The many chapters of 4eVeRRiVeR
Monday, June 25, 2007
And thanx to Dennis, e IT man, here's e link to the video he has made..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0G4loqIea8
Monday, June 18, 2007
And as usual, I shall make no secrecy of my final BDS results:
Gotta all 6 Bs:
1 B+ for preventive II (pedo/ortho)
2 B- for clinical dentistry and restorative II (endo/OD)
3 Bs for OMS, preventive I (DPH/perio), restorative I (RP/FP)
No As, no Cs. But 1 crystal jade coming up! haha..
Pretty satisfied with these pretty decent results, thou of coz it will look much nicer with some As; But alas, As haff become a rare commodity e time I stepped into dentistry.
Abit disappointed I'm gg into singhealth instead of NHG thou.. Only 8 pple got in. Oh well, school life is over and work will be starting in 2 wks time. Better make e most out of it in this 4 yrs bond. So they say.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
And so I'm back from Nepal!
Truth be told, its ain't a leisure trip to japan/europe/US.. I was told tat Nepal is e 3rd poorest country in e world by Winston, an experienced trekker with an even more impressive ability to communicate in Nepalese! And credit need to be given to Winston and Shermin for helping us plan this trip during our exams, for certainly without their assistance, this trip will not be possible. Back to Nepal~ Poverty was everywhere, and even more so in the capitol, kathmandu, where there were more beggars and the streets were forever nosy and damn polluted. The locals know better to haff their masks on and all the vehicles on e crowded, narrow roads were blasting their damn irritating horns every minute. And it irritate e hell out of me when e motorbikes approach just up to one inch away from you and blast their damn horns. F***ing bastards. Guess its all a messy jumble of politics, tourism, corr******.. Shall stop here coz its never wise to fool ard with politics. Esp coming from my country. Pokhara in comparison is much cleaner: the stretch of tourism-infested lakeside has had roads which are better maintained with less potholes. But no matter where u go, there will always be animal crap on e roads, sometimes with a totally guilt-less cow straying nearby. And of coz why would they not? Cows are considered sacred creatures here and if they feel like taking a nap right across a crowded road, there's nothing you can do except to pray it will haff a nightmare soon. But even so, on the 2nd last day in Pokhara when I took a solo bicycle ride beyond lakeside in e early wee hours, signs of poverty were immediately prominent.
Enough introduction abt Nepal. And as always, I shall giff an itinery along with e pictures, but for now, a brief summary of wat our gungho party has gained and lost during this xiong but memorable trip!
Wat we gained:
1) Wisdom to differentiate a cow/ yak/ buffalo or donkey/pony.. Throughout the trek, there is plentiful livestock including all of the above, goats and dogs and so is e crap! Saw more than a couple of mother of all shit and it was damn fun trying to choose watever limited space there is to plant your steps. And of coz not forgeting the wisdom to differentiate btw sai/ si/ fen/ red shit~ contributed by our shit expert: Prof Lee-HHH
2) Thunder thighs. Try to climb up your hdb flight of stairs continuously for a couple of days.
3) Sore calves/ knee pain. Try to climb down e flight of stairs for a couple of days. Hotsprings are supposedly good for knee pains heh.
4) Blisters. Dodo kanna em on e 1st day with e unseasoned boots and body builder kanna em later during e trek with e same cursed boots.
5) Constitution. Wat fresher air there is away from all e traffic high up in e mountains? Except we didn't really climb that high up (less than 3 km tall) and not forgetting all the crap/sai/ si/ fen ard us.
6) Memories. The trek was e most xiong on the very 1st day of e trek: it was long, with a steep incline all the way up, and e weather is sucky with intermittent rain and downpour. Our pace was slow, and darkness was brewing with our destination still far from reach. I would say also most of us are not mentally prepared enough, not forgetting the tea lodge on e first night which even fall below my expectations- e worst as it turn out compared with e rest of e tea lodges tat we stayed in. In a way it helped for the rest of the trek in e sense that the 1st day make e rest of the trek look like pussy..
There are numerous fun moments of coz and I shall elaborate em further in e pictures. But one of e greatest highlight is e river crossing ah! The river is damn freezing, FREEZING cold ah.. The current was strong too and we need to remove our boots and socks and trod barefooted across 2 4-5 feet wide rivers. I accepted the porters' offer to carry me across the first river coz en I was too lazy to remove my boots and socks but en denied their offer for e 2nd river soley becoz I wanted to experience trodding across strong currents of freezing water. One shall never forget the numbness the feet felt once immediately they are submerged under e water and e after effects of trying to rub warmth into the hypothermic feet. Wat an experience!
7) Friendship. The guides and porters were very very very kind and gracious hosts. Always tending to our hunger/comfort needs b4 theirs.
8) Companionship. On day 2 of our trek, we found a beautiful brown, adolescent, male mongrel trodding along the path in the opposite direction. We gave him a couple of pats and the dog started following us. For reasons perhaps we provided e affection and attention ( and food!!) tat he craved as well as protection (ward off other bigger, black fierce dogs with other sticks) , he followed us for e rest of e ENTIRE trip. All e way to Jomsom, i.e. the next 6 days of our trek. Across e steep inclines and declines he followed, and even across the thing he feared the most- the freezing rivers. You should haff seen e scene. All of us haff crossed e river and now the dog was perched gingerly on the edge of the bank of the river. He had had scouted the valley of sediments for a dryer and safer route across e river but finding none, became the lone companion left standing across e river. And we were on e other bank calling out to e dog.. And our faithful companion leapt into e water in one blind faith and waded quickly to e opposite bank, shook off e water and ran all over e place to generate heat. And I caught it on video heh.. Now e dog is a very inquisitive and curious dog, always running infront of us, sometimes down a side road/ backyards of villages' houses, scavenging for food or chewing on a piece of bark. But he never fails to return to e party and trek alongside with us most of e time. Except for this one time when we tot we lost him towards the end of the 4th day of our trek. 'Where's e dog?' He was last slighted scavenging for food in one of the house backyard and we really tot we lost him.. Tat was until he reappeared the next day late morning. Guess he propably caught our scent and quickly closed distance btw us. But the point I want to make is the way he leapt for joy when he found us. I remembered ws, ds and me were trekking infront, nicholas a short distance behind us and when e commotion sounded off behind from the gals tat e dog had returned, we looked behind us and saw e dog leaping around Nicholas, standing on his hind legs, playfully biting around. And en he ran to us and did the same thing. Man-animal relationship are so much more simplistic and pure ah.. And its only a couple of days..
But sadly, at Jomsom, he was literally kicked out by e guards at the airport, else he would haff followed with us down the internal flight back to Pokhara. Well at least Jomsom has friendly dogs and he is amiable with em so maybe its time to settle down?
9) Better men/ women. I hope we haff all discovered more abt ourselves and nue wat we can achieve with will, persistence and endurance. =)
10) Tan/burnt/ bao gong. I am basically- chao da.. My right arm is Nepalese black I tell u..
11) A handshake/picture with Jimmy Carter- 5th last or the 39th president of the US on the flight from Nepal to Thailand. No wonder e security was so tight!
What we lost:
1) Everyone lost weight after e trek~ even me, when I tot I've nothing left to lose.. 2 freaking kg!!! Damnnit.. Argghh.. Hopefully all e steaks I ate enafter will refill e cholesterol in my bloodstream.
2) Appetite. I totally lost my appetite for Nepalese food, esp their staple diet~ thal bhat, when I have had diarrhea on the 4th- 6th day of the trek. Perhaps I can't stomach their boiled water which in my gungho-ness refrained from dropping idoine tablets into e boiled water. Or perhaps its e wild black berries we took along e way. In any case, thank goodness for e medications or else I'll be contributing to the lumps of animal shit along the trek.
Enuff said. Will be uploading e picts soon after e compilation. Soon I hope.. =)
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Past few days haff been pretty hectic coz we were all preparing for our very first hardcore trekking trip to e mountains of Nepal! Costs ain't cheap and e estimated costs for e entire trip is $1.8k, for e 14 day trip, and we r flying off 2morrow! Yeah.. A whole new diff genre of overseas trip all together so its new and exciting heh.. Just spent e entire afternoon and night to finish packing up my 55 litres backpacker.. Damn.. Should haff get a 55l +10 or a 65l one.. So many stuff to bring ah! And I tot I'm e no frills guy..
Will be taking lots and lots of pictures heh.. Can't wait for 2morrow!
