I'm not 29..

I was toying with my phone today on the train when this boy about 20 drifted to my side and spoke to me.

mf: Yes? *removed iPod earpiece*
Boy: 你是大学生吗？
mf: 不是.. *bewildered*
Boy: 你像是..
mf: Huh? 我其实蛮老了.. *turned back to Pinky*

Boy: 你有"you xiang"吗？
mf: 油香？*htf would I have that on me?!*
Boy: *buried his face for a second* 电子邮箱..
mf: Oh, 没有.. *back to Pinky*

Then I arrived at my destination. And smiled as I went up the escalator - I looked like an undergrad, i.e. early 20s! That's almost 10 years younger! :p

So I told Sito, and he agreed it was possible! Maybe it was my ostrich-like skirt today?

Anyway, so I went to Jap class, and Geraldine said that undergrads could have gone through eight years of primary school, five years of secondary school, ITE, poly, JC, then university..! *sulk*

And just now, I was taking a Facebook quiz - it said my age was 31-40.. But I'm only 29! =(

These episodes on age today brought to mind two things:

1)
Well, I was just thinking about age and ageing the other day. Since I started work, I was the 妹妹 of the office, being a fresh grad. And I have been working among people older than me. I can't help feeling like 23, which was when I first started work. But I think I only feel 23 when I'm at work, cos there's so much to learn. And of course, I don't grab my sagging butt in the office!

Outside of work, I am aware of noticeable physical, mental and emotional changes:

a) Physical - I used to get colds and/or coughs. Now I get the flu, i.e. ache and all. Wrinkles. And sagging bits.

b) Emotional - I feel I'm at a different emotional plane from six years ago. Guess it's after meeting many more people, different people, learning from their actions and reactions. We are a complex being..

c) Mental - Certainly don't feel any smarter. If anything, I have dead brain cells blocking some essential synapses! But there are some developments, mostly at work and on dealing with people.

Sometimes, I would suddenly realise my age and get a shock. Wasn't I just 17 yesterday and singing on stage? Or the like..

Yet at the same time, I don't resist the idea of ageing. There are so many things to look forward to and if I don't age, I won't get there!

2)
I was also thinking about making friends the other day. I think I don't want to make too many new friends from now. Keeping in touch online is one thing but meeting up is another altogether. I hardly have enough time to meet my existing friends who are more important than more (new) friends! And I feel that new friendships can be only skin deep if I cannot make the time to be with them.

Did I just stick a huge ANTI-SOCIAL label on my forehead? 朋友不在多寡，而是实不实在。

So today, I found it very interesting that this boy approached me like that. Perhaps as a foreign student - he sounded like one - he was just trying to make friends. I guess I'm past the age of making friends from random encounters.

And if he was trying to pick me up, thinking I was in his age bracket, well, Boy, Madam is taken! :p Oh, but if more were like him, we could have lower singlehood rates, higher marriage rates and a higher total fertility rate? *excited* Ok, job hazard *.*

=== end of the two things ===

Now I shall focus on my vanity - after all, I look like I'm in my early 20s :)

Update 9 Apr 2009
At dinner with colleagues just now, Mrs PS said I looked younger than 29!

Yes, mf is floating into the clouds now :))

Sleepy..

On MC today. Cough syrup is making me sleepy.. Or maybe it's the heat?

In my state of semi-consicousness, I have been trying to do work that activates no more than 1/10 of my brain.

In my state of dreaminess, I tried to take a tablet for my itchy throat after lunch.

Then I woke up..

"Take 0.5 tab two times a day"

That's new! Being a good girl, I tried to cut the tiny tablet - with my fingernail :p

No go after a few tries =(

I figured this mass of mine wouldn't crumble so I gave up and popped the entire thing into mouth..

Sleepy once more..

I squeezed my left butt cheek..

And it felt different from a few years ago...

miso: It's age..
mf: And gravity!

:p

Buzzing bee

I was very efficient today.

Was in SMU for a course on economics - why didn't I do it in school?!

Anyway, during lunch, I:

1) Collected my JLPT certificate - I passed at 316!!! :)
2) Deposited a cheque - some Medisave refund for my ENT treatment
3) Printed a photo for Hayashi Sensei who would be leaving Singapore this month
4) Checked out two tailors

And all these in one hour! I was so proud of myself that I had Macs for lunch :p

After the course, I checked out a few more studios and finally found one that had some idea of the dance dress I wanted! Not cheap though... Found some online but I'm not confident of buying things I can't try..

Anyway, my efficiency didn't stop there. I went back to Tomato Town and grabbed some quick dinner, bought movie tickets, checked out accessories and dashed home. Comfortably showered and seated by 9 pm :)

Just started this post when I got a call on work - spent an hour of my precious evening on work when I had wanted to organise a lot of things and ideas! But even within that hour, I finished quite a bit of work! Quite proud of myself again :) But no more Macs! For the month!

Seeing the Merlion in a different light

I'm not refering to the lightning-on-Merlion incident today. That, was an unfortunate coincidence..

Now, I've always thought the Merlion fierce and solemn etc. Unsmiling lion face sprouting water through its big white teeth.

Then yesterday, a visit to the Singapore Discovery Centre (side: I discovered Joo Koon MRT station on the way there) changed my view of the Merlion. Forever..



SO FUNNY, RIGHT?! :p

We walked into the theatre and the first thing I noticed was his eyes! A little scary at first but he was actually adorable in the clip! While waiting for the clip to start, I couldn't help staring at him and mirroring his deranged look - then bursting into laughter!

Eh, this Merlion can rap and sing ok.. And he had other expressions that threw me into fits! Suddenly, I found myself liking him :)

So, um, get well soon!

The history of my nose

It was developed between my 11th and 15th weeks in Mother's womb.

:p

It was when I was 11, I think, that I first realised I had a nose problem. My form teacher walked by my desk where a pile of used tissue paper was, and touched it! I was so shocked cos, I mean, that was pretty disgusting right? "Wet, as usual," he said.

I used cortisteroids to control the allergy at three points in life, the last time being 2005, before I was asked if I wanted to take part in a clinical trial on immunotherapy in 2006. The trial finished in one year. Some months later, I learnt that I was in the placebo group - crap!

Since late 2005, I have been developing bad colds during flights longer than three hours. And lately, when I was cleaning my room before Chinese New Year, I developed a bad cold that aggravated my allergy in the past weeks.

This nose problem absolute sucks! I kept having to sneeze (mine's the loud type) and honk - so unglam! Not to mention that lip balm gets wiped off frequently and no make-up ever stays on the whole day. My eyes tear easily so eye make-up is also difficult. When it gets bad, I can hardly concentrate on work. And I get colds too easily.

=(

SP recommended an ENT specialist Dr G Chee who helped her so I went today.

I pretty much knew what I wanted to do before I went so I had questions that needed answers. The consultation was thorough and also allowed me to ask everything. A prelim look into my nostrils resulted in a "my my!" that was followed by an anaesthetic.. Went out to do a skin prick test - this one included food. While waiting for the swelling, I made my decision.

Went back in for the dreaded scope, which couldn't go into my left nostril! He looked at the other one first before pushing the scope through the left one. I felt like my nose was raped *.*

When he was done, he replayed to show me my nostrils. They looked worse than the blocked nose in the pamphlet, especially the left one =( Had the chance to look at my vocal chords too - quite cute :p

We talked about the options after that. I decided that immunotherapy was out for me. It was expensive and too long-drawn and what if I were in the 20% non-responsive group?! I opted for cortisteroids of course but I also wanted the radiofrequency turbinate reduction to shrink those bits of flesh depriving me of air through both nostrils.

Was a little surprised when told that I could do that right away! I had two pieces of fabric soaked in some splution stuffed up my nose, and spent a most tak-glam 15 minutes outside. Sneezed some 10 times and part of the fabric started to hang out of my nostrils..!

Went in to take the fabric out. Had a pricklish but painless injection before Dr started the procedure. It hurt a little on the right but it was over in minutes. After he sucked out the mucous, I could actually breathe through both my nostrils!

There was some blood so I had some fabric up my nose again. Another 10 tak-glam minutes outside. Paid $1,500 for consultation, the procedure and cortisteroids before I went in to take the fabric out. It felt good! But the insides had had enough of intrusion so I was honking reddish-pinkish-orangish mucous the entire afternoon.

Now, I enjoy the wondrous feeling of a large volume of air flowing through my left nostril. The right is still blocked but it is supposed to clear after the dead tissue sheds off.

I can't wait for my follow-up next week!

At peace

Was lying on my duvet with eye patches under my eyes, listening to my latest acquisition - Atari Kousuke's 花間道 CD.

His soft voice floated in the air. There was a slight breeze (from my fan). My duvet felt good against my bare legs. My left arm was around Eeyore and my right under my head. My eyes were closed. And I felt at peace.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a pink haven I created for myself. I thought, "This is beautiful. This is the beauty of my solitude."

Watched a Jap drama a couple of weeks ago - Hotaru no Hikari. Hotaru liked to laze around the house, lying and rolling on the floor, which was a mess. That gave her energy to give her best in the world outside her cozy home, she said.

Mine is the less messy version, I guess :)

Anyway, I lost my keys yesterday. Or so I thought. When I lost my lipstick today, I started to suspect that my bag was a thieving wolf in a sheep's skin.

Found a hole in the inner compartment *.*

But I retrieved more than my keys and lipstick from the space between the lining and the synthetic exterior - I also found my lipgloss which I thought was lost a couple of months ago!

Still like that $12 bag :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

*burp*

Having beer =p

Took half-day leave yesterday to make chocolate truffles (lucky chap!) but they turned out too soft (oops)

Just found out that somehow I had mis-read six to eight hours in the fridge as one hour....!

Had some leftover ganache from yesterday so I tried to make truffles again just now and yes, they were finally of the right consistency! Oh well, next time..

Anyway, an update on my fringe - it received both good and bad reviews. Sito didn't like it much and was still not used to it. Cousins said nice but it was getting too long. TO said nice too; she has a fringe too - and her husband didn't like it too! YX said "what happened to your hair?!!!!" (yes, there were that many exclamation marks!)

To me, well, I like it - it's such a different me! The last time I had short fringe was 1998, and my hair was not rebonded then so the fringe kind of flicked upwards as it had been growing backwards for the longest time. It was, in short, a disaster! I love rebonding :p

But, my fringe is starting to get irritating - I never knew hair could grow this fast! Need to find a way to clip it nicely soon...

Brand new mf! (again!)

Ta-da!



While my butt was being flattened in the five hours in the salon chair, while I was drowsy with sleep as I watched them straighten my hair, I suddenly caught sight of my tee:



I was walking around looking like Emily the Strange wearing Emily the Strange. Except that I wasn't Emily, just the Strange :p

But I really look very different now, right? Compare to me with my fringer swept back when it was long:



Happy with the haircut - happier than when I chopped off eight inches in July. What do you think? :)

Happy 牛 year!

This Ox year offers opportunities for people to play with words :) I like the banner "牛"转乾坤 seen in Chinatown, which seems rather "ox"picious in this economic climate..

Met CY for lunch on CNY eve. Girly session with lunch and lastminute shopping. Didn't have a lot for dinner though I had quite a bit of snacks that night :p Maybe that was why I slept very late - this must be my latest CNY eve in years!

So yesterday, we gathered in the little flat for steamboat lunch again. Grams and Aunt were busy as usual, soup and meat and fish and more soup and vegetables and prawns.

What was different this year was that we had two new babies!

First was nine-month-old Jovi, who was all smiley - until someone got too close. She was scared! She didn't wail but she cried through pursed lips. So poor thing...

Next was three-month-old Rianne, who was all smiley and let everyone carry her. But I was scared - cos she grabbed my hair =( So poor thing - me..!

Went to watch Inkheart with Sito in the late afternoon - and missed the call from Yan!! Yan, happy CNY!

And today, CY and I visited each other in the morning before KLunch with JT. Our last three songs were Endless Story, 想念你的歌 and If I'm Not In Love With You - yup, same tune :p

For some reason, we were rather tired and sleepy at the end of it.. I was planning to take a nap at home but some relatives were around and they were really loud even with my door closed... So I went on a journey to the west :p

I'm very sleepy now. Maybe I should sleep by 11 pm tonight. After all, 明天要开工了!!

Soaking it in

We started early today yesterday. With java chip frap from Starbucks :p

Settled some admin stuff before heading for a yummy lunch at Min Jiang. But I was such a pig that I got hungry halfway through dance lesson... We shared some bak kut teh nearby - happy cos I hadn't had that for ages! Since Constance and I watched Eternal Sunshine on a Spotless Mind in Balestier n years ago..

Hopped on bus to Chinatown - realised that all these years, we had not taken a bus from that bus stop right outside the dance school! Usually we walked or took the NEL to Chinatown..

Walked the area for a while - must soak in the atmosphere else CNY seems to feel less festive with (gasp!) age..

There were a lot of people and a lot of CNY goodies! I bought some :)) The Lim Chee Guan bak kwa queue was terrible but by the time we finished foot reflexology, it was gone.. Then we realised that the big pieces were gone, just the broken pieces left. No difference to us for personal consumption! We left happily with bak kwa :)

The foot reflexology place was still as good as ever. Two girls attended to us - they were good! And quite funny too.. During the round-up back massage:

mf; Itchy!
Girl: Then get him (gesturing to Sito) to do for you...!

The crowd in Chinatown started to gather en masse and we escaped to..Vivo :p

There was this new National Geographic place. They got some cool stuff, like a lighted globe, fake dissected frog.. Ok, nerdy.. .. It would be fun spotting countries but I'm not sure about the frog..

Had Shin Kushiya for dinner. The tofu steak was so good! And I developed a craving for sushi after seeing the chef make lots of them as we were seated at the counter.. When we finished, YY walked in! So qiao :)

Loitered a little in Page One, looking at magazines and stuff, debating the merits of a shower curtain vs. a dividing door, trying to find the name of the lead character in 笑傲江湖 (but we never even found the book! It was 令狐沖 in any case..), drooling over Japanese recipes (ok, that was just mf)

And I was telling Sito that each of the first characters of Louis Cha's novels could be put together into a poem. Here goes:
飞雪连天射白鹿
笑书神侠倚碧鸳

Roughly: (from wiki)
Shooting a white deer, snow flutters around the skies;
Smiling, [one] writes about the divine chivalrous one, leaning against bluish lovebirds (or lover)

I used to read his novels during GP lessons :p

And in Oxford, I finished reading Dreams of the Red Chamber and drew up a family tree.. That was quite amazing but..where is that family tree now?!

Anyway, I have digressed from talking about CNY..

This year, with the Budget cycle being brought forward to January/February, I actually have work at the back of my mind. When we get back on Wednesday, it's full swing preparation for the debate! But until then, I have decided that Blacky dopod will not follow me to 拜年 =D

Have a good one!

A nostalgic moment realised once more

Was reminiscing with Yan just now, how we would play in kindergarten, come home, pick up the phone and carry on!

mf: It seemed only yesterday when we were singing with each other on the phone..
Yan: And describing our ideal houses!

And last night, 24 years later, I was on the phone once more on the topic of how our ideal house would be like. Nice :)

mf is 29!

This year will mark yet another milestone in my life. There will be a number of happenings, in life, in work, in personal growth. And I'm excited! :)



Sito, thanks for being with me :)