DIY Hair Cut - Easy as ABC

Well, almost.

This blog entry chronicles my first major DIY haircut. I'm not talking about the mere trimming of the fringe. This is chicken feet which I accomplished at tender age of 4.

The service sector in Finland tends to charge exorbitantly. The cheapest haircut I can find in Helsinki/Espoo costs €30. At this price, one can get a nice haircut at a salon in the Orchard/CBD area, along with a hair wash, head massage and some styling. In Helsinki, the fellow gave me a few snips here and there, and sent me on my way.

My last haircut was in September and my hair is starting to feel long and thick. Do you know that YouTube is an excellent resource for anything under the sun. When I wanted to find out how to use a dishwasher, I looked up YouTube. Now that I want to cut my own hair, YouTube must have something relevant.

My inspiration comes from this video where Italian actress Elisa Bagordo (I thought they were speaking Spanish) had her lustrous long hair chopped off. Hong Giep called it "Nightmare on Elm Street" for beautiful women. But wait. The effect was surprising chic.

I've had a similar experience many years ago at a salon located at the Hyatt Hotel in Singapore. Imagine my shock when the hairdresser told me to bend over - dripping wet locks and all - and all she did was cut bluntly across. After I sat up and hair dried, my hair was nicely layered and textured. This salon experience took place such a long time ago, I don't remember the details. 

But now, I have a reason to try out something new.

What you saw in the video was actually the second cut, which explains why you saw me cut off short lengths but I showed you a long bunch of hair.

The results aren't too bad, don't you think? 

The first chop was quite scary, then the second and third chops (yes, there was even a third time) became an obsessive urge to achieve the best effect. 

You can tell the cut was conservative. In case it turns out to be a disaster, I can run to the nearest hairdresser tomorrow and there's room for salvation. The Daddy was supposed to do the cutting but we realised he has to commit himself to the camera. 

A tip for ladies out there brave enough to try this. The higher you tie the pony tail, the more layers you will get. So I tied my hair at 3 different heights and snipped off the ends. 

Take courage. You can do this stunt at home.

 

Sick and tired

The flu bug bit me on Christmas Day and til today, I'm still coughing and sniffing, especially at night.

The little bug found a new host in my little Estelle yesterday. She came down with a high fever in the early hours and had been coughing and sniffing just like her mom. While I'm nursing my own illness, I have to take care Estelle too. I need a break!

As we discussed whether to take our first step out of Singapore, a major concern was the kids' health. In Beijing, we chose an apartment near an international clinic. Chinese hospitals are almost always crowded and we weren't sure about the quality of care and medication they disburse. Although we speak Mandarin, the terms we and the Beijing doctors use might be different and we didn't want to risk communicating the symptoms incorrectly.

Before we left, we visited our GP and discussed the list of medications we should take with us. We stocked bottles of paracetamol (for fevers), cough mixtures, smecta (for diarrhoea), rehydration salts, among others. When we left for Beijing early 2006, Estelle was 3 and Jules 8 months old. Hey, we have already had a combined total of 4 years of experience.

Estelle tends to develop very high fevers whenever she is ill. Perhaps her immune system is fighting extremely hard but it's very scary when she peaks at 39ºC. During these times, no amount of paracetamol or sponging seems to work. If her temperature only falls down to 38ºC, it's time for me to take a break. For other kids, 38 is when parents panic. 

Nevertheless, it is helpful to always have familiar medications at hand and I like to bring some basic ones even when we are just taking a short holiday. Pharmacies in other countries may not have the same medicines we have at home: they may come in different brands or different dosage or a completely different formula altogether. 

In Singapore, paracetamol is often prescribed for fevers. Although ibuprofen seems to work better, it is more caustic and should be taken after food. In Finland, I was prescribed ibuprofen to bring down my fever and also for my inflamed throat. Today, Estelle was prescribed Naproxen for fever and inflammation.

Paracetamol (or other analgesics) is good to have to temporarily lower the temperature or relieve pain. Fevers usually mean that the patient is fighting an infection so if the fever persists for more than 2 days, it's time to see a doctor.

I find it complicated to self-medicate coughs, especially for children. There are some medications our GP wouldn't recommend for children under 3 years old, like codeine. Then we have to see if it comes with running nose, or phlegm, or wheezing, or how long it has gone on for... During these times, it is best to leave them in the hands of professionals.

Good and affordable healthcare is an aspect Singaporeans take for granted. Fees at government polyclinics is around S$10 or less and private GPs start at S$20 or so for consultation. In Beijing, consultation at the international clinics typically start at around S$80. When Estelle needed antibiotics and other medications, the bill came up to S$200. This was when we realised the importance of health insurance. During our first year in Beijing, we could only claim up to 30% of total bill. Now, our total expenditure is reimbursed. It makes a great difference to how we approach healthcare concerns.

We are thankful that our health insurance now covers all that we are charged. In Finland, consultations start at around €30 at private clinics and practically free at public clinics and hospitals, I'm told. The welfare system here takes good care of every one although some medications are still expensive. Like Jules' cough mixture which comes at around €30 per bottle, furthermore it is not subsidised by KELA, the social welfare department. Today, we spent €14 on two types of medicines.

In terms of healthcare - comparing the level of service and quality of medicines - Finland is actually more affordable than China.

The cost of a medicine is largely tied to its branding. A generic drug costs just a fraction of a similar one from a big-name pharmaceutical company. In Singapore and Finland, the quality of generic drugs can be trusted and generic drugs are commonly used by public healthcare services. 

International clinics in China only use medicines made by branded pharma companies. I think this is to allay foreigners' fears about the authenticity and quality of the medicines. Not only do patients pay more for the brand, the clinics further mark up the prices since foreigners thought them to be "trustworthy" sources. They also know that expatriates are usually insured by their companies and cost is not an issue. My friends and I complain about the prices and competence of some doctors but where else can we go?

At Beijing's Vista Clinic (Kerry Centre), I find Dr Pauline the most attentive paediatrician. She tries to connect with the child and find out all symptoms. I think she's from the Philippines so it's easy to communicate with her in English. 

When Jules had hand-foot-and-mouth and I showed similar symptoms, another doctor told me I was "heaty" and should take some Chinese medicines to "cool down". Adults don't get this disease, he laughed. It turned out that adults CAN be infected and I WAS ill. I've never had so many ulcers in my mouth all at once and it was really painful to eat or drink. I could fully empathise with my son, whose usual hearty appetite was curbed for over a week. 

Many Finnish people speak English and the doctors I've seen so far were happy to discuss the condition of the patient and discuss the medicines they prescribe. Their open attitude is certainly very assuring for patients and parents like me.

Estelle took the medications before she slept and she has not coughed since. She is perspiring as she sleeps, which is a good sign because this means her fever is subsiding.

Hopefully, I can have a good rest tonight.

 

Drinking milk in China

China inspects melamine tableware

China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the top quality regulator, told Xinhua on Tuesday it was organizing tests of melamine tableware, following reports that some products contained poisonous ingredients. "The administration has always put great stress on food and tableware product safety. We are keeping a close eye on this issue and conducting product safety testing," it said. There have been media reports in the past week that some melamine tableware sold in domestic supermarkets and wholesale markets had ingredients that were poisonous when heated. (Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2008) Melamine is actually a common plastics raw material that can be made into familiar tableware, like bowls, cups, plates or utensils. It is cheap and durable so melamine products are popular in Asia. Many children's tableware are made from melamine. This common manufacturing material is now dubiously linked to milk after it was used as an additive for milk formula in China. As the Chinese government  and other health and safety agencies around the world widened their search, they found that melamine has contaminated a broad range of food products. It looks like anyone could have been exposed to melamine poisoning. Last week, Xinhua, China's official news agency, announced that even tableware (the rightful use of melamine) might have some problems. The pink spoon on the left was manufactured in Thailand and bought at Takashimaya Shopping Centre in Singapore. The green spoon on the right was produced in China and bought from a Carrefour store in Beijing. Both were used equally regularly for the past 6 months and have been washed in the dishwasher.  I've noticed that the Chinese spoon cracked a while ago but last week, the distinct split appeared. You can imagine how shocked and appalled I am. This incident is making me think very hard about products manufactured in China. I have been warned by local Chinese about making purchases from mom-and-pop shops thus we've always shopped, whether for food or daily necessities like shampoos or utensils, at major supermarkets like Carrefour or Wal-Mart.  Now even foreign-owned supermarkets can't be trusted? I don't think the fault lies with the retailers. The manufacturers need to take responsibility for what they put in, or leave out. Back to milk.  During a recent conversation with my aunt, she said: "Wah, lucky you didn't let the children drink milk from China." It wasn't about luck. When we lived in Beijing, we would regularly bring cartons of milk formula for the children from Singapore. Firstly, my dad works at a wholesaler for a certain brand of milk formula so we got them cheaper. Secondly, most expats (at least the Singaporean and Malaysian ones) suspect there is something wrong with Chinese milk, although no one could say exactly what. Well, now we know. When I first went to Beijing, I would try fresh milk from the local brands like Sanyuan or Mengniu. A Singapore friend chose Sanyuan because the carton said its milk was used for the Great People's Banquet. Another tried Mengniu since the source was cows that lived on the Mongolian pastures. (Sanyuan, by the way, was about the only major brand that was not implicated.) I didn't like either because I thought they smelled odd and I found that the milk turned sour 3 days after the carton was opened. The problem could lie with the transportation or storage process and not necessarily with the milk. For me as the consumer, I chose not to buy the Chinese brands and settled for UHT milk from France.  My children liked cheese sticks from Yili because they came in cute cartoon characters. Even then, I'll buy a pack once every fortnight. To spread the risk, I'd thought. Don't forget that I was a chemist and I view hygiene and food science seriously. My decision was further justified when I watched a documentary about the plight of milk farmers produced by a Beijing TV station. In the second half of 2007, prices of agricultural produce were skyrocketing. The programme documented a farmer who lived on the outskirts of Beijing struggling to earn a living with his cows. His 2 miserable cows lived in a dirty shed and had hardly enough to eat. The farmer milked the cows by hand and milk cans were driven from his farm to the milk collection centre on an animal-driven barrow. I say animal because I can't recall if he had a horse or one of the cows was used. All these was done without sterilisation or refrigeration. At the milk collection centre, the so-called middlemen would weigh the milk and pay the farmer accordingly. It is likely at this stage that melamine is added to prop up the protein (nitrogen) readings before they are sold to milk companies. The farmer wanted to give up because the price of feeds were rising beyond what he could fetch for the milk.  Although the documentary aimed to show how high feed prices were adversely affecting the livelihood of farmers, I realised that the milk industry in China was actually segregated and the quality of the milk can't be good if the animals weren't eating well enough. At least from what I see on TV, cows in the West or Australasia lived on large farms and they are milked by a network of machines where the milk is collected at centralised venues. When the news broke, many Chinese reacted vigorously. On the internet, many Chinese directed their anger at the milk companies and the middlemen. They blamed the milk companies for setting unrealistically high standards which led the middlemen to "dope" the milk. A comment I saw on sina.com summed up my emotions.  欧洲的奶牛过得比中国的奶农好，中国的奶牛怎么可能生产跟欧洲一样品质的牛奶呢？ This means: "Europe's cows live in better conditions than China's farmers. How can it be possible for the quality of Chinese milk be the same as those from Europe?" Despite reports that many Chinese are snapping up luxury goods and eating more sharks' fins, the ordinary Chinese is still actually struggling to make a living. My heart goes out to these ordinary people I meet every day in Beijing.

How do you spell - cosy or cozy?

Depends on which side of the Atlantic Ocean you live on, really.

Cosy if you spell it the British way or cozy if you are American. Or Americanized.

My personal preference is the British way of spelling although I've been told by some "experts" that the American way is the modern way to go. Anyhow, I was glad to have spent some years working on a plastics magazine that was owned by a British company so I could go on 

spelling 'licence', 'authorise', 'armour', 'lorry' and so on.

Early December, I wanted to order some books from amazon.com. Prices of English-language books in Finland are generally expensive, it's almost like the same price here and on amazon except you change the euro sign to a dollar sign. 

The orders didn't go through even though I had finalised the book list because shipping came up to almost 40% of the cost of the books. It wasn't so economical afterall and I'd thought we could wait until we visit Borders or Kinokuniya in Singapore.

Last week, I visited amazon.co.uk to check out the prices since the pound has lost almost 50% of its value against the euro. The two currencies are now almost 1:1!

The point of this blog entry is not merely to announce that I spent almost €80 on 10 books (for the kids and myself), including postage and UK VAT.

Do you know that the books recommended by both websites are markedly different. Has anyone read "Harold and the Purple Crayon"? It's apparently a popular children's book in the US written by Crockett Johnson and celebrates its 50th anniversary.

I've never heard about this book. 

At the UK site, I was happy to find Enid Blyton, having ordered two books from the Faraway Tree series for Estelle. She's too young to read them now but I hope she will enjoy them as much as I did. At Amazon.com, one can hardly find Enid Blyton unless you do an author search.

When I'm shopping for books, I don't make choices based on whether it is written in the US or in the UK. Living in Singapore, most of us are comfortable and versatile to switch between variety in spellings or style. While the British may have a strong literary history (Shakespeare, Dickens), the Americans literary scene dominate in later times (like the NY Times bestsellers list). 

Have you read Frank McCourt's Angela Ashes? McCourt now lives in New York while the book is based on his childhood in Ireland. I had to stop many times to laugh at the funny and quirky things that happened in his hard and tough life. 

I don't recall if he wrote British or American English - most likely American since that was where the book published. But it doesn't matter. It was an excellent book and I enjoyed it. 

Great balls of fire

Happy New Year!

The Finns welcome the new year with plenty of fireworks.

Since last week, we've noticed special stands at the supermarkets that sold firecrackers and sparklers. We were wondering what they were but didn't think they were relevant to us.

Today, while the stands were probably at their busiest, we bought a box of butterfly crackers and a bunch of sparklers. We also headed to a fireworks display at a nearby sports field at 6 pm. Yes, at 6 pm because the sun had long ago set at 3.30 pm.

The four of us arrived at 5.45 pm and the kids were wondering why we and hundreds other people were standing around a hill, freezing in the cold. The kids were complaining about being very cold and had nothing to do, going on for 10 minutes - which is a long time when one hears the same whining over and over again.

And then the show began. We were standing less than 100 m from the launch site so the fireworks came out close and strong. Fireworks is one of those expensive public goods that bring high levels of satisfaction to those who participate.

This is when we realised that those long sticks of rockets we saw at the supermarket stands were actually fireworks. Anyone can buy and launch them. It is now 12. 25 am as I pen this entry, fireworks have been going up all around me for the past 1 hour and still popping away.

So far, I have found the Finns to be responsible and filled with common sense. They play on empty fields and direct their rockets away from buildings or trees.

Christmas in Finland was quiet. But New Year celebration is a blast.