Everything happens for a reason. The HoneyBee Effect. 因祸得福. There are just so many titles I can put for this particular entry.
Bees are known to die immediately after stinging someone or something, in the case of normal "working class" bees that is, from what I know. For weeks, I have discovered dead bees lying around the house during my weekly floor sweeping session on Sundays.
How and why the bees even bother to fly all the way to the 19th storey, and to die at the corner of the room for that matter, have been much of a mystery. Conspiracy theories include "Bee hives on the roof" and "Queen Bee scented Fan Blade". These seem the most logical of explanations for the dead bees that are often found in segments or with broken wings. Death by high-speed fan blades. >.<
Which brings me back to the "revenge". Apparently the scout bees were "killed in action" by the death blades of the fan; the colony must have sent a commando bee for the latest mission. I call it "Guerilla Kamakaze".
I was already on long term medication, "Cetirizine" for my drug allergy with could last for up to another 2 years! To put it simply, the medication is an antihistamine used to minimise inflammation (hives, or rashes to the layman).
Now, it was just like any other nights when I went to sleep after a bout of MSN and a nice, warm shower. As I slid into my blanket thinking of what dreams I could dream of, I felt a sharp acute pain on the underside of my right thigh where my hamstring is. My instant reflex was to jump up, turn on the lights and find the culprit.
There, lying at the position where my thigh used to be on the mattress, was the commando bee which had sacrificed itself. After hastily checking the bee if it was still alive and its butt for the sting, I took the nail-clipper to check for the sting dislodged on my thigh. I COULDN'T FIND IT! The wound was of a small but prominent red hue. Admist all the chaos of finding the sting and cleaning my wound, it has grown to the size of an average mosquito bite. Applying alcohol and calamine lotion was the only and next best thing to do at that time.
On the next day, the insect bite has grown to the size of my palm. The muscles around the area was stiff and it was slightly painful and relatively itchy. And I am experiencing this despite my daily dose of antihistamines; wondered how my body will react if I weren't on such medication. A case of my drug allergy trumping the sting?
Anyways, my colleague was rather worried for me because she had a friend who apparently died from an innocent ant bite! The next morning, I took to the doc and was given an injection of a rather heavy dose of antihistamines, 20ml if I weren't wrong. The swell didn't go down immediately, and it took 2 days of 30mg of Prednisolone for the bee sting to subside. The itch didn't, though.
I think I need to have a thorough cleansing of my blood hah!
Oct 9, 2008
Jul 23, 2008
it goes on
Day 9 (after the 1st sign of hives was detected): Saw another doc from polyclinic. Must say he's totally useless. Didnt bother to really find out what could be the cause of my allergy. I tried not scratching for the entire day. It was unbearable. During the interview/test session at mfa i was literally having cold turkey treatment. No meds, toilet breaks only after each individual test, stress of handling the test. Wrong answers minus marks! >.<
Ok, my point being, the itch was super unbearable. But I guess the redness on my neck and hands just appeared and grew by themselves, probably from the friction when I move in my long sleeved shirt. Hives. Tsk!
Anyways, the medicine that was prescribed for me was hardly potent. Cetirizine Dihydrochloride 10mg, Take 1 a day; and hydrocortisone 1% cream. I felt that after so long that my hives are still around, I should've been given epinephrine shots already.
As night set in, my itch began to intensify again. On top of that, my throat seemed to be constricted because I started to feel pain whenever I swallow. Bad day, I thought.
Day 10: I knew I was in no condition to go for band. I awoke from a call on my mobile. It was from shell, smth about a full day assessment centre event and a corresponding briefing.
Anyhow, the pain from swallowing was gone; but my shoulder and hand pains are back. Dunno if it's muscle or bone kind of pain and ache, just felt "ee! woo! ahh... aiyoh...crap!" It was like seas of needles and pinchers flowing thru my veins along my hands and at my shoulder region. The nodes of the pain and aches seemed to be at my wrists and the joint linking my arm and shoulder blade. Nodes meaning there is a continuous pain/ache feeling while the pain/ache feeling along the path to the shoulder is sort of a throbbing on/off kinda thing.
And, I dunno if it's a cold day or wad, I felt dam cold, throughout the day. At 3pm i felt it was a little too much and i settled into bed and only just woke up at 6 plus. The pain/ache is still there, though slightly lesser. Somehow my ankle and shin are kinda feeling that same achy-ness. Feel terrible. Topping it up like fire to a pile of shit is the itch behind my ears and upper back, and ankle.
When are these gonna go away...
Ok, my point being, the itch was super unbearable. But I guess the redness on my neck and hands just appeared and grew by themselves, probably from the friction when I move in my long sleeved shirt. Hives. Tsk!
Anyways, the medicine that was prescribed for me was hardly potent. Cetirizine Dihydrochloride 10mg, Take 1 a day; and hydrocortisone 1% cream. I felt that after so long that my hives are still around, I should've been given epinephrine shots already.
As night set in, my itch began to intensify again. On top of that, my throat seemed to be constricted because I started to feel pain whenever I swallow. Bad day, I thought.
Day 10: I knew I was in no condition to go for band. I awoke from a call on my mobile. It was from shell, smth about a full day assessment centre event and a corresponding briefing.
Anyhow, the pain from swallowing was gone; but my shoulder and hand pains are back. Dunno if it's muscle or bone kind of pain and ache, just felt "ee! woo! ahh... aiyoh...crap!" It was like seas of needles and pinchers flowing thru my veins along my hands and at my shoulder region. The nodes of the pain and aches seemed to be at my wrists and the joint linking my arm and shoulder blade. Nodes meaning there is a continuous pain/ache feeling while the pain/ache feeling along the path to the shoulder is sort of a throbbing on/off kinda thing.
And, I dunno if it's a cold day or wad, I felt dam cold, throughout the day. At 3pm i felt it was a little too much and i settled into bed and only just woke up at 6 plus. The pain/ache is still there, though slightly lesser. Somehow my ankle and shin are kinda feeling that same achy-ness. Feel terrible. Topping it up like fire to a pile of shit is the itch behind my ears and upper back, and ankle.
When are these gonna go away...
Jul 20, 2008
an omen it was
Call it pessimmism or self-fulfilling a "prophecy", this entry could serve as the only means to find out what was actually wrong with me should anything weird happen.
Na said the coma dream could be an omen. How right it was. Just on the night of Monday itself, the scalp was feeling unusually itchy. The following day, this happened:
Tuesday (15 Jul): A few small itchy bite marks spotted on both elbows. A few videos and 3 hours later, the rash broke out into a full blown hive. Affected areas include the throat, arms and... hmm... other areas >.<
Later in the afternoon, it was appearing that it's either I go to the doc or be entirely consumed by rashes. Doctor suspects allergic reaction to my acne meds, minocycline. Xyzal and Prednisolone were prescribed. At that time, prolonged fatigue had set in. In the next few days, I would sleep for an average of 12-14 hours each day.
Friday (18 Jul): I had decided agnst going for band on wed due to obvious scratchy reasons. On this day, something new occurred. A constriction and tightness at my chest area and a pain in my throat esp during swallowing. A localised inflammation of the respiratory / digestive tract is suspected. Previously, I thought that something was dislodged in my gullet.
Saturday (19 Jul): Morning was a fresh start for me. The itch was minimised and the pain in the throat seemed to have subsided. That moment was to be short-lived. Following sectionals and band prac in the afternoon, a sort of muscle-splitting pain was sensed on the shoulder area. Dinner was hardly enjoyable for the swallowing part was painful. Still, talking to friends had an effect of diversion from the itchiness, pain and sore-ness.
Sunday (20 Jul): Tuition with my 2 kids has never been this 辛苦; both my arms are now experiencing that muscle-splitting pain, esp at the joints. The itch was now of secondary concern. Panadol Extra was no match for the aches in my arms. Probably preparing for anymore weird symptoms that may appear after this, I thought I had to pen all these down, just in case it might come in useful.
I'll be consulting medical help from the skin centre on Monday for a likely allergic reaction from minocycline. So far, I've displayed many of the symptoms of such a reaction. Hopefully by stopping the meds, the side effects will subside... FAST!
grr... it's been a disturbing week for me...
Na said the coma dream could be an omen. How right it was. Just on the night of Monday itself, the scalp was feeling unusually itchy. The following day, this happened:
Tuesday (15 Jul): A few small itchy bite marks spotted on both elbows. A few videos and 3 hours later, the rash broke out into a full blown hive. Affected areas include the throat, arms and... hmm... other areas >.<
Later in the afternoon, it was appearing that it's either I go to the doc or be entirely consumed by rashes. Doctor suspects allergic reaction to my acne meds, minocycline. Xyzal and Prednisolone were prescribed. At that time, prolonged fatigue had set in. In the next few days, I would sleep for an average of 12-14 hours each day.
Friday (18 Jul): I had decided agnst going for band on wed due to obvious scratchy reasons. On this day, something new occurred. A constriction and tightness at my chest area and a pain in my throat esp during swallowing. A localised inflammation of the respiratory / digestive tract is suspected. Previously, I thought that something was dislodged in my gullet.
Saturday (19 Jul): Morning was a fresh start for me. The itch was minimised and the pain in the throat seemed to have subsided. That moment was to be short-lived. Following sectionals and band prac in the afternoon, a sort of muscle-splitting pain was sensed on the shoulder area. Dinner was hardly enjoyable for the swallowing part was painful. Still, talking to friends had an effect of diversion from the itchiness, pain and sore-ness.
Sunday (20 Jul): Tuition with my 2 kids has never been this 辛苦; both my arms are now experiencing that muscle-splitting pain, esp at the joints. The itch was now of secondary concern. Panadol Extra was no match for the aches in my arms. Probably preparing for anymore weird symptoms that may appear after this, I thought I had to pen all these down, just in case it might come in useful.
I'll be consulting medical help from the skin centre on Monday for a likely allergic reaction from minocycline. So far, I've displayed many of the symptoms of such a reaction. Hopefully by stopping the meds, the side effects will subside... FAST!
grr... it's been a disturbing week for me...
Jul 15, 2008
something new...
and so i had this dream, that i was having amnesia. I forgot the bulk of the story but the highlight was, I got my first kiss in my dreams... how sad was that -.- . Apparently I was more popular in my dreams. I remembered being comatose in my dream, and could only realise what was going on around me but couldnt respond.
So there was this girl who seemed to have a thing for me for some time already. She wanted very much for me to wake up and I could sense her anguish of not being able to see me awake or something liddat. Then, I think there's a certain storyline following that, but the next thing I knew, she planted a kiss on mi lips!
ok i'm leaving out the details cos really getting sianz typing liao. just wanted to leave a record of this dream somewhere.
As for now, time for ktv!!!! yeah!
So there was this girl who seemed to have a thing for me for some time already. She wanted very much for me to wake up and I could sense her anguish of not being able to see me awake or something liddat. Then, I think there's a certain storyline following that, but the next thing I knew, she planted a kiss on mi lips!
ok i'm leaving out the details cos really getting sianz typing liao. just wanted to leave a record of this dream somewhere.
As for now, time for ktv!!!! yeah!
i'm finally able to dream again
yea. the title says it all. no matter how many hours i sleep, no matter how well i thought i slept, i just couldnt go back to my routine dreamy state where i'll have interestin dreams here n there.
Perhaps i only have dreams when my life gets boring again, when my brain would concot some weird dream to make my otherwise boring life interesting. During the time when I had stopped dreaming (or just arent able to recall them), a few events had happened:
Flashbacks in order of appearance:
1) I got my first class honours!!! WOOTS! hmm... though it was quite dampened bcos I kinda thought "oh i finally am approaching her status and beginning to 配得上她". Somehow, I instinctively knew it was not to be. Before I can be happy for long, i found out it was impossible for us to be together, and I heard it from her directly. hAi, at that moment of time, wanted to just dig a hole down thru the core to the other side of the earth.
My only consolation was that at least I hadnt put in too much yet. What still puzzles me now was, why I received those mixed signals in the past. Was I thinking too much in the past? I can safely say that I really do not understand women. Totally dunno what they're thinking and what their actions mean. Women are total enigmas. Hasty generalisation? Hopefully...
Ok, that aside.
2) I went back to NTU, Chung Cheng and Saints Alumni band to play. Had to say i felt super old in all the bands.
Chung Cheng alumni, felt super outta place. The only solace was the singing of school song part during the concert. The key arh, really should be set lower. Girls sing just nice. Guys, oh my. Not in the range of most guys. Literally shouting all the way. But it was fun! hah! Reminded me of singing 一样的月光. Just Whack! haha! So, other than that, still got fm's lame jokes just b4 the concert. Din know he was so lame haha!
NTU. Thought if i joined back, can have fun interacting w/ the section. Hmm, seemed more quiet than i thought it'd be. And j, hm and lh left!!! Ok luh, not like i know lh well anyway, but it's one more fun person leaving. And it seems pple are pairing up in the band, and getting attached out of it for that matter. Love season this year following the great breakup season of 2007. Anyway, it's great to be joining the supper gang for dinners and suppers again. 好怀念喔! Oh, and then there's the chalet, where weiliang hit the soccerball against my car. Accidentally? hmm. The usual bbq, mahjong session, drinking session... Oh! And an incident that happened on the bed that was photographed by me HAH! Other than that, nothing much to hoohaa about also. Maybe gettin anti-social again, didnt take part in any of the activities actively. Just walking around and poking my head in now n then.
Oh! Saints alumni! Got a disappointing Silver for the competition. My 2nd Silver in 3 years. Quite demoralising. And i dropped the clarinet after the comp! *Gasp* Luckily no notable injuries to xiaohei (the clarinet). Should be no internal injuries also bah, cos still can play ><. So anyhow, i enjoyed playing more for Saints Alumni gradually, compared to ntu. From the many sectionals, the section seemed to be closer n closer, and more fun. Quite sad that we had to like say our goodbyes and probably wont see each other again till the end of time.
3) Finding jobs. Oh craps. Where do i start. My present dilema was which line to go into and whether I should wait for the banks or SIA or Shell or Exxonmobil to get back to me, or just accept the offer...or.. hmm... even talking about it seems to sianz. 算了.
4) DC's stock thingey. Supposedly heading the group studying "candlestick". Ok shall leave this for other days also. Getting bored typin...
Perhaps i only have dreams when my life gets boring again, when my brain would concot some weird dream to make my otherwise boring life interesting. During the time when I had stopped dreaming (or just arent able to recall them), a few events had happened:
Flashbacks in order of appearance:
1) I got my first class honours!!! WOOTS! hmm... though it was quite dampened bcos I kinda thought "oh i finally am approaching her status and beginning to 配得上她". Somehow, I instinctively knew it was not to be. Before I can be happy for long, i found out it was impossible for us to be together, and I heard it from her directly. hAi, at that moment of time, wanted to just dig a hole down thru the core to the other side of the earth.
My only consolation was that at least I hadnt put in too much yet. What still puzzles me now was, why I received those mixed signals in the past. Was I thinking too much in the past? I can safely say that I really do not understand women. Totally dunno what they're thinking and what their actions mean. Women are total enigmas. Hasty generalisation? Hopefully...
Ok, that aside.
2) I went back to NTU, Chung Cheng and Saints Alumni band to play. Had to say i felt super old in all the bands.
Chung Cheng alumni, felt super outta place. The only solace was the singing of school song part during the concert. The key arh, really should be set lower. Girls sing just nice. Guys, oh my. Not in the range of most guys. Literally shouting all the way. But it was fun! hah! Reminded me of singing 一样的月光. Just Whack! haha! So, other than that, still got fm's lame jokes just b4 the concert. Din know he was so lame haha!
NTU. Thought if i joined back, can have fun interacting w/ the section. Hmm, seemed more quiet than i thought it'd be. And j, hm and lh left!!! Ok luh, not like i know lh well anyway, but it's one more fun person leaving. And it seems pple are pairing up in the band, and getting attached out of it for that matter. Love season this year following the great breakup season of 2007. Anyway, it's great to be joining the supper gang for dinners and suppers again. 好怀念喔! Oh, and then there's the chalet, where weiliang hit the soccerball against my car. Accidentally? hmm. The usual bbq, mahjong session, drinking session... Oh! And an incident that happened on the bed that was photographed by me HAH! Other than that, nothing much to hoohaa about also. Maybe gettin anti-social again, didnt take part in any of the activities actively. Just walking around and poking my head in now n then.
Oh! Saints alumni! Got a disappointing Silver for the competition. My 2nd Silver in 3 years. Quite demoralising. And i dropped the clarinet after the comp! *Gasp* Luckily no notable injuries to xiaohei (the clarinet). Should be no internal injuries also bah, cos still can play ><. So anyhow, i enjoyed playing more for Saints Alumni gradually, compared to ntu. From the many sectionals, the section seemed to be closer n closer, and more fun. Quite sad that we had to like say our goodbyes and probably wont see each other again till the end of time.
3) Finding jobs. Oh craps. Where do i start. My present dilema was which line to go into and whether I should wait for the banks or SIA or Shell or Exxonmobil to get back to me, or just accept the offer...or.. hmm... even talking about it seems to sianz. 算了.
4) DC's stock thingey. Supposedly heading the group studying "candlestick". Ok shall leave this for other days also. Getting bored typin...
i'm back hah!
finally in the mood to have new entries in my blog again. so many things have happened that I wanted to include inside here but just lazy or dont feel like typin it out...
May 8, 2008
The deep fried finger food anomaly
There's a law in economics that go something like "Above a certain quantity, the utility gained from it starts to decrease" 2 more examples to back this theory. Mahjong and fried food platter (FFP).
And so the long awaited mahjong session was just after fyp presentation, the great presentation of May the 6th. The day where my 排泄物 was literally mixed vigourously with adreneline. Okie, that aside. The first round was mahjong was good. Had my fair share of wins and near wins. Second round I was warming up and beginning to be really bubbly (probably because I bathed and renewed my vigor).3rd round I was practically the noisiest player; singing, laughing, cheering, spouting nonsense, you name it. I was so high I celebrated as if i had scored a goal every time I get a flower (花), even if it's not mine.
Anyway, my point was; towards the end of round 3, the environmental effects slowly set in. Perhaps due to the tiredness from all the noise, or from one whole semester of exhaustion that just suddenly accumulating at that time, not to say it was already 3,4am at that time. I was starting to feel cold, hungry, tired and full of 屁, literally. Admist all these "comforts", we went into the 4th round. I was quite sure I said this after we ended the 4th round. "ANOTHER ROUND? Are you crazy? I feel like killing myself already"
That sums up the mahjong episode, when too much of something really cant be any good.
The fried finger food incidents were pretty much similar. Only had myself to blame really. On both occasions I suggested eating them. Again, lets go back to the afternoon of May the 6th after my fyp presentation. dorothy+ben+me met up in PS to eat. Ended in cafe cartel, since I'm the only one who really had a stand in what I wanted to eat. BAD CHOICE! >.<
And so the 3 of us, ordered a platter for 5 persons. Apparently some smart alec (yours truly) said "ay it's quite worth it leh! we split this platter into 3, only around $15. 5 people's share leh!"
Same theory of utility. Too much of something is disgusting.
You'd have thought we'd learnt our lesson by then. But no! The same smart alec (if you hadnt caught it already, it was me) suggested going to settler's cafe the next day following the mahjong session. It was an abrupt decision. Initial plan was vivocity but on the way there I thought, "Hey, we're reaching clarke quay, and settler's is at clarke quay; student's price, games."
So, I suggested. And as usual there were no objections. Wrong choice again! >.<
The 3-6pm plan was okie. The usual student's plan with a main course and games. We had too much fun, wanted to extend. Wednesday was the day for free flow of deep fried finger food from 6-10pm for $12.90. Sounded like a very gd deal and we jumped straight at it.
After 5 entrees of a mix of sotong balls, nuggets, fries and onion rings, we ordered 2 servings of each. Plus 5 chicken wings. I think it's due to them taking too long to cook or just lagging behind our continuous orders. Suddenly, a MOUNTAIN of finger foods was placed on our table! It was terrible! Most of us were quite full already!
I cant imagine eating fried food for at least the next few days. Oh, and the story's not over yet! In the middle of trying to clear this chunk of finger food, the staff there suddenly placed a basket of 25 chicken wings in front of us!!!!!! I bet if there was a camera to take down our pictures at that time, others would think that we saw ghosts!
We tried to explain ourselves out of that situation. Partially their fault and I gotta admit, a significant portion of the confrontation was from the desperate attempt to avoid eating anymore. The staff was like apologising from the misunderstanding. And when we thought all was over. He rushed over and told us excitedly, "I have good news! Your 5 chicken wings are done!"
OMG lor! We immediately said, "It's 10, we already want to go home. Can you cancel that order and give us the bill?" (oh by the way, there's a penalty of $5 for every 100g of wastage) I think maybe the staff was thinking we waited for a long time and we just dont want to eat it already. Anyways, to us it definitely wasnt good news.
The saga of the finger food had ended, but I think i'll be fearful of eating fried finger foods for sometime. We walked out of settler's with probably a large amount of oil already depositing in our hair follicles, face and internal organs.
Definitely a day to remember.
And so the long awaited mahjong session was just after fyp presentation, the great presentation of May the 6th. The day where my 排泄物 was literally mixed vigourously with adreneline. Okie, that aside. The first round was mahjong was good. Had my fair share of wins and near wins. Second round I was warming up and beginning to be really bubbly (probably because I bathed and renewed my vigor).3rd round I was practically the noisiest player; singing, laughing, cheering, spouting nonsense, you name it. I was so high I celebrated as if i had scored a goal every time I get a flower (花), even if it's not mine.
Anyway, my point was; towards the end of round 3, the environmental effects slowly set in. Perhaps due to the tiredness from all the noise, or from one whole semester of exhaustion that just suddenly accumulating at that time, not to say it was already 3,4am at that time. I was starting to feel cold, hungry, tired and full of 屁, literally. Admist all these "comforts", we went into the 4th round. I was quite sure I said this after we ended the 4th round. "ANOTHER ROUND? Are you crazy? I feel like killing myself already"
That sums up the mahjong episode, when too much of something really cant be any good.
The fried finger food incidents were pretty much similar. Only had myself to blame really. On both occasions I suggested eating them. Again, lets go back to the afternoon of May the 6th after my fyp presentation. dorothy+ben+me met up in PS to eat. Ended in cafe cartel, since I'm the only one who really had a stand in what I wanted to eat. BAD CHOICE! >.<
And so the 3 of us, ordered a platter for 5 persons. Apparently some smart alec (yours truly) said "ay it's quite worth it leh! we split this platter into 3, only around $15. 5 people's share leh!"
Same theory of utility. Too much of something is disgusting.
You'd have thought we'd learnt our lesson by then. But no! The same smart alec (if you hadnt caught it already, it was me) suggested going to settler's cafe the next day following the mahjong session. It was an abrupt decision. Initial plan was vivocity but on the way there I thought, "Hey, we're reaching clarke quay, and settler's is at clarke quay; student's price, games."
So, I suggested. And as usual there were no objections. Wrong choice again! >.<
The 3-6pm plan was okie. The usual student's plan with a main course and games. We had too much fun, wanted to extend. Wednesday was the day for free flow of deep fried finger food from 6-10pm for $12.90. Sounded like a very gd deal and we jumped straight at it.
After 5 entrees of a mix of sotong balls, nuggets, fries and onion rings, we ordered 2 servings of each. Plus 5 chicken wings. I think it's due to them taking too long to cook or just lagging behind our continuous orders. Suddenly, a MOUNTAIN of finger foods was placed on our table! It was terrible! Most of us were quite full already!
I cant imagine eating fried food for at least the next few days. Oh, and the story's not over yet! In the middle of trying to clear this chunk of finger food, the staff there suddenly placed a basket of 25 chicken wings in front of us!!!!!! I bet if there was a camera to take down our pictures at that time, others would think that we saw ghosts!
We tried to explain ourselves out of that situation. Partially their fault and I gotta admit, a significant portion of the confrontation was from the desperate attempt to avoid eating anymore. The staff was like apologising from the misunderstanding. And when we thought all was over. He rushed over and told us excitedly, "I have good news! Your 5 chicken wings are done!"
OMG lor! We immediately said, "It's 10, we already want to go home. Can you cancel that order and give us the bill?" (oh by the way, there's a penalty of $5 for every 100g of wastage) I think maybe the staff was thinking we waited for a long time and we just dont want to eat it already. Anyways, to us it definitely wasnt good news.
The saga of the finger food had ended, but I think i'll be fearful of eating fried finger foods for sometime. We walked out of settler's with probably a large amount of oil already depositing in our hair follicles, face and internal organs.
Definitely a day to remember.
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