Saturday, April 24, 2010

Saturdays are bliss

Eye-update:
My eyes have been lasik-ed for a week now, and I still find myself groping for my glasses in the morning. And feeling like I need to take my contacts off late at night. And I had a minor panic attack the other night when I realised that the halo around street lights were larger than before. Yikes, 0-Had I done something to permanently ruin some part of my vision?

But apart from that, it's been good. I feel like I am less tired these days, maybe because I don't have lenses to dry my eyes out, plus I've been diligently using eyedrops through the day. But we'll see if this turns out to be one of the unexpected benefits from the op!

And on to this good Saturday:
Like clockwork on a Saturday morning, I awoke at 6 all bright eyed (heh) and bushy tailed (not really but you know what I mean).

Breakfast of leftover pancakes, with my beautiful mother. (Is this pancake mix better, she asked. I nibbled. I concurred. Score 1 for Aunt Jemina pancake mix.) My daily dose of Nescafe Gold Blend. The Straits Times (mum starts on Section A. I start with the Life section.).

After a delightful breakfast, we adjourn to the living room. (I finish the rest of the papers and wait for mum to finish Section A :)

Mid-morning, the karung-guni uncle arrives. We save our papers for this particular guy. He gives a decent rate, reminds me of my uncles on my dad's side (bryll cream and old-school shirts), has a cheerful disposition, the right low tone of voice that is loud enough to let you know he is there without being annoying, and a row of pretty coloured raffia strings on his trusty trolley to boot. Many other people swing by the neighbourhood on weekends but this uncle is the real deal.

In case you're interested, the week's newspapers netted $1. The 2 insurance annual reports that were a total waste of time probably accounted for about 20 cents.


Disclaimer: this photo was taken some weeks ago and depicts about 2-3 weeks' worth of newspapers. Prices quoted are seasonal. Check with your friendly neighbourhood karung guni for prevailing rates.














And tonight, I think I will take my camera for a walk to the launch of the new double helix bridge. Maybe I'll get to test out the fireworks function on my camera!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Snail tale













For Feli.

"We ate here!!", I thought, as I stumbled on this chef/author's page.

Then I realised it wasn't the place we ate the snails (after being careful to remove the little footpads...)

Still, it was nice to see the photo, a familiar place we passed by almost every day from the apartment to the train station.

Paris was fun :)

Part II: Eye told you eye'd be back

Hahaha. Did you like the pun? I thought it up in about 5 seconds :p

Here is a shot of me all garbed up in my small personal waiting space before and after surgery.

My thoughts around this time were, why on earth am I doing this?? I was sleepy, and standing between me and my bed was this little eye surgery.

It didn't help that there were several other patients in similar curtained cubicles and I could hear them post-surgery. The man to my left was groggy and sounded a bit disoriented. I could hear a Caucasian man on the phone with someone, talking about how it hadn't been as bad as he thought it was.

Anyhow, I was pretty nervous. I thought, what if there was a blackout in the middle of the whole procedure? Sometimes, it would be best to leave the vivid imagination at home.

I was downright stiff as I lay on the operating bed in the cold room. I heard loud noises. I visualised what was going on. There were two parts to the surgery; after they cut the cornea flap (the worse part of it all), they quickly moved me to the next machine for the lasers to reshape my eyes (medical details omitted) and thankfully, moved on to wash my eyes and gently flip the cornea flap back.

Despite what my aunt told me, my vision wasn't perfect immediately (seems it was the case for her). I stumbled out of the waiting room, silently traumatised but glad it was over. I could see well enough to walk out and meet my beautiful mother blessedly waiting for me outside. Homeward we zipped in a cab, me with my bug eyes (little eye guards to protect my eyes), got home, popped a sleeping pill and off to bed!

In less than 24 hours, my eyesight has gotten as good - or better - as when I was wearing contacts. And yes, I am happy to confirm that there was no pain, just slight discomfort and it done wonders for my eyes.

Whee!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Part I: Eye story (and there WILL be a part II)























A night time photo! Pretty lamp hand-carried back from Turkey by Sheena :)

Tis late (for me) - almost 11pm.
Time for bed! Yawn.
But just 1 post.
Because tomorrow evening I am going under the knife.

Well, laser to be exact.

And the surgeon will do gross things like slicing my cornea and having a laser beam reshape my eye (any doctors reading this: please fill in the missing medical details yourselves :), flipping the cornea flap back and [something else happens..more blanks here] and ta da, my eyesight will be perfect. Grossed out yet? I am...

For the record, my eyesight is 550/600 and very low astigmatism. And I have small eyes but my cornea is slightly above the average in terms of thickness. And I have healthy eyes. So basically I can undergo lasik.

I'm sure it will go well.

But, what if it didn't...

Over the last few weeks, I have been fretting a little over a possible loss of sight while I mulled over this decision. What if it affected my photography? :( What if I couldn't blog any more? :( Or gaze at beautiful scenery?

I'm pretty sure it will go smoothly.

But really, sight seems extra precious right now! Treasure it...

Friday, April 9, 2010

Old building - black, white, red

I had the loveliest jaunt last Sunday and the memories are fresh in my
mind... Looking forward to posting some photos from the gallivanting,
like this old building. Lovely gate and doors.

It's Friday! Bring on the Friday wardrobe! Weekend is almost here...as
usual, there are places to go, things to do and people to see.