Dear Dreams – Page 131

Cheap Versus Expensive Medical Bills

I got up early on a Saturday morning unusually. It was all for the money spending trip at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) again for my medication appointment.

During the visit to the medical centre in Stagmont Camp some months ago, the medical officer (MO) helped me to schedule an appointment with the specialist as to get a letter to downgrade me permanently.

I managed to walk to SGH within half an hour’s time. I did not have good impression with the management since I had to spend at least an hour to wait there each time and that the specialists were not very caring.

This time round, I only waited for around ten minutes before I could get into the room, which was a great improvement, but however, could be because my appointment was one of the earliest.

The doctor was Dr Thiruchelvam Jegathesan. I should have mentioned about the weakness in my knees but I was suddenly too lost for words. Apart from the main problem, which was my back, I told him about my suspicious of having bone spurs on my feet but he claimed it was not very likely. In the end, I told him that the MO wanted the memo from him and he sent me out of the room while typing it out for me. It was a short and sweet letter, but however, the contents might not be a strong backup for permanent downgrade…

“Dear colleague kindly downgrade the above mentioned patient to his prov Pes status of C2L2 due to his chronic back pain secondary to Mild disc bulging at L4/5 and Subarachnoid cyst involving the left S2 nerve root. Thank you. .”

Compared to my elder brother’s letter from Geneagles Hospital, it was nothing. His specialist wrote a very detailed and strong letter for downgrading him, which I was very impressed. I could see the big difference between private and government hospitals – private hospitals would put the patient’s interest at the first place whereas government hospitals would reduce time wastage and also, not taking too much responsibility.

At least, this was the first time ever a specialist from SGH would dare or bother to help me write a letter to ask for downgrade. It was a better experience at SGH and I hoped I would not call it “Singapore Waiting Hospital” again in future.

I paid for $25, whereas my brother paid around $80 for the consultation.

The Longest Slide Ever

Last Friday after reaching home from work, I had a very short nap while waiting for my mum. We took bus to People’s Park Centre to fix my blue spectacle. The lady advised me to make a new pair instead but luckily the owner of the shop came over and told us it could be fixed. This doctor had been giving my whole family great discount over the past ten years.

We went to Swanston to get toothpaste. The Colgate ones came in three and cost around $5.20 and NTUC was selling the pack around two bucks more; Mustafa could be more expensive.

We went to Chinatown Complex’s hawker centre for the famous sting ray and it was the first day they changed the chilli, which put me in tears. Nevertheless, it was still delicious. The drinks stall auntie finally stopped boosting about putting twenty-five limes into the drinks.

I finally started washing the pair of shoes which was drenched totally by the sea water during the Dragon Boat trip weeks ago. I removed the pipe of the washing machine from the bathroom before the cleaning job, and went to bathe after that.

My brother got home and then later, I realised the washing machine was running. I was not sure if he or his girlfriend was using the bathroom and thus did not question him whether my mum had instructed him or either one of us had accidentally hit the button.

I was in front of my computer when there was loud noise from the washing machine, which usually happened when it was releasing the dirty water. Suddenly, I remembered I did not put back the end of the pipe to the bathroom and thus, I quickly dashed towards the kitchen, to slide like a soccer player over a distance within a second. I hit my elbows a little but my alertness did not save my shorts from being drenched.

The kitchen was flooded with water by then. So much for the chores to clear the water, my brother did together with me, and that I had to take a quick shower again.

The pros were that the kitchen had not been mopped for quite long already and that the slip was actually fun.

One advice for everyone is to choose the correct kitchen tiles to prevent slipperiness. The contractor who did the renovation for my house donkey years ago obviously used cheap materials.

Work Wise

Carrying computers simply reminded me of the army days.

Often, the person in charge of everything would not be an organised person, and thus causing extra work to be done. Though work could be frustrating and tiring, I would never run away.

“Let’s quickly leave so that they cannot find us.” – I really hate such childish and selfish thinking unless the boss is a pain in the ass. In another words, if your boss has been treating you very well and yet you are trying to escape from helping, what kind of animal are you? Logically thinking, there are works which you can luckily run away from it today but not the next day. And, if you have forgotten to bring your brain out of your house, you probably have to go home before you realise you are only a call away.

Since secondary school days, we have been taught that avoiding is never a good solution. You can either stand up and say no, or, just put simply put in your full effort to help. We have lived so long in this world to start realising what real men have to do.

I was glad that my superior did the right thing this time to task everyone to help out together, or otherwise, everyone in the office would definitely come to me directly because I was too stupid to not reject. Perhaps, some people would rather take kind people for granted, so as to reduce the number of them, making the group of them endangered and thus more valuable.

I wanted to stay behind to buck up on my pending work as everyone was leaving; but I suddenly came to sense, realising my plan to continue with work would only land me with extra works which I did not know how to turn away. For the first time at work place I was so wise to make the correct decision, to rather go home to continue, or at least rest or play.

I gave volleyball a miss since I wanted to go and get my spectacle fixed, and that I had already spent two nights this week playing volleyball, which made me guilty.

一针见血

If you have been trying to ask some friends out for years but they always claim to be too busy, the reason is obvious.

Keep trying and you would only be disgracing yourself, which the Chinese would say “自取欺辱” (You are asking for the insult).

We eventually get to realise who are our true friends after the long period of experiment.

Rejections from friends can be hurting, and rejection from a special someone is far worse. When repeated failures have eliminated all hopes, a causal question could actually wake the drunkard sober to realise his dream is nothing but a tale.

The needle pierces through the body, right into the heart. There is nothing but blood.

Shout Up and Play Volleyball

I had my second volleyball session of the week on Thursday. Both Weitat and I were exhausted from work and I thought I could behave like a zombie in the hall but he started setting up the poles and net again. After which, I happily went to the mat and within a minute, Weitat came over to invite me for two-on-two.

My right index finger gave me the usual pain. I was a cripple when the finger affected my serving, digging, setting and spiking – basically I was dragging him down. Perhaps it was a form of phobia, which I took quite long to overcome the pain over the evening, and probably through immunising.

The real games begun alright as the rest arrived. We did not have enough players and had to play five-on-five. It was good until the exhaustion strike me. I made few mistakes and unfortunately, I was in the wrong team somehow.

It was good for advice because through the comments, we would improve; but basically if someone who was of worthless quality dropped criticism, it was an insult which normally would also arrive in frustration. It was impossible to stop arrogance when the champion was always in his own world, thinking that he was great.

I was still in strength to continue the game until the very last drop of tolerance evaporated through the heat. The irritation brought my soul out of the game, but since I could not just simply leave the court, I could only pray hard for it to end.

When my long awaited moment arrived, I was almost scared to death when some of them mentioned about continuing the game. Luckily that the ball had gone up to the top and they were having too much fun to get it down that time passed by fast to reach nine o’clock.

Grounded

Yesterday morning, I woke up in guilt and hatred. It had been nearly a week since I last worked on my new site despite the fact that I had been flooding Irwin to start off with his planned site whenever both of us were online.

I had been busy with blogging and going out that completely wiped off my time to resume on my work. The dateline I gave to myself was going to hug me soon and I had to plead to myself to extend it.

At this pace, my nightmare threatened to haunt me as school was going to reopen soon. Preparation work was at its minimal and the designing project did not move fast enough with the ultimate “fast” school laptop.

Work seemed endless somehow, although sometimes I might be doing extra things. At least, I had clear conscience with my contribution, which could aid the kids, at least a bit.

Sometimes I really wished I could have more free time like some people who could even surf net daily in office for comics and yet being paid. I could swear that I would spend the free time doing websites or self studying instead of spitting them away.

I’m hesitating to continue with work over the weekends or my websites. I want to leave so badly and I have to secure my future, that I would probably choose the latter. Meanwhile, I need to restrict myself from going out, or even playing volleyball so many times each week.

I’m grounding myself.

KB BBQ at East Coast Park

I left work a little earlier than the rest to attend my class KB’s barbecue gathering at East Coast Park.

The initial plan was to sleep through bus 196, which would definitely take longer than an hour. Before leaving the office, I was advised to take train and transit to bus instead. The entire information gathering progress killed more of my time and I could have just proceeded to my own plan in the first place.

I walked to Clementi MRT station and stood all the way to Eunos MRT station, almost fell down countless time when I dozed off. It was a torment, and also, a physical and mental test for me, which was unhealthy. After alighting, I made a waste trip to the bus-stop at the main road and finally decided to approach the translink counter. I took bus 13 and luckily, it stopped at the same bus-stop as bus 196. Nevertheless, it was a wrong decision made to not follow my original plan.

Walking towards the sea, I saw to my terror at the number of the nearest pit. A few of the guys were cycling and they called for me. They confirmed to me that the pit was a far distance away. I went straight to the MacDonald’s to get changed into shorts before strolling all the way to find the rest of them. The wind was strong and cooling but I was too shagged to enjoy myself.

It was good to see the kids again, but however, sad to know that so many of them were smokers. I was well served with food and drinks. There was a little playing with camera but the batteries’ lives quite irritated me. Chi Chiang arrived before eight. I got to realise Terrence was staying just opposite me but he left without me. In the end, Chi Chiang was pestering Edmund to exchange magic tricks and I got entertained. We stayed till after ten and left after most of them were gone.

Walking towards Parkway Parade was a good decision but the waiting for bus 196 was long.

My Blue Spectacle is Down

The last minute call for volleyball was a burden to my tired brain.

It was a hectic afternoon even though Weitat was driving and it made travelling easier. After work, we went to the car dealer’s side for Jingkun to settle some documentation, and Weitat drove me to Tiong Bahru MRT while waiting. It had been long since I last walked around in Tiong Bahru Plaza and my brain was filled with memories.

I took train home and started packing my volleyball gears into my bag. Then, I gave the guys a call and Weitat told me to stay put. It gave me sufficient time to clear my mails, read the RSS feed of my friends’ websites, and even enjoy a stick of ice-cream.

Weitat insisted to come to fetch me despite he was not in a good mood. I was actually quite worried about the ERP charge. Anyway, I dashed to buy some muffins when they arrived and started eating inside the car. My navigation skill to CCAB to fetch Mingfa was much better than usual.

After picking Mingfa up, Weitat sent Yi Cheng home at Regent Heights. I was quite curious about the “Xiao Gui Ling” opposite. Anyway, Weitat sent Mingli home next to get her equipments and both of them rushed up for toilet meeting. Next, we proceeded on to Weitat’s house where we got to see the ultra “soft” Pika running. After that, we met up with a traffic jam before arriving at the school. Jingkun reached earlier than us.

We started the game with great tempo. I could feel myself hanging in the air and my timing was so good that I could easily create earthquake, except that we had to be friendly and gentle with the ball. In the later part of the game when stronger opponents arrived, we were less serious. My nightmare arrived during a blocking when the ball hit my spectacle and soon, the joint of the nose pad broke off. I was even too busy to go for repair at the optical shop and I was not sure how much that would cost for the soldering.

We left without dining together again. I had a cup of instant soup and then dozed off within hours without having dinner again for the third or fourth time within less than two weeks.

Been Busy

Last few days saw me occupy with updating of blogs. Photo editing and uploading were big hassle. It was not only my personal blog and thus efforts might be unseen.

Television shows distracted me badly as usual, followed by MSN chats.

I hate this fact of life that we get overloaded with stuffs as we grow older. We have to prioritize and give up on hobbies and dreams, and eventually forget about them.

If only I can turn the clock back, I will have the time to accomplish all my work. For all the time I have wasted when I was young, I have to repay with less sleep each day.

Inspiration dies off fast. I have not completed any poem for donkey years.

The Longest Filming Hours

It had been quite some time since I stepped into Mediacorp again. During the previous time when I decided to help Jesedy, they called off the filming the night before it.

Undercover again

I had a tough battle against my sleep to wake up four hours after hitting my bed. Taking bus 167 to MacRitchie Reservoir and taking the walk towards Mediacorp Radio gate was a hassle. I reached there right on time. While collecting the uniform at the wardrobe, the auntie was very nice and courteous, which gave me the relief.

Lizard on the floor while waiting

I started waiting at the usual place as hours passed by. More than an hour later at the stated departure time, there was no news from the AP. I received a call some time later, telling me they would be coming soon but would give me another call when they were on their way back; I could tell that they are not returning any soon. I joined another part-timer, Kelvin, inside the make-up room which was air-conditioned.

Awful tasting Fish & Chips

The noon sun waved to us and soon after near three hours of my arrival, the person called me again to ask us to go for lunch first. The other two part-timers joined me for lunch at the canteen. It was my first time dining there and I was glad that the canteen was opened on a Saturday. Many parents, maids and kids joined in to fill their stomachs. I ordered a plate of fish and chips, which cost $4.50 and it was the worse fish and chips I had ever had in my entire life of western food dining expedition. However, I swallowed everything in the end since I did not want to waste money.

We went back at around one and timing was just right that the whole load of them had returned. Then, I realised filming was going to be continued right at the gate. I laughed upon how they transformed the place into a police station. The director was a nice young chap and everyone seemed to be working merrily under the boss.

My hair length was too long for a policeman and thus they asked me to go into the makeup room to get them trimmed. It was the most enjoyable haircut session I ever had in my life because the girl who fought excitedly to do it for me was cute although I did not have my spectacle on. She was new to the place but I trusted that the company would only employ capable people. Anyway, I felt quite awkward. It was the first time after more than ten years of my life that someone else was trimming my hair for me. I was in sweat and had already applied some wax on my hair, which could have made her job difficult.

The bruise

We moved further in where the most exciting part of the filming started at the open air car park. Kelvin and I were holding a criminal, Ya Guang, and he was supposed to struggle to escape in Dawn Yeoh’s daydream during her first day of report to work. I was very excited when they mentioned about having actions. Ya Guang knocked Kelvin using his head and when I bended over to grab him, Ya Guang pushed me away using his back power. I was ready to fall hard to make it look real. My first fall to the ground was so hard that allowed me to roll just like playing volleyball. I had some minor bruises, which was so tiny compared to my usual games. They were too concern about safety however. I really liked involving in action shows.

When it was Dawn Yeoh’s turn to show off her skill to capture Ya Guang, she was too gentle to resist the fit guy. Movements were too weak and thus, we waited for very long before the scenes were over.

At around 4pm, I confessed that my judgement for the length of the filming session was totally way off. I almost thought I could leave before 1pm without all the delays. Suddenly they asked all of us if we could help them with another scene and we agreed since we were already there. We boarded the bus towards Seng Kang.

Michelle Zhuang’s NGs did not piss the director off. The whole load of us had to take extra steps though. The four part-timers from China created some nuisances by wearing the caps while waiting despite repeated warnings from the crews that it might alarm the residents. They even dared to hang out at the playground, talk loudly and smoke. I felt quite embarrassed to be near them for others might simply group us together.

Everything was alright until we went up to one of the units to resume filming, but there was no instruction given. So, all the part-timers were sitting on the stairs. While waiting and not knowing if the director would call for us, I started dozing off. The lacks of sleep at the awkward place, together with the boredom were killing me, adding frustration into me upon I woke up.

They could have sent us back earlier since we were not needed. Anyway, we only got back at around 7pm and I was so anxious to leave that I got everything changed during the journey. I waited for Kelvin to get changed and return his stuffs to the wardrobe before leaving. I dropped by the petrol station to use the toilet and got a cup of Slurpee before the invasion of dehydration.

I missed bus 167 right in front of me while crossing the road but luckily, the next one took less than twenty minutes to arrive.