Of rings and men.

I swear, I think I'm the ONLY person who can get tangled in embarrassing + difficult situations all in one day.

So, I headed to Johor for my uncle's wedding. He got married to a Chinese and I really love marriages like this. It's the best way to see two separate cultures fuse into one and to know that it's because of incredible love just makes me :'). As usual, as ALL weddings do, I was fascinated and couldn't keep my eyes of the married couple.

But well, let's press the 'BACK' button.

It was Saturday night when we reached the hotel. My aunties called and wanted to take my mum out for supper. According to them, Johor is dangerous so all jewelry should best not be worn. My mum took her rings off and asked me to wear them so she would not misplace them in the room. Me, being me at night, (oblivious and sleepy) laid my fingers on the pillow as she forced two rings onto two separate fingers.
Sophie: Mummy, quite tight la this one.
Mummy: Its okay, it's supposed to fit like that.
Sophie: okay.

And then, I went to sleeep.

Next morning,
Mummy: Sophie, please take the rings off please
Sophie: Okay.

So I skipped into the toilet thinking 'Omg it's going to be such a good day' and I almost fell for it until I tried to take the rings off. The one on my left hand was so freaking tight that even when I used soap,it didn't seem possible. I THOUGHT that was bad until I looked at my right hand and saw my poor pointy finger! It was swollen, bulging and the ring looked like it was suffocating the little thing. Immediately, I ran out "DADDDY MUMMY. THE RINGS ARE STUCK!"

My mummy thought I was paranoid. Okay, maybe I WAS but you can't blame me. My dad took one look at it and said "Okay, worst come to worst, you go for minor surgery. Put you under GA and cut if off". -.- HOW NOT TO FEEL WORRIED?

Hearing that, my mum told my dad not to be paranoid too.

So my dad and I panicked whilst my mum used soap to get the ring of my left hand which finally after much twisting, and "ouch"ing from me, FINALLY came off. But the ring on my pointy on my right..That was going to be a problem.

Kayra : Just don't look at it Sophie.

So I didn't.
We went for Dim Sum and I ate with much difficulties because I couldn't seem to hold the chopsticks well with that swollen finger. Asked the waitress for ice cubes and dipped my finger into the glass. But honestly, I'd never survive some fear factor thing because I couldn't hold my finger in for more than a few seconds. PATHETIC.

And then, me remembering that technology will somehow always give you answers, I fished out my mummy's handphone and went on to surf on google.

"how to remove a ring from a swollen finger"

And I saw these GROSS PICTURES which was probably what my finger would look like if I kept it the ring there any longer.

The best solution, I found out, to take rings off fingers like magic was "WINDEX". A window cleaner famous in America. So,..okay, that was a no go.

The last resort was to cut the ring off, and NOT UNDER A MINOR SURGERY, but just a short trip to a jewelry store would do:)

My mummy and I had 30 minutes to go until the wedding.
Mum:let's go after the wedding.
Sophie: No, we go NOW!

haha.

So we went. Two 'women' on a mission. Walking in the morning hustle and bustle with an aura of unfamiliarity in the air, looking out for a shop with the sign "Goldsmith".

We finally found one but it was still closed. According to the guy in the shop next door, it would open at 10. WAAH, a sigh of relief. 5 minutes to ten.

So we waited.And waited.
until I went to the front and saw a paper plasted on the wall with these evil words that seemed to shove right into my face "Today working hours : 2 to 8 pm".

GRR.
So we carried on and went into a mall and by the love of God, we finally found a shop called "De Gem". It looked kinda classy and reliable too.

It was only when we were in that I realised it was the opening ceremony of the shop, there were VIPs outside and cameras and television screens all over!

But there I was, holding onto my finger which was as red as my blushing cheeks.

THANK GOD, the dudes there were nice. They called their 'sifu' who used pliers and whatnot to take the ring off and I swear, it was quite a tramautic experience. Forcing the cutter in between the ring and my finger just made my finger bulge more and my mum was going "careful careful!", the guy's hand was shaking in fear and all I did was pray and close my eyes until I heard that final "crrrk" sound. The ring was finally cut into two. I opened my eyes in relief till I looked to my right and there was this huge ass camera zooming in and "snap snap snap".
-.-

Their big opening ceremony and I just had to make such an entrance :P haha.

It was quite funny looking back AFTER the ring was off :) Another thing to add to my life adventure list with my mama.

Oh, so we finally made it back to the wedding hall and my mum was delighted because she saw her old addd maths tuition teacher there, Mr. Han. She introduced me to him and ya know, being daughters in public places, we keep a sorta good polite level.

Everything went fine until I decided I needed to apply some gloss on me lips and all that so I dragged Kayra along. She was all chirpy, telling me a story that we absent-minded girls went into the wrong place!

I was busy applying lip gloss, and I swear I saw those men toilet bowls arranged orderly but it STILL didn't cross my mind I was in the men's toilet UNTIL a man came in. A man none other than Mr. Han who just stared at me and then ran off in humiliation.
And WAIT, I in fact STILL was clucking to myself thinkin " Poor man. He's old so he prolly didn't realise".

But I guess God wanted to save me before I was unfortunate enough to see a certain part of a certain male's body because all of a sudden, I saw those toilet bowls again and I was like "KAYRRAAA RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

-.-!!!

Sigh, how do I get so silly?

HMM :)

My holidays have been blissfully good. :')

And I feel pity for this blog which is dying day by day. I guess when you have so much free time, blogging doesn't become a priority. It's only when you've studied so much during the day on a school week and this itch to rant out to the world evolves in your fingers that you actually feel the natural flow.

I feel rather selfish that life is so good :/ I know Joyce gets me. I'm feeling so happy but there are some people around me who are sad :( I feel I have a responsibility.

Next week is going to be so busy!

I still have my coffee bean session to be with TANTAN, ariff wants nandos, I miss DAENA, dash outing, SINGAPORE with the girls is this coming friday already!

And in between all of that, I've made an awesome friend, Asyraf:) And next year is going to be so blah, no time for much and all.

Off to Johor now for a wedding :)
Love weddings, seriously.

HAVE FUN and Happy holidays to everyone!:)

Thank God my blogging mojo has semi-returned. I almost thought it was semi-retired.



I'm quite liking my holidays. Ever since lunch at Bonbons with jonaphiarynic, everything has seemed to fall into place quite nicely.



1) I was tickled pink when complimented by Pn. Mag. I think Abhi feels the same :)

2) I feel productive.

3) I actually exercise! (go me!)

4) I have my super dash team.

5) Family days/dinners/movie crash-ins are becoming a common delight again.

6) Despite the fact I had trouble doing Chapter 3 of Physics,I did not erupt into a mess of stress.

7) I did not go to Bei Jing but today in Straits times, there was an article about the state of Bei Jing now; BUILDINGS COLLAPSING, SNOW STORMS, SECURITY TIGHT (cause OBAMA is visiting) So my dada's instinct is one of high credibility :)

8) My HOROSCOPE (not that I actually follow follow these things) said that I have a "nothing is a no" bone in my body. HEH. It just made me temporarily smile, get what I mean?



I have also been having highly sentimental days, pondering on thoughts and looking through photos. This is where my Ipod comes into place but sometimes I find it so difficult to find a certain song to fit my exact mood. But this holiday, some songs just seem to fit right into place, and I don't know why:



Two is better than one (Ry, stop cringing)

Falling for you ,Colbie Callait.


Alright :)

Sleep Paralysis

Four years ago, I first encountered with a buzzing sound, and then a 'shadow', and then a white spirit, and then voices, and then suffocating and then I couldn't move and finally, two nights ago, I was hit full spiral when I saw two haunting figures on my bed.
1) A kid who said " I can still hear the noise".
2) A dark, broad faced man.

And today, while I was taking my afternoon nap, I heard voice and I felt paralysed yet again.

Enough is enough lah.

I did my research, and felt like how the heroes of scary movies feel when they look up symptoms on the internet except this time, I wasn't faced with some scary shit but instead, a scientific reasoning.

:


A person may wake up and find himself unable to move or speak as if he is frozen. He also may hear footsteps, see a ghost-like creature, or feel someone sitting on his chest. Throughout the history, people considered this phenomenon as work done by evil spirits. However, the modern science can explain the terrifying event as a Sleep Paralysis.
A Sleep Paralysis is possibly a hereditary disorder in which one experiences very frightening seconds or minutes of total body paralysis with little respiration and eye movements (1). A victim in this state feels awake, but he cannot move or speak (2). In addition to the immobility, the common symptoms include feeling choked or suffocated, hearing strange noises like footsteps and voices, seeing beings or dark shadows, and feeling an existance of someone in the room (1). Although these symptoms often direct the victims to believe in ghosts, mistransmission of neural signals in the brain causes Sleep Paralysis. When a person sleeps, his brain sends signals to inhibit any muscle contraction (3). If he comes into consciousness before the brain sends signals to activate muscle contraction, he cannot move his body, and consequently, become "paralyzed"(2).

Understanding more neural concepts of Sleep Paralysis, some researchers now hypothesize that a very rare condition called Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) may closely relate to Sleep Paralysis (1). Upon the death, a SUNDS victim produces no body movement even though he experiences a myocardial infarction and strong breathing difficulties and should straggle in agony (5). The death may be caused by the extreme muscle atonia during Sleep Paralysis, which is so severe that even the cardiac muscles and the diaghragm paralyze (5).
(I get sleep paralysis way too often :S)

This caught my interest too:
How to Lucid DreamThe most basic definition of lucid dreaming is "being aware you are dreaming while dreaming". Most lucid dreams are about things you want to happen. Although most people know they're lucid dreaming, you can change your dream to how you want it to be. Lucid dreams usually occur while a person is in the middle of a regular dream and suddenly realizes that she or he is asleep and must be dreaming. The person is then said to be "lucid", and may enter one of many levels of lucidity. At the lowest level, the dreamer may be dimly aware that he or she is dreaming, but not think rationally enough to realize that events/people/actions in the dream are not real/pose no threat. At the highest level, the dreamer is fully aware that she or he is asleep, and can have complete control over his or her actions in the dream. However, with low mental control your decisions could be biased not by your opinion, but by your brain. You can control your dreams using the lucid dreaming methods that follow.

Causes
Although there are several theories, the actual cause of sleep paralysis is still unknown. However, several factors have been identified that may increase the chances of having an episode:

•Sleeping in a face upwards or supine position
•Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in, sleep deprivation (haha, thank you debate)!
•Increased stress

•Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes
•A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode.

I think I know why whenever I get it, I wake up feeling so tired:


•Don't fight it and it will pass. Fighting against it makes it worse than it is.
(I always fight it off. I actually remember even KICKING the ' ghosts' away)
•Always remember that sleep paralysis is a medical phenomena and just that. Do not associate it with supernatural things like ghosts and evils. It will only make it worse. Keep reminding yourself that it's just a medical phenomena.
(HAH. The minute I get up, I see "Shutter" "The Eye" and all these scary things in my head and don't sleep for hours)


Oh well, :) anyone else facing the same problem?

My ears.

Many times in life we are touched by people we least expect to be.

People who teach you not to take your life for granted.

Did anyone ever think about how blessed we are to have ears?

Just imagine not being able to listen to the coo of a little baby, the sound of waves crashing against rocks, the roaring laughter during a school comedy.
Just imagine not being able to know what MUSIC is; to not know the different sounds different instruments make..
Just imagine not being able to hear the love in a person's voice, the firm tone of a loving mother.

I never thought about it until I made friends with Marissa's best friend in school.

With a wispy smile on her face, she 'said', "I wish I could hear your voice". Expressing her feelings through her hand gestures (sign language), I wasn't sure whether to pity her or to be proud of her.


Today, I am thankful that I have everything I need.

Back to where I came from!

Now that it's nearing the end of the year, and next year's light is surfacing bit by bit everyday,

THIS has climbed back into my life. Am feeling the same thrill. HEHE

GREEEN TEAAA:)

Hmm, it took me a good 15 minutes wriggling in my bed to realise that I was not going to sleep anytime soon although my body was urging me to after only 3 hours of sleep last night.

Oh well, I've got a lot of things to blog about but until I have enough knowledge to do so, I will not.

And gosh, it's funny how I had so many words spilling from my mind just now,
and now..

I'm left blank.

Oh well, I love you people. Bonbons lunch was the best:)