The Adventures of PMT (铁牙公主历险记)

PMT means premenstrual tension, which happens to 75% of the ladies, before or during their menstrual period.

But PMT here means Princess with Metal Teeth, aka 铁牙公主。For my non-chinese readers, it reads as "tie ya gong zhu"

I am now officially declared as a PMT, had my first arc (top braces) yesterday morning.  I have been very excited about having my braces on, and has been patiently waiting for 11 August to come.  My dental appointment on 14 July, was to extract my wisdom tooth and a few other tooth to make way for my braces.  The surgery cut for the wisdom tooth has yet to fully recover, my right cheeks is still puffy, and it still hurts to open my mouth wide.  Please be aware that I am one of those who do not recover easily with any cuts or injuries, and they take ages to heal, so please handle me with care ya *wiNk*

Anyway, I still went ahead with the top braces, was making a lot of noises when Dr Ho tries to expand my mouth, and can you believe it, my lower lip was bleeding during the procedure, it just tears up because of the force exerted.  So now I have a wound right in the middle of my bottom lip :( 

Dr Ho has to apply glue onto the surface of my teeth, so that he could stick on the brackets (those squares that sits in the middle of a tooth so as to hold the wire securely), then shone blue light across my teeth, this action will dried up the glue and secured the brackets.  Then an arc-shaped wire was inserted into my mouth, and positioned to fill in between the single bracket, which was then closed up for a snug fit.

I was smiling when I saw those brackets on my teeth (No! I am not crazy!).  In fact the braces stays hidden even when I open my mouth to speak, that is the benefit for having a small mouth *evil laugh*.  The assistant nurse told me to run my tongue across my braces "to get a feel of it"! Ok, here is another secret, I have a very short tongue as well, in fact, I couldn't even ran my tongue across my teeth *siGh*

I love my braces, but the pain came after a few hours later... *sObz*  It has not cause me any major problem (yet) like most of my friends encountered, but my front teeth hurts terribly (because the teeth are trying to move into the correct positions), and again I couldn't chew properly.  I had only managed to start eating well after my last dental procedure on 21 July (removal of the stitches inside my mouth), and now I have to go back to my milk diet again.  Luckily I heeded Dr Ho's advise to fix the lower braces in another 2 weeks time.

Well, tomorrow will be a challenging day at work, first day in the office with my braces on.  How am I gonna cope with talking non-stop on the phone, and let me see if any of my colleagues realised my MT's existence. Oh! I have an appointment with a lecher client tomorrow, let me flash my MT at him if he tries to be funny with me.

Hungry ~ ~ Time for milk!!!

Bye Bye July, Hello August

Phew!  What a month July has been!

Watched "Ice Age 4", and was laughing so hard in the cinema.  Not bad for a stress reliver, although I seriously cannot recall a single plot of the storyline.

Attended EXSA last Monday, and was again amazed at how dedicated and passionate some people are about customer service.  It could be an inborn trait, or a skill accquired during the course of work, and not forgetting plenty of encounters with demanding customers that shapes the service mindset.  A veteran of the banking industry for 35 years, and a fourth time getting an EXSA Star award is definitely worth a standing ovation.

Was in a mad, mad rush again to complete my CSR Part 2 assignment on Thursday, in just less than 24 hours before submission time on 3 August before 7pm.  Yes yes yes, Opps I did it again!  Thank god that I managed to spot "Lee Burke" article in the midst of the (horrendously thick) lecture notes, and decided to use that theory framework for my analysis.  By 2am in the morning, I was sending distress signal to my coursemate, and he was in shock when I started discussing Burke's theory with him.  Getting panicky is no good especially when the deadline is fast approaching, after much discussion, he will ploughed on without Burke, while I holding on to Burke desperately for my dear life.

Last minute work, mad rush, struggled till 4am and it was finally done. Not my best individual piece of work, but nevertheless glad to get rid of it.  But alas, I couldn't print my assignment as I wasn't aware that I ran of of plain paper.  Slept for less than 3 hours, and was in a zombie state in the office.  The whole episode only ended when I rushed to submit my precious work during lunch time, and came the finale... I was drenched from head-to-toe in the heavy downpour, and started shivering with cold in the office.

Imagine the blissful state I was in when I finally get to rest my poor bones on my bed.

Then came the news from my coursemate:- most of our coursemates adopted the Burke's framework, which came as a relief to me, and naturally bad news to him :( Now I could only wait and see if I can scrape through this module.

Bedtime

Nowadays, I have been sleeping early.  Bedtime is usually 11pm on weekdays, and 10pm on weekends.  Sometimes, I can go to bed as early as 9pm on a Saturday.

I guess age is catching up eventually, I need at least 8 hours of sleep daily.  Occasionally I will lose sleep, and once I have less than my desired amount of sleep, I will be in a wrecked state the following day.

By going to bed early, I can compensate for my lackness in the sleep quality.  Athough I still wake up feeling lethargic, but I am more focus during the daytime, without much sign of tiredness.

I love it when I wake up at 2am to replenish my water intake or toilet visit, knowing that I still have a lot more hours before my annoying alarm jolt me up from my precious sleep.

My Chinese Physician told me before, my illness comes from severe lack of sleep, and high mental stress, resulting in slow building and replenishing of blood.  So I must have sufficient rest, and plenty of sleep to regularize my immune system.

I always needed a lot of sleep since young, probably due to my inherited beta thalassemia minor trait, but my mum used to think that I am lazy, and loves to drag me up whenever I wanna sleep in.  But now, she just let me sleep on, knowing that I need it more than anything else.

Once in a while, I do lose sleep... but nothing beats having absolute silence to mull through thoughts and feelings, and when I ran out of "what if", I know that it is time to curl into my blanket, and console myself that all is not lost, while I try to fall asleep.

Indulgence (Part 1)

I am in touch with my feminine side recently.  Ok ok, I confessed! That is just an excuse for my retail therapy.  Bought a few items, tried them, and I love it!  So ladies, this post is for you ya!



(Left to right): Sugar Lip Polish, Soap & Glory Body Scrub, Tsuya Tsuya Angel's Eye Intense Serum, Benefit Hervana Blush

  
I love the Sugar Lip Polish, the brown sugar particles gently exfoliate dead skin cells, while shea butter and jojoba oil hydrates and conditions the lips.  Hmmm, I remember reading it somewhere that it also remove wrinkles as well.  The lady's recommendation was to use twice a week for best results, but I only use it once a week, or whenever I feels like it. 

Verdict: This product is made in U.S.A.  For $29.00, it is a useful remedy for dry cracked lips, and depending on how frequent you use, it should last you for more than a year.  Definitely easy to use.  Just apply over your lips, and leave on for about 2 minutes or more. After which, in circular motions, gently massage the sugar particles to do a lip scrub.  Then rinse off using damp towel, and your lips will be soft and tender.  Viola! *mUacks*


The Scrub Of Your Life is one of the best body scrub I have used!  It has a fruity scent, that comes with a thick pink gellish substance and contains many tiny scrubbing beads.

Verdict: Trust me, bathing has become such an enjoyable affair, for just $19.00.  Just squeeze out a handful and gently smooth onto your body.  The thick foam is so inviting, and the micro scrubbing beads is refined enough to buff away the dryness on your skin, surely you will fall in love with the fruity scent which is so pleasing to the nose.  Warning: Once you rinse off thoroughly, you can't help wanting to touch your skin over and over again ;)


Tsuya Tsuya Angel's Eye Intense Serum is one of the product that I bought from Groupon.  This clear solution acts as a conditioner that encourages growth of strong and healthy lashes, it can be use on eye lashes and eye brows.

Verdict: I bought this at $13.90 from Groupon, and the original retail price is at $38.00.  I have a soft spot for natural long eye lashes, hence I have been following instructions:- to use it twice daily, once in the morning and once at night. Well, it has been a few days, since I have gotten it only last Wednesday, hopefully my eye lashes can grow longer and thicker.

I am not a Benefit Cosmetic user (tried one of their foundation previously, read earlier post on March 16, 2009), but Benefit Hervana Blush just blew me off.  The Benefit box-o-powder comes with a mirror and an angled soft brush.  There are four beautiful shades in this box (divine peach, berry delight, lucky shell, and heavenly rose), giving off a natural flush on the cheeks.

Verdict: It gives me a healthy princess glow, and it smells great!  Just swirl these beautiful shades together and sweep it across your cheekbones for a gorgeous flush.  For $49.00, it is definitely worthwhile, the blush powder are miraculously ultra fine.

I have gotten them from Sephora Vivo City outlet, except the Tsuya Tsuya Angel's Eye Intense Serum.  Do give it a try :)  I am still trying out a few more products, and will give you a review once I am done. 

I am now happily soft lipped, sweet smelling from the body scrub, and already applied my eye lash conditioner, I am ready for bed!

Goodnight!

In pain

During my hospitalisation previously, the doctors realised that I have some problem with swallowing.  After much observation, I was diagnosed with a small throat opening, and to make things worse, I have a very small mouth with big teeth, hence a misaligned jaw bite, resulting in me choking on my food most of the time.

Recently, my doctor brought up this issue again, as she is worried about me eventually having "Sleep Apnea" - a temporary suspension of breathing occurring repeatedly during sleeping due to small throat opening (http://www.wr-ent.com/6-throatCare.html).  Sure I can take small bites during eating or drinking, but she does not want my sleep quality to deteriorate as I grow old.

Met up with an Orthodontist last week.  Dr Henry Ho will be correcting my jawline, so that I can stop choking on my food.  He found my case very challenging, because of my tight-lips, while he was doing the photographing and teeth mould, I could not open my mouth big enough for the device and mould to go in.  The nurse was enlisted to put in the lip extension "spades", and stretched me at the corners of mouth.  Was in tears by the time the assessment were done, and Dr Ho jokingly said that my "Hello Kitty mouth is larger by one inch *dUh*

Dr Yeo kicked start my treatment yesterday, by removing one of my wisdom tooth, and extracted a few teeth to make space for the braces.  Chosen the IV sedation, was supposed to be in "twilight zone", but I landed up falling asleep for 1.5 hours, hmmm... as usual IV sedation always knocks me out.  Suspected that she used a clamp to widen my mouth for the extraction, because there are many scratches at the sides

of my mouth, blood clots on my bottom lips, and my whole mouth felt sore and numbed.


1st day












2nd day (look at the 2 needle holes!)

My right cheek now is all swollen, bruises and pain extended all the way to the neck area, all because of the extraction of the wisdom tooth.  The stitches are killing me, and I cannot open my mouth any bigger too.  Now it can only fit in a small metal teaspoon, and I am taking even smaller mouthful of food.  To complete my daily intake of nutrition, I am drinking my all-time favourite "Ensure" canned milk three times a day.

Stitches will be removed next Saturday, and will be starting my top braces first.  I can't wait for it to happen, although one thing is for sure, I will be having a swollen mouth again :(





Close Shave

This took place when I stepped out of the office building on Friday, and was approached by a mid-fifties man, in business attire, with a decent looking tie.  He has mistaken me for another lady by the name of "Eve", I walked off after telling him nicely that it was a case of mistaken identity, he started pacing beside me, and asked if I find him familiar?

I paused in my stride, looked right into his eyes, and said in my annoyed tone "No".  He kept repeating that it is normal if I do not have any recollection.  I quickened my pace and changed course to the nearest taxi stand, while he was tagging behind calling me "Eve".

Great! I did not have a fantastic day at work, and I am now being pestered by a psychopath, who has mistaken me as "Eve", and wanted to send me home - to another side of the island - Bishan? *roll eyeballs*

Despite me constantly warning him that I am in going to scream if he comes any closer, he maintained his distance, and continued his one-way communication for another 5 minutes or so, while I was praying hard for a miracle.  Why on earth is the "Book-a-cab hotline" so busy on a early Friday night?  Shortly, prayers were answered.  Thank god for the guy at the front of the taxi stand queue, who was observant enough to notice that I am in distress, and offered to let me go up the cab first.  I only had a brief moment to smile weakly at him, and offered a word of thanks, hopped into the cab, without looking back at Mr "Adam".

Whoever you are, Mr Kind Soul, much appreciated for saving my day :)

Park

Thanks to the sweltering heat, I have been suffering from this terrible pounding headache for weeks.  But I am not going to succumb to the sweet invitation of those pain killers. 

Took a walk in the park today after work... I remember taking my sister to the playground with her tricycle, with a cute little basket holding our shovels for sandcastle making... we were very young then, life was simple though not that carefree... When I was in my teens, waking up early to meet my classmates to jog in the park was a weekly affair, my best friend fell for one of my jogging mates, but things turned the other way, and we fell out when we were in Secondary 3...  My first walk with a JC guy friend... My first encounter with a lesbian...    

Time really flies, it has been 27 years since I stepped into this estate.  This park has seen me at different stages of my life, wearing cutesy school shoes till fancy high heels now, its paths bore my footprints with my love ones; sometimes side-by-side, sometimes one ahead of another.  Some paths are meant to be shared, some intertwined, and some - alone...

I think I better stop walking the park for awhile.  I better stay indoor, safe in my sanctuary, away from the heat, away from the memories.