Christmas Surprise

I have never cried so hard on Christmas.

Where to begin? Let's just say that Christmas Eve was plain boring. Kenny and two other friends of ours (Greg & Lilian) didn't know where to go, so we ended up roaming around Stulang Laut aimlessly. Had our countdown at Sampan -- a local cafe with live band, which turn out to be disappointing. We loved the place, but our favorite singer wasn't there, and the girls that were singing on stage were just plain bad. With nowhere to go, the four of us decided to head home to unwrap our presents.

Everyone who knows me knows that every year I would post my Christmas wishlist on my blog. The catch about my Christmas wishlist is either the items listed are things I couldn't afford, or it's something rare that I couldn't find. Of course, I always think that if I couldn't afford it and it's a hard-to-find item, who would be able to get it for me, right? Wrong!

Unwrapping the present Verlyn got me gave me a shock! The girl got me the “Red Curtain Trilogy” boxset that I've been looking for ages! I just couldn't stop myself from crying the minute I saw it. I've been looking for it for almost a year and every shop I went to in Singapore told me that it's already out of stock and that I can only get it from US. But this crazy girl actually found it! She must have went through a lot of hell trying to locate it. What makes it even more touching is that I know she's been tight on Vitamn $ lately and the set cost a lot! Still, she bought it for me! I called her the minute I saw what's in the box and woke her up in the middle up the night. The both of us ended up crying on the phone. Come to think of it now, it is kinda embarrassing.

Another person who surprised me was Kenny. This bugger couldn't even afford to have his car tires replaced but he managed to get me a set of Japan-import "Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles" models, which, I figure, doesn't come cheap. Sigh... Thank you both a lot for making me cry the presents!

(NOTE: A special thanks to + l a a . l a a + for her Christmas card, as shown above. Click here to see what I got for Christmas this year.)

A Jessism © 25122006

iPod

Yes, jess now owns an iPod.

It's amazing how technology evolves these days. Who would've thought that we would be able to have everything we need on the go: music, videos, music videos, tv series, porn... Yes, porn. The first thing I did after transferring all my Mp3 into the iPod, was converting all my porn into Mp4 format and load them into it. Now, besides my Mp3, MTV, and TV shows, I even have porn! How cool is that?

As fun as it might sound, trying to figure out how to work it was a real pain! You would think that after all those years of improving the iPod and its range, they would be smart enough to come up with something more user friendly, but no, the people at Apple are just out to make us Windows users look like an ass.

The only easy part of operating an iPod, is the general plug in of the USB cable. There on, it's just a bunch of confusion. The thing about normal gadgets is that they come with a thick user manual that is not only comprehensive but also good for your bedtime reading. Whereas with an iPod, what you get is a 4-page-CD-inlay lookalike that explains to you what each and every button on your ipod does. To begin with, there's ain't a lot of buttons on your iPod. Besides, which bozo wouldn't be able to recognize the PLAY button?!

Anyway, from the inlay I learned that we can actually download the iPod manual from Apple's website. So the next day, I logged on to Apple's site to download the manual. Opening the pdf file, I soon realize why the iPod doesn't come with a user manual -- The iPod features guide is 72 A4 pages long!

Then there's the problem of converting my video files. One would think that since the iPod is a proud invention from Apple, you would be able to play avi files. But the fact is: you can't! You will have to convert your avi, mpeg, rmbv, or any other data files to Mp4 before you can play them on your iPod, which is fine by me. But the bad news is: they don't provide you with the convertion software! After paying so much money (SGD500), I now have to go spend more money to buy a software to convert my videos?! Thank god for Bit Torrent!

Anyway, those were in the past now. It's been a week since then; With 300MB worth of pictures, 3GB of Mp3, 1GB of MTV + TV series, and 4GB worth of porn loaded in, (and 65GB more to fill) I can now say that I am a proud iPod owner!

Christmas Homesick

November proves to be a not-so good month for this crab. A bus trip back to Penang landed me in KL; came back to find that my computer crashed; then a trip to the dentist turns into an appointment for an expensive wisdom tooth extraction…with all that going on, I forgot all about Thanksgiving. Even worse, I just realized that Christmas is just around the corner and I haven't even done my Christmas shopping! (Gasps in horror, "Home Alone" style!)

No, I'm NOT a Christian but I love Christmas. It's one of those seasons that you would know when it's around the corner. There's beautiful light decors everywhere, Christmas trees set up at all departmental stores, malls, and even on the street... and as we get closer to Christmas Day, everyone (even people you don't know) will greet you with festive wishes everywhere you go, stores that used to give the crappiest service will even have their staff smiling and greeting you. It's like suddenly the world is filled with leap year babies, and our long-awaited birthday is coming up! Sounds fun, doesn't it?

At times like this, it's hard not to be homesick. I can't help but think about that Christmas morning when we gather in the living area and open our present, with Jacque sniffing around, hoping to get a lick of the candy canes and Christmas candies Amy got us. Then there's the Christmas dinner where Keith and The Grinch Sid carved the turkey. And of course, the drinking game where we broke a glass and a drunken Geri walking into the stairs railing…sigh... I really miss that.

Anyway, fast forward to present day: Like last year, Jess will most probably be heading over to Singapore to celebrate Christmas. So, do gimmie a holler if you're heading there as well. Maybe we all can hang out together~!

Merry Christmas!

A Jessism © 12122006

Wisdom Tooth Week

I thought that the pain was over after the anesthetic injection from hell, cos I was unable to feel anything after the injection, but I was wrong. Showing me out, the doctor told me that I will feel the pain after the anesthetic wears off and gave me pain killer and antibiotics. As if to reassure me, he told me that there's nothing to be afraid of, "the bleeding should stop. Don't worry if it doesn't stop, just come back tomorrow." Yeah, that was very reassuring.

Day One: I went home feeling like I was just told that I've strike a lottery. Like the doctor say, there's no pain at all! It's only a little hard to swallow your saliva. I was instructed to take out the gauze and drink ice water and take my medication an hour after I got, which I followed diligently. Then it happened. The anesthetic went away and comes the suffering from hell. I can feel the pain even with the pain killers, and couldn't speak, cos it will inflict more pain. My bleeding didn't stop. Boyfriend asked me to wash my mouth with Oradex, and told me that it wouldn't hurt. The bastard lied! It stings so bad, I almost cried.

Day Two: Woke up with a swollen face. My landlady even joked that my face doesn't look balanced anymore. Couldn't speak; resorted to mumbling. Pain still there, but bleeding has subside. Still on a no solid food and ice-porridge diet. Yes, ice-porridge. The porridge we tapau was hot, so we have to find a way to cool it down. Placing ice into the porridge seems like the best idea then. Began to examine my hundred-bucks tooth and noticed that there's still traces of gum tissues on the tooth. Totally grossed out.

Day Three: Swell still there but not so obvious anymore. It still hurts but able to speak and sounding like Shelly Marsh from "South Park". Moved from ice-porridge to ice-kacang. Finally, brush my teeth! (Well, one side of it only... I wouldn't wanna open up the recovering wound!)

Day Four: Bleeding started again. I don't know why. Went back to work anyway. Can still taste blood in my mouth, until late afternoon. Getting closer to becoming a vampire. Wound still hurts. Boyfriend say not to worry, as it's a part of the healing process. Since he's in the dental care business, I guess I should listen to him?

Day Five (today): Spat out blood again this morning. Should it still be bleeding after so many days?! Am starting to get use to having blood in my mouth. Maybe I should just apply for a Red Card and become a full-fledged vampire?

Summing things up, I can say is that:

Wisdom Tooth Extraction =
Expensive Procedure + A Week Of Pain

Like what Ash always said to me: "look on the bright side", so here's my "bright side". I'm taking this as one of those experiences that teaches you something new. What I learned from this is that when you wanna curse someone, don't say things like "fuck off", or "I hope he/she will have a taste of her own medicine"! Say: "I hope you will have to get your wisdom tooth extracted!"

A Jessism © 01122006