Sunday Again...

woke up at 12pm today... was a pig!!!!! hahahaha...

went to watch "Bug Me Not" at Lido... funny show... typical HK production...

met Aaron for dinner at Bishan Junction 8... i was amazed at how much J8 has changed over the last year or so... bigger, more varieties of shops, more eateries... but of course, more people too...

we had dinner at Sakae Sushi... one that was plagued with blackouts (a total of about 5 times during the 1 hour we were there)... lack of hot water (for our green tea) cos the boiler broke down... and lastly long queue at the checkout counter... probably partly due to the blackouts... Aaron couldn't take it any longer after queuing for about 5 minutes... he walked up to the counter, gave the manager $16 (which was sufficient for our meal)... the poor manager was apologising profusely and gave us a 10% discount... hahahaha... we could tell that she was totally stressed out...

nothing much to write about the weekend, really... hmmm... *scratch head*

HBOT #13 & Acupuncture #5

a mad "medical" day...

reached TTSH at 9:20am for my hearing test... saw the doctor at around 11am... that's the usual waiting time for the government hospitals... it's been like this for years now... or possibly since the hospitals started... technology never seemed to have been able to help...

anyway, the doctor was glad to see vast improvement in my hearing... i told him i was going through HBOT and asked why didn't TTSH recommend me for the treatment or even simply to fill me in on the availability of the treatment... the doctor replied that HBOT has not been clinically proven to be a treatment for hearing loss... i said that the least the hospital could do was to inform the patient of all available options... and let the patients make the ultimate decision...

doctor commented that he was certain that even without HBOT, my hearing would have returned... i then sarcastically replied that why then did he tell me (two weeks ago) that there was nothing that they could do and i would have to simply wait and see... and that he did not even say anything comforting... the doctor was at a loss for words... hahahaha...

after hearing test, i went for my acupuncture since the HBOT will only start at 3:30pm... couldn't meet Ming for lunch... re-arranged to Monday...

after acupuncture, it was lunch for me... bumped into my secondary school classmate, Wee Ming, at the coffeeshop opposite Novena Church... he was there with his mother-in-law... his wife was at Thomson Medical Centre for delivery... they had come out for lunch...

HBOT was the usual... discussed with Dr Ong on the results of my hearing test and i would have to make the final decision on whether to continue after the 15th session next Tue... i think i would stop treatment after that since i could already hear most of the range of sounds... furthermore, i do not have any more leave to cover myself for treatment... and cost is definitely a factor too...

AI

well... AI does not mean Artificial Intelligence... AI = Annual Increment in this case...

finally got my AI today cos it's payday... about 15% increase from my currect pay... 15.49% to be exact... not really meeting my own target considering it was also a promotion cum re-designation to Audit Manager... but then again, coming from a company that doesn't provide time-off for staff to seek medical treatment, what more could i ask for?

Kerry said dat i was being dis-contented... i didn't deny that...

Chris, the HR lady, commented that this year was much better than last year (which was 10.94% for me)... better, i agree... much better, i don't think so lor...

but then again... is it necessarily true that one can tell how a company views values the importance of an employee from the salary? or from the designation? or from the roles and responsibilities? or from the empowerment given?

anyway, time to start re-thinking my plans and what i want to do...

HBOT #11

it's the 11th HBOT session liao... 4 more to go... should complete by next Tuesday... discussed with Dr Ong on what happens after that... he said that i should go for a sound test to determine the state of hearing before deciding on what to do next: either to stop HBOT or to continue...

the nurse tried to bring forward my original appointment with TTSH from 12 August to 3 August... but was unsuccessful... looks like i will have to make some noise and turn some table tomorrow to get the appointment settled... hehe... Dave, the Ah Beng, in action...

today's music was Michael Buble... the nurse, Vivien was thrilled... gave her the mini-poster that came with the CD... she was even more thrilled... it's simple acts like these that make life so interesting and heartwarming...

----------

was watching Superstar after dinner... the first time i was watching the entire show... here are my comments:
M1 - the worst performer of the lot... diction was bad... dance was stiff... only the costume was good...
M2 - the tallest of the lot... great dance track... did well on that...
M3 - the best of the lot... flawless singing... sounded like Lin Jun Jie... no surprise he chose JJ's song... IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE...
M4 - the cutest of the lot... diction was still bad after so many rounds... not sure if he would improve at all since it could be a physical anatomical problem...
M5 - the most likable of the lot... tho' blind, his singing was fantastic... good voice... but a little too nasal... disadvantaged by his blindness since he couldn't dance to the fast track... i have my reservations if he could eventually be THE superstar...

it all boils down to the audience's support from now on... my bet is M1 will be out, unless his fan base is big enough to make up for the poor performance...

----------

decided to sleep early tonight... also, did you notice i tried my best to use proper English in my blogging... realised that i have the bad habit of using short forms for my office emails nowadays... not very professional...

HBOT #10 & Acupuncture #4

once again, 2day was caught in a meeting dat took up most of my morning... was also busy sending out some important emails... as it is, time is already flying... not to mention i'm only in the office 4.5 hrs each day... terrible... having a hard time juggling...

went for my 10th HBOT session... dis time more dance music... apparently the elderly man in front of me (in the chamber) seemed to enjoy the music so far... after the session, Dr Ong said dat after the 15th session, he'd arranged for me to go for a sound test to find out the progress before we decide on whether to continue with the HBOT... told him TTSH has scheduled for me to go for counselling on coping with the buzzing in my ear in September... his comments were, "they already think that you're not going to recover."... i think so too lor... hahahahaha...

after HBOT, went for my acupuncture... the physician was very very glad with my progress... she said it was very fast dat i can hear voices now...

after acupuncture, took the NEL to Hougang Mall for a haircut... cant wait any longer... it's been irritating me too much and getting on my nerves... dis time it's short short hair once again... felt so good after dat...

home for dinner and mum cooked black pepper crab!! yummy...

oredi very tired after such an eventful day... *yawn yawn*

HBOT #9

came into the office with tonnes of things to complete... but somehow was caught in a meeting and there goes my morning... sianz... gotta bring work back again liao...

as usual, reached the Hyperbaric Centre at around 3:15pm... before dat it was Starfucks with MSN on my mobile... hehe... think i'm spending too much on luxury items such as cafe latte and cafe mocha liao... time to cut down... but then again, Starfucks is the only decent place to relax in TTSH lor...

was told by the receptionist, Angie, dat there was a delay due to some earlier patient's complaint of pain in his wound... @#$%^&*... told Angie dat she shld call to inform if there's any foreseeable delays... eventually me and another elderly man had nothing to do but to watch TV... *yawn yawn*

reached home at around 7:30pm... dropped by the barber shop and was told dat he's closing after the last customer... sigh... looks like i can only get my haircut dis Sat or Sun liao... cant stand my hair now... so bloody long... and the weather nowadays so hot... can die ah...

as it is now, i'm able to hear voices... and i think it's getting louder and louder... but far from those days before the sudden hearing loss lah... but it's still good progress...

Sunday...

time flies... the weekend has ended...

yesterday was the first time dat i've taken the MRT to the airport... quite a pleasant journey... and very convenient too... time to think of heading there more often... but then again, it was so crowded cos we were there during dinner time... sianz...

2day was tuition day... unfortunately it was cancelled by my students... 2nd week in a row... decided to end this "relationship" once and for all... cant take nonsense anymore... do we expect something in return whenever we did something good for others? maybe... maybe not... to me, i was thrilled when i knew dat they've scored above 90 marks in their mid-year exams... not easy for a sec 4 ('N' level) student... or maybe i expect at least some responsibility from their end... at least dedicate the time to tuition... but it couldn't be done... so dey'll have to bear the responsibility themselves...

nothing much happened today tho'... it's home, music and lazing around... enjoying my new-found (soft) hearing on my left ear... hehe...

Farewell My Friend...

today, desmond is leaving for Melbourne for good... he's migrating (after so many years of talking about and planning for it)... hehe...

was at the airport with kerry to send him off... together with some of his friends and of course, his parents... i'm usually not very good at such occasions... somehow i know that it's gonna turn out to be sad and teary... not really my style... but then again, we're talking about a fren whom i've known for more than 9 years... we have to be there... right, kerry?

was discussing with kerry about how heartbreaking it would be for the parents... to see their child leaving for another country for good... and indeed, desmond's mum was in tears outside the departure gate... i was feeling kinda moody the entire day (for some other personal reasons)... controlled my tears when i saw the scene... desmond's eyes were also red and i guessed he must have really tried his best not to shed tears in front of his parents... even his very close friend, olivia, was crying... of course, i know desmond will be back now and then... but it's still different from living here...

farewell, my friend... take good care in Melbourne... we'll come visit some day... cheers...

HBOT #8 & Acupuncture #3

very fast sia... 2day is my 8th HBOT session liao... it's been more than a week... after dis, 7 more to go and hopefully by then i'll have my hearing completely back (or maybe 90% lah)...

brought my madonna and britney spears CDs to TTSH for the nurse to play while i was having my treatment... good stuff... the 2 elderly men din complain... good... next week must think of something else to bring liao... dance is good cos it makes me forget the giddiness...

after HBOT, rushed down to Ma Kuang for my 3rd acupuncture... the physician was really glad at my progress...

met kerry for dinner after dat... wanted to go for Secret garden for dinner but no indoor seats and my ear still cant really handle outdoor crowd, decided to change venue... else i will have a difficult time trying to hear kerry well throughout dinner... we ended up in TCC... had a good hearty meal... and of course a great chat with kerry...

kerry was so enthusiastic about the recent relaxing of the housing rules in Singapore... so now he's planning on getting a private apartment or condominium for himself... he really did his research... printed a list of SOLD properties to show me wat is available in the market rite now... we were discussing about how big should the place be to accommodate ourselves comfortably... hehe...

after dat it was home sweet home...

HBOT #7

nothing new today... went for my 7th HBOT at Camden in the morning... still feeling very tired after dat... think it's best dat i have my HBOT at TTSH in the afternoon in the future so that i can head home to rest after dat...

not sure why HBOT is making me so tired... will ask the doctor later...

can hear faint voices now... and i think i can hear the singing better on the ear fones now... my spirits have been high lately... hopefully the recovery continues to be so bright...

HBOT #6

went for my 6th HBOT dis afternoon... brought my own CDs to play cos the past few days have been listening to some crappy stuff... dis time it's gonna be Whitney Houston's Greatest Hits Disc 2 (all the dance remixes)... luckily the two uncles in the same chamber didn't complain dat Whitney's too loud... hahahahaha...

heard from the nurse after i came out of the changing room dat one of the uncles asked how come the music today was different... she replied dat i was the one who brought the CD and he commented dat he will bring his Christian CD tomorrow... hahahahaha... luckily i won't be at TTSH tomorrow... will be heading to Camden for my morning session... else i would have freaked out at the Christian music... hahahahaha...

seems like i'm getting very very well with the nurses and the receptionists at the centre... the nurse who's usually at Camden in the morning will come over to TTSH in the afternoon... she kept saying she's looking forward to seeing me at Camden tomorrow... hehe... i realised dat all the nurses are from The Philippines...

as of dis evening, i'm now able to hear voices... not clear but i can hear the person talking... and i can use my mobile fone with my left ear... was listening to a voicemail earlier... looks hope things continue to get better and i'll be back in full form soon!!!!!

----------

got a meeting with the director tomorrow to discuss some work stuff... gonna work late tonite to make sure everything's fine... sigh... feel like sleeping... so tired...

HBOT #5 & Acupuncture #2

it's tuesday oredi... luckily the idol singing competition din bring me too much of attention... me prefer to stay low profile for now... hahahaha...

was at TTSH for my 5th hyperbaric oxygen therapy... started to get used to having the treatment sitting up... not much leg room, but still manageable... realised dat i cant read properly in the chamber... decided to bring in Men's Health dis time, instead of "To Kill A Mockingbird" (which was rather heavy reading)... managed to keep the blowing of the nose to a minimum... instead, yawned to balance the air pressure... dis way i dun feel too giddy... managed to read quite a bit today... so the trick is to bring in magazines...

at the end of the session, shared with the nurse and doc dat the music dey played sometimes sucked... asked if i could bring my madonna and dance CDs tomorrow... dey agreed... but then again, the two elderly men in the same chamber as me might not be able to take it... hahahaha... dey insisted dat i bring along and play it tomorrow...

left TTSH to take a bus to Ma Kuang Chinese Medical Group at Middle Road for my 2nd acupuncture treatment... told the physician about the improvement and she was glad... took my pulse and she commented that i have less "heat" in my body now... hehe... the acupuncture dis time included the hands... asked her why and she explained dat the hands could improve my immune system... chim sia... anyway, i fell asleep during the treatment... when the physician came to remove the needles on my hands, i was shocked and woke up... she quickly apologised for dat... such a nice lady... she later commented dat at least now when i was talking to her, i didn't have to turn my right side to her to hear her better, which was a very good sign...

reached home and i was totally shagged out... had dinner... and got some work done before turning in at around 12am... so tired... so tired... so tired... hehe...

Treatment Continues... 4th Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy...

came into the office 2day for the first time, after missing in action for one full week... Jun updated me on the latest... settled some other outstanding matters...

met the HR officer to discuss about the possibility of taking time off for my treatment... was told dat there's no time off... i will have to apply for leave... wtf?!?! dis episode sets me thinking about my commitment and priority in the company... think i will look at other opportunities once my hearing is back... to think dat i agreed to stay on... sigh... there's only so much one can do for the company... no appreciation = time to leave... hahahahaha...

before i left the office, boss came up to me and told me not to worry too much about things in the office... my reply was: how not to? there're still deadlines to meet... work to be done... will try my best to focus on my health lah... hehe... it's great to have a boss like her... sad dat she's leaving us soon...

went for my fourth oxygen therapy treatment 2day... dis time is at the centre in TTSH, not Camden Medical Centre... the chamber they have in TTSH is the sitting type, not the lying down type... the chamber can accommodate 3 people at one go... unlike the lying down type where i get the entire chamber to myself... more space to move my body...

3:30pm and it was our turn... not used to sitting up... had a difficult time trying to blow my nose to balance the air pressure in and out of the ear... after a while, started to get dizzy and felt like vomiting... started to perspire a lot... the nurse was a little worried... decided to give me an "air break" (forgot to ask her wat dat means)... eventually, decided to yawn to clear the ear instead of blowing the nose... felt much better after a while... and dozed off eventually... hahahaha... by the time i woke up, the nurse said dat there's still 55 mins to go!!!!! time is damn slow sia... decided to sleep some more... by the time the treatment was over, my back was all wet and stinking... hahahaha...

the nurses at the hyperbaric centre were all so friendly and caring... kept asking me if i was feeling alright...

after treatment, gotta rush down to mediacorp for my final lesson of the DJ workshop... 2nite is to go thru' the studio recordings of all the teams... i was feeling very tired after the treatment... by the time Bernard was playing the 6th team, i was already not listening... Hady oso commented dat i looked terrible... i really was, brudder...

din like wat i heard for our talkset... somehow my voice came out to be very fake... sigh... looks like dey're not gonna call me up for anything... better focus on getting my hearing back and possibly branching into club DJ-ing... hahahahaha...

Things Are Getting Better...

Tuesday (12 July 2005)


while the whole of Singapore is concerned and talking about the NKF saga, i'm off to seek a 2nd opinion on my left ear's sudden loss of hearing at a specialist clinic at Mount Elizabeth hospital... the specialist was recommended by a colleague...

the doctor said the same thing as the TTSH doctor about my condition... It COULD be a viral infection... @#$%^&* please tell me something dat i dun noe lah... he said dat the critical thing to do now is to boost the recovery process which could take up to 6 MONTHS... wah piangz... *faint* doc prescribed some supplements of Vit B6, gingko pills, etc... bill came up to close to $200!!!!! dat's how expensive private clinics are... sigh...

anyway during the discussion, the doc remembered dat one of his patients also had similar problem and he recommended her to see dis other doc (by the name of Michael Ong) for some hyperbaric oxygen therapy... and she got her hearing back... doc made an appointment for me to go see dr ong immediately after my consultation... ironically, dr ong was in his hyperbaric centre in TTSH (the main office is on Camden Medical Centre, next to Tanglin Mall, where my ex used to work)...

dr ong explained to me the hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)... in short, it's to put the patient in an oxygen chamber where 100% pure oxygen is pumped into the chamber that maintained at an air pressure of 15 metres under sea water... the usual treatment process is 15 sessions of between 90 to 120mins each... it will take around 10 sessions before any results (or improvement) could be observed... check out the website www.hyperbaric.com.sg for more details...

the critical thing was the cost of the treatment... each session costs $260, of which $100 could be paid through cpf medisave... which means i gotta fork out $160 for each session or a total of $2,400 for the entire treatment of 15 sessions... WHOA!! discussed with mum and decided to go for it... first session fixed for tomorrow, wednesday, morning...

reached home and mum came into my room with a $1,000 note in her hand... said dat she wanted to help me financially since the cost for the treatment was so high... told her i am doing ok... will settle the bill on my own... at least i can pay via interest free installment using the credit card... so at least it's not that big a burden... dis episode brought tears to my eyes again (for the "god-knows-how-many" times liao)... mum will always be mum... forever so worried about us...

after a day of rushing from one clinic to another, i was totally drained out... but still continued with my DJ workshop... i realised after the 2nd lesson dat it wasn't dat fun being a radio DJ cos DJs nowadays do not have the luxury of playing wat dey like... all the music r chosen and decided by the programme director and everything is computerised and programmed... hehe...

one interesting thing was Mark Richmond's session on voice control... did some silly things and had loads of fun...

********************

Wednesday (13 July 2005)

while the whole of singapore is still talking about the NKF saga, i'm off to my first HBOT...

reached the clinic at 8am... clarified some issues with doc:

DT: since it has been nearly 3 weeks since my loss of hearing, will it be too late for the HBOT???

Doc: it is not considered too late... late would be if u seek treatment after like months... although chances of recovery are higher if HBOT was to commenced immediately after the sudden loss of hearing occurred, it would still be ok for you to go thru' the treatment now...

DT: i saw from the website dat HBOT is still in its experimental state for treating sudden loss of hearing...

Doc: dat's only applicable in singapore... HBOT has been used overseas for treatment of sudden loss of hearing for years...

DT: okay... i'll go for the treatment then... like wat mum said, at least there's an avenue available now... we won't know if we dun go for it... money shouldn't be an issue here... getting my hearing back is of higher importance...

doc put me in the oxygen chamber lying down... reminded me to keep blowing my nose when the pressure is getting too painful on the ear... dis is like taking flights when the air pressure changes... the purpose is to balance the pressure in and out of the ear...

the session lasted about 2 hrs... by the end of it, with all the blowing of the nose, i was giddy and disorientated once i got out of the chamber... the nurse gave me some warm water to drink and put me on a chair to recover change in air pressure... rested for a while and i was feeling slightly better...

took the bus home and rested...

in the evening, went for day 3 of my DJ workshop... it was more fun during the 2nd part of Mark Richmond's voice control... Bernard Lim told us dat tomorrow will be the studio recording session for all of us... we're in teams of four (and further broken down into pairs) to host a time slot for the radio programme... each pair is to prepare 2 90-second talk sets... i was paired with dis malay guy called hady... he was previously in the TCS chinese sitcom called "七彩学堂" (translated to mean "colourful classroom")... the sitcom was a copycat of the english version of Mind Your Language...

emailed boss to inform her of the HBOT i'm going thru... needed to take 2 days of leave for thur and fri to get used to the treatment... else oso cant work feeling giddy and disorientated...

********************

Thursday (14 July 2005)

went for my 2nd HBOT session... it was the same process... dis time we started later at 9am... by the time the session ended, it was close to 11:15am... still feeling a little giddy after the session... but think my body is slowly adjusting to it...

at 4pm, met hady at thomson plaza to discuss on the 2 talk sets we were supposed to come up with for tonite's studio recording... some of the ideas dat came up:
1. NKF saga (cos radio must be up-to-date)
2. harry potter (cos today's life section talked about it)
3. nathan's running for president
4. celebrity birthdays
5. hollywood gossips
6. others...

decided on the NKF saga for the first talkset... hady's gonna pretend to be a special "uncle" on the show... as for the 2nd talkset, it'd just be celebrity birthdays and hollywood gossips...

reached mediacorp at around 6:30pm... the there were newsflash on the tv screens in the canteen... it was a press conference by the health (or hell) minister on the NKF saga (again?????)... hahahahaha...

the recording went alright... tho' we missed out some minor parts here and there... ended up our talksets were shorter than the given 90 seconds... it was perfect during our trial runs in the afternoon... hahahahaha...

after the recording, we had a tour of the 987FM and Class95 studios... Grace was hosting the Say It With Music segment at 987FM... she showed us the numerous machines a DJ has to meddle with... and how things can go wrong if she's not careful...

at Class95, Yasmine was hosting the late night show... she too showed us how she operates the machines... very technical, i must say... and of course the announcements to be made... the commercials (cos in terms of advertising revenue, Class95 has the biggest pie)...

********************

Friday (15 July 2005)

TGIF... and life goes on for me... 3rd HBOT session dis morning at 9am again... feeling and coping better dis time after the session... think the body is accustomed to the changes in pressure...

took the bus to bugis to meet mum... we're heading to the Ma Kuang chinese medical group... the main centre at middle road... i requested to see the physician Zhang Ji Qiu, as recommended by Jensen... so far the physician is the only reassuring one cos she said dat with acupuncture and medications, my condition will improve... it's only a matter of time... had my first acupuncture... near the ear... 4 needles in all... will have to do it twice a week... on tuesdays and fridays...

SMSed kerry to tell him about it... he asked why do i mix chinese and ang moh treatments together... how to know which is working... i replied dat at dis stage, i dun care about which is working, as long as dey are working... hahahahaha...

********************

Saturday (16 July 2005)

today is the all-important day for the singing competition at our company's dinner... decided to go ahead with the competition cos didn't want to disappoint all those people who have been supporting me... first of all, christina... then jun, pat, mary, etc, etc... was kinda angry with chris yest when she told me dat she could not make it for the event... how could she not turn up to support me since she was the one who's getting me into the competition... later i heard from jun dat chris had not been well for the last 3 days... then my anger disappeared... and i was even more determined to do my best...

reached the venue at 4:45pm for my sound check... all went well... except for the "Jiang Nan" (林俊杰 - 江南) song... i'm still not very familiar with the lyrics... and i must say it was a very difficult song to sing well... decided to give it a shot somehow... just that i gotta lower the key further to reach the higher notes...

by the time the sound check ended, it was close to 6pm... decided to stay in the restaurant to wait for the event to start... everybody was kinda excited about my taking part in the competition... shared with them the difficulty in practising with only one ear working... no stereo sound... cant really hear the music when i sing (cos i gotta hear myself and the music at the same time to catch the tune and the tone and the pitch)... and of course, my unfamiliarity of the song...

philip was the first from our department to arrive... updated him on my condition... next came sophia... say kwang, gerry and elsie were next... sandra was late... hahahahaha... some of them were quite excited with my performance later... will do my best, guys... hahahahaha...

takako heard dat i'm in the competition and gave me her best wishes... thanx, gal...

dinner started at around 7:30pm... the first round of the singing competition started at around 9pm... i was number 7... of course, some contestants were really CMI (cannot make it)... some were quite good...

my turn came... waited for a while before dey got the song ready... went on stage... before i began my song, i specially thanked chris for all that she had done for me for the competition... cos she's the one who did the registration for me... selected the songs (which i agreed to)... sourced for the karaoke discs of the songs... submitted the discs to the organisers... checked my sound test timing... and the audience just went "oooh"... hahahahaha... btw, we're not romantically associated lah... it's just dat without her, i wouldn't be on stage tonite...

did my Li Ke Qin's Yue Ban Xiao Ye Qu (李克勤 - 月伴小夜曲)... wowed the audience away... mary, pat and lisa came on stage to give me flowers... so farnie... at the end of the song, one of the male audience ran onto the stage to hug me... caught me off guard and it was such a surprise... i was glad and at the moment, i knew i was through to the next and final round...

results... and as expected, i was through... together with me are 2 ladies... doreen (who has a voice of anita mui singing anita mui's qing mi ai ren (梅艳芳 - 亲密爱人)... and cecilia (who did a remarkable job with Elva's Zui Shu Xi De Mo Sheng Ren (萧亚轩 - 最熟悉的陌生人))...

sms came from chris to congratulate me on getting into the finals... mary or pat must have smsed her... told her it's a difficult task to get 1st, considering doreen's performance earlier...

the final round... i was first to sing... went on stage... thanked chris one last time before i began my song (and the audience went "oooh" again)... so farnie... about 1/4 through the song, i forgot my lyrics... stopped for a couple of seconds, quickly turned around to look at the screen and continued with the song... nearly 3/4 through and i blundered again... at dat moment, my heart sank... but went on to finish the song...

one of the judges commented dat i did better the first round... but added dat i had showmanship... hahahaha...

doreen was up next with yet another anita mui's song... or rather a medley... when she finished her number, i knew dat the title is gonna be hers... she did a wonderful job...

cecilia was up next... she, too, forgot her lyrics... but somehow i felt her earlier song was much better...

results... and as expected... doreen was crowned the champion... i still managed a 2nd... hahahahaha... the $700 cheque is gonna come in handy to settle part of my medical bills... hahahahaha... of course gotta bring chris out for dinner to thank her for everything...

********************

Sunday (17 July 2005)

a day of rest and relax... tuition was cancelled cos don was having a fever... will start next week... dis time it's gonna be marathon tuition of at least 4 hours at home on sundays... we couldn't go back to braddell KFC since i cant handle crowded places...

i could now feel some vibrations when i talk... and i'm hearing the loud noises as well as high-pitched ones... dat's a very good sign...

will continue to stay hopeful and may my hearing be back soon...

Hope Fades Away...

did not update my blog for the last one week cos there was no improvement in the ear at all... wanted to write about the difficulties in and adjustments to my life since i lost my hearing on my left ear... it wasn't easy... will do dat another time...

----------

went for my medical followup at TTSH dis morning... sound test came back to be the same as 2 weeks ago... doc said that there's nothing else to be done except to wait for the hearing to come back on its own, if it ever happens... the anti-viral drug given to me the last time was to fight the virus and cure the injured cells... recovery is dependent on whether there's any surviving cells to bring the hearing back... else it would be a permanent loss of hearing... i like the way the doc described the situation... lay man's term... hahahahaha...

couldn't really accept the truth... not sure what to feel or how to react... in a daze... a world of disbelief... controlled my emotions cos mum was with me all these while and i didn't want her to see me cry...

another followup in one month's time...

going for counselling and therapy on coping with the ringing and buzzing tomorrow afternoon, 3pm...

----------

will seek a 2nd opinion at one of the private clinics at Mount Elizabeth hospital... stay updated here...

----------

the biggest irony so far is that i'm starting on a 5-day DJ workshop dis evening... paid for it before the sudden hearing loss happened... decided to continue with it since it has always been my dream to become a DJ one day...

Change Of Plans

after much discussion with various persons, i've decided dat i will delay the seeking of a 2nd opinion on my left ear to a later date... i should finish my current medication by dis coming wed to see if there's any improvement...

the thing is, according to my research, even if i were to go to a private hospital / specialist, the same diagnosis would surface... furthermore, i'm still waiting to meet the TTSH specialist to discuss about my MRI next mon...

so for now, it's gonna be a waiting game... hang in there for a little while longer...

----------

so, william, not dat i wanna go back on my word, but i think this is the best for me now... see ya soon in KL with full hearing and we can go clubbing again!! hooray!!

William...

yesterday evening received a call... it was a "private" number showing on my mobile... hesitated but still answered... to my surprise, it was another overseas call... dis time from william in KL... wat a pleasant surprise!!!!!

we chatted for a while... he was concerned about my condition... made me promised him to seek a 2nd opinion immediately... told him i will do it the next day...

----------

dis morning william called again... to find out if i had made the appointment... he truly amazed me... even my mum doesn't do something like dis... told him promises made, promises unbroken...

to my KL pal, i thank you for all the effort in making sure i do what i oughta do... all for the good of myself...

Independence Day...

today's america's independence day... was chatting online with ju liet and she commented dat the americans r very patriotic... and she could see fireworks and stuff from her balcony... how nice...

happy independence day to all americans... especially those in singapore to help boost new york's chances of hosting the 2012 olympics at the international olympic council meeting...

Preparing For The Worst

today is the ninth day since i lost my hearing on my left ear... beginning to accept life as it is now... and preparing for the worst to come, i.e. permanent loss...

still in the process of learning to differentiate the source of sounds and voices... although sometimes gotta ask to find out where it is coming from... kinda embarassing but no choice lor... hahahahaha...

as it is, i'm sure there are other things to be done: seek 2nd opinion lah, go for traditional chinese medicine lah, etc...

no sure wat else to write... maybe i'm getting sick about the whole thing now... the uncertainty of whether the hearing will return sometimes freak me out... and i have to continue to psych myself up to face it... not easy, but achievable...