An attempt to revive my blog..

Let's take it easy..lift an article from the newspaper..

Hanging On For Dear Life(Lifestyle, 9 Dec 07)

'..What's hit me is how precious life is and grossly we waste it fretting over shallow things like money and recognition.

Can you call what most of us do really living? Or are we squandering what's essentially a priceless nanosecond of sentient existence obsessing over things that don't, or shouldn't, matter?

At the heart of modern-day existence is the warped belief that if you don't have a highfaluting career and the showy trappings to match(in other words, if you're just ordinary) then you're a failure. But what about those who lack the pre-requisite skills for glory or who simply don't want it? Are we to be filed under 'washouts'?

It happened at a dinner party one night in 1987 when the conversation drifted to the latest thing in hot(forgive the pun) kitchen appliances, microwaves. This wasn't your typical chinwag about household helpers, mind you, but an absurd boasting session of the kind one might expect about Ferraris. Incidentally, our host drove one but he'd bragged about that already.

Something snapped when I was asked 'Does your microwave oven rotate?' 'Well, not exactly, but you should see its balance beam routine'

Truth be told, i didn't own a microwave oven and didn't care to. Moreover it appalled me that the only thing my status-conscious dinner companions could think of to talk about was bloody ovens, even if it took all night.

Whatever happened to the great gab fests over beer in student pubs when people used to talk about real things, i wondered. Apparently, my peers had lost the plot and now believed that life boiled down to their branded microwaves.

To my mind, all of this equated with not living. So after seeking a dear friend's sagely advice, I decided to change my life, ditch my jon and supported myself by freelance writing, teaching and whatever odd-jobbing i could find.

That's what i've been doing ever since. Now i'm free to tag along on my husband's abundant vacations(he teaches in an international school) and i've gotten to see the world, something you can't put a price tag on.

But this lifestyle has nonetheless come at a cost, although it's a cost i don't care about. I'm not a bigwig. I'll certainly never be rich. And sometimes, at parties when people ask me what i do and then walk away, it's painful.

Why bother clawing our way up meaningless ladders when no one will ever remember, much less care about, the job or prestigious address we had after we're gone?

For certain, there really is a whole lot more to life than microwave, don't you think?'

-

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..