Feverish Aiden in Singapore

It was our last ticket to Singapore for the year. To be perfectly honest, I was getting sick and tired of boarding aeroplanes between KL-Singapore all alone with a toddler in tow. Not only that, Hubby is constantly complaining about being homesick. Therefore with us having tickets to Singapore, he was obviously destined to stay yet another week in his apartment when in fact his body is aching to come home and his tummy is rumbling for his weekly dose of makanan Melayu. If you think going to Singapore once a month is much fun, think again. It was great the first couple of times, but I am really relieved that it is all over. From now onwards, Hubby will be clocking the miles home.

So this final trip, I decided to forego the shopping excursions and instead, spend quality time with Hubby and Aiden plus try the local delicacies Singapore has got to offer.

Our flight was delayed on that Friday afternoon so we only stepped on Singaporean soil late evening. After a short dinner in KTM, we trudgged through the streets and lugged our luggage back to the apartment. I was dead tired from all the travelling and crashed as soon as I saw the bed. In the middle of the night Aiden rolled into my arms and somewhere at the back of my head I remembered thinking "Boy, Aiden feels really hot! Burning feverish hot!". However, it was only about an hour after that, when he woke up and started crying, that I jumped into panic mode. He was having a fever!

As prepared as I was for any trip with Aiden, unfortunately I did not have a digital thermometer with me. There was no way I could tell how sick he was. But he was definitely burning hot. I immediately gave him a suppository panadol and started to tuam his body with a cold cloth to bring down the heat. Of course, he cried and cried. And he didn't want his Daddy. He wanted only Mummy to hold him, touch him, be near him. About an hour after that, his fever went down and he went back to sleep. So I quietly crawled to bed next to him and dozed for a little while.

As soon as the clock struck 9am, I woke him up, gave him his feeding and dressed him up for the pediatrician. He was feeling much better but Hubby and I had already decided that we weren't going to take a chance. If he relapses into a fever, it would be really hard for us, being in a foreign land and all.

So off we went to Kinder Clinic in Paragorn! (Don't play, play! Aiden's pediatrician clinic is in Orchard Road okay!)

Kinder Clinic was absolutely full! So I requested to see the doctor with the shortest queue. Apparently he was the most expensive (i.e. first doctor on the list). Thank god for medical coverage by the Dutch Oil Company!!!

Also, the clinic charges by the amount of time the doctor takes to give his consultation advice. Ten minutes equal this much. Fifteen minutes equals this much. Yes, I am serious. Therefore, if the doctor speaks realllyyyyy slow, he'll make more money! *grin*

Tried to get Aiden occupied with colouring and drawing while waiting for our turn.

Finally our turn was up. And imagine my shock when he recorded Aiden's fever and it was 40.5 degC! And imagine my further shock when he told us that he wanted to test Aiden for H1N1! *simpang jauh!!*

So off we went to another room for Aiden's H1N1 test. They had to swab Aiden's nose. Of course he cried like crazy. Then they inserted another suppository to reduce his fever. Also at this point, I was thinking, "Why oh why didn't we all get our Tamiflu shots. Dah la company offered the vaccination for free!!"

I simply could not think while we waited for the results. So I snapped pictures using the iPhone with Aiden cuddled up in my lap. And alhamdulillah, it was negative. Just a common viral fever.

Of course the whole day was spent at home nursing Aiden back to health. That took up the whole of Saturday (and of course any plans of exploring Singapore went out the window!)

The next day, Aiden was still a bit feverish but we decided to take him out for breakfast. Where else, but McDonalds!

My poor feverish baby.

Although he looks really healthy here!

So we decided to take a chance and ventured to Marina Bay. Took the MRT and then a bus in the pouring rain somemore! We are such bad parents. (It started drizzling when we were in the MRT.) Thank god Aiden was dozing peacefully in his stroller.

We wanted to try out the sky garden at Marina Bay but since it was raining, we didn't want to spend SGD20 each just to watch rain drops. Maybe next time (next time???) when Aiden feels better.

On the same day, we also went to Bugis to hunt for a pair of shoes for my sister and sister in law. They were drooling over my black wedges and begged for a pair each the next time I fly to Singapore. In Bugis, we found the most adorable drum set, and Daddy decided to buy it for Aiden. Daddy kesian tengok anak sorang dia tuh sakit...

And last stop for the day, I finally got a taste of a Singaporean delicacy. Sup tulang merah. The best available at Beach Road. If you're wondering what sup tulang merah is, imagine ribs covered in blood. Gorry isn't it? Eating it even stained my fingers red!

I don't understand why they call it sup (soup). I would never drink the gravy like soup!

They look plump and fat, but it took a lot of effort for me to grind my teeth against the bone to coax the meat off. And according to the friend of mine who recommended this delicacy, you are supposed to ketuk (knock) the rib to try to get the sum sum (bone marrow) out. Apparently this is the yummiest part! Which I did not know and did not do. Obviously.

Nasi goreng which came with the dish. Did not really like it because it was quite soggy. (I notice that most rice based meals in Singapore are quite lembik. Is this normal??)

Excuse the mess. It was all Aiden's fault. He wanted to eat the fried rice on his own!

That took a lot of effort!

Three stained fingers.

Back home, we assembled the drum set. Absolutely cute!!!

At only SGD10, it was definitely a steal.

And thank god we checked the first box we picked before we left the cashier. If we didn't check, Aiden would probably be banging on a pink drum set right now!

Alhamdulillah, Aiden looks well enough for the trip back home.

Okay, I am off packing! Still trying to figure out how to fit these two black wedges in my luggage!!!