Haze, Haze, Haze (sung to the tune of All I Have to Do Is Dream)

Respite! Apparently, the wind changed direction today and Singaporeans saw blue skies from around noon. The PSI reading even fell to 73 at about 5pm.

This was the pic I took from my balcony on a smoggy Thursday afternoon (June 20):

The pic below was taken this afternoon, at around 6pm:

But the weather people said, "Hang on to your N95 masks, expect the PSI to go back to the unhealthy level tomorrow". Indeed, by midnight, it had crept back to 91.

ST, meanwhile, provided this helpful infobox:

BT (June 20) carried a nice tongue-in-cheek story by reporter Joyce Hooi. However, the link below does not have the full story. Still, the few paragraphs below should tickle the funny bone:

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/top-stories/haze-puts-spore-map-millions-surprised-find-it-there-20130622

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What's really funny is this one (KA alerted me to it) on YouTube, titled "Haze, Haze, Haze":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBvNbmB_5vc

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Finally, with the sun in full glory today, my Solar Samurai (Solar Sam), which I bought at Narita airport recently, is happy to nod, nod, nod (he doesn't work when there's no light source)...

Out, out, damn smog!

Wah lau, the PSI crossed 400 today! And people are scrambling to get hold of N95 masks.

http://news.insing.com/tabloid/haze-at-400-psi-dangerous-to-ill-and-elderly/id-e8763f00

Our thoughts should also go to the helpless ordinary folk living in the affected parts of southern Sumatra who live in close proximity to the plantation fires and the smog, and to the firemen there doing their best. To them all I dedicate this Bob Dylan song, Blowin' In the Wind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsjiSfAmEeo

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All I need is the air that I breathe? (Smog gets in their ire)

Some people did not take kindly to the McDonalds' ad (see yesterday's blog entry for the ad) and the company decided the wise thing was to apologise (ST, June 21)...

But Scoot and Qantas could not resist persuading Singaporeans to take flight instead...

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I'll wrap up with this bumper sticker, with the fervent wish the bloody smog will go away!...

What the fog!

Yes, thanks to a certain phenomenon -- PSI = Please Stay Indoors -- Singaporeans are getting fed-up and muttering "What the fog!".

For example, "Did that fogger say that? What the fog!"...

The screen grabs above of the AFP story are from the insing.com site which also has a story titled

Survivor's guide to the Singapore haze

http://news.insing.com/news/survivors-guide-singapore-haze/id-da763f00

The story has this picture:

ST (June 20) carried this page one lead:

Below the story was this cheeky McDonald's ad:

As it turned out, today's PSI (okay, it's not Please Stay Indoors but Pollutant Standards Index -- peaked at 371 at 1pm. At 3pm, I looked out from my balcony and snapped this pic:

Meanwhile, the garmen is working very hard on the matter. It has formed a ministerial-level committee as well as an experts' panel, the Haze Advisory Panel. Let's hope this panel does not turn out to be HAPless!

Folks online have, of course, also been had at work, ie, putting their witticism to work:

   Even the pets need protection from the acrid smog (P and KA put these up respectively):

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Blur like sotong, how to see stars? 

Finally, I thought these items which appeared today were rather ill-timed:

By the way, those three locations above in the SIA ad have clear blue, welcoming, skies. But that's the point! The policy-makers in Jakarta look up at the sky and say, "What haze?". And that's why Singaporeans say "What the fog! I'll rather spend my money elsewhere."

More cruise snippets...

Water, water, everywhere...

Two of the days were "whole day at sea". You can tell I was bored from these pics:

The Monastery of the "Three Eggs, Sunny Side Up" Order?

And when we got on land, the tours took us to so many temples I lost track of which was what or where. This one was in Busan, I think:

 
Donut? Polo Mint?

This scenic spot in Kagoshima must have been the inspiration for the donut, or maybe the Polo Mint.

Sax in the rain

Back in Busan, the day we left the port, it started to rain. But it did not dampen the spirit of this member of the assembled group that "farewelled" our ship. He even sent off the umbrella-man who tried to assist him:

 

A touch of Singapore!

After the horrors of the A-Bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, origami paper cranes came to symbolise peace to the Japanese. At the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, paper cranes from many parts of the world were on display in an outdoor area. We spotted a Singapore school's effort:

Mysterious Road, Jeju

So why is it called Mysterious Road? There is an optical illusion effect: depending on which direction you are facing, what looks uphill is actually downhill, and vice versa.

Mysterious signs (onboard the cruise ship)

I spotted lots of funny signs, such as "BOW THIS WAY", on a previous cruise ship. But, on this ship, just about the only two signs worth putting up are these two:

Finally, the Nothing plate

During one of the dinners, a member of our dining group said she wanted nothing for dessert, despite the tempting choices on the menu. The attending waiter duly complied:

Cruise snippets.

Everything must say in English and Japanese!

The cruise Angie and I took recently went to ports in southern Japan (Yokohama, Kochi, Kagoshima, Nagasaki and Hiroshima) and South Korea (Jeju and Busan). All announcements were in English and Japanese, and there were always two emcees (the cruise director and his Japanese-speaking sidekick) for the nightly post-dinner shows. Even his "English" guffaws were dutifully echoed by her "Japanese" giggles.

But what I found hilarious -- but only now that the cruise is over -- was the mandatory Muster drill (ie, what to do in case we have to evacuate the ship, like, if it's sinking). Yes, that drill was in English and Japanese. There was this spiel in English that went on and on about staying calm and to follow directions and not to jump overboard but to always take instructions from the crew. All that was repeated in Japanese. It was a very long Muster drill session. Imagine this scenario in an actual evacuation of the ship...

In English: Please stay calm. We are starting to list on the port side and we must abandon ship. So please make your way to the starboard side and await the crew's instructions on boarding the available tender boats, blah blah blah...

By the time the Japanese spiel is made, it will probably sound like this:

Konnichiwa. Summimasen. Dozo... (gurgle), (gurgle), (gurgle)... [the ship is already under water].

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A-Bomb, made in the USA, with Japanese component?

This picture above shows a replica of "Fat Man", the A-Bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki on Aug 9, 1945. It is displayed at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, one of the places our land tour took us to.

The guide was very fluent in English, and she seemed very knowledgeable about that tragic event too. When I was looking at the cut-away showing the fissile (plutonium 239) core (pic below)...

... she came over and told me this: The fuze assembly that determined when the bomb would explode (it was set to do so as an "air-burst" explosion, not as a ground-impact explosion) was actually a Japanese-made device, as it was deemed the most reliable!

How do you say this Japanese term?

I picked up this brochure for a manga museum in one of the places we visited...

Better say it properly, man, or you'll get punched in the face!

A tribute to the nephews and nieces...

HT has been a caring and generous uncle to his nephews and nieces. Until his health took a sharp turn for the worse in recent years, he never failed to see to it that they received a birthday card (with a cash gift enclosed). Ditto when Chinese New Year came around. He has accompanied my family on vacations abroad and I am sure Ly remembers the time when, in London, one half of a favourite pair of sneakers of hers ended up trapped precariously in a gutter and it was HT who gingerly managed to retrieve it. There was one occasion when How Eng and LP travelled abroad and it was HT who stayed at their house to ensure that their young son G -- notoriously hard to rouse in the morning for school -- got up in time!

The nephews and nieces were there for him when he suffered a heart attack on the very day Angie and I had to leave on our overseas trip. This WhatsApp "transcript" below is a tribute to them (special mention goes to TS who, although not one of the parties below, has been a wonderful nephew, unfailingly sharing the medical-related and other caregiver chores with me):

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ICE (that's Angie): Hi all... as Jee Ku/Jee Pek (that's what the nephews and nieces call HT) is now stable, we will proceed with our cruise and stay connected.

ICE: NUH called; he is better. Someone tell SL and SE.

P: OK, I tell them.

P: Can Jee Ku receive visitors yet?

ICE: Yes. He's not in ICU but in cardiac ward.

P: OK, SL asking.

ICE: Bye all. Boarding plane soon. Wifi on ship.

[The next day and thereafter...]

TH: Just saw Jee Ku & he seems well. But spoke to the MO who said that he's v ill. Chance of MI is high. Will keep him for the next five days or so. Jee Ku indicated to docs he he doesn't want anything invasive.

P: He's on any medication?

TH: I think aspirin class of med. To prevent any more obstruction to heart arteries.

P: Anyone going to visit him tonight?

Ly: I will try to go tomorrow.

P (later on): I'm there now. He looks quite alert. BP is 106/68. He's v good at taking pills!! Put all in his mouth and then swallow.

TB: We are on our way to NUH to see him.

P: What time u here? He is getting tired.

TB: Should be there before 8pm.

P: Jee Ku says he wants to "koon" (sleep) already.

TB (later): We managed to see Jee Ku. He looks alert. Then he says he wants to sleep.

P: Yah. Same with me.

Ly (next day): At hospital now. Jee Pek might be discharged tomorrow.

TH: I know. I've called the nursing home. They will contact the ward directly. I will go to ward after work to make sure all is in order.

Ly: He keeps complaining about his fading memory. He keeps forgetting who we are (me and SL here).

P: He also forgot my name.

ICE: Worried about his memory. Possibility of a stroke?

TH: I'm at ward now. His troponin level, an indicator of heart muscle damage, has dropped from 43 on admission to 25 yesterday. Tmr will do another blood test prior to discharge. All arrangements with nursing home have been made.

ICE: My cousin who was a hospital matron says poorer memory could be due to medication. Shipboard internet intermittent. Connect again tmr.

TH (next day): I'm at NUH now. Jee Ku doesn't want to be discharged. Complaining of pain from a bedsore. I asked to delay discharge for one day and to give him stronger pain reliever. I understand that Li (the real medical doctor) is arriving from Sydney.

P: Yeah, she's flying in tonight. Staying with me for 2 nights.

Li: Hi all, yes, back [in S'pore] this evening.

TH (later): Jee Ku is being transferred to [another] ward... getting a "telemetric" bed. Transfer later tonight.

Ly: Am thinking of going in the morning with Li.

TH: I've errands to run tmr and will pop by near noon to check on him. I'll try to speak with Li when she arrives. Anyway, the ward staff think I'm a doctor after conversing with them on Wed morning. Well, they give Jee Ku and me better attention... but I'm a "bogus" doctor [TH has a PhD in engineering]. Better get a real one like Li to see what's best for Jee Ku.

Ly: If you like, we can coordinate with you to visit closer to noon. Then you can speak with Li.

TH: Can. Tkx.

P: Btw, I informed Si Ku about Jee Ku. Emailed him. He's v concerned.

Ly (next day): Li and I are on our way to NUH. Arrive around noon.

TH: I'm at his bedside. He's in a bad mood. Says that visitors disturb him.

S (G's wife): Oops! We were just getting ready to visit him. G laughing away... says "grumpy old man"!

TH: That's him. Got to accept it.

ICE: Hello all. Greetings from Kagoshima. Can't help worrying abt the grumpy old man but that's back to his old self, so seems like a good sign :-)

[Next day...]

Li (using Ly's spare phone no as ID): The doctor at NUH called me to update me on Jee Pek (when I visited  yesterday I had left a message for them to update me). Nothing new... just confirming that he had another heart attack. They are doing another ultrasound (echocardiogram) on his heart tomorrow to check how well it is pumping (ejection fraction) after the damage sustained from the heart attack. He is on 2 medications to thin his blood for 3 months to try and prevent more heart attacks (aspirin and clopidogrel). Probably will be discharged tomorrow or Tuesday.

ICE: Thanks, Ly.

Ly: That's Li. I have no idea what all that medical mumbo jumbo means. Cannot be bogus doctor even.

[Later that day, at NUH...]

Ly: Here comes G (who goes to ward to see HT).

G: Jee Ku looks ok. Helping him drink his Milo as straw was bent. Now nurses are examining him.

Ly: Winner this weekend.

P: Wah not bad!!!

G: Never scold me leh.

P: He remembers your name not?

G: I asked him and he says yes, G.

Ly: I think he's happy you went to see him =)

P: Nominate G to visit him all the time then. Hahaha.

G: Lucky I catch him in good mood. He says he feels hot so I got the nurses to turn up the speed of the ceiling fan... I'm going off now.

TH: G got the best treatment. I didn't even last one minute with him yesterday. I'll check on him tmr lunch time. Hope he's in a better mood.

P: Yah lor. Ly thinks TH "sabo" us.

TH: I better put on a mask next time I go.

P: Are u unwell?

TH: I'm OK. Mask is to avoid Jee Ku seeing my face :-) Anyway, echocardiogram done. Results tmr and most likely he goes back to nursing home.

P:  AHAHAHAHA funny lah u!!!

Li: Mask with G's face so Jee Pek will like u?

P: We shld all do that!

[ENDS]

It began with a heart attack...

I'm back. But Angie and I came very close to cancelling our Japan/South Korea holiday cruise -- on the very day we were set to fly off to Tokyo-Narita. That was because my brother HT, 74, a stroke patient now living in a nursing home (I am his sole sibling in Singapore and I manage his personal matters) suffered a heart attack that afternoon and was taken to hospital.

We were uncertain about the medical prognosis and were told that further heart attacks could not be ruled out. We were to learn later in the week that HT's heart was left with 25 per cent efficiency. But his condition stabilised later in the day. He insisted that he would not want any invasive surgery and the hospital decided to keep him under observation, with appropriate medication, until he could be discharged and be returned to the nursing home. That would be the best case situation.

So cancelling the trip -- a long-planned vacation that also included Angie's mum and two aunties as well as two cousins -- meant we would be essentially on standby in case of the worst case situation That was when nephew TH -- not a medical doctor but someone with a prodigious store of medical knowledge -- stepped up and assured us he would take care of all necessary matters and that he would be making regular visits to the hospital to monitor HT's situation.

We also found out from our very helpful travel agent that all the ports of call in our itinerary had Customs facilities. It meant we could fly back from any of those places. Other nephews and nieces of HT in Singapore -- including my younger daughter Ly -- and their spouses said they too would be keeping watch over him. My elder daughter Li, a medical doctor in Sydney, would be arriving in a few days.

We flew off that night and were updated throughout our 10-day cruise, thanks to WhatsApp. As things turned out, HT suffered a second heart attack while in hospital but his condition stabilised sufficiently for him to be returned to the nursing home just days before Angie and I got home. We went to see him today, just after his lunch. He looked tired but could sit up on a chair to chat.

Looking back at the WhatsApp messages that were exchanged among HT's nephews and nieces and their spouses -- and Angie -- in that timeframe, I realised they contained a heartwarming story of love and caring, and humour too! The "transcript" appears tomorrow.