Resting the wrist....

Due to my haphazard sleeping patterns, I think I have sprained my wrist. I think it took place slowly over an extended period of time. The bones in the wrist have been making the weirdest 'clicking' sounds.

However, it has progressed into feeling something move and 'pop' if I rotate the wrist slowly. That's the left wrist, by the way. The right has remained at the 'clicking' stage of which I am thankful for. I don't quite know how to explain it. It's like it cannot rotate in a full complete circle (like my ankles due to the twisting over the years), as if the little bones are misaligned or something.

It doesn't hurt but it does feel sort of weird. I have taken to wearing a wrist support at night when I sleep and I do try to keep it on throughout the day. I'm not sure if it is going to work. Cousin-uncle was saying that it might be the keyboard. *shrugs...

Anyway, I've just put on fake nails. It's freaking hard to type in them. I don't know how people with long nails function. I'm supposed to keep them on for not more than 10 days but maybe I will remove them tomorrow. They are just so difficult to work with. I'm typing with them now and the tip of those nails just keep slipping off the keys. I can't type with flat fingers either because the nails are too long and I can't 'run' fast.

Methinks I'm going to take a hiatus from blogging. This is after all the only period where I can afford to have long impractical nails....

On the birthday...

To celebrate my birthday, the family went out to eat. It was a riot. First of all, the brother was overly eager to lay his hands on the steering wheel.

Chups: Are you driving later?
Bro: Yes
Chups: Do you know how to get there?
Bro: Yah
Chups: So where am I going?
Bro: .................

I wanted to go Bugis and introduce them to the 麻辣火锅. The brother drove us to....erm.. I don't know where..Moulmein?!! We had to figure a way back to Bugis. I found what happened next extremely amusing.

So we were cruising along and while stopping at a T-junction, we noticed a traffic police tagging after a car. Whoa..must be someone important...

The brother, being a goon, went into the same lane behind the conspicuous white van that served as an escort. It was a red light. From a distance, light batons popped out from either side, waving. That meant that we were not allowed to stop behind the van. It took some time for the brother to register. By then, the car had already rolled to a stop behind the white van. Albeit some distance away but still behind.

The light batons continued to wave. There was much excitement in our car as to why there were light batons, who were in the van, how come we were not allowed to stop behind even though there was a significant distance between our car and the van..yadah yadah...

The brother changed to the left lane. We rolled to a stop beside the van. Immediately, windows popped open and someone placed the blue blinking lamp on top of the van. Heads popped out to stare at us ......and our entire family stared back.

PAUSE.............................................................

Then the commotion started again....how come we were not allowed to stop behind the van, why were they staring at us...who were they escorting, how come they placed the blue lamp on top of the van. Most of the question came from the mother. (-_-") In my own black humour, I explained that they thought that we might be terrorists who may open a machine gun from behind them and they wouldn't be able to see.

The lights turned green. We moved off. I caught sight of the important person in the car that they were escorting. No wonder......

Reading a newspaper, he was oblivious to the curious gazes of the family.

The mother started getting ideas in her head, questions like police knocking on our door in the middle of the night like the Red Army decades ago in China... (-_-") I told her....we have a 'P'-plate. It classifies us under 'Dumbos-who-don't-know-any-better'. Anyway the car wasn't even ours.

But I think it was freaking hilarious. The escorts probably thought it was serious business. They stared at us and what did we do? Our entire family turned our heads to look at them in puzzlement. The mother wondered what would happen if we refused to give way or didn't do what they ask.

Erm..........find ourselves stopped in the middle of the road and have a search conducted on us?

The scene of the escorts in the white van scrutinising us while our entire family turned right to look at them as the car slowly rolled to a stop is hilarious. I'm afraid it will be stuck in my head for quite some time and be re-played in slow-motion.

Thanks for all the well-wishes. =)

Status: amused

On not being able to sleep when I should be.

I'm starting to think that I don't know myself very well.

After wine yesterday, I woke up before 6 a.m. I did a quick calculation and realised I had a conservative estimation of 4 hours of sleep.

I think I woke because my mouth felt parched. Believe it or not, random thoughts started swirling in and crazily enough, I lay in bed thinking that I should do my theory homework. It was a crazy thought because I knew that today would be a long day. Not as long as a typical teaching day per se but yeah..activity-filled and I thought that I shouldn't be up so early if I could help it.

It was impossible to go back to sleep. I have no idea why.

In the end I woke up and padded across the room, wondering what I should do with myself. Checked the time, it was 6 a.m.

Obviously doing theory homework at 6 a.m on a Saturday morning, after wine last night with only 4 hours of sleep isn't a good idea. I would be the first to call myself insane.

I'm not really sure that I understand how I work anymore.

That is the reason why I am sitting in front of a darkened room writing. Puzzled. While I try to figure out what to do.

Event at The Substation: 2nd June 2008

Buggy works in The Substation

BUGS <---> SUBSTATIONS

hmm....how..erm..apt..LOL

Anyway there is an event (HIS event, or so he says)...He was reluctant to outsource his coffee break to me despite my reassurance that there is minimal charge when it comes to him. Rather than letting me help him take his coffee break, I can do better by going down for a screening of short films and I should 'bring [my] students or homies' (whatever that means)

First Take

Date: 2nd June (Monday)
Time: 8 pm
Venue: The Substation (opposite SMU at 45 Armenian Street)

Admission: FREE

Details:

1. 20th Anniversary: Pak and Son Travels / 20 min (PG)
2. 2 Minutes Away from Launch / 3 min (G)
3. Di Manakan Ku Cari Ganti (Where can I Find a Replacement) / 16 mins (PG)
   

Anybody interested? I told Buggy I will go if I can find company...

Wherein I dreamt of Jac getting married.

It was a pleasant surprise to get Jac's call yesterday. The reason being that I dreamt about her the night before.

I dreamt that I was at her wedding and I saw her sideview from far. Someone, probably her hairdresser was attaching her veil for her while she faced the mirror. I spoke to her mother, commenting on how sudden it was. The mother agreed that it was very sudden, telling me that she just came back from Auzzie and told them that she was getting married.

I remembered wearing a blue dress. I saw the groom from far too. In fact all I saw was his back.

When she called me, I thought how coincidental it was and I was all excited to tell her about my dream. Jac started to question me about the groom...

"Er... I think he was average, with an Armani sort of haircut..short hair..I think he seems to be in either banking or finance."

"You don't know my groom?!!!"

"Ya...EH..I only saw him from afar... WAIT... how come you got married so suddenly and I don't know anything about it?!!!"

"And you are not the bridesmaid?!!"

"Ya..EH... How come I am at your wedding and I AM NOT EVEN THE BRIDESMAID?!!!"

Then I started to get miffed.

"You didn't even have time to talk to me.. you were ignoring me at YOUR wedding.."

It was quite ridiculous, given that I talked to her mother, I remembered that the wedding took place in a morning and she was dressed in a room with French floor-to-ceiling windows. But I didn't know anything about it, I didn't talk to her, I didn't know the groom AT ALL. I mean.. I didn't even know she was getting married till I was summon to make an appearance at her wedding.

And then I was sent to go make sure I see the groom, if I dream about her again. And if I should so happen to dream about her next stage in life, I have to make sure I see her kids clearly too.

(-_-")

All these work....ignored at her wedding and I am not even the bridesmaid.....

Sibu - Day 1

Rimba resort sent a mini van to pick us up at Newton. The family arrived just in time to pass my my trusty 'ole spectacles which I've forgotten to bring. I actually brought the spectacle case without the spectacles.

The ride was a little uncomfortable because there was little leg room and I felt closed in. Taking the window seat wasn't the best for me because it was dark and with the air-con not working efficiently, it was claustrophobic for me. I got around the problem by falling asleep. As I packed minimally, the clothes could all fit into a A4 plastic document bag and I used it as a pillow.

It was a tedious journey because there were jams everywhere. I felt the van speed at times and in truth, it was what that woke me up intermittently. I just felt unsafe...before drifting back into slumber again.

YJ shared his theory (gotten from his friend)non queues at the checkpoints which I am not going to share here in case the whole world gets to know about it somehow and it doesn't work anymore. Suffice to say that we put his theory to the test and at the Malaysian side, we did end up in a shorter queue.

I slept most of the way and woke up when we reached the jetty.

The midnight boat ride was exhilarating.

The entire landscape was in shades of grey, with the night a darker grey than the sea. The boat went fast in rather choppy waters and we flounced around. I gripped the edge of the boat with my left hand and felt the warm water caressing it. The boat was going so fast that it sent up more than just a spray of the sea. The moon was so bright, the sprays of water, the ripples near the boat and in its wake glittered in the darkness. It was hypnotic. It felt as though I was just in a little enclosed area, of a pool of water. The horizon felt so near and I had this almost irrepressible urge to reach out and touch it. It was like a call in the darkness and I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't a trip down the water channels of a theme park but rather I was in open sea, but a bit in the wilderness.

As we got there so late, it was low tide and we had to trek through rocky terrain in the dark. Granted that there were light and torches along the way, it was not strong enough to dispel all shadows. We had to walk with a firm footing and I still think that running around like a 'sam-seng' girl in flip-flops when I was young has been an advantage because flip-flops was the only footwear I had and throughout the entire stay on the island, I navigated everywhere in them.

For me, I guess the trick is to not put all my weight on the foot when I step down. Rather I tread before gradually increasing my weight on that foot. It's like normal walking except that the processing speed is a bit faster and you decide almost straight away how to curl your feet in or to mould the foot to the rock shape for additional grip. Flip-flops in fact may be better than hard soles when navigating rocky terrain as I can feel the terrain.

Anyway it was with much relief when we reach the place. It wasn't too far off. It's just that walking in the darkness made it hard. We were promptly served with sandwiches, even though it was 1 a.m. in the morning. And oh my, they were delicious. 3 slices of bread with thick filling and mayonnaise in between. Unfortunately, not being a bread person, my limit has always been 2 slices. Thus I was only able to finish half of the sandwiches.

When we were ready, we were shown to our rooms, or rather our huts. We had mosquito nets around our bed. I shared the room with Nana. It was an open-hut concept. The door was merely a sheet of plastic and our bathroom, though attached, had also a plastic sheet for a door. The entire place was made out of wood and as far as I could see, other than the toilet bowl and sink, as well as the bathroom floor.

This is YJ's and JH's room.

All the huts face the sea and the chairs are made out of solid wood. Even the clothes rack and shelves were made out of bamboo.

Well, the downside was that the place being quite close to nature and all, I found a huge insect on the plastic sheet of the door to my hut after coming back from YJ's and JH's hut. Nana and I stared at it for a long moment before she decided that it may just disappear in the morning and did a quick careful pop into the hut. Not so optimistic, I had to go scream for YJ to remove it.

YJ removed the brown large exoskeletal weird thing with his hands, of which I am freaking impressed of. It was about the size of a cockroach. If I were with Gan, she would just tell me to ignore it or at most she will remove the thing with a stick or a leaf, that is after she takes zillion of pictures, a video and declaring countless times how cute the weird monster is. She may not remove it with her bare hands.......if it is weird enough because she will think that it may be poisonous....and will just keep reiterating in her no-nonsense tone for me to leave it alone even though it is possible that she may be scared of it too. *SNIFFS...lolz..

If she actually removes it, it will be due to my incessant whining. If it is a good day when her tolerance level is like freaking high, I will have to be stuck with fighting the mental image of weird insects attaching to my face and trying to bore a hole through with acidic chomps....

I blame it on watching too many "The Mummy" and its sequels with their scarab beetles.

YJ and Gan are quite alike in many ways..does long treks, loves nature...hmm so who is better to have on nature trips?......Gan is lovely but YJ removes stuff with bare hands with no questions asked !!! Haha....ok..rather I don't have to whine too hard and not know for sure if it is going to disappear.

Gan.. will you have removed that horrid weird thing? Does YJ have more guts than you?!!!

(A challenge in the event that I find myself in a similar situation, with her..=P)

I mean it is not like it is on the verandah or something, it is on the plastic sheet that has to be flipped open when we enter. What if the thing flies to my face or something....*shudders

However I must say that I am definitely not the type of girl to fall in a swoon whenever I see an insect. I am fine with them...(even if they are weird) as long as they know their place and maintain a respectable distance and not try to be funny. If it was on the wall beside the plastic sheet, resting there quietly, it would be ok...just not on the plastic flap of my door. Our hut attracted various sort of insects, like mozzies (plenty) and even moths and dragonflies...oh as well as lizards (plenty) and we all cohabit fine and well together.

Anyway our place had no hot water. The drainage isn't fantastic but it works. I think YJ and JH had no problem with theirs' at all. The water comes from the ground. It is potable and tastes sweet.

As there was no hot water available at 2 a.m. in the morning and Nana didn't mind sharing the bed with stinky me, I didn't bathe (I didn't perspire that much anyway)...Nana bathed and yup.. then we slumbered....

Back from Sibu

I'm back from my trip.

However I cannot type really well now because I have 2 cuts on two of my fingertips and at least one small gouge on my left thumb.

I also have 3 cuts on the sole of my feet and a bit of scratches on one of my outer left ankle and one stinging one on the inner right ankle.

Still I must admit I fared the best out of the group.

It has been a rather eventful trip, I must say, with huge waves, perverted lizards..being stranded on hot sharp stones which burn, cut and slices, along with stuff like being surrounded by menacing jellyfishes....from all around.

I STILL SHUDDER AT THE THOUGHT.

Details later...People who play the piano know how tender the fingers can get (as opposed to playing the erhu or the guitar)

My poor fingers. *SOBS