2 contrasting entries..

The : ) entry

Monday, 24 Oct 2005

Was on the tube back from work..sitting 2 rows away was this bunch of teenagers..they were snapping away on their camera..dunno wat came over me..i actually walked over & said 'hi guys, would u like me to take a group photo for u?' Just then i noticed one of the girls was wearing the birthday sash, so i said 'it must be your birthday today' 'It is..it's my 16th birthday' One of the friends then said 'Why dun the 2 of u take a picture together?' And so, we did..but wat was more surprising(to myself at least), i actually went on to cajole the frens to sing Carole 'happy birthday' ..right there in the tube..

It was 'Cheers!' when they finished the song..& they offered me their beer..still in my possessed state, i took a sip out of the bottle..as it is, i've reached my station & waved goodbye to them..

Hmm..it must be the side effects of working in a theme park.. this behaviour is rather un-ZXL..or at least i cant see myself doing it in Sg..or have the few months of living in an ang moh country taken effects on me??


The : ( entry

Tuesday, 1 Nov 2005

Today is my 2nd visit to the hospital..had a 1.30pm appointment for my ear..arrived at about 1.10pm & got myself registered myself as i sat down to wait..i realised it's the 4th A&E dept in 4 different countries i've stepped in in less than a year..

2pm..still no nurse calling for me..215pm..with no patients being called & the arrival of more patients, the waiting room started to get a bit crowded & me, started to get impatient..

And the longer i waited, the more stupid thoughts ran thru my head..it's been almost 3.5 months since my ear problem started & some 2 months since i've seen doctors for it..but things din seem to get much better..it had never ever taken so long to recover..started to wonder if there's any difference between ang moh ears & asian ears..why do the docs here seem unable to do anything about it?

I tried to keep away such thoughts by playing some games on my mobile..after 10mins of bouncing balls & underwear i had enuf & sought comfort from smsing people back home..

Finally got to see the doctor after somemore waiting..after some peering into my ear, the doctor said 'we need to get the stuff out from our ear..it's preventing the ear drops from getting to the infection'..apparently the stuff refers to a combi of ear wax + pus from infection + debris from all the past ear drops used(somewhat contributing to the choke factor)

To be honest, it was a bit daunting to be lying on the bed and waiting for the doctor to set up the apparatus..i could hear the whirling and sucking sounds..imagine a visit at the dentist and mutiply it by 10x..mainly cos the idea of having some metallic tubes going into the ear is much more alien than polishing teeth..

The syringing began and i could literally hear the rubbish being sucked away..just as i felt my hearing coming back slowly, the doctor stopped the sucking..though i could hear better now, i could feel tat it's still blocked..apparently he could not syringe any further cos it's getting too close to my eardrums & it's too dangerous to proceed any further..

What he said next was almost spine-chilling 'perhaps u should go for a hearing test..just tat make sure it's not affected & there's no permanent damage'..

Booked another appt in 2 weeks' time for a followup..was also told to continue with the ear drops in the meantime..i can only wish myself best of luck..

(Afternote : My ear is back to normal now..thanks for all the concerns)