-

Just woken up from a 2 hours nap..i haven napped in the longest time..as nuah as i am, i seldom nap in the afternoon..which means i was really tired..

Just like wat i mentioned in my previous entry, my stuff comes 4, 5 items together in a few days..and i would be be struggling to finish all of them..work, cca, personal stuff..or maybe i'm getting old..either that or i've simply gotten too used to a slower lifestyle..or both..

Was just talking to CAL over the past few days(poor thing got 'abused' by me on 2 occasions, but hey, wat're 'i've-known-you-for-more-than-half-my-life' friends for right?) It happened that she met a long-time-no-see fren while i also met a long-time-no-see classmate during one of the event..and both of us commented how different our frens were from last time..

People from the same school as you..people who once attended the same class as you..we all started on the same path..but 10, 15 years on, look at where everyone is now..The top student back then..is she/he now the high-flyer that you imagined her/him to be? Or ever thought the 'pai kia' in your class would turn out to the be globe-trotting expatriate? Have u seen the sports girl/boy recently? Is she/he still in good shape or has grown to double their original size? Or maybe the 'plump one' back then has a 6pack to show off these days..

Life..

Finally..

I have a few spare hours now..all thanks to the rain..had woken up at 715am for a 830am lesson..but the skies opened up just as i was walking to my lao kok van and so here i am, sitting in front of my pc typing away..

For the past 10 days or so I feel like i was sucked into some vaccum..3 busy days of work followed by some 5 days of extremely-busy-but-can't-pinpoint-exactly-why..and took me 2 full days to recover from all of these..just thinking about it makes me exhausted..

Oh did i mention my birthday was smacked right in between all the ruckus? Though it wasn't much of a celebration, special mention to 0.5 who had to contend with my ever-changing schedule while trying to arrange for a 'surprise' dinner with the rest..thank you everyone who had to accomodate to my timing and all those who remembered and sent your wishes through smses/msn/email(see the wonders of technologies - nobody sends cards anymore)

The only tangible thing i have to show for these 10 blackhole days is my new mobile(yes, i've finally gotten myself a new phone)And you know what's the most amazing function? It can predict your chances of pregnancy based on your menstrual cycle..no kidding!

29 Sep 07 - One Glorious Summer Night

In the end, i did not go for Cheer Chen's concert - A Piece of Summer..but judging from the review in Life yesterday, it must have been a good one..

'..Cheer Chen's fans took a while to warm, but once they did they were happy just to let her songs do the talking..It was difficult not to surrender to her soft-spoken, tentative banter and vulnerability of her vocals and lyrics..'

So how did I spend the summer night of 29 Sep?

Well, i spent it with 12(more or less) other people..erm jumping around and posing about in our beloved national stadium..

Between us, i think we spent no less than 60 years working under the seats of the grandstand..and have gone thru the whole spectrum of emotions..from depression(no joking) to fustration to indifference to joy to pure wat-was-i-thinking craziness(yes, tat day was a perfect example)..

One last time for everybody to be in the same office where we first became colleagues and now..friends..

And what would a gathering be without some food? Dinner was at the nearby Jumbo..guess everybody was too engrossed in the food..so no photos are available..

Dinner topic for the night was 'If you could turn into another female, who would you choose? Answers ranged from a 'really nice and pretty 'colleague(sorry 0.5 :Þ) to the beeeeaaauuutifuuuul Kate Beckinsale to the retro Cherie Chung..

I might have missed the concert but i guess it wasn't tat bad a way to spend a glorious summer night..

Update on my ear..

Guess i must give a 'jiao dai' to my readers out there who were concerned enough to drop me msges asking about my ear..

It's getting better now..i would say hearing is back to about 80%..and the good thing is, it managed to get so far even without syringing(while not an exactly painful process, but nevertheless not something i look forward to)

It's about time too..been almost a month since the problem started..

Fingers remained crossed..

More on ENT..

(This is gonna be a dry, technical, boring entry on..well..ears..so if u're not interested, feel free to skip this)

Just when i brought up this ENT thingy..there's an article on hearing and ENT in Life today..

The article focuses mainly on tinnitus, which is defined as a perception of a sound in one or both ears or in the head when no external sound is present; it is often described as the persistent ringing in the ears..whereas my doc diagnosed my case as otitis media which is infection or inflammation of the middle ear..so technically they are not the same..but i do get the 'ringing' in my ears too..

In the article, it is mentioned tinnitus can sometimes be caused by muscle spasms in the middle ear or eustachian tube, which connects the middle ear and the back of the nose, or may be due to abnormalities in the blood vessels surrounding the ear.

According to a ENT consultant, most of the time, the cause cannot be determined(maybe tat's also why my doc never seemed to be able to give me a logical explanation of why my ear always kena) There are however, many potential catalysts which are known to trigger or worsen the condition, including the accumluation of earwax, exposure to loud sounds, head or neck injuries, problem with blood circulation and jaw misalignment(dun think i am subjected to any, other than the earwax part)

The majority of people who suffer from tinnitus also have hearing loss, but the condition itself does not cause hearing loss(not much of a consolation..)

Another consultant(they interviewed quite a few docs for the article) says that people with an obstructed eustachian tube can experience hearing loss, pain or tinnitus especially during landing(while air travelling). Tell me about it..I can still vividly remember the pain i felt while flying to Stockholm some 2 years ago..the inside of my head felt like it was all being squeezed soooo tightly..it was really horrible and the pain took quite a while to subside even after i landed..

Yet another consultant says that 'there is no cure for tinnitus, but it can be managed such that it no longer disturbs'

'Although tinnitus is a symptom and not a disease, many people are very bothered by it' quoted another doc..

I totally agree with one of the doc's saying that 'it is often the annoyance and not the actual loudness of the tinnitus that affects the individual, and that over 95% of the untreatable patients will eventually adapt to their condition'

Hope i never get to that stage..

ENT

Ear, Nose and Throat..ever wondered why they're always a hospital ward called ENT? Well..they're all connected..

So..my ear is blocked..but wat i didn't reckon is my nose getting all blocked up too..tried to go for a jog the other day..ears felt blocked...nose felt blocked..couldn't really breathe thru mouth either..and i could hear myself panting real loudly in my head..for a while it seems like my whole head is gonna explode..

Anyway, i went to see the doc couple of days ago..and he showed my the diagram of the whole ENT system and how they're all linked..and telling me 'so you might experience nasal congestion too'..yes i know..

According to him, my ear condition has 'progressed' to media otitis aka infection of the middle ear(there's outer ear, middle ear and inner ear) Was given another kind of ear drops and oral antibiotics(this is bad, even when i had to go to the hospital in UK, i never had to take oral medication)

Another 3 days..and i'm due for the next checkup..keeping my fingers crossed..

Reason to Cheer

Cheer Chan - 陈绮真

喜欢她的声音， 很清纯， 带有点孩子气。喜欢她的形像， 才女型，不商业化。我曾因为她而去看舞台剧<地下铁>。剧里的她没让我失望， 歌声清晰无比， 她的现场功力也坚定了她在我心目中的确是个实力派歌手的位置。

前一阵子听说她要来新开唱。。有点小心奋。。

开始我还很认真的考虑要不要去看她的演唱会， 因为虽然说我很欣赏她， 我其实不是很熟悉她的歌曲。。也说不出几首，不就那两首<让我想一想>和<还是会寂寞>。。是它们让我认识陈绮真的。。那时下载了它们的MP3。。所以到现在还会偶尔听一听。。有时跟朋友去KTV， 也会点来唱(放心， 不是我唱啦) 而她的专辑，说来有点惭愧。。因为我也只不过买了一张， 而且是精选(虽然我听了没几次就借了出去， 也是只到现在才想起我有她的CD)

那天就随口问了问YS。。有没有兴趣去她的演唱会。。YS也说对她的歌不是太熟悉， 而且她不喜欢去Max观看演唱会， 因为她觉得音响效果不是很理想。。加上门票比想像中来的贵。。YS 说不如等她出演唱会CD。。所以我暂时把这念头给打消了。。

后来看到她的演唱会宣传广告， 记起了我还有听过<告诉我>和<和你在一起>。。

就在今天下午。我突然听到熟悉的旋律。。我记得我有听过这首歌而且相当喜欢。。只是好久没听到了。。‘说不出爱我的原因。。说不出旅行的意义。。’呃！ 这不是陈绮真的<旅行的意义>吗。。好听。。好听。。

突然又萌起了去看演唱会的冲动。。

旅行的意义

你看过了许多美景

你看过了许多美女

你迷失在地图上每一道短暂的光阴

你品尝了夜的巴黎

你踏过下雪的北京

你熟记书本里每一句你最爱的真理

却说不出你爱我的原因

却说不出你欣赏我哪一种表情

却说不出在什么场合我曾让你动心

说不出离开的原因

你累计了许多飞行

你用心挑选纪念品

你收集了地图上每一次的风和日丽

你拥抱热情的岛屿

你埋葬记忆的土耳其

你流连电影里美丽的不真实的场景

却说不出你爱我的原因(你勉强说出你爱我的原因)

却说不出你欣赏我哪一种表情

却说不出在什么场合我曾让你分心(动心)

说不出旅行的意义

勉强说出你为我寄出的每一封信

都是你离开的原因

你离开我就是旅行的意义