expiration date 

about two weeks ago, we had to close all our doors and windows because the complex is being sprayed by anti-mosquito chemical stuff. it’s smoky white with funky smell that would make you high.

so, there supposed to be less mosquitoes in the vicinity, right?

wrong.

for some reasons, there are more mosquitoes on our (and our neighbors’) backyards compare to a month ago, prior to the spraying. i’m not saying that the spraying causes the mosquitoes to breed. maybe we’re just entering the mosquito season… i get a five to six red itchy dots every morning after i do my backyard sweeping. not as many as the time when i was in Jakarta though, but still…

yesterday, the complex management sent us fliers, telling us that there has been newspaper reports of Dengue Fever cases in Singapore. they also include a small booklet with informations prevent the fever, which is basically to prevent a certain breed of mosquitoes that transmit the disease (Aedes aegypti) multiply in your backyard.

i’ve had dengue fever before, although it never reached the dengue haemorrhagic fever stage. my head was so spinny; i was afraid to get out of bed since the ground didn’t stop moving. my joints were aching and felt like it was about to fall off. i bundled under my blanket in 34 degree Celsius weather. i don’t even remember how high my fever temperature reached; in fact, i didn’t remember much. it was far from pleasant. it sucked.

back to the mosquito stuff — today, the Pest Control Officers visited every house in the complex to inspect if our house may be a mosquito breeding ground. they also gave us a small bag of granular insecticide to put on places where the mosquitoes may lay their eggs.

the officers told us, “oh, you have a clean house…”. that makes me very happy. all that sweeping and scrubbing pays the price.

but why are we still swarmed with mosquitoes? those mosquitoes do not look like Aedes aegypti — which is a good thing — but they still bites and gave us itch!

i think, they should clean the scupper drain behind our house. it’s blocked with roots and leaves from the trees. we can’t clean the drain because it’s outside of our fence, and there is no opening area to reach it. we tried to spray it with the hose, but the roots do not budge.

i think that clogged drain is more of a mosquito-haven.