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Went to Hotheads today for a haircut. The last time I went, I had my hair permed and now, the curls are straightening out and my fringe was in a huge mess. Way too long and unmanageable. Thank god for Albert Nico! He took off quite a bit from the back and the sides and shortened my fringe so that it’s now skimming my eyes. Also had some highlights put in…the base colour is a dark brown, quite near to my original hair colour, and the highlights are in a dull/burnished gold colour. Left the saloon feeling quite pleased with myself….=) I’ve been going there since 2002 when Orson brought me there for my first highlights. The salon is located at KL Plaza, and it’s tastefully done up…monochromatic whites and black. The staff there are really friendly and Albert Nico is such a leng chai/hottie…*grin*

Attended Joey Yap’s Bazi Mastery Module 1 yesterday at the Mastery Academy situated near Midvalley. It was so fun and we really learnt so many things! I left the class feeling so excited and am really looking forward to Module 2 in February. For more details on the class, click here.

Had dinner tonight with my parents at the Ming Room @ Bangsar Shopping Centre. We had chicken wing shark fin soup where the chicken wing was stuffed with shark fin, honey pork spare ribs (extremely good! And they thoughtfully provided forks and knives…eating spare ribs with a chopstick is not an easy task!!), steamed cod fish and fried spinach. This restaurant’s food has been pretty good so far…a nice place to go for a good Chinese dinner. Unfortunately, we were all too stuffed to try the desserts…=( After dinner, Hubby and I went to Times bookstore. Managed to get the latest copy of Female magazine and a book on face reading (actually wanted to attend Joey’s Mian Xiang - face reading - class 2 weeks ago but no money-la….). Also saw a single and rather dog-eared copy of a book written by Carson from Queer Eye For The Straight Guy on style and dressing tips for men. Couldn’t find another copy else would’ve bought it straightaway! We also saw a huge world atlas by DK…it costs more than RM400!! But then, DK books are always nicely illustrated so it’s well worth the money…hubby just loves their travel guides.

And before going off for my DVD date with eric….here are two photos I took of the Chinese New Year decorations at KL Plaza and Bangsar Shopping Centre:

A Chinese pavilion at KL Plaza

Bangsar Shopping Centre’s CNY deco

I arrived at the Mastery Academy at about 9.50am and was surprised to find that the class was pretty full already. Headed over to the counter to register and pay the course fees and went off in search for a good seat.

Class started promptly at 10am. Joey had already expected us to have gone through the pre-course notes and he jumped right in…starting by going through the productive and controlling cycles of the five elements.

Throughout the day, we went through the different Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches and Hidden Stems that make up the elements of a person’s Bazi chart. I regretted not memorizing the Chinese names and characters of the stems and branches since my last Feng Shui class in August last year…it would’ve helped as I wouldn’t have to constantly refer to the tables. By the first tea break, we had covered up to the different combinations of the Earthly Branches.

After the tea break, Joey continued with clashes, harms, destruction and punishment relationships. Some of them sounds quite scary…especially when you find one or two in your own chart! By lunch time, we had gone through a few examples of how to plot a Bazi chart and we were assigned to plot the charts any two people in the class.

After lunch, we were taught the relationships between the elements and the 10 gods and finally…into the juicy stuff…putting it all together and reading a chart! I’m really impressed watching Joey interpret a Bazi chart…a true master!

I have to admit that I’m still a little blur on the interpretation bit…I suppose it takes lots of practice. Will try to take Joey’s advice of plotting 50 charts by hand (he actually has a computer program on his website that plots it automatically) before the next class!

I had been looking forward to the class for quite some time and I left feeling very excited and happy. Can’t wait for Module 2 which will take place on Feb 19-21. 3 days! What fun!!! =))

For those of you who are interested in Bazi but prefer others to do the plotting and interpretation, you can order a personalized Bazi astrology report from Dragon Gate. I’ve had one done for my career and it’s startlingly accurate!

I finally went to see the neurologist, Dr. Sng Kim Hock, today at Gleaneagles. Here’s how it went:

Parents picked me up from the office at 2.30pm. Reached Gleaeagles at 3, went to register myself at the corporate counter (the medical fees are covered by ING, Citibank’s medical insurance company) and headed up to the 5th floor to Dr. Sng’s clinic. The receptionist (nurse?) was really friendly, took down my details and gave me a copy of Dr. Sng’s resume to read while waiting. I learnt that he stays in the same area as my parents and his daughter graduated from Warwick University…what a small world! Dr. Sng’s really friendly…a pretty fatherly figure, actually. I told him the type of headache I was experiencing, he did a couple of reflex and movement tests and then sent me off to the X-ray and imaging department for a CT scan (see * below). However, he wanted me to see an eye doctor cause he saw some irregularities while checking my eyes. It may be caused by my contact lenses, but just to be sure, he wanted an ophthalmologist to take a look (see…I’m learning all these big words…neurologist, ophthalmologist, computerised tomography….*grin*).

We waited for about 15-30 minutes at the X-ray department before it was my turn. Dear hubby came over to accompany me as well…*muaks*! Before going in, I was asked to declare that I’m not pregnant as the radiation may be harmful to fetuses. The machine looked pretty intimidating…but at least it wasn’t THE TUNNEL (used for Magnetic Resonance Imaging - MRI)…phew! I was asked to lie down on the ‘table’, my head was kinda strapped down to prevent me from moving, I suppose, and they thoughtfully covered me with a blanket. I then closed my eyes and tried to relax. I was told that the scan would take ten minutes, but I think it was over much faster than that. Maybe my head is smaller? Hmm…

After about 20-30 minutes, the results of the scan was ready. Took a peek at the radiologist’s report…it read:

CT OF BRAIN
There is no space occupying intraparenchymal lesion (see ** below).
No intracranial haemorrhage seen.
The grey white differentiation is preserved
No hydrocephalus, mass effect or midline shift
The paranasal sinuses appear clear.
No significant abnormality

Since i only understood about 20% of the words in the report, I surfed around and found this medical dictionary on the Internet:

in·tra·pa·ren·chy·mal - adj : situated or occurring within the parenchyma of an organ

hy·dro·ceph·a·lus - n, pl -li : an abnormal increase in the amount of cerebrospinal fluid within the cranial cavity that is accompanied by expansion of the cerebral ventricles, enlargement of the skull and esp. the forehead, and atrophy of the brain.

And here’s a picture of my scan (I was proudly exclaiming to my mum: “Look, this proves that I have a brain”, to which she retorted: “But it’s so small”. Darn. I got the same response from my ever helpful and supportive citibank colleagues…! confidence level really went sky high….). Basically, what the machine did was to take ’slices’ or cross-sections of my brain…my guess is that the top left picture is the slice near my jaw, while the bottom right is the slice at the top of my brain.

The doctor said everything looked normal, but he’ll only be able to conclude once I’ve seen the eye doctor. However, 4 out of 10 people get headaches so I’m really not the odd one out. And it’s probably due to STRESS. Stress?!? Anyways, it’s a blessing that it’s nothing serious, though I had hoped that there’ll be a miracle pill that I could take to banish the headaches once and for all.

I’ll have to go back to see a Dr. Cheong to check out my eyes, and a follow up visit with Dr. Sng…in the meantime, still praying that I’ll wake up headache free one day soon.

Back in the office, my brain was criticized for being too small, my declaration that the headaches were due to stress were met with disbelieving looks…haha…seriously, they were all very nice and concerned…thanks for caring, guys! It was also a colleague, K’s birthday (it was actually an early birthday celebration)….so boss bought a cake from Nikko, we all gathered around and sang Happy Birthday. Take a look at the photos here! Also, photos from boss’s birthday lunch at KimGary the day before…

Boss also treated us to a lovely Lou Sang lunch today at Noble House. We had the yee sang (for those don’t know what this is, check out this freaking funny blog I found here!!! Even funnier if you understand Cantonese!), tofu, chicken, pork ribs, fish and fruits to finish off. The food was really tasty…will definitely bring my parents to try.

And that, my friends, concludes the day when I went through the donut hole…

*Computerised Tomography Scan

A computerised tomography (CT) scanner is a special type of X-ray machine used to produce pictures of the inside of the body. Unlike an ordinary X-ray, which is developed on film, a CT scan creates images of “slices” of the body on a computer screen. The images are black, white and grey, like ordinary X-rays, but are much more detailed and can even be viewed in three dimensions.

About CT scans
CT may be used to make images of every part of the body, including the bones, nerves, muscles and organs.

Depending on the part of the body being examined, a dye (contrast medium) may be used to make some tissues show up more clearly. For scans of the abdomen, this might be a drink containing barium, which shows up white on the scans. For other scans, contrast medium is injected into a vein.

Like any type of X-ray, CT scans can be harmful to a developing fetus, so they are not performed on pregnant women.

The procedure
A CT scan is routinely performed as an outpatient or day case, requiring no overnight stay in hospital. The procedure does not require an anesthetic (except sometimes for small children). Some people are offered a sedative medicine to help ensure that they are relaxed and comfortable during the procedure. The scan itself can take up to an hour to perform, but at least two hours should be allowed for the whole appointment.

Preparation for the scan
People having abdominal, pelvic, or brain scans may be given special instructions in advance about eating and drinking. Women who are having a pelvic scan may be asked to insert a tampon beforehand. But in many cases no preparation is required.

Some types of metal can interfere with the image quality, so everyone who has a scan will be asked to remove metal objects such as coins, jewellery, and hair clips, and it’s best to wear clothing that does not have metal zips or buttons.

The scan
Having a CT scan involves lying on a table that slides through the “ring” of the scanning machine. The table is positioned so that the part of the body being examined lies within the ring. The table moves backwards or forwards to take each new image “slice” (this can be a bit jerky). The scanner rotates around the body as each picture is taken.

A radiographer operates the scanner from behind a window, and is able to see, hear, and speak to the person being scanned throughout the procedure. He or she may ask the person to keep very still and hold their breath or avoid swallowing for a few seconds for each image.

If a dye injection is needed, it is usually given into a vein in the hand or arm at the beginning of the scan. Intravenous dyes for CT scans are harmlessly removed from the blood by the kidneys and passed out in the urine. Sometimes, if the lower bowel is being scanned, an enema containing a dye may be given before the scan so that the lining of the bowel, coated with the enema, shows up on the scan.

When the scan is complete, the table is easily moved out from the scanner.

**Space Occupying Lesions

CT scans demonstrating space occupying lesions (those black weird stuff in the brain, i suppose). Pictures from this website.

A friend, TI, and I have decided to study the rate of growth of mold on a sourish tasting (I suppose…never tried it before!) tidbit. Three specimens were placed in a name-card box, covered and left on TI’s table at work. We plan to periodically take photos and will update the progress as and when there is any. IF there is any.

Day 1 - The Birth of the Mold

It all started on Tuesday, 25 Jan 2005. TI was smart enough to take a look at her food before popping it into her mouth and this is what she found growing on top! Unfortunately, some had already ingested the snack, some without looking and some thinking that it’s a new look and flavour. Yuech. No stomach aches recorded though…so it’s likely that it’s not really mold. However, it does have a mushroom-y type of look. For the record, we both find it very gross…hence the subsequent containment in a name-card box donated by yours truly. The goal of Project Mold…? For it to grow and cover the entire surface of the snack. By and by, this is not our first attempt at growing mold. We actually started with a piece of white bread with margarine and sugar filling (one of my less inspired breakfast snack…)…wrapped it nicely in a plastic bag and left it alone. Amazingly enough, after…two? three? weeks…it looked exactly the same…not a speck of green moldy fungus-y thing on the bread. God only knows the amount of preservative that went into the bread…and my tummy!

Update: No additional mold seems to have grown, so project terminated!

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Watched Finding Neverland last night. Starring Johnny Depp (gorgeous!) and Kate Winslet as the main actors, the show is a fictional and magical story inspired by real life playwright, J. M. Barrie, the writer of Peter Pan. Set in London, Johnny Depp plays Barrie who is inspired by Kate Winslet’s Sylvia and her four young sons to write a play entitled ‘Peter Pan’. Freddie Highmore, who plays one of Sylvia’s sons, Peter, is amazing as a young actor…completely believable as a child who is forced to grow up too soon due to the death of his father. Johnny Depp’s Scottish accent and understated acting was superb…and Kate Winslet is just so very beautiful as Sylvia.

The show is magical, enchanting, funny and poignant. A definite must-watch!