DAY ONE – 22 October 2011 “D” Day

Whenever I travel overseas on business trips, I usually try to jot down notes about the country or city I am visiting, especially if it’s a location I think I won’t ever be able to go back to again. Oh well, for posterity’s sake. :)

This trip to the city of Dakar in Senegal has been an….um….interesting one so far. A lot of firsts.

Journey There and Dakar Airport
We took the Singapore-Paris-Dakar route. It was a tiring 13-hour trip from Singapore to Paris. Largely because I didn’t manage to sleep well. I caught 3 shows: Bridesmaids, The Beaver and Something Borrowed. There was a 9-hour layover in Paris and we ended up catching the train out to Paris city centre for lunch before rushing back to the airport for our flight. I’m proud to say I was the “tour guide” and led the way hehe. Well. Let’s just say that even when we got a little lost, I was still the one who asked for directions okay.

Flight from Paris to Dakar was…sigh. I was sitting next to this black guy who was tall and gangly and either kept poking me with his elbow or brushing his biceps against my shoulder. Did I mention he somehow managed to kick me twice during dinner? Though how he did it I don’t know cos we were sitting side by side. If you figure it out, let me know okay? Oh yah, did I mention he was an extremely fidgety guy?

And then voila, we reached Dakar. There was no aerobridge and we disembarked via a flight of rickety metal stairs. The first thing that struck me was how humid it was, considering I’d just come from a cold airplane. The second thing that struck me was that the Senegalese were very tall people. Tall. And very dark skinned.

We boarded a bus, and then had a 30-second bus ride to the terminal. Err…nice.

And then the long wait began for immigration procedures. WTF. I never knew there were that many people who went to Senegal. There were easily 200 people there? Many were French. And only a handful of us were there for the conference.

After the loooong immigration process came baggage collection. We stepped out of the immigration area…and were suddenly caught by the small size of the place (think Batam or Bintan immigration)….and the throngs of Senegalese men there. Quite chaotic. You’d walk a few steps and have a guy approach you.

“Bonjour! Welcome! Japan? China? Thailand? Where your luggage? I help you carry!” OR “Taxi? Need taxi?” OR “Hello. Hello! What hotel? Where? I bring you!”

There’s zero security at the airport. Come on, how the hell do these guys get INTO the baggage collection area?? I thought this was a restricted area in ALL countries leh! I wished to say “Bugger Off” but of course I couldn’t. A smile and a firm “no” seemed to be the better option.

And it was equally chaotic outside the airport. Even worse actually. I’m really glad the conference organisers provided free shuttle for all delegates.

Hotel
At this point, I’d like to refresh your memory. I titled this post with <<“D” Day>>. Know what the capital “D” stands for? Well, it stands for “Disappointing.”

After a 27 hour journey plus another 3hours to clear customs, travel, get to the hotel and complete check-in, all you really want is a nice room to rest in. The room was a letdown.

There was no complimentary water and no TV (although there was a TV bracket). There was a musty smell in the room, one of the lights in the washroom was broken, the table could not be used because the surface was really dirty (I have no idea what the stains were…bird shit? Lizard shit?)..the extra blanket could not be used too because there were quite a few strands of someone else’s hair, a Caucasian lady’s hair.

There were 2 safes but both were not working. The WIFI sucked, it was only available in the hotel lobby but I could not get onto the network. And then the worst thing of all is that my mobile cannot work here in Senegal. $%^^%&#@% M1 should look into having a telco partner here especially since both SingTel and StarHub already have partners here.

There was also a mosquito net covering the bed. An interesting experience since I’ve never ever slept within a net before.

Cute Taxi Uncle

I had an interesting taxi ride this morning getting from SGH back to my office.

Upon learning that I had just gotten married, the taxi uncle gave me a mini tutorial on how to get pregnant and how to raise kids. So according to wise Uncle....

• The best time to conceive is to between 5pm - 7pm in the evening because that's when the guy's sperm is the most active and potent and when the female's ovaries/eggs are the most "cooperative".


• The way to get smart kids is to start rubbing your tummy every night, after you know you're expecting. Start talking to the foetus and reciting the alphabet to it as well as counting from 1 to 100. From 5 to 6 months onwards, start reading bedtime stories to it. From 7 months onwards, decide for your baby if you want him or her to be a doctore next time or lawyer or whatever profession....then start readng it chapters of text related to those professions......


• There are 3 important points to note when bringing up your child and especially when they start schooling: Encourage, Motivate and Incentivise. Incentivisation is best int he form of cash but not directly to the child for spending but credited into a bank account for the child as savings for his/her future.

As a parting shot, Uncle told me to work hard and try hard!! For a child that is....
And that one day if we meet again, and I was pregnant or had kids already, I should give him an angpow for his good advice.

I didn't tell him that I needed to concentrate on getting my traditional wedding ceremony over with first. Lol....

argh.

Amazing.

I don't drive. I went by public transport to SGH for my blood test this morning, had a leisurely breakfast after that and then went back to office. I reached office at 935am.

And I was still earlier than both the other two male colleagues. One came in at 945 and the other at 1015am.

Seriously. WTF?

Why are they getting more but are in office for less?

snippets

I've been busy. With this and that.
And since my last post, I'm now a Mrs. :)

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Things at work will get busier in the next few weeks and months. The new staff working with me on a particular project has been swarming me with emails on her work done. I don't enough time to go through her work!

Things outside of work will get busier too. Medical check-ups and appointments, friends, festive occassions, family (now two), gatherings, and so on.

I hope my mind can function efficiently and effectively. More chicken essence?

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I need a dress for PQ's wedding dinner. But I don't have much time left to go look for one!
*frets*

Am half-considering whether to go make a cheongsam in Chinatown or not lol.

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I shall make it a point to have smaller dinners as far as possible.

I've come to realise a heavy dinner makes you bloated the next morning and the bloatedness just carries on through the day...so yeah, will try to have smaller dinners from now on.

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Went to watch Real Steel the other day with K. Awesome show!!

It's been a long while since a movie has kept my eyes glued on the screen the whole way through. The other shows I've watched recently were boring or cliched. Real Steel was great! And it helped that Hugh Jackman was the lead actor hahaha.

Go away!

I used to be able to adopt a "Mind Over Body" attitude a few years back and "battle" impending sicknesses like fevers, coughs, colds, etc. Of course, I'd watch my diet and drink lots of water at the same time too. Most of the time, I'd emerge victorious.

These days, my mind-over-body mantra doesn't seem to work anymore though. Bleah.

Scratchy throat, slight cough and weak stomach have come a-knocking. Trying to hold the door fast shut against them!!

She

Strands of grey and white wispy hair framed her face.
95 and a half years worth of lines creased her face, some furrowing across her forehead, some extending from the corners of her eyes, some cutting across her cheeks, others bracketing her mouth.
Brown liver spots dotted her face, some darker, other lighter, some bigger, others smaller.
Both cheeks sagged a little as if weighed down by the leathery skin covering them.
Her chest rose slightly with each breath she took.

I watched her for a little while. Snuggled up under her white blanket, lying on her side in a near-foetal position, with both hands under her head and knees drawn up towards the chest.

I touched her forehead and pushed away the strands of hair there.
I tried to smoothen the furrows on her forehead but it was as if she was pondering deeply over something even in her sleep.

Finally, she sensed that someone was there and opened her eyes. And then.
Confusion in her eyes for a split second before recognition set in.

She smiled at me. And reached out to me.

I love you Granny.