It's funny how I am so used to blogging that when I'm not updating my blog, I sometimes replay my day as how I would have written it out when I'm in bed or having some quiet time. (Nerd alert!)
In the meantime, Mellie is relocating to Singapore with Mamo and Jo is heading home as well, which makes for a very strong case to me being back, but there are so many variables at play. Life is a lot less complicated in the absence of choice.
I promise my life will be a lot more exciting in 2-3 weeks time!
Labels: australia, confession, friendship, health, life, photo
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"You know, it might help if you tape both your eyes shut when you go to sleep."
I gave her a blank look of disbelief, waiting for her to burst into laughter anytime. But she was dead serious.
"I can give you some tape that would be very gentle on your skin."
I politely refused.
She then went on to explain that it seems the problem lied with the contact lens I was using. That overtime, my eyes had probably developed some kind of allergy to them and I would have to switch to using dailies if I wanted to continue using them.
But because I'm stubborn to a fault, I decided to take things into my own hands.
On Monday, I put on a pair of dailies that I happened to have. No stinging, no redness, it was perfect.
On Tuesday, I let my eyes rest for a day.
On Wednesday, I put on my current pair of monthlies. Much to my delight, there was no stinging, no redness, a little discomfort but I made sure I kept my eyes hydrated. By the end of the day, I was convinced that I didn't have an allergy as the doctor claimed and happily told everyone my hunch was right!
Today I woke up and realized that my eyes had turned a nasty pink again. Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!
I am going to have try out a few brands of bi-monthlies to see if it works for my eyes. I am not a happy trooper now. :(
Labels: health
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There comes a time when the heaping of calamities brings on uncontrollable nervous laughter- when, after a final blow from fate, we decide to treat it all as a joke.- An excerpt from "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly"
by Jean-Domonique Bauby
It's part of the medication that the doctor prescribed me, to counter the strange dry patch in my lower eyeball that developed in the last month.
At least it's not an infection and doesn't require surgery. My eye had been stinging for weeks, and I'd gone off contacts, but my condition persisted so I had to see a specialist to make sure.
"Do you often sleep on one side?" the eye doctor asked rather cryptically.
"Eh?" came my eloquent response. "...I don't know cos I toss and turn a lot in my sleep."
She explained that she suspected that my lower right eyelid doesn't close fully when I sleep, and having an aircon blow at it all night can cause this. But I wouldn't know because I've never watched me sleep.
Two hours of very uncomfortable eye tests later and $130 poorer, I'm hoping my eye will learn to lubricate itself again.
Labels: health
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Labels: health, india, malaysia, photo, travel
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And so I've been sick ever since. And I just want to get well soon!
Labels: autumn, health, love, memories, mountain, park, tokyo
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Labels: health, memories, mountain, photo, tokyo, travel
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I caught the grandmother of all colds and have been coughing up a lung for the past 2 days.
I actually dragged myself to work on Saturday, but in between hacking and blowing my nose rather unattractively, I felt like a nasty bed of virus. I came home straight after work, deciding that it was too cold to be anywhere else.
I got worse after that, and before midnight I had completely lost my voice from the coughing. I had to call in sick the next morning (and again this morning), and it turns out I'm not-so-superhero girl.
I'm staying warm, drinking plenty of fluid, staying away from coffee, eating three square meals to keep my energy up, reading in bed and sleeping a lot.
The new year has just begun but I am consoling myself that this bout of sickness is to properly get rid of all the toxic (people included) in my system.
Say a little prayer for me.
"Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you
while you may be found;
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance. "
Labels: faith, health, life, tokyo, winter
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My left arm broke out into angry red splotches on Saturday and I completely freaked out. I was reminded of the time I got shingles from work-related stress, and how much it hurt and how long it took to heal. Shingles can cause blindness if it occurs on the face, I remember reading on a health website.
I guess P didn't realize the gravity of the situation when I told him I was unwell, and I found myself dragged along with the gang from one place to another in Shinjuku. I was tired, starving and scared.
After an hour and a half, we ended back in Baba and had to walk about 15 minutes to the tsukemen store, and I was sufficiently bitchy by the end of the ordeal.
I left the gang early and found myself sobbing pitifully as I walked home alone.
I set on the steps of the apartment, called Ahred and bawled my eyes out. All I needed was a familiar voice reassuring me that everything was going to be okay.
P came home soon after and helped me into the room. I pushed up my sleeves and showed him the rashes. He quickly typed in shingles on his Mac to look up the symptoms and concluded that I probaby had it again, which made me cry even harder.
"We'll go to the hospital now. I'll pay for the taxi!" he urged.
I just sat on the bed shaking my head and letting the tears flow. I thought of how my mum would constantly check in on me if I were at home, the comfort of my room in Singapore, the stream of text messages from concerned friends. Boohoohoo, allowing myself to wallow in self-pity that I was stranded in a foreign land, with no ability to express my condition in Japanese and no tender loving care from my loved ones.
It's not a particularly proud moment, if you ask me.
P tried to talk sense into me, but I refused to listen and laid in bed with the blanket over my face crying. Needless to say, he gave up after a while and headed to Denny's to study.
I managed to get some sleep but was awoken when he returned at 4 in the morning, and mightily pissed that he had not hung around to put up with me.
I decided to stay up till 6 and then went straight to work. Before I left, we had a big argument over my situation (mostly him begging me to see a doctor and me refusing) and I stormed out of the house. A dozen calls and half an hour of placating me on the phone as I journeyed to school, I calmed down eventually, along with the rashes.
Melissa met me at Baba after work to cheer me up, and we had dinner at the Nepali place and I showed her my favourite haunts in the area. We ended up buying canned beer from the conbini (convenience store) and heading back to the apartment to hang out.
When we got back, P had cleaned up the entire house and he also got me my favourite chocolate, three different varieties of bread and canned mocha for breakfast the next day.
I couldn't help but smile.
We share a bond
You and I we belong
We're like coffee and morning trains
You strip my defences
I catch your pretences
The same blood runs through our veins
Labels: confession, health, home, love, tokyo
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Last week I mustered enough courage to step on the weighing scale that Elton brought in, and to my delight I found that I have lost about 4-5 kg since I moved here 3 months ago. Without even trying. Subarashi ne!
The food here is definitely healthier and served in smaller portions, and oddly enough I don't miss anything back home, not even my staple kaya toast and acidic kopi gao.
Here I have tried Okinawan, African, Nepali, Peruvian and other exotic dishes that I don't get in Singapore and for some reason I eat everything spicy now- i.e. I add chili flakes, chili oil, tabasco and whatever I can find on all my food, which annoys P greatly because he thinks it's an insult to the work of the chef.
I make it a point not to stay home and nua when I am here, and on my days off I think of a station that I have never been to and I either explore the place on my own or meet with someone to hang out. I do so much walking it equates to a gym workout, especially in the crazy summer heat.
The only drawback is that I have renounced heels and wear only flats now.
When I am teaching I am mostly standing and writing on the board, walking around the room to keep my energy up. I don't feel hungry as much as I feel thirsty, and I bring my Tully's tumbler filled with warm water to every class.
My biggest vice now is biru. I never used to like it in Singapore, but I guess my tastebuds have changed. It is an irony that I had my first Tiger in a Vietnamese restaurant here, but I have decided that Asahi is my favourite.
Alcohol is so cheap here- a can of beer costs about 200 yen (SGD2.50) while a glass/pint would set you back about 450-650 yen (SGD5-8). It's a great way to unwind after a long day, either in the comfort of your own home or when you're out chillin' with friends.
I can't wait for when Jo and Joe comes here in September!
Labels: beer, food, health, life, tokyo
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Mad World by Gary Jules
My co-workers were also beginning to give me dirty looks each time I coughed and some blatantly tried to wave my germs away, most of them disbelieving that I could still turn up for work in the state that I was.
I won’t tell you how many times I was being begged to go home and rest.
So I did.
I got a call from the credit card company around noon- they had been trying to get me upgrade to a platinum card and had faxed me a pre-filled form, but I was so drugged out that I actually woke up and thought I was still in Hong Kong.
“Oh, but I am not in Singapore now…” I explained in all earnesty, much to her embarrassment.
“Oh! I’m so sorry… I will call you back again.”
It was only when I hung up and sat myself up that I realized that I was really in my room in Singapore, and Hong Kong was over and I was no longer in Edna’s room in Northpoint.
Sigh. He was right, Hong Kong was a dreamy state, but now it’s back to reality and I need to plant my feet on the ground and continue with what I had been doing before things happened.
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
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Needless to say, this Hong Kong trip was completely different from the last one. I got around on my own and experienced what life there is truly like- it's not all pretty.
I cried all the way in the cab from Edna's apartment in Northpoint to Central, and then in the express train to the airport. When I got on the plane, I threw my jacket over my face and sobbed for an hour.
Yes, something happened but we will work things out and I want to get well soon.
Labels: health, hong kong, love, memories, travel
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It's the same every year, my birthday presents come in late.
It's been a week since I turned 24 and still I am getting belated greetings, treats and gifts.
Tehani and Z came back from their trip home and I got bath goodies, Ceylon tea and the Sri Lanka love cake I have been craving for since I first tasted it a few months ago. Joy got me a belt from Bangkok. Joe and gang wants to bring me out (again) for my belated birthday dinner although I suspect it's just another reason for getting together. Even Pat, Phil and Eug got me something too, and I still have a mysterious package from Tokyo that I have yet to pick up from the post office.
I guess this makes up for the disappointment at home.
I've barely begun the new year and already I've succumbed to the flu virus going around. My nose is raw, my throat hurts, a gland is swollen and I've been coughing till my voice is losing but still I push myself to work so as not to start on the wrong footing. I try to cure myself with a little more sleep, Panadol flu tablets and Strepsil lozenges. Recovery is slow but definite.
I am getting back into the momentum of work again, which is good. For a while I was beginning to dislike it immensely, but praying in my moments of desperation saved me, as did confiding in close friends.
It also helps to have something to look forward to from this weekend onwards. All I want is to get better before this Saturday so that I can hang out with Jeff and the whole bunch of sales people flying in from Hong Kong and Tokyo on Saturday.
who have been called according to his purpose."
- Romans 8:28
Labels: birthday, friendship, health, work
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