Snippet 8 - 29th Anni

Last week was mum's big 50th, so we had a dinner at the Shang Palace. And they were saying how they're wedding anniversary is coming up. Then Dad made this comment which I thought was sweet:

"We've now been together longer than we've been apart."
He took mum's hand and smiled at her.

Today's their 29th anni.

MAID ABUSE

PETALING JAYA - After hearing terrible shrieks in a suburban home in Taman X today, concerned neighbours made a call to the local police force reporting the situation. Upon investigation, police stumbled upon this abused soul.

me with my hands on me head

Hahaha, ok, storytime:

A'HAN Nyonya Kuih Shop

Today I went to get my retainers fixed because they were broken (don't ask me how). Since we were in the area, after my retainers got fixed, we went over to this Nyonya Kuih shop. And then again, since we were in the area, I decided to go to Erik, to check out my shoulder.

that's the signboard

Erik is a wu shu master and a very sucessful one at that. He and his kung-fu family are often in articles in newspapers. Anyway, Erik runs Oriental Medicines & Therapies.

Erik is basically one of those modern day chinese chiropractors. Remember those old chinese kung-fu movies like Once Upon A Time In China where these chinese masters quickly fixed dislocated bones by snapping them back into place rather than the slow Western method of splints and bandages? Well meet modern day Wong Fei Hong living in Selangor, Mr. Erik Leong.

framed newspaper clipping about the Nyonya shop in the Nyonya shop

and yea, the kuihs were really good

I get sudden aches every once in a while ever since trials. I reckon this is due to sitting at my cramped desk in cramped corner whilst my right arm and hand tires itself writing answers to questions for hours on end. So I told this to one of Erik's subordinates. The subordinate then led me to a massage bed that had curtains surrounding it. He then put oil on my shoulder blade and took what looked like a smooth stone and scraped my back.

Yes, it hurt really hurt.

After about 5 minutes of this, he stopped and left the curtained 'room'. There's a huge mirror which covers one of the walls entirely, so I turned over to see:


Shortly after, Erik himself came in and checked me out. He did lots of cracks around my body which felt really really good. One of the most satisfying cracks is one of the scariest - the neck crack. I'm sure anyone who's been to a normal chiropractor would know what a neck crack looks and feels like. It kinda looks like what you see in the blockbuster movies where the protagonist grabs the head of the antagnoist and kills him with a swift twist of the antagonist's neck. Why I say it's scary is because Erik is a martial arts exponent, he probably knows how to do the neck crack that would kill me as well.

newly renovated
by the way, for my non-chinese friends and bananas,
the 2 chinese characters in the "yin-yang" logo is 'tie' and 'da'
which means 'metal' and 'hit'

Erik says the redness is caused my capilaries which burst in my back. If I had good blood circulation, none of these capilaries would show even after the rubbing of that stone. He says the red dots will stay there for a few days and later turn yellow and black. Eventually, it will all disappear.

close up

So the big question you all must be asking now is: Do you feel better?
Well yeah, I guess I kinda do, my shoulder definitely seems less tense than before and all the cracking really felt good, and I feel much more relaxed. Erik is a professional. He has a degree from RMIT University Melbourne, Australia. He's been doing this for years and he's very successful at it, so much so that he recently renovated his clinic and is going to have a grand opening on the 7th of October.

'Panda' coloured Smart car I saw parked when I was going to our local Pasar Malam

Oriental Medicines & Therapy
26 & 28, Jalan 21/11B,
Seapark,
463000 Petaling Jaya.

A'HAN Nyonya Kuih Shop
I don't have the address, but if you go to Oriental Medicines & Therapy, there is a Sports Toto directly opposite it. Behind Sports Toto is the Nynoya Kuih Shop.

Dad's Precious

About a week or 2 ago, dad was coming back from a golf game in some far away place and it was raining heavily. He hit a pothole that was right smack in the middle of the road and burst (BURST, not punctured) his tyre. Heck, he claims he wasn't speeding, but how on earth do you burst a tyre without speeding by just going over a pothole? His tyre literally became little shreds of rubber.

Dad had to have his poor precious car towed, and on top of that, they couldn't tow it from the back as usual because his front wheel was out. To make things worse, remember, it was raining too.

Eventually AAM did the work and dad tipped them a few 100 under the pretence that it was raining, and because they took so much time and put in so much effort (i still think it's too much of a tip though).

Dad sent the car in to get it repaired. Perhaps this was all meant to be, because while repairing the mechanics found that his car's was spoilt. Anyways, dad was really happy today, cuz the thinga-ma-jig that got spoilt finally came in from Germany today so he should be able to get his dear precious back soon :)

Men love cars. Women love furniture. That's just how the world works.

Sleep

I got my English essay paper back today. So I reckoned: What better way to update my blog than by typing in things that I have already written and hence do not need to put in further thinking effort? :)

The topic for directed writing was “Ways to Promote Tourism” and we were meant to write it in the format of a speech. Directed writing is boring so here’s just the opening:

“A good product needs a good salesman,

But a good salesman does not need a good product.”

A very good morning I bid to the respected chairman, esteemed judges, accurate timekeeper, fellow contestants and last but not least, members of the floor. The topic I have chosen for my speech today is “Ways to Promote Tourism.”

Ladies and gentlemen,

As my opening quote states, “A good product needs a good salesman, but a good salesman does not need a good product”. It does not matter if you have El Dorado in your backyard or Shangri-la over the mountains, if you do not promote it, you might as well own the Gobi Desert. We, Malaysians, however are lucky. God has been so kind as to provide us with sun all year round as well as fauna and flora unique to our region. It is not a question of selling ice to an Eskimo, the question that should be asked is- “How do we promote it?”

Here’s my continuous writing, we started the exam late and I took a bit too long on my first essay, thus I chose a factual essay so that I would finish in time. Is it not sad that creativity is hampered in exams?

Question 2(a): My Favourite Pastime

Sleep

I am a strong believer that time is of the essence.

When I am home and I have completed my homework, or when I am in school and it’s in between lessons (or it’s just History class), I conduct the most beneficial activity possible that also happens to be my favourite pastime:

I sleep.

In this society of somnorexics, my favourite pastime has been given a bad name. Somehow, this totally natural activity has assumed a negative form in the minds of today’s average Joe.

“Sleep,” he says, “is simply a waste of time. Think about all the time things you could get done if there was no need to sleep!”

Staunch on his point, the average Joe starts churning out facts he probably read in some recent daily.

“We spend one-third of our lives sleeping Warren, ONE-THIRD! If you compare that figure to, I don’t know, let’s say the population of China, that would be like……
3,333,333,333 PEOPLE!”

I do not see the connection between the population of China and sleep, and similarly I do not see the connection between sleep and wasting time. So allow me now, if you may, to explain to you why my favourite pastime is in fact beneficial.

What happens when we sleep? Well sleep is a natural process embedded into our inner-workings since the day God made Adam and Eve. When we sleep, our brain and body is given a rest. Through the hectic affairs of each day, our energy ration has been drained and our mind needs time to relax and recharge. Our body uses this time to focus on repairing injuries or cuts, regenerating skin that has flaked off throughout the day as well as allowing our joints to settle in place.

For me, as a teenager, sleep is crucial. As I have not fully developed, I need a minimum of 8 hours of sleep a day. During sleep, between the hours of 11pm and 2am, the body releases important growth hormones to allow proper development (no wonder I’m taller than average!).

With the oncoming SPM examinations, sleep is even more important than usual. The deepest stage of sleep is called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and scientists believe this is the time our mind rearranges memories and thoughts throughout the day. A conclusive study done by NewScientist magazine showed that students with sufficient sleep had a higher probability to successfully memorize facts when tested.

Along with the numerous health benefits, sleeping is my favourtie pastime as it provides me with dreams. I think dreams are one of the many things in life that we would enjoy. Through dreams I have experienced many things I cannot imagine possible here in reality. I have darted through the Milky Way and gone spelunking in megalithic caverns all at the expense of a little time.

So the next time you see me sleeping, do not bother giving me your mumbo-jumbo facts and figures. Sleep is my favourite pastime and it keeps me bright and sunny every day when I am awake. In fact, the next time you see a drool waterfall cascading down my desk, come along, and join me, we shall enjoy my favourite pastime together!

Note: I have never read an issue of NewScientist in my life, I do not know what actually happens during the time we sleep. Basically all my facts are BS. But you see, a good salesman doesn’t need a good product :P