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Sick

2006-07-09T06:32:00.000+08:00

Everyone takes time off and goes for a vacation every once in a while. So does my body's immune system.

I'm sick.

It started with chills in my chest, headaches two times a day, and then my nose started to run. So did I go to see the doctor? Not yet, sweetie. Only a sissy would do that at this early stage of sickness. Veterans like me stand the pains till the very core of life's daily maintenance breaks apart. Yes, no doctors were on my agenda till the minute the runny nose washed out my precious night cream as soon as I put it on, which prompted me to set my alarm and turned up at the NTU medical centre even before it even opened the next morning.

The way the doctors at the medical centre talk leads me to suspect that they get paid basic salaries, with additional commissions per number of patients they treat. Yup, they speak at the speed of light and seem to have a medical conclusion in their minds even before their patient enters the room, which maximizes their per-day treatment capacities. My visit this time was no excuse. Doctor CK was sitting there finishing up my file when I entered his room. We exchanged information for less than five minutes and he came to a conclusion that I had a flu, which was exactly what I thought it was. I just wanted a prescription so that my nose stopped running and no face creams of mine went wasted.

Then there were reverse chain reactions. That day, after seeing Doctor CK first thing in the morning, I took the medicines, and practically rested in bed all day. Amazingly, my conditions got worse. My throat began to sore, infection kicked in, and my body temperature went up. I'm telling you, the following 48-hour period wasn't so pretty: headache, fever, chills, sneezing, runny nose, blocked nose, dry cough, sore throat, sweating, body aches, muscle aches, loss of appetite, and the most evil symptom, fatigue.

I felt like I was a guest star in an episode of House.

Now the roller-coaster ride has slowed down as I'm getting better, better enough to collect my thoughts and type them out. No, I have not yet fully recovered. But I'm getting there.

It's about time you clocked back to work, my dear immunity.

To Blog, Or Not to Blog

2006-06-22T17:12:00.000+08:00

To blog, or not to blog: that is not the question.

This past month, people have been asking me the wrong question of whether or not I'll continue blogging. The right question, however, is how often I do so.

Whenever I feel like it, I answer. I know it's been exactly one month since I last posted. My excuse? Freedom. Seriously, I've just been very free, too free that my brains switch to an inactive mode most of the time I'm awake. There has been no motivation, not even to get out of bed and get some food. The only thing that has kept me alive these days is the skincare routine I have to do every morning and evening. But no matter what, I will continue spitting out my mindless thoughts here just for the sake of fun.

There I said it.

Gracefully Out

2006-05-22T05:51:00.000+08:00

This past Thursday marked the broadcast of the final episode ever of NBC’s Will & Grace.

It’s been a disturbingly wonderful eight-year run for this show, though I started after the show went half-way through due to the fact that fate didn’t bring together me and TV (in a computer/internet form) till the beginning of the 02/03 television season, which tagged the show’s fifth season debut.

So it’s four years for me. But still, for four years, the show has connected with me to a high spiritual level. Will’s desire to work in a pretty environment (well-decorated and all) influences my career choices. Grace’s reliance on her hair enlightens me of an ultimate source of confidence. Jack’s wacky, pretentious and bitter personality proves ideal for a fun life. And, most importantly, Karen’s sarcastic remarks bring forth faith in me, that tolerance still prevails in this world (especially within those who I have severely remarked on). Truly, all of these will be missed.

It’s the end of all queer.

This and that:

Check out Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes's performance of Unforgettable as Karen and Jack sing together during the Will & Grace finale. It's the finest moment of the show's final hour, very unforgettable indeed.
Visit NBC's website at http://www.nbc.com/.
More on Will & Grace, check out Rob's 'Will & Grace' Web Page.

The Fantastic Six

2006-05-09T18:35:00.000+08:00

May 9, 2005…

A batch of NBS students went to Maybank Singapore to begin their Professional Attachment program required for an NTU Bachelor degree. Unaware of what was set to come, six of these interns were about to face a series of unfortunate events that would change their lives forever.

They were assigned a task, one task that was to last seven out of their ten weeks internship period. So they spent each day in the most freezing spot of the Maybank Centre building, the Library, trying to finish their job upon the scheduled agenda. Each day went by. They came to work in the morning, went out for lunch together, and left the building in the evening. Everything seemed normal, everything except the hazardous Libraric Freeze that was slowly eating away the sanity inside them.

The interns started to act strange. One of them developed an ability to induce tolerance around the workplace. He became invisible in the early hours of the work clock and yet no one hardly cared that one intern was missing the first few hours after work started. The Library area became the land of slumber, with the induction of Mr Twisted’s ability that had laid effects on all the other interns.

Another talkative intern, Celoud, was also affected. She became Audible Woman, with the ability to amplify her already-loud voice to a sonic boom. When signaled of someone entering the Slumber Area, she produced a loud noise to activate the other interns from their unconscious states, keeping them out of trouble.

Next was Bulkiron, who had his senses powered up as a result of the Libraric Freeze exposure. With the ability to maintain his wide-awake consciousness when the slumber effect occurred, the main responsibility of Human Sensor was to watch out for any possible threats that could enter the Library in the form of a Maybank employee. When someone did enter the room, a set of signals would repeatedly be sent to Audible Woman, who would in turn bring the slumberees back to their conscious selves before getting caught.

Then there was the There, a live street directory. This was no one other than J-Skinny, the victim of a periodic hormonal disease which caused him to have constant mood swings. The There had the ability to locate all the relevant lunch locations by only referring to each location as the there. Once the lunch decision of the day was made, the extreme mood-swinging brains he possessed would then process out the pathway which would lead to the location.

With the unusual mood swings all over the place, there came Wei-Wei, aka Ms Wonder, whose ability was to tone down the tension within the group. She produced fashion magazines with a sweep of her hands and kept everyone’s attentions away from the tension by criticizing the prices of fashion accessories featured in the magazines. Unfortunately, her powers didn’t last outside the working hours, but they were powerful enough to handle the day-to-day insanity.

While Ms Wonder was taking care of the insanity within the group, Ms No-Wonder’s job was to deal with the outer force, the internship supervisors. Ling-Ling was named Ms No-Wonder after she experienced a genetic remodeling resulted from the Libraric Freeze exposure. Her physical cuteness always came in handy as a buffer distraction when the bosses came around before the group came back from the slumber land.

Together, they were the Fantastic Six. They took Maybank internship seriously. They went to work regularly, made the workplace their home, and, most importantly, worked in team to keep each other out of trouble.

And that is how I spent my time at Maybank last year.

This and that:

Nanyang Business School is part of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Visit Maybank Singapore at http://www.maybank2u.com.sg/.

My Tutor Shampoo

2006-05-02T02:05:00.000+08:00

The following quotes are from a 2003 Korean movie My Tutor Friend.

Ji-hun: What shampoo do you use?
Su-weon: I use soap.

Soap? Is this girl for real? I almost fell off the chair when I heard the line. It's not because it was funny, but because I couldn't take it. I was like, was she even aware that shampoo was invented for hair cleansing? Using soap to clean your hair is just wrong. WRONG!!! To make the matter worse, this conversation takes places in a supposedly romantic scene where Ji-hun's feelings for Su-weon start to form. Really, if I was Ji-hun, my feelings indicator towards this girl would instantly swing sharply from positive to super negative. How hard is it to remember that soap is for body and shampoo is for hair???

I hate to say this, but in her defense, the guy shouldn't have asked this question in the first place. The guy has been beaten up, alright, but deep down in his subconscious level, he thinks of which shampoo she uses? I'm not buying it. Her breasts or thighs would've made more sense. (And the conversation may have gone even weirder if that ever came up.)

Still, despite all the nerve attacks that happen to both parties, a woman should never, ever, ever, use soap in place of shampoo. Think about it. Forget what kind of questions may have popped up out of Ji-hun's head. If Su-weon followed a proper cleansing routine, with proper products for each part of her body, would this stupid answer ever come up? Use your basic instincts, woman. And I don't mean that you keep crossing your legs every time a guy you like asks you a question. Pay attention to the importance of your toiletry items and do the right thing!

Seriously, air-born bacteria could figure it out.

This and that:

More on shampoo, click here.
The spelling of characters’ names from My Tutor Friend is based on the contents published on The New York Times.