bang! ouch! phew!

you know how thoughts run in your mind about what to write? i was planning for a last-min work trip to bangko this evening because there was an urgent client to meet and the thai chic tv (some fashion tv channel) people wanted to meet us about our software. sharon was in hk yesterday and was due for jakarta tomorrow morning. so she asked me if i wanted to go. i was in a little conflict. it was too last-minue an arrangement and i had my own local clients to handle. but since the thai distributor was quite persistent and it seemed rather important, i said yes and he went ahead to make the arrangements. i was thinking i should write a blog entry titled "location: bangkok" since not many people knew i was making the trip. but i prayed to God that if it wasn't His will for me to go, show me clearly that i will not doubt it. (i was referring to things like not being able to get a ticket in such short notice, but how was i to know.................)

yesterday night around 11pm, jon was driving me home in our usual route at tampines ave 10. it was drizzling and we were talking about money matters, particularly how to stay out of debt. the lights turned red and we stopped. the next thing i know, i heard a bang! and i can't remember what happened followed besides feeling his arm in front of me. until i saw the plastic casing that covers the aircon vent (if you know nissan cars, they have this little compartment in the front on the dashboard) lying next to me on my hand. so i calmly put the cover back and jon turned around with a stunned look with his hand on my face, asking me continuously "are you okie??". i was wondering why my face felt wet, and when i saw his hands with blood all over, that was when i got a shock of my life.

he called the police. i called my dad. he called his dad. we were praying that everything will be fine. i grabbed tissue paper and started cleaning and pressing my wound. the van driver that hit us from the back came out and asked if everything was fine. he admitted it was his fault because he couldn't brake in time.

there was so much blood on the right side of my face that i didn't know where the wound was. i was worried i injured my eye and the first thing i did was to cover my left eye and check if i could still see. phew! it wasn't coming from my eye... cleaned it a bit and realised the cut was on my eyebrow. i was too afraid to look at it anymore and i immediately called zihui. she told me to apply direct pressure to my wound and the ambulance came. i walked out of the car and sat on the stretcher as they wheeled me into the ambulance. i could still sneak in a smile and wave to jon.

arrived at CGH A&E department and still on the stretcher, i was wheeled into the consultation area. now i understand what jac meant by malu! it was so embarrassing to see all these faces staring right back at you. blood pressure, heartbeat, everything was fine. (nurse insisted that i stayed on the wheelchair as my dad wheeled me around and in circles. he makes a bad trolley driver!) doc said i definitely need stitches because it was a y-shaped cut. sent me on my way for my x-ray. i was afraid there might be internal injuries because i felt weird at the back of my head. (on hindsight now, i think it was the pain from the fron that was travelling around my head.) mum and auntie violet was cleaning my face with wet tissues coz i had blood over my face and on the right half of my tee.

doc asked if i was feeling nauseous? no. giddy? no. headache? of course! i hit my head! it felt like a giant blue-black around my entire forehead.... and she said she needed to give stitches for me 2cm cut (in doc terms, it's a lasceration). and it couldn't stop bleeding because i hit a vasculous part.

waited almost half an hour for the doc to get ready. walked my way into the OT and laid on the bed as the nice nurse (shanti) covered me with a cozy blanket. nice doc came in and we were all chatting about how dumb the hospital is to lower the temperature so freezing on a rainy night. she looked at my wound and said she'll give me 6 stitches. talked about what i do for work and she said she will try her best to keep my image as it is important in the fashion and apparel industry. anaesthesia part was painful because there isn't much flesh at the eyebrow part. she gave me twice because i didn't feel as numb as i was supposed to. felt the stitching but it wasn't painful. was humming "God is the strength of my heart" to keep my mind away from thinking about it. such a gentle doc. kept asking if i was fine and if it hurt and when she was giving me the anaesthetic jab, i went ouch! and she said "ouch 4 more times and it would be over!"

walked out with a huge bandage covering half my right eyelid and daddy took care of everything for me. cancelled my BKK trip and asked for a letter to get a full refund. jon called to check if i was fine. he was so upset i was injured. the car is going to take some time. the boot was smashed in. he is trying to claim for everything (and perhaps including the loss of business for my work trip). not sure what the arrangement is... not really my concern.

for those who are figuring out how i look now, here it is. huge blue-black over my entire right lid. huge bandage over my eyebrow. i can only see with one and a half eye. two red marks on the side of the bridge of my nose due to the hit.



what i thank God for was that worse things could have happened but He was in control. i prayed continuously that there wouldn't be any internal injuries.

thank God that:
- jon didn't get hurt.
- i was wearing my seatbelt or else i would have ended up like diana young.
- i didn't hit the windscreen or dashboard. (it would have been a concussion!)
- He gave me the strength to overcome the fear.
- He helped me stay calm to call daddy and zihui and sharon. (i can't believe i was so calm!)
- my injury isn't all that serious.

what could have happened if God wasn't in control:
- the van may not have braked in time and the impact would be greater.
- cars from the left side of the road could have sped up and hit my side of the car.
- we could have hit the kerb and flipped because we were on the extreme right lane.

it was truly God's intervention! praise the Lord that His angels were with us, although we forgot to pray for journey mercy before we drove. (we usually do, but we were talking and forgot.)

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE SHOWN THEIR CONCERN OVER THE PHONE, MSN OR SMS!

* * * * * * * *

on a happier note, here are the photos we snapped at moonfish and tcc last monday where th and pearl bought us dinner.

big sigh

daniel just called my place and wanted me to print his notice of marriage for him. both my cousins are getting married in the span of 4 days, so that uncle kenny can attend both in one trip from texas. leonard on the 16th in KL and daniel on the 19th at the singapore art museum! i so wanted to go to dan's. the location itself is simply interesting.

but i've got to give BOTH weddings a miss. whattabummer! this is so upsetting. i'll be off to guangzhou on the 17th and won't be back from hk till 30th. if i am to console myself, at least i've got the opportunity to work out-station within my first year at the job. and i'll be meeting maria in hk. haven't met that girlie for a long time. can't wait to see her new apartment. can't wait to catch up over dinner. can't wait to go shopping and pick up some cheapies (for myself and loved ones around me).

updated at 1104 on 29 sept: just found out leonard has a wedding site. wow! so at least i know where to go to find the photos i missed...

of old friends and old songs

my days have been zipping past again. i thought of writing what happened over the past week i had not been blogging. but i find myself reaching for my diary. that's a bad sign. it simply means i can't remember exactly what i've done in the past couple of days. either i've been doing too much stuff, or they are so insignificant to have slipped my mind.

we had our "traditional" iced earl vanilla chat before miri and jerry left us for another semester of school. it seems we cannot say "no" to that despite how busy we are. jon was rushing for a report due the next day. al had to hurry back to office for dept photo shoot. (sidetrack: i can't believe the prices of newspapers are really going up after the revamp....) miri and joy had to be home for dinner before heading for mamma mia with their parents. jerry had to meet an ex-colleague for dinner. in spite of all our clashing schedules, we still could sit down for a nice cuppa. this is what friendships are made of. putting aside the bustle of work and life, and spending time just to show that we are still there for each other.

fast forward to sun morning. had brekkie with jon, shan, jerry and lynn. first in a long long long long time. and we talked about holidaying together. we haven't really done so, except for church camp. ideas spouted zero-ed in on a europe tour. i do hope everyone was serious about it. al seems interested too. S$3500 and we'll be there in july! *crosses fingers* if we don't do it now, it'll be tough to arrange something like that with all our work schedules in a topsy-turvy...

miri said bye-bye on fri night. jerry said his share on sun night. there we go again... it's going to be another 9 months till we all can chat over iced earl again! but till then... we know we are still looking at the same moon. not the same side though. (borrowed from hao's farewell line to jerry.)

bought my first copy of Shape today. not because i'm determined to get back in shape. it's just that the word "eczema" on the cover caught my eyes. for those who have known me since my poly days, you would have known that i suffer from a case of eczema that comes and goes, as and when it does. now i'm back with another bout of it. not on my face, but on my arms and back. arghz! i'm not sure what is going on with my body.... i reckon it's the temperature lately. changes in weather and my skin just can't click. *right hand hits left hand* stop scratching!!!!!!

anyway, i saw this article in it. i don't know many people who work around the area, but no harm knowing right? let me know if anyone is interested for the massage or manicure. (i can hear hui going "when are we going for our pedicure???")



what does everyone think of this hairstyle? had an impulsion to snip my hair off to this.... asked jon and he gave me a strange look. does that mean "no"??? let me know what you all think.... (bear in mind, it is just a thought! it's my hair and you know how much contemplation i go through before i do anything weird with it!)




for those who are figuring out my nick in msn, it's all because jon, hao and josh taught me this kids' song which (surprisingly) i have never heard in my childhood days.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
Leave some there for me!

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That's not a monkey that's me

Kookaburra sits on a rusty nail
Gets a boo-boo in his tail
Cry, Kookaburra! Cry, kookaburra!
Oh how life can be!

disappearing act

i wondered for some time whether i should write. hui mentioned in her blog that we have not been writing for some time. my reply was simply - i found no inspiration.

work was taking up quite a handful of my time. with my weekends often buzzing past without notice, i don't see how i can squeeze some time to write (let alone anything that is my current concern). in other words, i'm plainly blabbering in this post.

towards the end of last week, i spent thursday evening peddling cakes for angie the choice at the food fest. it was quite an experience. was thankful we could be of some help to hui. i understand that it can get really demoralising to be the only person enthusiastic to help the company, while the others are simply lazy. poor girl... but we did have our fair share of fun. and i found the most addictive snack around - Goldhill instant mashed potatoes. just add water, and voila! shared two packets among the girls, brought 8 sachets home and it was zapped off over the weekend. thankfully, mummy grabbed more supplies (4 packets x 10 sachets) on sat.

had a great dinper (dinner + supper) at fengshan hawker on sat. fulfilled my craving of "ou luah" (oyster omelette). togehter with bbq wings, "ba cho mee", bbq stingray and ah-balling (lucky draw style). topped off with wonderful company, it was simply satisfying.

monday night was another great dinner. thanks to tien hwa and pearl who bought us (miri, jerry, alvin, lynn, shan, jon and i) dinner at moonfish at millenia. had nice chats and filling italian food, we left the place smelling of tomatoes. headed over to tcc (it's gotta be one of my faves now!) for coffee. it was so heartwarming to be chatting over food and drinks again. friendship - certainly something that time and distance cannot pull apart.

tomorrow's gonna be another coffee appointment. our "traditional" farewell coffee before jerry and miri zips back to uk. now let's see... what am i craving for....

for the animals

got the word from a friend.
for the animal lovers out there, SPCA postcards are available at $4 for 4 postcards.

stoned

i have not been written in a while. almost a week. last weekend zipped past before i could even sit down and run through what i did.

saturday started early (as in 3am in the morning) and ended late. auntie jocelyn left for LA at 6am and we thought it would be nice to send her off (and stand by vic and josh). i'm amazed at the amount of resources spent on checking all passengers travelling to US. and we joked about all the silly things done at the airport.

sunday went past just as quickly. church. carolling practice (which is becoming so fun). photoshoot for grad. dinner at lau pa sat. home. completely zapped of energy.

i have been so busy every day with work and pretty much stoned by the time i get home. in the past two days, i have never felt so tired and bummed out the moment i came home. i was physically burnt out and sitting in front of the computer irked me. lying on my bed was the best thing that happened every night. i can't imagine having a 9 to 5 job now. the only perks of a 9-5 is that i don't have to work late into the nights and attend to phone calls anytime of the day. but... nah! i'm happy with what i have now!

think i'm coming down with a flu. (pray i don't!) sniffing nose the whole morning. now i'm eating garlic bread with loads of garlic butter (yes, the one that sop loved so much at the bbq). will that help? *wonders*

BBQ party

as requested, here are the photos taken over the wkend.



realised we were all in theme.... BARB(i)Eque party and marcus received a BARBIE from the guys... haha.... just being corny.

*breathe*

firstly, i would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took time off to grace marcus' and my party last saturday at aranda country club. i know some people had to make special time to be there with us (especially mel before she headed back to her ntu hostel, justin and esther before zooming back to woodlands in a cab, alvin after submitting his article at midnight and th with baby en in tow). it was really heartwarming to see everyone have their fair share of laughter there. such smiles definitely makes all the party-planning worth the while.

finally got my prata last night at kembangan. jerry was bored watching tv at home and decided to join jon and i for a drink. miri popped by as she was walking home. it was nice to just have a short chat over nice prata. too bad i still have not fed my craving for tissue prata. (sidetrack: why don't they serve tissue prata with ice cream? wouldn't it be super yummy-licious?)

long day at client's place today. it's nice to know that people in this old-fashion-operations fashion and apparel industry (such an oxymoron right?) are finally opening up to technology.

grabbed 8 plates of sushi at sakae capitol with jon before dropping off my digicam at the doc's (it is really sick. in a coma.). poor cam has to stay at the "hospital" for a week. hopefully the nice docs there can get it back to health for free.

more work awaits me. poofing off to completing work now. another full day at the same client's place. right smacked in the centre of shenton way.

p.s. i can't fight my addiction to sweetened condensed milk. i've been sneaking into the kitchen to have a little at a time. arghz! but on a brighter note, i have been keeping pretty strictly to my water detox. besides milk in the morning, a little wine on sunday night, milo on monday evening, teh peng on monday night and milo dinosaur last night, i have been drinking only water for the past week! yay!

my own doll

saw quite a number of people playing with this doll maker site. so i decided to give it a shot. not sure how accurate it looks. but i was too lazy to surf through the hundreds of tops and bottoms. so decided to go for a two-piece. easier to navigate.

hair? check.
eyebrows? check.
mouth? check.
nose? not so obvious that it's sharp, but check.
sunglasses? not dark enough and not really the right shape, but check.
shawl? pink. check.
shoes? pointy heels with slight ribbon detail. check.
dress? hmm...
bag? check.


candybar doll maker
p.s. *wails* my olympus digicam is cranking up... gotta bring it to the doc tomorrow. sigh.

my little BOY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BOY BOY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

found this little cake online specially for my little brother.
it's a private joke among those who were in church on sat.


anyway, it's my little brother's 15th birthday. we just got home from prawn mee and drinks at kembangan. he's really grown up. he is no longer the pest i used to think he is. (perhaps it was because he was the youngest in the extended family and most doted on.) now he's taller than me... bigger than me... fitter than me... hmm...

whatever it is, he will always be my FAVOURITE brother... (and he would add, "i'm your only brother".)

of more sushi and a hunt around orchard

spent the afternoon at a client's place and for once, i was truly impressed at the speed the new users pick things up. after the past few months of frustration, i'm thankful they finally found these two girls who are eager to learn new things and obedient to do what they are taught. wow. i see a bright future ahead.... *beams*

headed for heeren to meet hui and jac at sakae sushi coz it was "50% off red plates day". i realised something, everytime i'm with hui, we always end up with some form of jap food. but who cares? i've got a super soft spot for sushi!

walked down to tangs to search for a pair of shoes for me, but as usual, stopped along the way for hair pins at sinma and stuffies at watson's. staying focused, we zoomed straight to the shoe section, but saw nothing i fancy on sale. the only pair i fancied was not on sale ($79) and was only left with a half-size bigger than me. bummer!

left with only half hour before everyone has to head home, we decided to take things easy and stroll. over to swarovski for hui to grab a pressie for her mum, but it was closed. couldn't resist the draw of mango, and saw the two bags i wanted. the one with the green strap doesn't look very nice after all. the black jap print bags (both small and big) are OUT OF STOCK! just days into the new season! bummer again! but the original one that i eyed is still there, with its other coloured siblings. every time i set my eyes on it, it has this special magnetism effect... i want it!!! but $69? hmm.... let's wait and see. just to remind everyone AND myself, here it is.



ended walking to wisma (perlini's, isetan, charles and keith and ebase), not forgetting a stop at famous amos for 100g of no nut choc chip cookies! yumz!

sent the girls off at orchard mrt before taking a slow slow stroll over to paragon taxi stand to wait for my little green roachie to arrive. to waste time, i stopped at indochine to hear this band sing some nice soothing jazzy tunes... continued strolling, dreaming of ice cream. seems like all the ice cream men have gone home. oh wait! there is one... at the usual traffic light between ngee ann city and paragon. yay! armed with my raspberry ripple wafer ice cream, i get a phone call. "i'll be there in 5 mins!" oops! my ice cream... gobble gobble... yums.

in a flying green roachie, i end my day of adventure. haha... not really adventure, but it sounds more like a children's story book with this ending.

the cross in our lives (pun intended)

in the past week, something has been on my mind. and it seems like it is resurfacing more often in the people around me.

we have been assimilated into a meritocratic society where achievements and education is valued far above other things. when we were in school, EM3 was the place your parents would advise you to stay away from. people in there seemed to be cursed with a ruined future. normal technical was the same in secondary school. after the sweet 16 year, JC was the preferred route to greater career prospects because of the invisible bridge to the universities. and how can i forget the "upper class" professions every parent dreams for their kid to be accepted into? the doctors, lawyers, dentists...

after spending almost 20 years in such an education system, why am i not surprised that people hold on to their achievements so tightly?

God doesn't fit into our lifestyle. we have got to fit into His will. something to think about: how much do you stand to lose if God calls you to give up everything you have right now? have we been storing up too much treasures on earth?

i have been having a couple of conversations with different people lately. different people who have achieved different levels of success. one thing i find most evident is that people struggle with the reluctance to let go of whatever they have accumulated over the years. may it be a high-flying-high-prospects job, comfortable take-home pay, family life, covenient life filled with the 5Cs... they have so much to lose. they have so much to surrender. they have so much to answer to.

and most of these people have the longing to follow the direction God has shown them. they are faithful servants who long to abide in the Master, but somewhere in them, there is the struggle, born from the notion that has been ingrained in us from young: we must attain success.

referring to the question alvin asked in his blog, How do you not end up trying to serve both God and Money? Is a rich, wealthy Christian an oxymoron? Is a Christian aspiring towards wealth & being the top in his/her field a hypocrite?, i do not disagree that God has bless His people richly (some with wealth, others in different ways). being a rich Christian can be God's way of providing for those in need. that's where miraculous testimonies of God's providence stem from too.

with that said, we can be earning loads of money but defying God's wishes. and on the other hand, we can be denying God's power by not trusting in Him to help us fulfil our fullest potential. at the end of the day, i think it is most vital to ask ourselves one question: where is it God wants me to be?

back from the dust

hey everyone... remember this bag which was featured on my blog slightly more than a week ago?



saw it in the mango catalogue that came in the mail today. no wonder i can't find the bags i want anywhere.. i think it's the latest season. this bag cost S$65. but the good news is that there is a smaller version, which is a sling handbag IN THE SAME NICE JAPPY PRINT, going for S$30! i'm going to run towards it.... if the size looks reasonable, i'm grabbing it! haha!

will be back later to update more on my disappearing act over the last week.