Of Simple Words & Simple Things

Thursday, April 26, 2007

To the Dentist

Wisdom teeth are third molars that usually appear between the ages of 17 and 24. They are generally thought to be called wisdom teeth because they appear so late—much later than the other teeth, at an age where people are supposedly wiser than as a child, when the other teeth erupt. Most people have four wisdom teeth, but it is possible to have more or fewer.

I have finally made the visit to my no.1 dreaded professional on my list - the dentist. If I were to count, it has been 7 years since my last visit. Extremely bad, if you ask me. After today, I tell myself, I really need to get into the habit of visiting the dentist at least once every year. That is to save my teeth and gums (and money) in the longer run.

Anyway the bad news from the visit today: I have 4 wisdom tooth to be extracted, one of which has to be done with some minor surgery! The minimum cost to extract wisdom tooth is 400 bucks~!!! I guess I can just go broke removing my 'wisdom'.

I have no idea when I'm going to go ahead with the extraction after my exams. Just find the thought extremely scary and painful~! Imagine lots of swelling, bleeding, pain and probably liquid diet. I hope it won't be as bad as what I have imagined when the time comes. Probably will wait another two weeks after I come back from Taipei.

My progress has been rather slow and discouraging. Like today, I haven't done anything yet. And worse, I don't feel like doing anything. Hopefully I will pick up some speed later tonight, and at least read through one or two chapters.

Somehow, just feeling kinda restless.....

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 9:56 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 11:30 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Monday, April 23, 2007

The memories..

Took the 76 bus to Parkway Parade on Saturday. Somehow the journey felt much much longer than 5 years ago. Probably partly cos of bad luck with traffic lights, but even then it took more than an hr. Taking in the sights along the way, and there's been much changes during this time. Roads became more winding as more construction was going on, especially the area near Paya Lebar. It took ages to reach the mrt station even though I thought I was already near.

After having Katong laksa, went over to Parkway Parade. Walking inside the mall was kinda familiar, as most of the shops have not changed. At least not that I can really remember of. To think that we would drop by Parkway quite often after school in the past. But after I left jc, I think I have only been to Parkway for a few times, say 5 times in 5 years?!

It's amazing how neighbourhood centrals get transformed. Even AMK is a bustling hub now, with the new building, as though it's been given a new lease of life. TP and AMK have been revamped with the idea of a 'hub' and an air-conditioned interchange. I guess the next old town in line should be Clementi?

Random thought. Accidents are scary happenings, especially when you suddenly lose a family member in the midst of happiness.

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 11:56 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Sunday, April 22, 2007

MY subconscious mind

The issues on your subconscious mind are most affecting your:

Finances

Your finances involve everything having to do with money: your bank account balance, your debts, and your investments. Believe it or not, all of your financial hopes and fears impact your subconscious mind. Perhaps your conscious mind is aware that something is troubling you with regard to your finances or maybe you just have a vague sense that things don't feel quite right.

However tuned in you are to your feelings about your finances, you most likely have deeper issues that affect how you are subconsciously viewing your circumstances. Some issues are isolated to one realm of life, but generally an issue affects several areas at once, and to varying degrees.

Your subconscious mind could be preoccupied with your financial life because of a wide variety of issues you aren't aware of. The following are some pretty common ones that people have around finances. Do any resonate with you?

Worrying that you aren't doing a good enough job with your finances. You might feel like you don't understand how to manage your money, whether you're balancing a checkbook or learning how to invest.
Worrying that you're not doing your best. You may feel like you have more debt than you should or wish you had more savings or investments to show for all of your hard work.
Worrying that an employer, investment broker, or business partner will betray you. You might feel distrusting, especially if you've experienced difficulties in your past.
Worrying that you'll be rejected. When unchecked, this common fear can make you overly self-protective, which can make it difficult to relax in your job and rest assured that your work will be justly rewarded.
Wishing you didn't make things so complicated. You might feel that your approach to finances is overly structured, and subconsciously you might wish you could live with more flexibility and simplicity.

Financial Realm
You scored 90 on the financial scale. Your finances involve everything having to do with money: your bank account balance, your debts, and your investments. Believe it or not, many of your financial hopes and fears can impact your subconscious mind.

Aside from money being necessary to take care of yourself, it has also always been assigned a certain status in our lives, and this can be stressful. Take Jake, for instance. He had a good job that had brought home a big paycheck for many years, though he was thousands of dollars in debt, and he had little savings to speak of. He always made excuses for why the state of his finances was so bad: He lived in an expensive city, he was still paying off student loans, and he was still just getting off the ground in his job. But when even his friends who made less money than he started talking about buying homes, he started realizing that he was in terrible financial shape. What was really holding him back if it wasn't the amount of money he was bringing home? He started doing freewriting, not just about his finances, but about where he was in life in general. After some practice, he discovered that he actually had a deep fear that he wasn't living up to his potential. This seemed to impact many aspects of his life, including his finances. By making his subconscious fear conscious, he was able to set more concrete goals, including a budget.

Friendship Realm
You scored 58 on the friendship scale. Your friendships are the platonic relationships you have with people of your choosing. Healthy friendships offer us love and support outside of that which we get from family, romantic partnerships, and our sexual partners.

Your test results indicate that your friendships are draining your subconscious energy. You may feel dissatisfied with your current circle of friends, perhaps because of the composition or because of differing interests. Or maybe you're in a fight with one of your closer friends. It could be that you are simply longing for more fulfilling connections throughout your social life. Whatever the exact circumstances, your subconscious has picked up on some trouble in your friendship realm.

We are social beings and so we typically find it important to nurture and maintain friendships, but sometimes that's easier said than done. For instance, Catrina had just moved to a new city for work, and she didn't know anyone in town. She'd thought she'd be able to meet new people easily since there seemed to be so many her age in her office. But when no one reached out to her during her first week on the job, she started to pull herself inward. She told herself she was focusing on her job, which was demanding and new. But at night, Catrina found that she had terrible nightmares about strangers calling her names and chasing her down the street. The dreams got increasingly distressful until she finally decided to try some dream analysis techniques. Catrina eventually realized that she was experiencing an immobilizing fear of rejection. She could begin to see the pattern so clearly: The more afraid she became, the more closed off to people she became; the more closed off she became, the more her co-workers avoided her. Finally, she had to face her fears by inviting her co-workers out to lunch and starting to make herself more available. It was scary at first, but over time she started to make some friends, and a lot of her fears dissipated.

Love Realm
You scored 46 on the love life scale. Your love life revolves around your romantic partners. Whether you have a committed partnership, you're casually dating, or you're single without prospects, your love life concerns your romantic hopes and needs.

Your relatively low score indicates that your love life isn't taking up a lot of your subconscious energy. People who get a high score in this area are often longing for a jumpstart, whether that means a new sweetheart or some quality time with their current partner. They may be experiencing some kind of changes and these can be emotionally draining. For whatever reason, some aspect of their love lives feels dissatisfying, whereas for you, things seem to be satisfactory.

It's no wonder that most of the songs on the radio are about love — it's a complex, yet marvelous thing we are always trying to understand better. Take Beth, for example: She worked incredibly long hours, and blamed her nonexistent love life on this. While her friends offered to set her up, she always made the excuse that she didn't have time. The interesting thing was that Beth's performance at work was starting to slip. Even her boss suggested she take a bit of time off. Beth couldn't figure out what was happening, because she was actually very happy with her job, even though she could see from time to time that she might be taking her commitment to it a bit too far. What she didn't know was that her subconscious mind was actually worrying over her love life, specifically around her fears of betrayal. Her last relationship had ended with a nasty breakup that involved infidelity, and ever since Beth had immersed herself in her career to avoid facing her feelings about that betrayal. Though this issue affected other areas of Beth's life, she was particularly worried that she'd again be betrayed by a romantic partner. This fear was causing Beth to feel distracted at work, leading to mistakes that she'd never made in the past. By identifying that it was in fact her subconscious issues around betrayal that were taking up so much of her mental space, she found she was able to focus on and face up to this issue. Eventually, she found that she was able to work fewer hours and still excel at her job. She used her extra time to start pursuing a more fulfilling love life.

Family Realm...........................46
Sex Realm................................42
Work Realm.............................42
Personal Growth Realm............34
Health Realm.............................16

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 12:56 AM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Friday, April 20, 2007

Free Hugs

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 2:21 AM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Oh no~!

Nowhere near completion of the project. More like just started. Desperately in need of motivation and removal of distractions.

And, I'm starting to miss my long hair.

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 2:57 AM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Mistakes...

I always have the tendency to be busy with the wrong things at the wrong time.

Desperately need to get my mood fixed - to start on the project, and also to start revision. Else time is going to pass me by faster than I know~!

But you know, staying at home is very therapeutic. At least it still is, at the beginning. The boredom and hibernation hasn't really kicked in yet.

Looks like *we* are on our way to somewhere...

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 6:56 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Monday, April 16, 2007

...

Study break begins. Still have one more project due on Thurs, but yet to start.

Just feeling really really lazy at home.

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 6:27 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Saturday, April 14, 2007

You're a Pampered Traveler

Four-star hotels. Shopping sprees. Fine dining. For you, traveling is all about indulgence. Leaving the comforts of home doesn't mean leaving your love of luxury. In fact, you probably take advantage of and enjoy the spoils of a vacation more than most.

Admit it, you like the finer things in life, especially when you're rewarding yourself with a getaway. And you know that giving yourself a few special treats will make the trip more memorable and worthwhile. So go ahead, order the dessert, relax with a massage, unwind in roomy first-class seats. That's how you savor the experience. Ahh...

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 5:57 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Friday, April 13, 2007

The past week

It's been an arty-farty week, having watched two performances in the week. First was Phantom of the Opera on Sunday. It was good - powerful voices, beautiful stage and impressive transitions from scene to scene. Of course, not to mention the music and the orchestra. A pity our seats were a little too high. Lesson learnt: if you're watching performances at the Esplanade, keep the seats to the stall or circle 2.

I must add that I LOVE WATCHING MUSICALS~!! Even though tickets are very pricey, I'm always willing to fork out the money to watch them. After Phantom, I'm looking forward to the next musical that would be brought to Singapore, most likely you would find me at one of the performances.

Tonight, I watched Blithe Spirit. A light-hearted comedy which made the audience laugh from time to time. The actors speak really quickly, if I may say. Never knew there was a drama centre at the National Library even though I've been there a couple of times. Not too bad, except that the seats were not very comfortable.

I had my last lesson in NUS on Tuesday. I must say that I was quite happy at first, to know that lessons have ended, which means it's study BREAK - started early and will last long for me since my exams are rather late. Then I realised it's the LAST lesson and the LAST break that I have. The feeling is kinda nostalgic. No more lazy afternoons after school, Wednesday off-days, study breaks and school holidays. Soon I'll be thrown into the working society, when free time becomes a rarity and a luxury. How I'll miss these days~!!

Over this break that started early, I finished watching Engine~! It's a really really good show, touching and sweet~!! I love Takuya Kimura and his acting. I have decided that I want to collect all his shows. Right now, I have Engine, Pride, Hero and Beautiful Life (on loan somewhere and want to get it back!). My future purchases should include Good Luck, Long Vacation and Love Generation. It's hard to see Jdrama in stores now, so if you see any of these, especially the older shows, please tell me so I can go get them~!

Alright, that's about it for the week. It's Friday the 13th today. Bad things do happen, like quarreling-with-the-one-who-doesn't-even-care. Don't ask for my help, ever again.

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 11:15 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Monday, April 09, 2007

Home

As I grow older, the more time I stay at home. Especially for this semester, on usual days, I would be back home by 2pm. Even on the weekends, I tend to stay at home quite a bit too.

I recall those days back in primary and secondary school, when I'm hardly home until it's almost dinner time. Most of the days I would be in school, busy with ECAs (yeah, that's what it's called then, only did they change it to CCA eventually). On other days, you might just find me in Ang Mo Kio central, Toa Payoh central or Bishan Junction 8. Then in jc, lessons usually end late or I would be busy with band practices. After that 1 hr of travelling on the bus, I'd reach home usually in the late afternoon or in the evening.

Now when I'm home early from lessons, my Mum and my Grandma would ask me how come I'm back so early. They have all become accustomed to me not coming back rather late from school.

On the other hand, it may only be 3 or 4 plus, and my Grandma would be asking how come my brother is not home yet. What a difference in treatment yeah? She's always worried where and with whom he's hanging out after school, for fear that he would be lead astray or something. All because my cousin had once told her that his school has some pai kias! Really just gets on my nerves sometimes, especially when she comes asking me where he is. How would I know when I'm having my afternoon nap at home?!

Abrupt ending - cos I don't know what I'm trying to say here.

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 11:49 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Friday, April 06, 2007

Change

I've been thinking of cutting my hair, and even changing my hairstyle for some time already. Having lunch with sister QL revealed that she had similar thoughts too~! Haha..

So, out of impulse, I went to the salon, propped myself into the chair and asked the hairdresser any recommendations for a change. So she did - tied my hair into a pony tail and then snipped it off! Now it's straight and short, back to the length I never had ever since my jc days.

Now I kinda regret it. My brother commented the change is ugly, and so did my grandmother. Let's see what the boyfriend has to say when I meet him tmr. In any case, I feel the hairstyle together with my specs, make me look very nerdy :(

What are you going to say to me when you see me?

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 11:10 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

MY Destiny Reading...

The Destiny you match most closely is Advisor.

At your core, you're meant to be an Advisor. You are 75% in line with the Advisor role. This indicates that you are a quiet and reserved person who loves to help others achieve their potential through interpersonal connections. Others value you for your wisdom, integrity, and sound advice, as well as your genuine concern for people's welfare. You are a thoughtful person, trust your gut feeling about things, and have extremely acute intuition. You are somewhat of a poet in your way of thinking, finding beauty and meaning in simple things. Because of your sensitivity and soft-spoken ways, you may experience mood swings and the inability to get out of bad situations from time to time. Just be aware of that and you will get stuck in fewer unsatisfying ruts.

As an Advisor, you are in good company with Martin Luther King, Jr., Oprah Winfrey, and Mother Theresa. Just as their destinies have a deep effect on their life paths, your destiny as an Advisor undoubtedly has a profound impact on every aspect of yours.

Professional Life
In your professional life, you will probably have the most joy in a career that allows you to interact with people. You tend to find satisfaction from helping others in their personal development. Whether it is in the area of medicine, teaching, counseling, ministry, or writing, you yearn to have a real impact in making the world a better place one person at a time. You have an ability to be a productive contributor to any organization and are willing to work hard to make things run smoothly. You tend to be a good listener, work well with others, and thrive in a positive environment.

Personal Life
In your personal life, you may tend to have a few, close friends, rather than a lot of superficial relationships. You would likely make a loyal partner who is affectionate, giving, and empathetic. You have an incredible capacity for love but a low tolerance for conflict. Advisors tend to be exceptionally devoted parents whose lives revolve around their children. This can be taken to the extreme, and so balance is crucial. Your children would typically feel very loved and cared for, while having a good sense of boundaries because of your firm but reasonable discipline. You long for a tranquil home life.

A Day in the Life of an Advisor
Being an Advisor will manifest itself in the many ways you view life and make decisions. For example, let's take a look at Jessica who is also an Advisor. She attended a prestigious university, and although quiet, she became a trusted friend to some in her dormitory. While she was reserved and not an outward leader, when freshmen had trouble adjusting to their new surroundings or were going through other emotional difficulties, they would often end up in Jessica's room to talk it out. She would often use poetic imagery when giving advice, lending the assurance that everything happened for a reason. Jessica was always genuinely concerned in these situations and would feel deeply for those she counseled. She once overheard someone gossiping negatively about her, and she was deeply hurt by this, making her even more withdrawn than usual. She had an intuitive sense about others and was able to see through facades easily. She went on to become an art therapist, working with children who had emotional problems.

What you and Jessica most likely have in common is a naturally strong desire to help others. Bravo!

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 10:08 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Acute pain

Piercing pain in the teeth since dinnertime. Sudden pain that made me discontinue my dinner. And now, even drinking water hurts~!

I badly NEED to see a dentist tmr~!! Maybe it's sth to do with the wisdom tooth. Oh no, what if I need to do an extraction. That's going to be sooo painful~!! *prays hard*

Is this somebody's April's Fool joke on me? -Ouch!

::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: Simply 11:57 PM ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - ::: - :::