A Mind of My Own

Family outings used to be great fun for us. We looked forward to Genting Highland trips as we would get to ride the bumper cars by ourselves. My mother would announce that next week, we will be going to Genting and I would pack my bag happily.

A family trip in the long car ride was not the highlight was we would get car sick. We have serious motion sickness. However, the thought of enjoying the cool weather and the theme parks was enough to be excited about a non-exotic place for a holiday.

Over the years, my family trips reduced as we had different schedules due to CCAs and meeting with friends for shopping or projects. The family favourite routine is to arrange for a trip on the go. Once the decision to visit the zoo was made, the very morning, as long as the sun was shining brightly, we were off to the zoo.

It is so much easier to just go out as a family upon the decision was made as any other days would have resulted in one missing family member. Take the Singapore Flyer ride, it was made in the evening and when I reached home, I had to go out after dinner for the ride.

There was no time to think too much. The weather was just perfect and the traffic was fine. It isn’t much of a routine but something that is tradition in my family. The fastest way to have a family trip, decide on the day to go anywhere in Singapore as long as weather permits.

Image via Wikipedia

It is now day 10 of my Lasik after operation. The vision is now crystal clear. I do have to avoid looking at close objects for too long, such as reading and sitting in front of the computer for too long. There is no point spending more than $2,000 only to go back to short-sightedness, isn’t it?

However, there are risks involved. No one said it was ever 100% guaranteed. Let’s be realistic here. It’s an operation. Any operation has risks involved. Even a liver transplant has risk involved. I have avoided crowded places on the first day.

I have avoided rubbing my eyes for 10 days. I have avoided letting tap water fall onto my eyes for 10 days, nearly. I have used the eye drops at every hour and drinking the eye drops as I simply have to use up the Refresh drops or it’ll be a ways. Not drink literally as the eye drops just flow to the back of my throat. When you cry, your nose will have some build up, right?

The Good

• Clear vision upon waking up.
• Snorkling or diving is great.
• White water rafting great too, you don’t have to worry about your glasses being tossed away during the trip down river.
• Take a break from being in front of the computer.

The Bad

• You need to wash your hair at the hair salon for 2 weeks.
• Your face is dirty half the time as no water can touch your eyes during the healing period.
• Night vision problems for a few months. Halos and star bursts affect those who drive at night.
• Itchy eyelids can’t be scratched for 2 weeks. You don’t want to displace or have wrinkles in the flap.
• Dry eyes reported for some people.
• No running, jogging, soccer, any contact sports for a month.

All these negatives will go away. Just bear with the cumbersome for 2 weeks and wait for the halos to go away. I’m hoping to be able to wash my face and hair properly soon. A few more days to go.

I arrived late at the MRT due to my animated talk with my youngest brother. Was supposed to meet HF at 9am at the platform. She arrived at 8.54am while I was just packing to get out of the house. Oh my. I half-ran to the station and managed to meet her at the escalator.

Image via Wikipedia

We proceeded towards our station for the eye evaluation for Lasik at Paragon Medical. When we arrived at the lifts, there was a long queue. It was 10am, we were wondering what was going on at 10am in Orchard. The kids were in the queue and we simply hadf no idea. The lifts came and went. We were still stuck on level 1. Our appointment was 10am.

In the end, we decided to take the fire lift, again. We had taken it for the Lasik forum the other time. Finally, we reached the clinic for our eye evaluation. It’s free for those who have attended the forum. The waiting time was average since there were a lot of people undergoing the test too.

We started the test at around 10.20am and ended at 12.30pm. The tests were routine, checking your eye power and the measurements of the cornea. The part for the eye pressure was a little scary. The puffs of air blown into each eye made me jump. I would have jumped higher had the nurse not informed me before it.

HF jumped as the nurse didn’t tell her. I took some repeats as I kept moving my eyes a little. Fortunately, I could focus at a fixed spot once the nurse told me not to move. Oops. Finally, the tests ended with a personal consultation with the doctor himself. I was assigned to Dr Jon Goh. A rather nice man although he appeared a little aloof during the forum.

Due to eye drops, my vision wasn’t that good after the tests. HF had trouble focusing. In the end, we gave up trying to focus and navigated our ways through the crowds when the space was big enough. The fine words were rather trying too.

After lunch, we went to Far East Plaza for some shopping. I bought some hair clips. I think I buy too many hair clips. I did my plaits for the operation with the new hair clips. I think they are supposed to glow in the dark once they have absorbed enough light.

HF decided not to carry on with the operation as she had driving lessons the next day. I choose to take the operation. We went back to the clinic at 5.15pm for some pre-operation preparations. The nurse explained the procedure for the operation and I was assigned to a comfortable sofa to await my turn.

I adjusted my position on the bed a few times for it was perfect for the start of the operation. I was to focus on the blinking light. I tried to focus and managed most of the time. The suction was slightly painful due to the pressure. However, it didn’t last long.

I blacked out during the cut as it was normal and started to focus on the blinking light again. The pulses began after the flap was opened and I did notice some burning smell. I didn’t know if I was still blinking my other eye each time after the cut. I do know that I noticed a hazy vision with some clear parts.

After the operation, Dr Goh verified that the flap was done smoothly before letting me out of the operation theatre. I had a cloudy vision and took my seat again. The tears were the side effects and I was tearing non-stop. I think I suffered the worst among the rest.

HF was outside and counting those who have completed theirs. They looked fine with one even using the handphone to SMS. When I finally came out, I was tearing and nearly blind, she was shocked. She led me to the seat at the reception while we wait for DD.

I was in no condition to take th MRT and wasn’t keen to get bumped into either. DD led me to the taxi stand and we waited for one to take me and HF home.

Feeling cranky on a rainy morning. Everything started yesterday. As I’m in a cranky mode, I’m blaming everything, big or small and it doesn’t matter whether it’s reasonable or not. Starting off from yesterday morning. I got to the platform and saw my usual spot taken. Got into the train only to find my spot taken too. Rode all the way for 45 minutes till it was my station to alight. (See the pattern? My, my, my all the way.)

Nothing went right at work. It started to work only after 3pm. Things got better after knock off. Went off to meet HF for the Lasik forum and listened to the talk. Registered for the eye evaluation (free for this month) after the talk despite HF’s hesitation. Think I dragged her into it. Must have lost my head there. However, after contemplating for 5 years, might as well take the bull by the horns. Went home late.

This morning, the heavy rain started at 7am. Prayed it would stop but knew it won’t. Decided to take the feeder bus. Waited for 15 minutes for 2 fat single deck feeder buses to pass by before taking the expensive express bus that was on the same route. Reminded me of the other time when a taxi had to be hailed instead.

Got to the platform and the train had arrived. Had a feeling that my spot was taken again. I was so right. Hated the men who took the spots and cursed all those who only alight at the next station because they took up the seats that were far from me.

I arrived at the office only to realise that I was locked out of the department because the manager didn’t inform the security that my contract had extended. To think she is supposed to know all these.

Ultimately, decided to be negative for the morning. I have two choices, be positive or be negative. I chose negative for the morning. Must stop being cranky.

They say women love shopping. They aren’t wrong by far. Ever saw that map where the red line stood for the path that a lady would make and the path where a man would make? Huge difference. Just buying clothes alone would need comparison. Imagine 8 boutiques that feature something that you like. You would want the best quality without paying for too much.

Even computers need to be compared. Walking around is tiring. That’s why I do my comparison online without killing my legs and making myself tired and cranky because I can’t seem to find my preferences.

We like to get the best price for what we want to use for a long time to come. It’s pointless to buy something that will spoil easily. I’ve been comparing computers each time I am considering buying one. Digxa provides comparison for television, digital cameras, furniture, cell phones and many others. All the legwork is done online, thus, killing two birds with one stone.

Having my articles featured is both a bane and a boon. While I have some comments that aren’t well-thought, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t any who don’t think. I have been called lame and other sorts of names.

First, my piece on listening to commuters got quite a number of comments. Wow. Only when I project a negative view then I get a response. So, shall I write more negatives views? No? Oh well.

1. Raising prices will always get complains. No matter what. It seems that the explanations have gone from being detailed, to being general. Was it detailed in the first place? Like fuel prices raising, so there is a need to maintain, etc.
2. Anyone taking the train knows that going from Boon Lay to Tampines takes more than an hour of train rides. If anyone else is able to get there in less than an hour by train, show me how.
3. If anyone can show me a way such that no one will block the doors during peak hours whereby everyone is rushing to work, show me how.
   [via Flickr]
4. If anyone is able to tell me that the waiting time for a train during non-peak hours is less than 11 minutes, let me know.
5. If everyone is able to move in when needed, why would so many others say otherwise?
6. When the train is delayed, what are the announcements? For a delay of 10 minutes and above, speculations are bound to fly around. What happened when it was delayed not due to someone jumping the tracks? The story was told after speculations flew around.

If no speculations should be flying around, then transparency should be implemented. If not, there will always be unhappiness. I didn’t say that it isn’t efficient. All I feel is that whenever there is a price increase, people expect more. This goes the same for that vacuum cleaner, or any product of service. You don’t expect that $200 shirt to have seams coming out after 2 washes, do you?

You want more people to use your services, it’s like building a good relationship.

When the MRT was first setup, I was curious about it. After a while, I noticed that it arrives according to the dictation, less than 4 minutes of waiting. Over the years, I’ve noticed that I have to wait for 7 minutes for the next train should I have the unfortunate fate of walking towards closing doors and risk losing my leg or arm.

After so many years, the fares have increased from 20 cents (I think) to 90 cents for 3 train stops. Now, I wonder if the price for 2 train stops will be $1.20 onwards since the price of oil has been rising despite the MRT not using any petrol, diesel or whatever liquid fuel for any matter. It uses electricity that is generated from the power station or somewhere.

The slogan for SMRT is Moving People, Enhancing lives. Is that what they are doing? Moving people alright but at what pace? Can we actually reach from one end of Singapore to the other end in 20 minutes using the train? No. I have tried and it took me 1.5 hours, the fastest was only 1 hour and 15 minutes. By car, it would have taken me 20 - 30 minutes provided that all the traffic lights are green and no traffic jam.

[via Flickr]

In what ways have our lives been enhanced? I see people blocking the whole stretch of the platform at popular stations like Jurong East, Outram Park, Raffles Place, City Hall, Bugis, Ang Mo Kio and Bishan. None of them will let me alight unless I’m using a long umbrella that is wet, using a large bag to barge my way through or holding a hot kettle. All these are during peak hours.

[via Flickr]

I’ve met different people in the trains such as telling others to move into the middle of the car, inconsiderate people taking up floor space, loud music that not everyone enjoys, non-existing announcements of the stops, loud or soft announcements of the stops, people eating and drinking to their hearts’ delight and many others.

I have even had elderlies rushing into the train to grab that available seat they have already marked with their eyes. Another elderly lady attempted to poke me with her umbrella despite a lot of people alighting. It’s very rare to see someone giving the seat to an elder or pregnant lady.

World class transport means that it’s supposed to be efficient. It does arrive on dictation, after 11 minutes of waiting. It shouldn’t stop violently due to some other train still at the station. Signals should be given way ahead. Or have they until the driver belated sees the red light?

If the price of the rides have to be increased, service such as waiting time should be improved. It isn’t reasonable if the price increased but the cleanliness and waiting time standards have gone down the drain.

There should also be transparency such as delays that don’t let others speculate about suicides on the tracks. Speculation is to be expected if there is train delays. Don’t just state that there will be a delay and sorry for the inconvenience caused. It can’t quench the cat’s curiosity thirst.

Finger pointing isn’t even needed. Just facts and transparency. I thought going for interviews state that as employees, we should own up to mistakes? Commuters don’t really care much about how long the inquest for such incidents will take, just that they need a solution to their transport problem.

All these factors determine why we are taking the public transport. Increasing the taxi fares don’t help because everyone is trying to earn more money. Everyone is out to win, not lose. While the buses have less graffiti, the waiting time still needs to be improved.

Taxis are there to provide a more personalised transport mode. Buses are there to provide a general mode, albeit more than the train. Trains are there to get us to the general area. Changing between trains and buses are common, it’s how much of a hassle.

If you have to change from bus to train to bus just to get from Seng Kang to Tampines or Bedok, what mode of transport would you choose? How long do you think the public transport will take? 20 minutes? 50 minutes or even an hour?

Are the commuters’ voices being heard in the first place? Are the ones stating all the changes and implementing them taking the public transport at the same time as those commuting to work? Do they even know?

I took half day just to take my degree. The place doesn’t allow me to collect it on other days. I decided not to attend the ceremony. Just felt that the 2 hours during noon weren’t going to be worth my time. DD decided to drive me there. We turned into Orange Grove Road but missed the turn after the private apartments. I’m so bad at reading maps. After the collection, we went to Nihon Mura at The Cathay for a very late lunch.

After lunch, we went to Bugis to collect DD’s birthday present by the union. Totally got lost because there were some streets that were one way. When DD turned in at Seah Street and prepared to reverse park, there was this idiot (didn’t catch the license plate ) driving racing pass us by barely 1mm from the driver’s side. Fortunately, DD braked on time. That’s why I prefer DD to lovingly drive me around.

We proceeded to look at the street directory again. I shall never become a navigator. I can’t read maps. Finally, we figured the route and proceeded to the union and waited for this lady to answer some idiot who loved to call at the moment we were about to be served. The present? It was a diary with a calculator.
I wondered if it was worth risking hit by some reckless driver. Well, since we were in the area, might as well redeem the gift. That’s what the union is always for. Redeem gifts like manicure sets, diaries, calculators, torchlight-cum-radio-cum-siren and other whatnots.

Lesson for that day was that never read maps if one is unable to read them. Consulting them during critical times would result in wrong turns. Always be alert on the lookout for some rash drivers thinking that they are Formula One drivers who can maneuver way much better than F1 wannabes.

Usually, I prefer 3D2N trips as it allows me to have a goo rest on the 1st day of arrival. However, Batam isn’t really a place where you would like to stay for more than 2 days. It’s mostly known for its massage services, just like Thailand. Batam was hot and sexy.

We boarded the ferry at 10am and reached Batam at around 11am. It was still 10am, Batam time. It doesn’t matter how early we reached the place. The hotel rooms weren’t ready. We reached the hotel, Pacific Palace, at 12 noon but were told that the rooms weren’t ready. So, we had to walk around to entertain ourselves until 1pm. By a stroke of luck, one of the rooms was ready just before we decided our next course of action.

Thus, we dumped our bags into the room and went out. However, we realised that we had left out something during our haste for lunch. Thus, we went back to take it. On our way out, the receptionist or some manager looked for DD. Thankfully, we went back because the manager actually went to the room to look for us.

Since we had the keys, DD and I decided to check out the rooms. We chose the room on the left and scared the lights out of the guy who was attempting to do something with the lights. So sorry. Then we went to check out the other room. Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone to frighten.

Since I felt that the 2nd room was better, I chose that room and left with the other choice to the other couple. I was right in choosing that room. The overall displeasure about that hotel is that it had no bath tub. It’s a 4-star hotel but no bath tubs for deluxe, superior and executive rooms. What sort of designer decided it to be that way?

The toilet was large, larger than the ones in Hard Rock Hotel Bali and Ritz Carlton Bali. So I can’t get it out of my mind that it doesn’t have any bath tubs except for Junior and Classic suites.

We went for a massage at Miracle Aesthetic Clinic which had quite a professional decoration. However, I found it odd that their jacuzzi had this vacuum like object that had a pipe to emit the jets. It felt that the bath tub had shrunk due to that extra object. The staff was rather nice to switch off the aircon after discovering that I was cold.

While the massage was average, the jacuzzi was superb. 2 hours of Strawberry spa includes body massage, body scrub, steam, jacuzzi and some refreshments. The package cost Rp 300, 000 excluding tax. Sweet deal, right?

Thus, our 1st day in Batam ended with dinner at some food court. I can’t remember the place but I think it was in Nagoya, with more than 10 stalls selling seafood. Apparently, Bali and Batam are known for their seafood.

The next morning, which is this morning, the couple that got the 2nd room, reported that their bathroom had flooded. The pipe was clogged. The 1st couple joked about letting the water level rise so that they had a standing bath tub. However, in reality, the shower door had opening between the fixed glass and the door. It wouldn’t have really flooded that high.

Naturally, we went to the Mega Mall opposite the ferry terminal before departing for Singapore. I bought nothing except J. Co donuts that Kris had introduced. It does taste different from those bought in the cake shops. The donut was light and easily bitten into. However, my favourite snack still isn’t donut as I am not fond of sweet stuff.

I won’t be booking Pacific Palace but will book another hotel for my next trip to Batam. There’s another option, I can just go for a 1-day trip in Batam. Another lesson lesson learnt, any change in the package meant more money for the locals as they would state a charge of a certain amount per person before you take up their service. The utter horrors of holidays that I dislike very much.

Having had the privilege to travel a few times, I must say, my favourite trip is to Australia. I went there during the Chinese New Year. Of course I visited my relatives before that. It was a package tour but ended up half free and easy.

However, it wasn’t that bad because we had a guide who drove us around according to the itinerary. In fact, I still remember this couple, there were only 3 couples. This particular couple caught SH and my eyes because of their odd pairing.

They didn’t look married. They didn’t behaved married. They behaved as if they were brother and sister. We just couldn’t make out what sort of relationship they had. The guy wasn’t that great in English and there was this one time, it rained heavily on our way back. One of us wanted to buy something and the guide recommended 7-Eleven. And so, we went there to make some purchases.

Before we alighted, the guide was telling us a whole lot of information and we weren’t used to the accent yet. This guy (from the odd couple) kept nodding and agreeing. At the end, he asked, “Ee kong simi?” (What did she say?)

We couldn’t keep our laughter in. I guess face was the issue here. It’s one of my favourite trips as it was rather relaxed and we had someone to drive us around. The only thing was that I got sick of was seeing kangaroos and koala bears from day one to day six. I did like feeding them though.