A day as 'Hunchback of Notre Dame'

As I woke up for church this morning, I realized that my back was aching...well, it kinda happens once in a while, hence, I did the usual "crawl the wall" stretch that usually does the trick and keep the back in check.

During and after church, the back was still aching endlessly...alas, i couldnt even stand up after lying down on the couch to rest:/ Wires (aka nerves) in the whole lower back area and thighs were just flaring up and refusing to snap into place.

Muscle relief remedies helped to get me up to my feet, but my back basically was too weak and plaque with too much pain to enable me to sit or stand properly.

Come evening, it got a little better, and I could stand like "Hunchback of the Notre Dame"...had to walk while bending:/

Sigh...acute backache came back with a vengeance today after lying low for a few years...And just like dormant volcanoes, the fresh eruption is usually bigger after its predecessors.

Negative thoughts did cross my mind, and past x-rays results did show that I have a less than perfect spine that needs some medical attention. I did message a good friend to get his opinion through a Physio point of view, which was quite comforting to know although at this 'acute' stage as they call it, I'll need to pray and go see a Doc tomorrow.

"Hello Stranger"!

Earlier this year, my friend from S'pore shared a link to a Thai movie called "Hello Stranger"! It's a romantic comedy filmed in Korea! I loved it instantly! Since I couldn't find out when it was released, and assumed that it probably came out a few months back, I started looking out for it in the stores, but couldn't find any traces of the movie.

Last week, while waiting to pick me up from work, my brother joined a radio station contest and won 4 tickets to the premiere of a Thai movie called "Hello Stranger", it took me a few seconds to register the name and I was ecstatic!!! Since he couldn't make it, I took along 2 other colleagues. We laughed so hard and totally enjoyed ourselves!

The movie is light and warms your heart. Inch by inch, the actors grow on the audience and before you know it, you'll be totally immersed into the story as well! They basically incorporated the essence that made Korean dramas successful and the humor of the Thai culture for a successful recipe!:) Yippee!

"Hello Stranger" Trailer

End March

Another weekend just passed by! I realized it's much more gratifying to fully utilize time than to be idle (duh!? lol). Heh, anyways, it was a good Friday night out catching up with my usual old friend over dinner and dessert. I still feel sickly after 1 week, it really feels as if I ate a ball of fire, and the amber is just keeping me way too warm! Luckily after a night's rest, I was able to bounce back in better health.

I went for a long awaited consultation with a specialist, glad to know all is well, but the doc took some blood to check for more things, hence, hopefully everything is good! Went for more shopping and got more 'necessary' items! This will probably be the last 'self' indulging shopping spree.

Most of all, I have been reminded yet again that "things in the past, things yet unseen...my dreams and hopes are lifted to You...Lord, I offer you my life, everything I've been through, use it for Your glory".

Weekends

This has been the second weekend that I've been working a 4-day week. We had to clear off some of the carried forward leave from 2010 by end March, hence, after the crazy peak period from Nov- Feb, we finally get a breather to get ourselves together and recharge a little.

Last Fri, I just stayed home as I barely had any strength to go out. At night, I got to meet up with an old friend who is now a short film director. One of the very few who got to go to Cannes & Venice film festival at this age! Very talented I must say, and super funny too! Glad to see that he's still the same old humble person that I knew from Sunday class last time.

Anyways, this recent Friday, I was more productive. Drove my grandma to run some errands, took her and my dad out for dim-sum lunch, and went shopping. It was literally a shopping-spree! One which I hadn't had in a long time. It just happened that there were things we both wanted to get, and we found suitable ones! haha...It won't be pleasant when the credit card bill comes next month, but 90% of the things had a pretty good deal!!;P

Although I ended up falling sick with a fever and sore throat on Sat morning, and spent the rest of the weekend resting and recuperating, the long weekend did me some good. It surely gave some balance back!

Q1

As the first quarter of the year is coming to a close, it really seems like it's setting the precedence for the rest of the year - it'll be passing by in a blink, and very soon, it'll be the Christmas hols again!

Honestly, not much achievement so far apart from working through the busiest period of the year. Somehow I guess I have higher self-awareness this year, would need to up myself to improve in whichever aspects deemed workable:P

Have sort of started on learning my vocab and poking at math from the book, but no schedule set up to seriously study yet. Last Saturday, I spent some time on going through Research Methods and Stats with an ex-college mate who is now studying masters part time. She and her course mates needed some help with their assignments, and somehow she thought it was a good idea to enlist my help. Quite flattering as she mentioned they were willing to pay tuition fees! haha, well, I doubted whether I could shed any light since it's been a couple of years since I left college. In the end, I think I benefited from the session more than they did as it provided me with the insights of studying as an adult.

I took a glass of ice honey lemon as 'tuition fee', and went home feeling inspired by their perseverance and determination to complete the course!

February

The entire Feb was filled with Chinese New Year holidays, birthdays celeb, and gatherings with old friends. I must say the 1 week hols to celebrate CNY was surprisingly rejuvenating. I did not have much expectations for the 1 week, as the visiting rituals were quite predictable. There were no ambitious plans either, no dreamy sit-in-cafe-read-a-whole-book kinda fantasies. Ironically enough, because of this, I had the most restful break!:)

The challenge now would be to keep the momentum of resting well. I guess last year I overworked, and drained myself from work frustrations. Moving forward this year, the goal is to renew my thinking, and keep a calm and more mature demeanor:P

Friends

In 3 months, I reconnected with a friend, and had to bear the loss of the same friendship. I guess it is only through the passage of time that we get to see the true colors and depths of a person's character. I especially treasure those whom had made a difference or warmed my heart, however, not everyone shares the same values and place importance in connecting with others sincerely.

I was baffled and ruminated on the reasons to explain, and excuse the cold shoulders I received.

As I felt down and injured, our faithful God sent me phone calls/online messages from old friends to warm my heart. It reminded me that there are still good people whom I have befriended and cares. Somehow a whole handful of good friends from overseas came back for Chinese New Year celebration this year, and my following days are occupied with reunions and catching-up sessions! They range from a few I have known since I was 7, to college/Uni mates.

On Sat, I had a wonderful time catching up with a Singaporean coworker-friend over coffee. He was dropping by town en-route to the North and buzzed me for a meet up- a pleasant and comforting surprise! After that, I went to meet up my good old friend HT for another round of catching up. Today, there was another round of catching up with a few college friends over coffee!

Reminded me of a quote, 'you gain some and you lose some'.