Sunday, July 29, 2007

I make it my business to blacklist and pronounce my immense dissatisfaction at any commercial enterprises which provide flawed, substandard service that they ought to really be ashamed of themselves. (Everyone already knows my unfortunate relationship with cafe cartel.) I know I risk sounding like a difficult, demanding customer with excessive expectations and unwarranted annoyance but seriously, these people should sober up and clean up their act.

Skipped into the swiss bake outlet at taka on Friday to make a cake order, requesting it to be picked up at the united square outlet. After I was assured that it was possible to do so, I paid in full and left. Less than half an hour later, swiss bake taka called to inform me that I wouldn’t be able to collect it at my desired location because it was allegedly not opened for business on Sunday. Feeling incredulous at this prospect, I questioned her on this impossibility. She then changed her stance and explained that my united square outlet did not carry my choice of cake. Which is again, a ludicrously bizarre sounding reason because everyone knows that cakes can be delivered or that would defeat the purpose of placing orders wouldn't it. Feeling insulted by her defiance of logic and disregard for logistics, I told her in a tone more subdued than I would've preferred, that I was only able to collect the cake at united square (which is the truth of course) and if that were not possible on the outset, I would not have made an order with them at all, because location was an important factor to me. To complicate matters, the girl conveying the message sounded Filipino and had some difficulties comprehending me and relaying my message to her supervisor, whom I assume was just positioned beside her because I could hear her supervisor barking instructions for her to fulfill my responses. Now why couldn’t the supervisor have spoken to me instead of wedging a poor helpless third party between us, impeding the resolution process. Finally, they must have made a few calls and subsequently allowed me to persist with my original collection plans.

Sunday. Keeping in mind that I had indicated 11am as an approximate collection time, I called the store to postpone it because of the impending downpour. The attendant advised me to collect it before noon because they were a standalone counter in cold storage (as opposed to a cake shop) and the staff leaves after baking their loaves. Again, the people at taka should have alerted me to this before I made my purchase but there was no point crying over spilt milk. Without access to the car, I tore down to united square, praying that the clouds would hold its weight until I got home. It poured as soon as I alighted at the bus stop. With no brolly (I know, my fault entirely) and no shelter to the building across the road, I remained stranded at the bus stop. Half an hour later, with hopes for a drizzle diminishing, I hailed for a cab to take me across the road, intending for the same cab to send me home later.

During collection, I asked for candles but she revealed apologetically that they only had one. ONE MISERABLE CANDLE. My sisters are fifteen!! Even if they were 99 I would have asked for the full set of 18 candles, you do the math, and Im quite sure of my entitlement to those candles. I had latent annoyance brewing but for the sake of the waiting cabby, not to mention the ticking meter, I accepted the package disgruntedly, barely managing a weak smile. She had, afterall, waited for me to arrive before securing her weekend. On hindsight, I should have enlightened her on the triplets' birthday and three heads puffing at one candle is highly objectionable by my standards.

With the seven buckeroos incurred from transport, i could have procured a better cake at my convenience, without getting wet, oh, and have my candles as well. Defying the virtues of the free market, freedom of choice and what have you, I will unashamedly scorn at anyone's lack of discretion should they patronise aforementioned bakery.

If you must know, the rain ceased almost too abruptly, barely 15 minutes after I arrived home.

There, my ugly, bitter gripes unleashed.

6:17 PM

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Taking comfort in those who purportedly understand, in those (un)fortunately embroiled in a similar situation where easy parallels can be drawn. Adversity draws people closer together, seeking solace in empathy, strength from common experiences, support from a kind shoulder and knowledge that one is not alone in a certain tricky situation.

Boundaries tighten. Self-contained, self-perpetuating circles emit an aura of exclusivity that (un)intentionally seeks to exclude. An association conspicuous only by its absence of honesty and sensitivity ensues, occasionally punctured with perfunctory correspondence.

Bereavement--Evanescent or otherwise. Reproach over failed duty. And an uncharacteristic attempt at silence, irresolutely believing that it would be for the best. For taming impulse, it has been recurrently reminded, minimizes regret.

10:47 AM

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

When the former NKF CEO manages to earn himself a spot on the news bulletin for contracting dengue fever, you start wondering if anyone were capable of producing more worthy news. Perhaps our tiny island suffers from a dearth of events to whet the appetites of the common viewer. Methinks this hardly does it.

Ok granted that the man managed to misappropriate millions in an obvious breach of fiduciary duties, this piece of information that had previously enthralled the public has now become stale and reticent. Granted also, that the dengue affair has garnered escalating concern, the link between dengue and his infamy remains ineffectual.

Next thing you know they'll be letting you in on how global warming dried up his grass patch.

4:52 PM

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Jimmy Neutron visited a pub and ordered a couple of drinks. When it was time to leave, he asked for the bill. Waiter said, "For you Mr. Neutron, there will be no charge."

Compliments of the smart-ass at home who likes to bathe in chocolate sauce. Just so you know, I laughed before confirming if neutrons, had indeed no charge. I've left all my sciences behind in sec sch. What's a little boy doing, drinking at a pub is anyone's guess. Maybe this should be tweaked a little so that it's more child-friendly.

Jimmy Neutron visited a candy store and grabbed a couple of candy canes. When he approached the counter to make his purchases, the shopkeeper said, "For you Mr. Neutron, there will be no charge."

How's that sound?

A further testiment of how bored I am, I googled Jimmy Neutron (I know how pathetic I am so stop reminding me) and this came up on wiki:

Jimmy Neutron sports a disproportionately large head which he needs to house his large brain and its exceedingly high I.Q. This brain, a source of constant comment, allows him to invent devices that accomplish even the impossible. They rarely function as intended, however, and most often embroil his friends or the entire town in some crisis.

How brilliant.

12:04 PM

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Birthday dinner with the A02 cronies at waraku, central mall. The mountain tortoise in me hadn't been aware that the spanking new facade as part of clark quay's facelift rampage had been completed, though most of its tenants hadn't moved in yet. It's supposedly a Japanese-themed mall but if you ask me, I have serious doubts about themed malls (cf: velocity and square 2). I dont think Singaporeans are big on themes or anything remotely enclavic. Besides, how authentic are these 'themed' malls? Shop space is ultimately going to be usurped by some the familiar, the well-established or those that are not in line with the theme anyways. But mall-bashing is not my intent here...as I was saying, bday dinner with the bunch was good:

Jeremy Toh was hilarious as usual, in his own warped manner. We've just discovered that Mr. ultra sensitive brings a nail clipper with him to trim off chipped nails lest they get caught in the threads of his shirt. Other than that, eyeing my leftovers and kenny's fast food coupons were totally consistant with good ol' Toh.

Wilson Chen was glowing from being in love (finally!) The girlfriend is this sweet little, harmless-looking girl, the kind that you'd approach for road directions. hahaha, sorry ting! More importantly wil, the honest feedback that you wanted: We like her =)

Photo-whoring

Food

P/S: Jieren reminded me that night that we were supposed to have our annual class gathering on the 1st week of june! I clean forgot about that.

4:09 PM

Friday, June 15, 2007

This is for you jer, kel and I made sure we took photos for you, while cursing u under our breaths for returning so late. I think both of us are the only ones who adore mango prawn while ting and kel are salmon partners in crime.

P/S: Everyone's asking about you and all we could say was...Jeremy's having a lot of fun, AND spending a lot of money. We loved your mails though! NOw that's money well spent = )

2:22 PM

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

And so ended the streak of procrastination when it came to fixing my eyes. News about my lasik surgery sure spreads fast! Details below if you can bother yourself with it, none of them gory though, if you were half expecting it.

After checking out a few clinics, I decided to go with the one which allowed me to fix appointments within the shortest time frames. (Read: narrowing the possibility of more procrastination, changing of minds and the irrepressible urge to pop those contact lenses in). To begin with, pre-lasik evaluation was done on thursday to ascertain the suitability for surgery. Simple processes but one involving laborious and protracted waiting time. Thank goodness for the plush environment with large plasma tv, magazines, snack bar and glorious eye candy, which provided the most entertainment value in my opinion, especially when they're out of their clinic garb. Hardly an overstatement to say that people found themselves staring at the clinical staff, longer than they should have (Yours truly included).

The nurses and optometrists, all of whom female, were undeniably attractive, an obvious reflection of the kinds of considerations in the hiring process. Now comes my favourite phrase: Harsh realities of life. Thing about getting a step ahead in life, outer manifestations do matter, at least in the first instance. While it is in the business of some industries like the media to hold positive discriminatory practices, this idea of picking a congenial face that's easy on the eye pervades all facets of life, albeit some more covertly than others, does it not? So say ceteris paribus, someone who's more attractive would more likely be hired than someone who's not. Very realistic you'd say, but the naturalisation of our obsession with appearances is kinda sad isnt it.

Anyhoo, Ive taken this a little far and before I start sounding like a caveman, lets get back to lasik shall we. Where were we...Ok lets skip the boring bits...Ahh yes, Lasik surgery the next evening. I was shit nervous, despite being very familiar with the fact that no pain is involved during surgery (keyword: during). Endured a gruelling 2 hr wait in surgery garb, without entertainment. Preoccupation with thinking about surgery earlier in the day robbed me of my senses to bring a good book, my hp was drained of battery, plus, some channel 8 variety provided little distraction from boredom. (I had to resort to pretending to be interested in the end).

My turn finally arrived, after the woman who had been too afraid to enter the surgery theatre even after 3 hours. I was so nervous, I was pinching my forefinger throughout the surgery. The numbing eyedrops administered before surgery was good enough to block out any pain but it didnt eliminate all sensations. First, they taped back my eyelashes, then clamped open my eye with some tool. Then, pressure was applied as some suction tool was placed on the pupil, causing vision to be blacked out for a while. After which, the incision tool (whatever it's called) made a cut in my cornea so that the doctor could flip it open to allow the laser to penetrate the inner layers of the eye. Sight was restored after the incision, albeit hazy, and I was made to focus on this red blinking laser light. Once the laser had finished doing its work, the doctor flipped the cornea flap back and smoothened it with a sponge to eliminate any air bubbles before popping a contact lense in to stabilise the flap for a day. After the flap was replaced, I knew that the work was done because well-defined vision flooded in. By the time the same process was repeated for the left eye, I was considerably tired, even though the whole surgery lasted only about 10 mins. I guess what was chilling wasn't derived from pain (cos there wasnt any), but from being able to see and feel the process to a certain extent, knowing that your corneas were being sliced open.

Then comes post-surgery. Hideous looking eye shields were taped haphazardly (there was no other way to do it) over the eyes with surgical tape and I was to wear it home. Mum was late so I had to wait for her at the taxi stand while enduring the gaze of curious onlookers. Thankgoodness for being the last patient at 10pm or I'd imagine more human traffic in the day. Nearly died waiting for her while the numbing effect wore off. I never teared more in my life and my eyes were awfully uncomfortable, kinda like a continuous stinging feeling. So I was rooted to a corner and feeling like a poor helpless soul before I was saved. The sleeping pill I took when I got home did little to knock me out from the discomfort.

Other than the initial discomfort, all's nice and well now, except that I wasn't able to wash my hair and face for 2 days after surgery (Now, that's tough). Vision's still adjusting itself for a couple of days and it fluctuates at different times of the day. Funny how I still have the slightest inclination to put my glasses on in the morning or take off my contact lenses when im home. I guess what transpired from my initial low degree of myopia was that post surgery didnt result in...Amazing! I can see 5 fingers before me now! *jumps for joy* but...ok, I have always been able to see resonably when unaided but good riddance to glasses and contact lenses. Can't gym for the next 5 days nor do contact sports for some time (Not that I have been gymming *guilty look* but I do engage in frequent contact sports with my sisters *grin*). I'm also under instruction not to venture into dirty and dusty places for the next 2 months, which is again highly arbitrary but at least I now have greater motive to thump the next person who spews cigarette smoke across my face. As an aside, yay to the smoking ban in july eh? People can finally hold on to some decent breathing space in clubs.

Well then, that summed up the lasik adventure.