This Christmas holiday is long

4 days in a row

Everyone's getting back to work tomorrow

Needless to say, so am I

Although I dont really have a schedule to follow

I must be disciplined enough to get slightly something working

hmmmm

Kinda sad to think about tomorrow when it's not yet tomorrow!

Another 3 more days

We're going overseas again

Haha

Haha? Dont laugh that soon

It's 2012 already!

What have you achieved?

OMG

i just went to seek treatment for my ankle

The pain comes & goes so frequently that I thought it was just minor

However, recently, the pain got more intense & unbearable that i couldnt walk long

so i'd decided to go for tuina

Tuina is a form of therapy performed by chinese physicians

Briefly, it is massage that target accupunture points

I'd also recently appreciated chinese medicine after i saw the improved health conditions during my post-surgery recovery

& i believe that TCM is more effective in curing an aligment from the 'roots' rather than from the surface

so now & then i'd rather seek treatment from TCM than western medicine

At the clinic

The chinese physician asked me to locate the points which hurt

however, as I'd mentioned that the pain comes & goes, i was unable to pinpoint that particular spot

so he started pressing my right foot & confirmed the injury spots according to the painful look of my face & my cries!!

yes i cried

the doctor teased that i was one of the gentle patients who didnt scream!

so after he'd located my injury points, he diagnosed it as an old injury of accumulated tension on the ankle ligament, which luckily, isnt a really bad injury

however he mentioned if i dont seek treatment, i wont be able to walk far & long when i reach 40+!!

As he spoke to me

i was there crying in pain

& i swore i really looked ugly

Dardar was beside me having his tuina on his tight, an injury that he's gotten from playing golf

His injury was fresh so he got cured almost instantly

& he was up to listen to the doc for me

seriously

it was too painful to pay attention to get myself distracted

After a half an hour session

I was 'released'

The doctor requires me to return for 5 more times to completely '斷根'

Because i wasnt paying attention

i asked the doctor this instead

"huh? so 斷根 already means cannot walk anymore?"

The doctor, the nurse & Dardar laughed out loud loud loud loud loud

now come to think about it

it was indeed funny

lololol!

My foot feels kinda swollen now

That's because of the tension released from the inserted pressure

& in chinese medicine terms, the more painful the treatment, the faster the wound heals

so

keeping my fingers crossed

hope my ankle heals

& to further enhance recovery

i have to avoid iced water, english tea, preserved veggies, glutinous rice,rtc

These food in TCM terms are 'cooling' food which actually in the first place arent suitable for me because i belong to the 'weak' health

oh well

this gives me extra reason to stay well & recover soon

ouch

Hmmm

I'm not so sure about my foot

It kinda hurts whenever the floor is cold & sky's pouring 

Signs of rheumatism?

NO WAY AT THIS AGE!

Damn gotta get this injury heal asap

***

I believe everyone's particularly in holiday mood

How I love Xmas

Although I have an important task to complete

I know I still needa take time to breathe

Anyhow

I'm just going to enjoy the coming 3 days over the weekend

& then full speed ahead for 2012

Everybody cheers!

Last Friday

I did a short jog

& then my right foot hurt again

 Old injury

Sigh

Cant I even exercise to lose some fats?

;(

This is really funny

While I thought this could clear the misunderstanding

It brought more misunderstanding

heh?

I guess I've been way too helpful

Sorry I'm stepping down my role as a good Samaritan

If I've been helping everyone, who's helping me?

Sometimes

It's good to know little

Just listen by ears

& not by heart

Please do not put me up on the table 

I prefer to stay low

Do you know that I have 3 other friends whom we called ourselves 'The Coyotes'?
Heehee
We named ourselves that after we watched the movie 'The Coyotes' somewhere in 2001
(Goodness, that was like 10 years ago?!)
& we've been celebrating one another's birthday after our graduation
What may amaze everyone is that
Our birthdays fall in March, June, September & December
Which means we got to meet one another 4 times a year

Since I'd just returned blogginer
& it happened in December
I'm gonna blogged about my birthday gathering!
;p

This time
We went to Grandma's at Paragon
It's a restaurant that sells local cuisine
& just by looking at the menu
Every dish looks appetising

We ordered the curry fish head, fried  tofu, beef rendang & HK kailan
The fish head curry is their signature dish but we all agreed that the beef rendang was the best

 

Camera. snap!

  

Christmas lightings are all up this month

The blue lights lit up the whole Orchard road like it's in Fantasyland

 

Trying very hard to capture ourselves with the beautiful Xmas tree in the background

Kinda hard to capture a more perfect photo using iphone without many attempts of exposure adjustment

 

Though it was a short meet-up

I love the girls so much

We watch one another grow up 

& share joy & sorrow which made our friendship even stronger

I love you girls

Friends forever

I really dont understand

If we can settle the issue ourselves
Why still involve you when all the while you're never available?

I just passed my birthday yesterday

Arent really proud of it coz now I'm officially 28

;(

old

Nonetheless 

I tried to enjoy my day by going out for a movie

& had pizza with the family

As simple as that

Never had I gone out to celebrate like wild monkeys getting drunk on the streets

But I think what I had is enough ;)

So having my soul & mind freed for1 day

Here's back to reality

I am getting really sick of my work

Probably coz of the way that I'm treated 

Making me feel like the dumbest dumb-ass despite the effort I'd put in

The series of !!!!!!!! exaggerated the severity of the situation

Bringing the tension from level 0.1 to level 10

Not exactly how this is helping to improve anything when the moral has already been hit down

way HELL down

I see things very open

But sometimes it's too much for me to take

Or should I just say

I have had enough?

Everyone has a limit

I think my tolerance limit has been reached

& stretched

I'd reluctantly let this to affect me as a person nor in my mind

But this came on & on like crashing waves

This is not really something to be proud of if you can take things like this

I used to be able to & now, I want to surrender

Because my life is not about you & yours

Thus

From now onwards

I will fight for myself (which I have always been, or fight harder)

& be myself

The passion in me is still alive

& I must not give up my favourite past times just because of this shit

For this

I promise I will go diving 6 times next year!

Provided I'm physically fit to do so

What a wonderful post-birth day having to pour all sour words early in the morning

It's another disappointment

In a scientist's point of view

If you follow the protocol accurately at the correct timing, correct amount of ingredient, correct procedures

you should harvest a positive result with no doubt

However

No matter how I try

It doesnt work

Can I say that it's nature?

& is it possible to defy nature?

Just got back from watching The PhD movie

Thanks J for registering for me

The story was short but beautifully illustrated in 5 chapters

& what was shown reflects exactly on us, students

like how the Prof being forgetful about names

how the Prof declared good news - next conference is at Hawaii

followed by bad news - the abstract deadline is tonight & only 1 person is to do it

how Prof disregard the students issue as his problem

etc etc

These are all so happening right in your face!!

Although it was short

the story managed to get this point straight across

Research is not about work; but is about finding your true self

Cant agree more

Go & do the things you still want to do

Have your own life still

You'll achieve it

Yesterday 

S & I went for a spa session

She wanted to do a therapeutic spa & I happened to have a promotional offer

So we went together to try it out

It was at Spa Symphony located at 313@Somerset

This was my first time to visit a spa salon in Singapore

The staff were friendly

& soon after we filled up our particulars

We were served to our therapists

who then brought us to our individual spa room

I was served by a lady named Karen

& she was very nice

She told how to get properly dressed for the massage

& also lit up the scented candles for aromatherapy

She told me to close my eyes

Inhale deeply & exhale slowly

Clapped the something-that-looks-like-cymbal-but produces-ting-sound three times above my forehead

Played Balinese cultural music followed by forest music & other relaxation music

Her method of bringing me into trance worked very efficiently

I started to feel myself at Bali!

She was also very experienced

She told me that I have a habit of sleeping on my left side

& that was true!

She said she felt this coagulated lymph node on my left shoulder

My stiff neck was also associated with my bad sleeping habit

She then recommended me to sleep on my back to release the neck tension

After the shoulder & the neck

She moved on to the limbs & back

I felt asleep for the 1st time during massage

I always stayed fully awake during other massages, esp. in Thailand

Because I'd heard stories about how the therapists broke the clients' back during the body twist

Yikes

But this time at Spa Symphony

I totally gave my trust to Karen

After an hour

I reluctantly moved myself up from the bench

It was so ...wow!

I felt afresh!

& of course

For every first time customer

The staff will do their usual thing which is to sell the package

Both S & I were very satisfied with our massages that we bought the package

This is also the first time I bought spa package in Singapore

I wouldnt doubt its service for Spa Symphony

It is really wonderful

But as a student

I know I could only enjoy it for as much as I could afford

The benefits of the package is that

It is selling at 50% off during this festive season + opening ceremony

& the package doesnt have expiry (which means you can use for as long as the company is still running)

Plus, they have qualified & certified  pre- & post-natal therapists

So why not decide for the future & take it now?

I'd seen pre- & post-natal massage packages selling at $700+ for 5 sessions

Now, this only cost me $700+ for 10 sessions

Well of course, the massage package needs not be a certain massage but can be a mixture of massages available for you to choose from

I'd said,

This is a good deal

& I do not mind paying that affordable amount to receive this good quality service

Thank you

S & I enjoyed it ;)

Yesterday night

My fellow colleagues celebrated K's & my birthday together at Level 33

It is called LeVeL 33, located at level 33 in Marina Bay Financial Centre

It was very crowded when we got in

We almost couldnt get a reservation

But luckily we managed to get one just before our scheduled meeting time

The place is famous for its very own crafted beer

Thus, needless to say, it's full of white-collars who dropped by for alcohols after work

We had our orders soon after we had our first round of catching-up chats

It is a fine-dining restuarant

& portion is just perfect for 1 person

But we shared among one another to taste the different dishes

Here're just some photos I'd taken with hype

I was already too hungry to even take my camera to snap at every dish

Dutch Veal

 

Seafood Medley

 

Cocoa

 

The food was not bad

Except for the seafood medley which came as such without expectations

We thought it'd be like fish & chips

But turned out to be Scandinavian finger foods, best consumed with beer

Only gotta blame ourselves for not reading the menu properly

& that also blamed the hunger pangs

What was fulfiling at the end of the night is this spectacular view overlooking the highly developed Singapore River

Marina Bay Sands was having a laser & fountain show at that point of time (~ 2133hrs)

 

It was a really wonderful experience to be up here at LeVeL 33

Plus the wonderful company who made my 2011 birthday (though 2 weeks earlier) an unforgettable memory

Thank you my friends

It's a fortune to know you guys <3