May 27

konnichiwa

Okay so this is the end of my first placement… Left the animal rescue center and we were all sent to Windhoek (capital of Namibia) on a cattle truck. Yes we all sat at the back of a truck where there usually is cattles, 13 of us. haha it’s actually quite cool though. Very african, but that 3 hrs ride was quite tiring…

Sth really funny happened last night… haha… There’s that German girl who always asked me to teach her how to swear in Chinese. So I just taught her some typical ones like ‘diu nei’, ‘ding nei gor fai’ and ‘puk gai’ but somehow she can ONLY remember ‘diu nei’

Right so we were at a bar last night. There was a drunk man who came towards our table and was trying to play some tricks with some coins. He put an african drum on our table and asked me to play then I was like wtf?? I just told him ‘I’m tone-deaf, sorry’

Then he said ‘No I don’t believe that’

then my german friend asked him ‘Hey, don’t you have any friends?’

He ans ‘What? Where do you come from?’

Then my german friend said… ‘I’m from HONG KONG!!!!’

That guy stood in silence

then german girl said ‘KONNICHIWA!!!!’

I went .
That guy went ‘What?’

then german girl yelled at him ‘DEEEEEEEEEU NEI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

That guy said ‘u guys are crazy’ then walked off.

I laughed my ass off… hahahahha….

Aww… I miss Duma, Zita, Goeters, Nikita, Afram, Shingela, Lueki, Jeannie, Aloise, Aiko, Aisha, Kiki, Bony, Zion, Minstrel, Patches, Patcha, Smokey, Lucky, Lilibi, Prince, Whiskey and the list goes on and on and on and on and on………………….

Okay more updates later

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Posted in Namibia

May 20

eaten alive by a wild lion

omg I might have been eaten alive by a wild lion!

The other day I’ve been camping in the bushes in Okavango delta, Botswana, Southern Africa, a place without electricity, running water, anything, literally in the middle of nowhere. Got there by sitting behind an africa truck for 3 hours then a further 2 hours canoeing down the river with hippos around…

Right so that night I was woken up by some scratching sounds outside my tent. It was in the middle of the night and there was nothing but complete darkness. I heard some weird noises and more scratches. But I was just too tired I drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, one of the local guides who brought us there said a wild lion went into our campsite last night.

oooh. exciting. so i suppose he or she wanted to sleep with me.

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Posted in Botswana

May 03

Lil kids + lil presents = memory of a lifetime.

Lil kids + lil presents = memory of a lifetime.

Before I leave Zambia (where I had my second placement) for Zimbabwe to start my third placement, I decided to give away majority of my stuff to the orphanage I’ve been working in. I’ve brought along some of my pethletes zipper bags so what I did was fill each bag with some letterpads from hong kong, some candies, pens, and some other random stuff like caps, etc, then give it out to kids at the orphanage.

Let’s admit it, everybody’s got favorites and there’s obviously a few kids which I very much prefer giving my stuff to. I asked the staff whether it’s good to just give my stuff to a few of my favs, they said there are so many kids it’s impossible to give sth to everybody so I might just as well choose whom to give. Makes sense.

Some kids don’t live at the orphanage, instead they live in the neighbourhood around and since they know we come everyday so they’d drop by every afternoon to play with us. My fav ones happen to be those who lives nearby.

Different kids had completely different reactions:

One of them, who is normally really cheerful, active and talkative, went completely speechless when I gave him his gift. His smile faded. He stared at it for a few seconds, then rushed home without saying goodbye….. either he didnt like it at all (hopefully not) or he has never recieved such a present he couldn’t believe his eyes.

There’s that other kid who’s deaf and dumb. He’s really sweet. There’s always a smile on his face, he greets everyone with hand gestures. He doesnt make a lot of noise apart from an occational giggle. He’s an excellent artist. When I gave him the bag he didnt know what it is at first. Then he opened the zipper and saw the pens and colorful writing and drawing papers. HE BURSTED OUT INTO LAUGHTERS! He rushed home as well, at the same time investigated each letterpaper one by one.

Then it’s that little chubby boy who never made it to the soccer team because of his bad footwork, speed and body shape (whoops). He got to play a friendly game that day. I gave him a small backpack (the yellow pethletes one) with the same stuff in. He wore it on his back throughout his match!!!!!

And there were many more….

That very same night all these scenes kept appearing in my mind, one after another, one after another. That suddenly reminded me that I may never meet these kids I’ve been seeing everyday for the past month.

I’m gonna miss them so much

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Posted in Zambia

Apr 24

African snippets

A funny conversation I had with a british girl here:

Girl: So which school did you go to in the UK?
Me: Cheltenham Ladies’ College
Girl: OOOOOO-LA-LA~~~~~~~!!!!!!
Me: ….
Girl: THAT POSH SCHOOL!!!!!

wakakaka… yea, posh school, but not a posh graduate

***

And it’s really funny how people from alllll over the world think that allll chinese people are born to be kung fu fighters. Staff at the clinic, kids from the orphanage, even the bushmen…. Once they know I’m a chinese they go excitedly ’Can you show me some kung fu????’ arghhhh you guys are watching way too many misleading hollywood movies….. One of the kids at the orphanage started calling me Bruce Lee…. -_-… I called him Jacky chan, then omg, you should really see that instant wide grin on his face, the way his face just lights up like the flick of a switch… It’s like an HONOUR to call him THAT name…. He was so happy… Then another kid said he wants to be Jet Li… everybody wants to be a Chinese…. Then I started writing them their Chinese names. They went CRAZY…. 20+ kids instantly crowd around me with some scrap paper (torn magazine/newspaper pieces; exercise book covers; lottery tickets; etc, any pieces of writing material they could find on the sandy ground outside the orphanage), yelling ‘write Benson!’ ‘write Jack!’ ‘how do u write Mike??’ ‘Cesar! Cesar!’ etc… after they got their chinese names they ask me to write countries… ‘Zambia’ ‘Zimbabwe’ (I hv no clue what their chinese names are so I just made it up) ‘China’, etc etc…….. I ended up spending 45 minutes crouching on that sandy ground writing…

***

Taught some Science to some of the older kids at the orphanage… I looked at their textbook and saw the most bizzare thing I ever found on a textbook…. They have one whole module dedicated to Sexually Transmitted Disease, Then one of the exercises they got was ticking the activities which will spread STD’s… there are pictures of ppl shaking hands, hugging, kissing, and, yea, u guessed that, making love (under a duvet though). We couldn’t help laughing at it… Then one of the class discussion was ‘How to prevent the spread of STDs’ The kids sure know a hell lot, more than us even, one kid told us ‘You know how the name of the condom came from? It’s invented by a guy called John Condom’

We went speechless, then one of the volunteers said ‘You know what? I am John Condom’ The kids sure looked surprised…. did they really believe that the legendary John Condom is right in front of their eyes????

***

Helped out at the Lab in the Clinic the other day. had to prepare sputum samples for tb investigation. What I did was to take all those Gooey Bloody Mucus taken from the patients’ throat, wipe them on microscopic slides, then stain them, then look under a microscope and count the number of TB bacillus to determine the patient’s tb state.

Right, I got plastic gloves and Lab coat alright, but they don’t have a mask, instead they have a fan facing the window so the bacteria from 90 slides of the 30 tb patients will be blown away (hopefully). Fingers crossed, I hope my TB Immunity from that BCG jab I had when I was in Primary school is still functioning properly, or else……………………………………………………….

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Posted in Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Apr 19

a little update from Zambia

I guess it’s about time I write an update…

So I’m still alive in Zambia, don’t worry. The clinic I work in here is in an even worse condition than the one I had in Ecuador… At least the Ecuadorean one was CLEAN…… Well, not that the staff are bad or anything, but they don’t use plastic gloves or masks! Omg… the first day I went I helped out at the Pharmacy to sort out their paracetamol and AcetylSalicylic acid pills. I asked for a plastic gloves, they looked at me in a wtf way, so I asked where I can wash my hands…. The toilet stinks like hell! No flush, no toilet roll, and with a smell of fermenting human manure… Spent another morning with the consultant. about 90% of the patients there had Malaria. It’s just like flu in our countries, very very common, and ppl are bound to catch it sometime in their life, and get well in about a week or two; yet Malaria sometimes sounds like an end-of-the-world disease in developed countries.

about 1 in 3 or 4 people in this country are HIV positive, and most of them have tuberculosis too. There’s a department completely devoted to TB patients (i.e. HIV – since they so often have them both together). It was actually very heartbreaking to see some little boys 8 or 9 years of age going in to get his medicine, yeah, long term ones, ones which they have to take for the rest of their life, if they could live long, that is; if their HIV positive status doesn’t cause him to have AIDS, that is…. I suddenly had an urge to cry when I saw all these that day at the clinic…. It’s really weird, I am usually very tough (yeah, excuse me, I really am) when it comes to situations like this, I didnt even had an intention to cry even in that Ecuador little girl incident (refer to my entries 4 months ago), but this time, somehow, it was really heartbreaking….

aiiii… oh well. But there really is a hell lot to learn from these people.

The other day I saw a man, walking in the street, his T-shirt reads:

“I AM HIV-POSITIVE”

in red, block letters.

At the back it reads:

“BUT I LIVE A POSITIVE LIFE”

People here are very very very understanding and accepting of HIV-positive ppl and even AIDS patients. They are not looked down upon.

This is so touching. Will this ever happen in SO-CALLED developed countries?

In the afternoon we usually spend time in an orphanage, kids there of all ages were orphaned since their parents died of AIDS.

The other day, we thought of playing that game of balloon-blasting with them (that game which we tie a balloon at our ankle then go around stepping and blasting each other’s balloon and whoever’s left with a balloon wins). We spent like 40 minutes blowing up and distributing the balloon, but just as we’re about the start the game, we saw the kids so happy with their precious new toy, a little boy simply walked towards me and go,

‘Lucci, let’s play!’

and played 1-on-1 volleyball with me with that balloon.

Then we realized that the game will be quite a trauma for them…. We give them something they really want then we ask them to destroy it???? they’ll definitely be traumatized!!!

These kids never take things for granted… And they appreciate every second we spend with them, every piece of little thing we give them

This trip really really is a valuable lesson in my life.

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Posted in Zambia

Apr 06

Happy birthday

Happy birthday to you

I’m sorry I went to the wrong continent at the wrong time, not being able to stay in hk at this time of the year.

Guess what. I had a sudden craving of Yeung ji gum lo and Tofu fa exactly 2 days ago. I wonder what happened.

Anyway. See you in 2 months.

Our mission in June: Eat up every single non-durian dessert in moon kee.

Are u up for it?

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Posted in Uncategorized

Mar 31

hitch-hike

Okay, I’m off to Zambia tonight… 19 hours african bus ride… wish me luck. Hope I could cross the border succesfully and safely.

And guess what I did yesterday…. First time ever in my life….

I HITCHHIKED!

sorry if I sound very ignorant or inexperienced but it really was the first time I did anything like that.

Basically I took a local taxi to the rural outskirts of the capital, Since that place is so remote that no taxi will go there I asked for return ride and surprise! surprise! That taxi never came back. So I had to walk all way through some bush paths to get to a main road, make sure I know which direction I’m heading towards…

then wait.

I tried to look at the drivers of each car that passed by… trying to look for women drivers… but in 15 minutes all I saw were minivans or trucks with either one huge muscular black man or a group of sweaty black workers (sorry I try not to sound or be a racist but it really was quite scary)

Then there was a van with a Hispanic-looking man, there’s a hotel logo on the van so I suppose it will be safer??? I gave it a try and he let me in. So I paid full attention all the way back to the city, making sure it’s the same as the way I took when i left. And that guy was so funny. He was talking on his mobile (hmm… not very safe…) and asking me to help him write down some telephone numbers as he talk…

And yes. He was honest after-all. He went to the city, and said he’s going to pick up another guy and then drop me off somewhere near a hotel in the city center. I knew the city center’s within walking distance from there so I said I’d just get off right here.

that’s it! still alive!

2 more months to go…. Actually if I had to compare South America and Africa, wildlife-wise S-Am is not at all comparable to Africa which is the only continent containing my favorite animal ever – the cheetah!

But people or community-wise, I LOVE south america. Ecuador to be exact. The Latinos are so much more nice, friendly and polite. The Africans are in fact quite rude. Rude to tourists especially, even worse than those in Hong Kong. Hello, don’t you know we’re part of your income source? And I’ve mentioned about ppl in Ecuador staring at ppl of another race in the street. The africans do too and they would yell some afrikaans at us. Well it may be some nice greetings though I dunno. And I’ve met so so soooo many africans coming towards me asking me where I came from and then ask me for money. So thick-face-skin. They’ve got all sorts of different excuses I admire their imagination.

An example was that when I was sitting and reading in a park, a guy came towards me and asked me where I came from, then he said he’s from ‘Herreroland’ and that he has some mental disorder, so he has to come to the capital for soem injections. Therefore he’s got no money now to go back to his hometown. He kept repeating ‘I got mental disorder! I got illness in my brain! I got problem with my mind!’

Yes I understand english.

During the past 2 times when I was asked again where I came from I just went ‘Soy de Republica de Dominica’ (I am from dominican republic — totally random)

Then they would answer ‘do you speak english?’

‘No, solo hablo espanol. lo siento’

Then they’d just walk away.

wow, Spanish come to be useful in a non-spanish continent!

(Sorry, I know I sound a little bit mean but Too much really is too much)

I kind of miss Ecuador actually. Maybe becos it’s where I had my first placement and the first is usually – if not always – the best.

Latinas are sweeeeeeeeeeeet

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Posted in Namibia

Mar 22

up close

Just to prove to u guys that I do get up close to the animals……


Sweet Goeters (He’s 17 years old!)


Me throwing meat to the Lions!


Watch out u guys! Loooooch is Shoooooooooting!


Sleeping with a cute little kitten


My baby Mongooses!!


Sweet little Duma.. awww… she’s so cute


Zion the bully!


Haha… our costme party! (I’m that tortoise at the back… ha-ha-ha-very-funny) Yea we actually have to dress up as one of the animals we take care of…. It was actually a competition and I won!!!


A sign I made for the center

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Posted in Namibia

Mar 16

more pictures from harnas

Okay more pictures….


2 cheetahs grooming each other.. aww.. thats so sweet…


So which is the most dangerous feline in the cat family??


Timon: Pumbaa you’re just plain stupid!
Pumbaa: Sorry timon…


Little Zion’s got a new toy!






Zion the Bully


Gotcha!

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Posted in Namibia

Mar 03

Safe and Sound in Namibia

Safe and Sound in Namibia, The land with 300 days of sunshine a year.

The first thing in my mind when I got off South African Airways SA074 I couldn’t help but smile to myself. ‘omg. I am stepping on Africal soil. I can’t believe it. This is like a 22 yrs’ dream come true. I am in Africa!’

I can’t emphasize enough this place is a MUST for animal lovers… esp cat lovers. There are more than 30 cats in total in the whole lodging area.

First thing that came to greet me when I arrived the rescue center were 2 cute little kittens, rushing towards that 4WD I was on.

In the middle of the night a kitten jumped onto my stomach and purred ever so loudly. The next morning when I woke up I thought it was a dream, but then I saw that very same kitten beside my pillow.

When I was brushing my teeth another kitten suddenly pounced onto the sink. I pushed him away and he pounced back and started licking the tap water. Totally unashamed of himself.

Here comes the exciting part.

There were over 20 cheetahs altogether in this rescue center and most of them are too tamed to be released back into the wild. (Nikkita, Aloise, Duma, Bony, Leuki, etc… can’t remember all their names, cant even tell who’s who yet) Apparently cheetahs are the only african big cat that can be completely tamed (i.e. doesnt get mad if you touch them when they’re eating) They were so affectionate, So close to human, hungry for human contact (They keep rubbing their cheeks against us like huge pussy cats) and their purr when we pet them… awww…. I wish i could record it and use it as my ringtone!!! They love to play chase and roll on their back. What graceful animals. Simply gorgeous.

Then there’s that little lion cub called Zion. 6 weeks old. But quite heavy though.

There’s also a gay zebra called Zeba, They told us he’s gay since they’ve been trying to breed him but he hated all the female zebras and hurted them. how funny’s that.

Africa’s cool, there sth for everyone: big cats for me, zebras (white with black stripes) for val, elephant for ah gik, ostrish for fa, all wild wild animals for judif, cats for lilian, haha, wat else?

But ppl here speak german mostly. Judif I need ur help.

Saw a double rainbow on the first day I arrived. It was HUGE! Never seen a double rainbow THAT big b4, it was literally an arch from one end of Namibia to the other end! I couldn’t capture the whole thing so here it is, one small segment of it.

mmm… now this tastes good

The well-known tear mark

3 of them (Forgot their names though)

The little prince!!

Hakuna Matata!

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Posted in Namibia

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