Friday, April 11, 2008

Who's That Girl?

Writing the previous post, I was reminded of an incident which happened 12 years ago which coincidentally is the previous Rat Year for the Chinese. I just finished high school and was working part-time to earn some extra moolah while waiting for my SPM results. Me and then BFF found a job in a local supermarket as cashiers.

Being a supermarket, the staffs are required to work in shift. Me and BFF usually tried not to be separated although we were usually assigned different counters. Then come this one fine day when I was to work in the morning and she was to take the afternoon shift.

Imagine my surprise when I saw her at the counter when I get in that morning. Still, happy to see her, I bounded over and greeted her. She beamed back at me. The scene still plays vividly in my mind till today. The conversation below is not exact but similar. After all, this is 12 years ago.

Me : Hey, I thought you are working the afternoon shift today?

BFF : Yea but they changed me to morning shift at the last minute.

Me : Oh great! Then we can have lunch together today. I'll come down and meet you at 1pm.

BFF : OK! See you!

Me : See you!

I went up to my own counter after that short conversation as work was about to start. A little after 1pm, I went down to get her but I couldn't find her. Back then, we don't have the luxury of mobile phones like kids do nowadays. Feeling a tad sad and confused, I resigned to eating with other colleagues that day. But as I left the office for lunch, I was surprised to see her coming to work from the direction of her house wearing different set of clothes.

As it turns out, she was working the afternoon shift that day and just got in to work. She was nowhere near the supermarket that morning and no one else saw anyone that even remotely resembles her that morning anywhere near the supermarket. I know she wouldn't play a joke on me so I was dumbstrucked.

We both quit the job soon after and I never did found out who or what I spoke to that morning. Spooky.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

I Hate Rats!!!

People say that those that are born in the Year of the Horse of the Chinese zodiac don't get along well with those born in the Year of the Rat. Being a Horse, predictions say that it will be a bad year for me this year. Of course, the Scully in me pooh-poohed the very thought of it but now that almost 2 months had passed since Chinese New Year, I am not so sure anymore.

You see, I had been suffering from backache since early March. The first doctor I went to told me to sit tight and if possible, get myself chauffeur-driven to and back from work if I do not want to end up in a wheelchair. She said my nerve is causing the backache. It got so bad that at one point I can scarcely walk let alone use the staircase. The muscle-relaxant and painkillers do nothing to improve my situation. I had to kiss my high heels goodbye.

A couple of weeks or so later, I went to another doctor who told me that I had problems with my bones. She said I probably had the wrong posture when I sit or walk and that is causing the pain. More muscle-relaxants and painkillers and even physiotherapy didn't help. I was getting worried at this point as I was scheduled to go for a holiday with my hubby in Bali at the end of March. We can't reschedule as everything had been paid for much earlier. I decided a break would do me good after all and so we went.

Luckily, the pain started to subside a little and I was able to walk around with relatively minor discomfort during my holiday there. Alas, it wasn't going to be the holiday I had in mind as it was raining from the afternoon that we arrived. So much fun sloshing your way through murky muddy waters in temples and the market of Ubud with your jeans soaked up to your knees in search of souvenirs I tell ya. Nevermind that too, I didn't even manage to see the famous sunsets of Bali even though I went to Tanah Lot on Day 1, Jimbaran on Day 2 and Uluwatu on Day 3! It was just too cloudy. However, Day 4 was a bright sunny day but it was also the day we were scheduled to depart. Now if that wasn't down to bad luck I don’t know what is.

Water, water, everywhere...

Sunset at Tanah Lot

Lunchtime at Kintamani looking over at the still active volcano in the distance

Tourists with brollies

Sunset at Jimbaran

I was barely back to work after my trip before a severe bout of food poisoning from a buffet dinner to celebrate birthdays in the office landed me in bed for 2 days straight with diarrhea and fever. I went to the toilet 6 times on the first day so much so that my knees tremble when I tried to cross my legs. Poor, weak me lost 2 kilos in those 2 days which was so hard for me to gain in the first place. Sigh. Damn the catering company! 'Best' caterer's the name to avoid, good people.

The very next, I received a call midday through work that my mom got into a very bad accident. It was so bad that her car now is to be declared a total loss. It is a miracle she survived with only a bloody lip and minor scratches. I cannot believe so many unfortunate things can happen consecutively in such a short period of time. I think I need to soak myself in Holy Water or something. And to think that Mickey and Minnie Mouse are so deceptively cute is just too scary a thought to entertain. Even Ratatouille.

By then, I had been on medication for more than 1 full month so I decided enough is enough and I finally went to a chiropractor last weekend who came very highly recommended thanks to my relatives. After he fixed my back, I thought "Hey, this isn’t so bad". That’s when he gave me a strange look and told me that he noticed my jaw is not aligned properly and needed adjustment as well. What am I now? A car which needed alignment?!

Anyhow, I am now only supposed to eat non-solid food for the next 3 weeks but porridge day in and day out really makes me miserable so I resorted to eating "soft" food that doesn't require much chewing. That’s not all, I am forbidden to laugh loudly or yawn too widely. Let's see what happens to my backache and jaw after my follow-up visit to him in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I shudder to think there's still about 9 more months before the Year of the Boar arrives. Pray for me!