Well, goodbye 2013.  Hello 2014.

It has been a pretty rough year last year.  Got a severe eye infection, lost a sister of 32 years to some sly old fox whom she knew only for a few years.  How sad is that?  Well it’s not only my loss… My parents lost a daughter of 40+ years, my (soon to be ex) brother in law lost a woman he knew for 12 years.  Now, how sad is that?

Nevertheless… it’s the past, and let all of us look forward to this new year.  New beginnings, new chapter.  :)  Let’s not care about the people who do not care about us.  Life actually can be pretty straight forward, isn’t it?  It’s just us who kept thinking it is complicated when it is not.

Well let’s see what’s coming up this year.  :D

I’m hoping to buy my mom a new phone, as the Desire HD that I passed to her sucked (well that’s why I changed it anyway!).  I’m contemplating on getting her a S4, but everyone told me to wait till S5 is announced so that the price of S4 will drop.  Maybe… but I don’t want her to wait for too long.  I’ll probably just get it for her before Chinese New Year anyway.  :P

I’m thinking of going on a road trip to Malacca with friends in the next few coming months.  And then going Taiwan in June.  Yes, I’ve already bought the airtickets!  LOL… gonna go for their Computex!  So excited about it!  :D  And thinking of all those night markets and street food… yum~!  I so hope I won’t fall sick before or during the trip!  Gonna be planning a trip to Bangkok with my parents too, but that’s pretty much being put on hold as Bangkok currently is pretty… messy and chaotic with all the protests and riots going on.  Meh.

Work wise… yeah, I’ve got my 10 years long service award last year.  A piece of Longines timewear that cost SGD1,590.  Probably the ONLY watch that I’ll ever have in my entire life that surpassed that SGD1,000 mark.  LOL.  Don’t think I’ll be getting any promotion this year, but hopefully the bonus will be good!  *crosses fingers*

Been playing back D2 with Reko as well.  CE Necros are so fun!  Splatsplatsplat.  XD I think I’ll be enjoying my CE Necro for a few more months to come, before D3:RoS is here anyway.  Haha!  World of Warcraft will be having another expansion as well – Warlords of Draenor.  Will I play it?  Maybe…. maybe.  I don’t usually have anything else to do anyway!

So… yeah!  Everything is pretty much about trips and trips and trips!  And some games.  This is what my life is all about, I guess?!  :D

Aaaahhhh.  So many things happened.  But yet I’m just too lazy to blog anything!!  Omg, how did I become so lazy….

Went for the London trip with Reko in Sept.  4 days in London, 6 days in Finland.  Not too bad… but there goes my savings.  Blergh.

Too tired right now to blog anything about the trip though.  If you are interested to see the photos, here they are:

London 2013

Finland 2013

There you go!

Now to plan other trips…. About Feb next year I’ll most likely be bringing my parents to Bangkok, thereafter in June I’ll head to TW with a friend.  I simply love planning for overseas trips, coz that’s what makes the days pass faster!

I’ve got a new direct boss, new colleagues… and there seems to be more work than before.  I’ve been staying in office for more than 12 hours every day… Oh geez.  I’m of the same position as the rest… why am I being tasked to do so many more things compared to the others?  Boss, you better promote me next year… >_>

So, we had PSI401 on Friday noon.  Record breaking reading, at least in SG history.  But there’s still no stop-work order from the government… so we had to still commute daily to work despite the worsening haze conditions.

With N95 respiratory masks going out of stock everywhere, we managed to order quite a few cartons of those masks from our suppliers.  I got myself 5 boxes, of which 2 I gave my sis for her family, while keeping 3 for my own’s use.  It’s not 3M, but Kimberly-Clark, which is a pretty reputable maker too, you know.  Don’t understand what’s the fixation with 3M products…

With the mask, it really makes my throat less itchy when I’m outside.  Thank goodness I got more than enough.  At least I don’t need to worry where my next mask gonna come from when my mask goes out of shape or when it loses its effectiveness.

Today the haze conditions are slightly better, with PM10 readings dropping to just moderate level, thanks to the updraft winds bringing the smoke to our neighbour (sorry, Malaysians :( ).  So we are enjoying a temporary respite… but the PM2.5 readings are still staying at unhealthy level.  Which explains why when I open the windows to let the air flow, I started to cough after about an hour or so.  Bleh.

What can be worse with such bad air quality going on at the same time?

When you wake up one morning and realise one of your eyes’ vision is extremely blurry.  And then when you go to the eye doctor’s, he told you that you have dead virus in your eye.

Yeah.  The dead virus from the previous eye infection is still in my eyes, and my eyes’ immune system is reacting to it, causing white spots in both corneas.  And since my left eye had it worse during the infection, it’s now also suffering a worse vision compared to my right.  So, back to the steroid and antibacterial eye drops.

And even more bad news?  After I get weaned off the steroid eye drops, it has the chance to recur again.  Sigh seriously………

So since I have trouble reading words on the computer screen (they aren’t as sharp as what they should be, and if I squint or try too hard to focus, I’ll get a bad headache), I had to resort to “listening” to The Voice Season 4 episodes.  And then I came across this extremely talented (sans her worst performance – Fireworks) young country singer – Amber Carrington.  She’s a country singer at heart, but I’m so glad Adam turned around for her and true to his words, he didn’t limit her in the Country genre.  He pushed her limits, and she really can sing everything.  One of the best (if not THE best) performances is surprisingly – Skyfall, by Adele.  And in all honesty (no offence to Adele, who’s an awesome and unique vocalist), I think she sang this song better than Adele.  And Amber’s live performance is actually better than her own studio’s recording (which was on iTunes), lol.  She seems to be an exceptional live singer instead of a studio recording artiste.

Anyway, 口说无凭.  Here’s her live performance for you to judge for yourself:

Where do I start?

I’ve got an eye infection end April.  It started off with a swelling on my left eye, no itch, no redness, and then it developed into a “severe case of viral conjunctivitis” (as quoted by my currently-favourite ophthalmologist, Dr Lee).  It was a very traumatic and horrible experience for the whole 3 weeks (yes it took that long to just become better, not fully recovered) where I would wake up with eyes matted shut due to the crust over the eyes, where I had to keep my left eye closed as much as possible (thanks to the cornea abrasion I got), and then my right eye started to get infected as well…

It was horrible.

I couldn’t really read anything, I couldn’t use my computer, I couldn’t even really look at my handphone until I set the system fonts to EXTRA LARGE.  I can just sit there at the sofa for the entire day, at the very most, switching on the television and LISTENING to the shows, instead of watching.  For the entire three weeks.

I had to visit Dr Lee everyday to peel off the membranes that were built up underneath my eyelids, to prevent further abrasion.  The very first time he did that, I was in such pain that I couldn’t move from the clinic’s sofa for a whole 30 minutes.  Tears were literally streaming down my left eye from the pain.  I couldn’t even get up to go home.  That was literally some agonizing pain that still gave me the chills whenever I thought about that.  In the end, the lovely ladies behind the reception had to give me some anaesthetic eye drops in order for me to grab a cab home.  They literally shoo-ed me home right after the eye drops administration because the eye drops would only last for 20 minutes.

Oh god.

I rushed back home immediately and after that, the pain started again.  But well, at least I’m in my own home now.  My mom got so freaked out that she dragged me to the hospital’s A&E on the same day, and in the end, the MO (Medical Officer) asked me “so why are you doing here?”  after he heard that I just had the membranes peeled off in the morning by an ophthalmologist.  =_=  My mom wanted to ward me, but the MO simply sent me straight back home.  “We don’t ward people with conjunctivitis.”  Uh-huh, that’s what I said too.  Guess the same words coming from different people meant different things to my mom.

Okay, yeah I know she’s just very worried.  She tried her best to accommodate me, cooking stuff that’s totally non-oily, non-fried, no seafood, just… bland stuff.  It’s okay.  I like bland stuff.

But yeah, even Dr Lee couldn’t really be sure if it’s just a case of viral conjunctivitis as he had gave me eye drops with steroids for every hour, and the condition still did not improve after a few days.  He then referred me to the National Eye Centre for lab tests, but guess what? When I reached the National Eye Centre, the doctors there just refused to do a lab test and just insisted that it’s really viral conjunctivitis.  “Nothing to worry about,” he said.

Oh yeah.  2 weeks absence from work, with  my left eye can’t see any shapes except colours, I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.

Sometimes I really do hate government hospitals and the doctors working there.  They get too jaded and cynical after dealing with so many people everyday who take them for granted.  Okay, I don’t hate them per se, but… you get what I mean.

After that, I got referred to a cornea specialist to make sure my cornea wasn’t infected.  This cornea specialist is a much nicer lady who wasn’t impatient at all.  She speaks rather slowly, smiles all the time, and reassures me that everything is fine (even after telling me that both of my corneas had been infected by the virus).  ~_~  That was the third week, and according to her, the virus is still “vile” but I’m no longer infectious and I can go to work.  o_O  I told her I still couldn’t really see with my left eye, and I’d be straining my right if I go work, but she said “it’s fine straining it”.  O_O;;  Oh well… if that’s what the doctor says…

So I went back to work after 3 weeks of absence from office, armed with all my medications that I had to put in my eyes.  Thankfully, the virus subsided in the fourth week, and I was able to go for my Bangkok trip without much of a trouble, except that I had to bring lots of lubricating eye drops with me and applying them to my eyes almost every hour.

There’s just so many other things that I didn’t talk about here…  simply because I’m just too lazy to type it all out.  Now I’m just feeling jumpy every now and then when my eyes don’t feel right.  But of course, sometimes I’m just being overly sensitive and that there’s nothing wrong with them.  Well it’s just way too traumatic an experience… and I really just don’t want to go through it again.

This eye infection incident aside…

I just came back from Bangkok.  Bangkok isn’t really a fun place to be, but the street food is awesome, the shopping is decent, but the best part is that you get to stay at luxurious hotels at a fraction of the price you’d pay elsewhere for the same level of service and comfort.  So at the end of the day, it’s really just a trip to rest and relax (I wasn’t relaxing while I had that infection thing… even though I was just sitting there at the sofa from morning to night for 3 weeks).

But anyway, back in office now, looking at the pile of work waiting for me to clear.  I’m kinda looking forward to my potential upcoming trip still.  There has been yet another change of plans – instead of going to Finland in December, Reko and I could be heading to London for a week, and then to Helsinki for another week in September.  Nothing is confirmed yet, but we’ve looked at flight timings and hotels, as well as places to go… It’ll be an interesting trip, if it’s gonna happen, that is.

It’s been a while. A month, to be exact.

And just how much things can change in a month?

Well… a couple of stuff:-

1) We shifted from our temporary office back up to the main office, as renovation went into the last phase and our workstation area is ready. My boss is very nice to me (note to self: surf less internet during work!) by giving me a cosy little private cubicle just next to the window, a seat which many had been eyeing. I have absolutely no idea why I got that seat… the rest who got similar by-the-window cubicles are all senior/supervisory level staff. I’m the only one who wasn’t. Hmm… but nonetheless, I realised sitting here makes me just wanna work more! Now I only actively surf internet before work and during lunch… I’ve cut down surfing of the internet during working hours by a lot. Haha! Need to repay boss’ kindness to me, ya’know? :P

2) My travel plans had drastically changed. From the initial plans of going Taiwan in June, now I’m tentatively going Finland for a week this coming Christmas. I’m intending to spend another week somewhere else after that, but I have no firm plans where I’ll be heading to yet. I’ve got a few options though. One, to Tromso for a week and chase the Northern Lights (and that’s gonna cost me a bomb). Two, to London and stay at Marriott County Hall for the fireworks view on New Year’s Eve in the comfort of the hotel room (and that’s gonna cost me a bomb as well). These two options are only kinda viable if Reko is joining me. Otherwise, I may just head over to HK and spend the new year there instead.

Speaking of Reko, he’s got shortlisted by Blizzard for one of their job openings! He’s so ecstatic even though he has many interviews to go through before the company decides who to hire. Good luck to him and I know he can do it! If he does get the job, it’ll probably mean most likely he won’t be able to spare one more week after Christmas to travel with me. But that’s all right… I would love to try travelling alone anyway. :D

In case any one of you is wondering… Nope, we are not back together. I’m visiting him and his family as a friend, nothing more than that. I know he wishes for more, but at the moment this is all I can give. I still care deeply about him, still worry about/for him, etc… Well to be honest, I’m not too sure how I really feel when it comes to him either. Well that’s why I decided to make this trip… to discern my feelings for him. We’ll see how it goes. :)

Today is 14/02/2013.

Happy Valentine’s, all.  :)

No plans for today… probably go home to date my computer after work.  XD  Unless someone asks me out for an impromptu dinner at some hawker/food centre or something.  :x

It’s been raining for the past few days… and it’s raining again. 

Rain puts me in a pensive mood…

新年快乐，恭喜发财!

It’s the Year of Snake… and it seems to be a rather okay-ish year for Roosters, so I’m not too worried about my luck for the time being. Everyone told me to watch what I say as I could be embroiled in lawsuits this year. Well, I uh, will try not to gossip too much. :x I hope I can remember not to. >_<;

I usually don’t 拜年, because my mom’s kinda the eldest daughter and no one bothers to come our house anyway. So my mom says we shouldn’t be going to her younger siblings’ house. So yeah…. it’s just my sis and her family coming over and that’s it. I’m free for the next two days, how nice. :D

My cousins actually whatsapp-ed me this morning and invited me to go karaoke with them on Tuesday. D: Like, huh? Really @@? I’m not uber close with them…. but well I can’t say no, either. My mom would probably strangle me if I said no. So well… yeah I said okay. Hopefully they don’t mind me being a serious KTV singer… I’m not those who’d joke around and sing like a clown in KTV to entertain other people, so… yeah…

Talking about singing~! I don’t think I’ve posted my singing here before… Well here’s one of them! Please use headphones as for some reason, my voice is very soft if I listen with speakers.. :( And pardon my over-emo-ness at bridge! D:  No edit, no pro mic, no nothing… just a background music .wmv, sennheiser headphone mic, and windows movie maker to make into this clip.  Hope I still sound okay!  XD

Those who are relatively close to me would have known this… there’ll be some major changes that’s gonna happen to my company, and my job scope… My job scope has already changed, and now my portfolio is gonna increased further.  Well I’m pretty sure I can handle it… so I’m not exactly too worried about that, to be honest…

My company itself is gonna go through a major shake up as well.  Not too sure if it’s a good or bad thing… From the looks of things, we are expanding / diversifying… Well I’m not exactly at the liberty of elaborating what’s gonna happen, so umm… let’s just hope that it’s a good thing at the end of the day.

Company is doing a major renovation now… and my dept has also temporarily been shifted to a new office within the same building… higher partitions, smaller space to work with, but generally a little more privacy.  For 3 months, anyway.

I’ve got my bonus and increment… bonus is disappointingly little, but hey who are we to complain when there are other shipping firms that had filed for bankruptcy?  At least I felt appreciated when my boss told me she fought for a higher increment for me… compared to the average percentage that was given across the board.

Enough about work…

I’ve went back to playing Ragnarok Online.  Found a mid-rate private server which is comfortable to play in.  Relatively easy to level and to hunt for items… nice.  I’ve already gotten my Mastersmith, Sniper, High Priestess, Champion, Assassin Cross… Thinking what other class to create.  :D  I’ve also tried a super high rate server with third class/renewal system, just to have the feel of an arch bishop.  I got there, and it was…. interesting.  I still prefer the old nostalgic RO, so I’ll be sticking with the current server I’m on.

For some reason, I’ve lost interest in gaming.  I’ve cancelled both subscriptions for WoW (NA and EU), and it’s been quite a few months since I last touched Diablo 3.  I tried to replay NWN at some point too, but was too disinterested to continue…  probably I’m now at a stage where I’m just too uninterested to do everything and anything…

On the bright side, I’ve arranged another KL trip next month after Chinese New Year.  Desperately need a recharge of batteries… I really kinda felt a mental drain after the mad rush last two weeks, thanks to closing of year-end reports and all the accrual entries/income sheets preparation.  Had intended to head to Bangkok instead actually, but my travel companion couldn’t really make it, so we changed it to a nearer location instead.  We’ll leave Bangkok till the next time.  :)

Still hoping that the Taiwan trip could come to fruit this year… but from the looks of it, the chances of it happening is definitely dwindling.  Oh well… :(

New theme, for the new year.

Something cute-sy… I’m sure I’ll get this changed soon, but meanwhile it kinda fits my mood.

Kinda.

Also, edited my age (geez I’m hitting 35 soon -_-) on the About page, as well as deleted some links on the link page.

Once again, happy 2013, guys.  :)