talk by the minister. I really appreciate such opportunities at the university where I can get doses of intellectual stimulation by learning about world affairs and exchanging views with like-minded people.

Wonders of Facebook

2007-09-25T10:27:00.001-07:00

Frankly speaking, I was not really keen on Facebook when hubby told me to sign up for it. However, as the days go by, I am enjoying every bit of it. I have managed to touch base with old friends through friends which we have in common. Can't help but feel how small the world is actually. I am just amazed at how people are somehow related to one another. I was also happy to be able to see photos of dear relatives, friends and my goddaughter thru Facebook. Btw, I just learned that Microsoft is thinking of acquiring Facebook. Whatever it may be, I just hope that there will be more functions.

New York! New York!

2007-09-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

Just came back from a trip to NYC. I must say I love NYC for the following reasons:
1. its vibrant art scene
2. its transportation system, especially the subway(very efficient)
3. its convenience when it comes to shopping(it has so many supermarkets selling Japanese food products that hubby and I decide to visit NYC once a month in future, just to get our groceries)
4. its numerous restaurants
5. the collegiate feel of Columbia U.

We took a Peter Pan bus(which is, by the way, cleaner and provides more professional service than Greyhound) from Philly's Chinatown to NYC's Port Authority Bus Terminal. We were indeed very lucky to have gotten a good deal at Westin (which is a 5-min walk to the bus terminal) in NYC. This was our second time at NYC's Westin but we still like the hotel very much for its contemporary design and its location in Times Square.

While we were there, we also watched a musical(Hey, this is NYC!) at Broadway. Glad that we didn't watch the usual big productions like Chicago. Instead we went for a smaller one called the Spring Awakening, a 2007 Tony Award's Best Musical.Our friend, TY, who worked in an investment bank in NYC, strongly recommended this musical. The musical contains some adult themes, hence it is restricted to mature audience. There was even a part when the lead actor had to strip and show his buttocks to a live audience! This musical was adapted from a play written by Frank Wedekind, a German playwright, who first wrote the play in 1891. In fact, during those days, the play was considered scandalous and it was censored for it dealt with sensitive topics like puberty, sexual freedom and family violence. Human beings have indeed come a long way when it comes to dealing with such expressionism in the theatre. Anyway, hubby and I enjoyed the play very much and we feel that there is still a long way to go for the arts scene in Singapore. We really appreciate the efforts put in to create such a production. There were so much logistics and planning involved. Even the actors/actresses themselves had to help out on the stage. There are also so many opportunities for anyone who wants to work in the arts industry here, although the competition is also tough, given that there are really very talented people here.

We also visited Columbia U which is getting all the attention now for its decision to invite the Iranian President to give a talk at its campus. While we were at the campus, we saw some posters/flyers put up by students protesting againts this. It will also be interesting to watch the news these few days to see what the UN(which is having its General Assembly on this Tue)has to say.

Last but not least,we had a wonderful dining experience in NYC.The climax of our trip was our gourment dinner at Nobu Next Door. The black cod with miso was so heavenly that it could melt in our month. We were so overwhelmed by the creative use of different textures of food that we were trying to guess the ingredients used in the dishes. Well, we would also love to try out other Japanese restaurants in our future trip to NYC, for we've heard that the Japanese food in NYC is much better than that in Japan.

I think we will be making more trips to NYC in future given that there are so many things to do there. I hope to visit the Guggeinheim Musuem, Madam Tussaud(although it is pricey), MOMA(a place which never fails to amaze me every time I am there), and of course century 21 (It really pains me to give up on shopping there during this trip).

Classes

2007-09-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a really busy week for me! This week, I started my yoga and French classes. The experiences at both classes varied greatly. Yoga was almost a nightmare as the instructor expected us to be superb contortionists! I am totally out of shape(probably the worst in class and after 15min, I was very tempted to give up the class. Nevertheless, I found out that I could actually take things slowly and do whatever I could do. Along the way, those of us who could not do certain stunts were smiling and giggling to each other as we struggled to stretch our very-inflexible bodies.

French was on the other hand a breeze, probably I used to do French and it was a matter of recalling what I used to know. There were only 2 of us in the class at AF, my classmate was this retiree who used to live in France. The teacher was very patient because it took us some time before we could make it out in French what the instructions in the worksheet mean and what she was trying to communicate in French. Oh yes, I have homework too! C'est difficile.

For both classes, I was glad to have the company of friends to accompany me home after the lessons. After yoga class, S walked home together with me and we had a good time talking about the lesson. After the French class, I happened to bump into L(fellow Singaporean) who was taking a more difficult class and we went out for coffee together. Later, S and R also joined us at the coffeeshop where we chatted and whiled our time away like real tai-tais.

This morning, my friend, A, is coming over to my place. We meet each other every week to brush up on my French and for her, to polish her English. Looking foward to this as we will be preparing lunch together and practicising French and English at the same time. I guess my life is really like that of a tai-tai now. : )

Watch this movie!

2007-09-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

We watched this new movie, called "Across the Universe" today. It is a musical film that basically puts together all the Beatles songs to create a story out of it. The director of the movie is also the lady who was famous for her Lion King production. I actually got to know about this movie when I was watching the Oprah show where the director was being interviewed together with Vera Wang(who, by the way, is launching a new label which is more affordable). It is amazing that there are so many dymanic and creative women in the world.

We like the movie, not just because of the music, but also the graphics in it. The movie exploits creatively the use of colours and imagery. I love the "strawberry fields" image. I'm not going to divulge too much about the movie. Just watch it. The movie would only premiere next week but we got to watch it earlier at selected cinemas for this weekend.

Photos of Philly

2007-09-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hey, guys! Here're some shots of Philly hubby and I took.

City Hall-Apparently, there was some curse and no building located to the east of the City Hall should be taller than the City Hall itself.

The Thinker by Rodin. This is a museum located outdoors so most of the sculptures are subject to the elements of weather.

The Independence Hall where the Declaration was signed. It is one of the rare man-made structures for World Heritage Sites located in the US.

Philly from the air-Can't remember where we took this photo, probably from a friend's apartment.

First Blog

2007-09-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

Finally! I have my first blog! I must admit I have been procrastinating when it comes to setting up my own blog for the following reasons:

a) Don't know what to write.
b) Have not taken many pictures.
c) Pure laziness

But I think I should start sharing with you guys out there about the life of a Singaporean (taitai) living in Philly (a.k.a Philadelphia).

It's been about 1&1/2 month since I arrived in Philly. Met so many people, did so many things(some crazy ones like driving a truck), and tried so many new restaurants. It is so hard to list everything down, perhaps I should put up a ranking of the 3 most interesting stuff.

3 most interesting people hubby & I met so far:
1. Al(the leasing agent at our apt) --interesting and funny guy who loves Beyonce. We had so much fun talking to him. I admire him for his spirit in upgrading himself and pursuing his passion in life-psychology. It is also not easy for him to work and study at the same time.

2. Mark-an American friend of hubby who is studying for his mba and who speaks perfect Mandarin with a Beijing accent that puts us to shame

3. A.S. -a friend from India who also happens to be in hubby's learning team. Formerly VP of big investment bank in NY. Very sociable guy. He took half year off from work and travelled the whole of Asia on a tight budget, met many interesting people and visited really exotic places. Loved his travel stories.

3 most interesting places hubby & I have been to so far:
1. Manayunk-quaint little town next to Schuylkill River outside philly with lots of interesting cafes. It has more furniture shops than Philly and the furniture there are nicer too.

2. Woodbury Common outlet-place to die for if you like shopping for branded stuff at really discounted rate. There are so many shops there that you can never finish it in one day. Imagine having to queue just to get into Coach store and buy its products!

3. Reading Terminal market-basically like the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne but in a totally air-conditioned complex. The Amish people sell their produce there and you can get to see some of them in their traditional gear. They do trade afterall and their food is really yummy. We had moon pies as recommended by hubby's professor.

Top 3 restaurants:
1. Any of the yumcha restaurants in Chinatown- They served push-cart yum cha which you can hardly get in Singapore nowadays! The food is really authentic, even better than some of the restaurants back home. But the queue is long, especially on weekends when all the Asian communities seem to converge in Chinatown for yumcha. For example, we can be eating in a restaurant and running into 10 other friends who are also dining at the same place. Btw, we are going there for yumcha again this weekend with friends from Singapore.

2. La Viola-a quaint Italian restaurant that hubby and I discovered while on our way to another restaurant in South St. We never regret giving up on the restaurant which we had originally planned to go to because the food at La Viola is really good. The portions are just nice for us(similar to what they serve in Japan and back home) unlike the usual American portions. The pasta is al dente and the tiramisu is yummy.

3. The Singha House-Thai restaurant on campus(again,we did not have any plans to visit the restaurant and we happened to pass by). Really authentic Thai food with a huge crowd, mostly Penn students.

Seems like we have not listed anything American so far but according to hubby, the cheesesteak he had at Pat's is really the best so far. Anyone who intends to visit Philly must try the cheesesteak at Pat or Geno.

Top 3 crazy things we did so far:
1. Driving a truck for the first time in our lives! --We had to go to Ikea to buy furniture, to a friend's place to pick up sofa and to Target and Walmart to shop for household stuff when we moved in, so we rented a Uhaul truck to put everything in.

2. Driving back from NYC late in the night along the highway which has no street lights! It is really an experience for us 'cos we are so used to having street lights back home. Very challenging but very tiring too 'cos we have to be constantly on the lookout for signboards.

3. Venturing to West Philly in a public bus-We heard lots of horror stories (the latest being Upenn med student being shot on campus at 9am in the morning!) about West Philly but we decided to go anyway 'cos we wanted to go to Sears at 69th st and we thought we had survived our stay in a B&B in west philly during the first two weeks. I though West Philly was ok for me but a lot of friends who have been there said it was not.