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I think i'm a bit whiny these days(check out the increase in blog entries)..whining about the weather..whining about my shoulder..whining about my cough..whining about my also-coughing-van..i think enough whining for the year liao..

I shall go into hibernation and try to be retrospective about twenty-ten..

So, unless i strike toto tmr or get married by this year..you won't hear from me for the rest of the year..

See you next year!

My 'Accidental' Accupuncture..

After endless nagging by well-meaning frens and personally running out of patience for 'natural healing', i sought out a few sinsehs recommended by frens..one in yishun, one in bt batok..hmm..not exactly very near to me..

I had half-convinced myself to visit one the next day when i was making one of my regular visits to the library. As i was walking in, i spotted this familiar-looking uncle walking out from the library..'Hello uncle, you're the..the..oh, the sinseh from next block!' As luck would have it, he's actually a die da yi shi(so i thought) whom i met some time back when searching for a new office unit..'Uncle, i injured my shoulder, can i come see you?' Uncle sinseh :' Sure, you want to come now?' 'Ok!'

And so, i followed Uncle Sinseh back to his clinic a block away..the moment i approached his clinic, my heartbeat increased a little..cos his shop signage says ' Accupuncture Centre'..

Inside his tiny little consultation room, he asked for the details of my injury..'Ok, put your arm here..i will take your pulse(ba mai)' So exciting..i never really visited a TCM before..ba mai sounds very 'wu xia xiao shuo'..

Next he proceeded to stretch my arm..tug it a bit..swing it around(rather vigouriously). After repeating this drama for a few rounds, he declared 'I already put your shoulder back into position'..and i didn't even realise it was 'out of position'..Uncle continued 'But it's not totally ok yet, as there are some internal injuries..it's inflammed..let me do some accupuncture for you, it'll really speed up the recovery process' By this time, i guess there's no way i could say no, so i could only meekly ask, 'will it hurt?' Uncle assured me it'll only feel like ant bites..i hope it's not the red ants' bite..

Uncle took out his needles..and started poking, no, tapping is more like it, the needles onto my shoulder..5 needles and 20 secs later, i felt this intense nauseous feeling..'Uncle, i want to puke..' And he swiftly grabbed a plastic bag(as though he already anticipated this) and passed it to me. My cough isn't helping and i buried my face into the plastic bag..I think uncle realised that there's no way he can proceed and removed the needles 'Are you not feeling well?' By now, i can feel my face turning white 'Ya, having flu and am on medication' 'Oh maybe that's why..come over here and rest a bit' and motioned me over to the bed. I weakly climbed onto the bed and laid there as though i just finished a major op.. Oh, did i mention i was breaking out in cold sweat too??

About 15 mins later, i slowly felt life coming back to me..

'Uncle, i think i'm better now'
'Ok, let's try again'
'Again??? What if i puke again??'
'Oh no, you won't..it will only happen once'
'Err..you sure..? ok lor'

And so there i was..held 'captive' with no choice but to submit to uncle's bidding 'turn to the side..raise your shoulder a bit..' But thank goodness, there was no puking this time..

Just when i thought needles poking out from me are scary enough, he took this contraption which looked like a battery charger and announced 'i'm going to add some electricity to aid your recovery..this is as effective as coming for 2 or 3 treatments' I wanted to say i'm not really in a hurry but decided it was to no avail..

'Now i will on the electricity and you will feel some throbbing'..And sure enough, i could feel this strange sensation of electric currents dancing under my skin..'Ok, you will lie here for 40min' Wat?! 40mins..my goodness..

10 mins later, uncle popped his head in 'You're getting used to the electricity already right..can't feel it anymore right..time to increase the intensity' @_@

Yet another 10mins later, he did the same thing..by now, i was feeling quite stiff from lying on one side..i didn't dare to move too much in case it shifted the needles or wiring and i was trying to my darnest not to cough..not easy..

Trying to fish for some sympathy from fish(pun intended), i smsed her 'it's quite scary to see needles poking out from my body', her stoic reply 'You won't be able to see the needles if you keep your eyes shut' This coming from a practising nurse..sigh..

At the end of the 40mins session..i wouldn't say the soreness is completely gone..more like..it's being replaced by another kind of soreness..?! Uncle reassured me 'you'll feel better in 1 or 2 days' time, if really not better, you just come back for another session'

Hmm..i think i need to think carefully..very carefully..

Ho ho..h..uh oh..

Tis the season to make merry, eat to my heart's content and drink myself silly..right?


But..sigh sigh sigh..3 days to Xmas and i find myself down with a lung-bursting cough, a perpetually sore shoulder and a waning appetite..imagine i only had 3 meals today and all 3 meals were half the portion i usually take..and i had to request for a dinner gathering to change from a happening pub to CJ kitchen(no, i dun mean 0.5)..oh, this is all very sad -.-

Planned to use this lull period to whip myself back to lean n fit mode..but alas..even the slightest exertion on my shoulder translates into a lingering soreness..not to mention it's affecting my work(=income)

Well..i know it's partly my own fault..the virus has been suppressed for a while liao(it's the weather!!) and strange isn't it that advice is one of those things that is so much easier to give than to accept..go see a doc, get a x-ray..all stubbornly ignored by yours truly..


Tried to appeal for some TLC but was met flatly with a 'sorry, i dun have any' and was offered a VIT C instead..guess it's better than nothing..

Life's Simple Pleasures

#689 - To spend a lazy afternoon doing pretty much nothing except to enjoy the company of a nugget, a creamy and a choc..

From Hiker to Rider..

Extended an invite to Choc Lady for a little hike since my shoulder still feels too sore for any physical activity involving the upper body(tat includes shifting gears for my dua bai)..while the hike didn't exactly materialise, we did end up somewhere in the area..

Apparently Choc Lady was jolted out of bed this morning at the thought of me(din know i have this effect on people) and an exchange of smses on makeup, horses, and kites ensued, ending with a 'see u in 1 hour!'

After several failed attempts, i finally made it to Rider's..was rather glad i went on a weekday and even glad-er i went with someone who can 'deh' the waiter into serving us breakfast even though it was technically past breakfast hours..

I always think brunch is a good occasion to 'talk heart'..lunch and dinner can be quite stressful as in you sometimes run into the danger of the eatery closing, so unless the place serves only breakfast, there's no worry of the waiter coming up and hinting to you with a 'any last order?' And even if breakfast hours are over, one can always move on to lunch - i have no problems with that, as long as it's 2 hours after the initial meal..

I once heard a comment about myself 'it's easy to tell which topics you're interested in, u get more animated when talking about them'..i guess it's true(isn't it the case for everyone else??), but i always also feel that the conversational partner is a factor too..if the other party is someone who is more animated/expressive, i guess i will go along and be more animated too..?!

Anyway..despite my dun-ask-dun-tell-policy, we managed to have a decent conversation(n.b to choc lady: watever i told u over brunch is probably more than wat i tell some other people over the past 2 years..)

Oh, i'm already looking forward to our waffles date, complete with makeup and shirts..

See the photo on the top right --> ?

Yea..in case u didn't notice..i changed the profile photo..(ok, so the previous one was a similar one of sunrise..but hey, sunrise is my 'thing' wat..)

Which also meant i finally sorted out my Cambodia trip's photos..which are posted on facebook..for those who are keen, u know where to look for it lah huh..

An eye infection..a broken nose..and a loaf of bread

Before i shock my readers out there..2 of 3 items in the title do not refer to me directly..only the loaf of bread does..

I had volunteered for an event recently..and apparently, i have a team of 100+ volunteers under me(99% i've not met, not even during/after the event, though i've spoken to some of them)

2 days after the event, 1 of the volunteers called to tell me another volunteer has gone half-blind in one eye(hopefully it's just temporary), likely due to the fact that she has worn her contact lens for more than 24 hours straight, resulting in an eye infection. Since i'm also just a volunteer, all i can do is refer the poor girl to the organisers..hope she'll be fine.

Lesson learnt: Do not wear contact lens beyond recommended hours

********

Was cycling out there..at one of the supposedly 'safest' place to cycle..when this guy, twice my size, lost control of his bike coming down a small slope and crashed head-on to me. I couldn't quite 'siam' in time, and fell together with him...I laid on the grass for 5 mins trying to decide if i had dislocated my shoulder(thank goodness no, but it sure hurts), and when i sat up, i was greeted by a bloody face..this is bad..

Called for an ambulance and when they arrived 15 mins later, the guy was still in shock..not a life-threatening injury but think he won't get on a bike anytime soon..

Lesson learnt: Wear a helmet and always use your brakes to stop

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At 7.25am, someone handed me a loaf of gardenia supersoft & fine wholemeal bread..

ZXL: Wah, one WHOLE loaf ah?
Someone: Then? Cannot expect me to buy 2 slices right?
ZXL: Huh? Plain ah..no nutella?
Someone: You're early..so no time to spread..and you're already eating wat..

Lesson learnt: Be specific when ordering breakfast

p.s. thanks for buying the bread at 1+am..
********

In less than 24 hours, i've come across an eye infection and broken nose..& my consolation is one whole loaf of gardenia supersoft & fine wholemeal bread - plain, with no nutella.

Cheers x 3

Did you think i will really forget to blog about my Cheer(although it certainly wasn't as dramatic as wang jie) Nooo..i was just..hmm..a little busy lately..

Attended my 2nd concert of hers couple of weeks back..despite knowing that i will sleep only 3 to 4 hours the day before, i insisted on going..I din go for the first cos i was busy taking photos at NS(well, the 'good' thing is..it's pretty much demolished by the third concert) and i dun intend to miss any of her future concerts too..

Managed to con-vince 0.5 to attend with me..and while i'm more of a fan, she's more 'musically-inclined'(as always..but then, most people are..) So she was the one making comments like 'tat's a unique instrument hor' ....'wah, difficult song, got 2 sets of beats' (watever that means)..while i could only go 'nice!' or 'i got hear this song before..i think' Oh, and i did jump onto the chair at one point in time(refer to article below)

Between the last concert 2 years ago and this concert..i'm ashamed to say that i probably didn't know any more of her songs than i did then...but i think she also never released new album..or did she?? Well, it's always more of quality than quantity for her anyway..ha..

0.5 and i made a few observations that night..we were trying to profile the 'average' fan of hers..but could not reach a conclusion..in terms of age, it seemed to vary quite a bit(from seemingly teenagers to mid 30/40s?), gender was pretty much equal...but what amused us was the fact that we saw not 1, not 2, but a few 'IT professionals-looking guys' totally engrossed(= standing on chair, waving neon-stick, etc) and enjoying themselves..

My last blog on her - http://zxlagain.blogspot.com/2009/04/photobucket.html

Below's an article lifted from 'U-weekly' mag(no 259)

宅男女神

气质女王陈琦贞睽违两年，

来到狮城开(夏季练习曲) 演唱会， 以华丽的音乐和唯美的影像震撼全场3000名歌迷。 有趣的是，当晚除了有一票死忠实粉丝捧场外， 现场还来了很多宅男。

这些男生一看到梦中的女神便失控呐喊还站在椅子上！

而陈琦贞唱得兴起更把麦克风让乐手轮流演唱，

大家都十分配合地唱出"爱你" ， 唯独她的男友钟成虎。 低调的他不愿在台上公开表白， 只是以微笑回应对陈琦贞的爱。 今年的惊喜环节就是陈琦贞在第二次encore 后， 走向观众席中央的钢琴自弹自唱。

宅男们更是拿起相机猛拍偶像！