西崎崇子 - 3650 夜

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

36 Hours of Freedom :-)

How does that feel like? 1 12/ day of complete freedom?

F'course it feels good. According to one of (my) favorite and reliable sources, 'Freedom' is...

"(the idea of being free) is a very broad concept that has been given numerous different interpretations by different philosophies and schools of thought. The protection of interpersonal freedom can be the object of a social and political investigation, while the metaphysical foundation of inner freedom is a philosophical and psychological question. Both forms of freedom come together in each individual as the internal and external values mesh together in a dynamic compromise and power struggle; the society fighting for power in defining the values of individuals and the individual fighting for societal acceptance and respect in establishing one's own values in it.

Freedom as the absence of restraint means unwilling to subjugate, lacking submission, or without forceful inequality. The achievement of this form of freedom depends upon a combination of the resistance of the individual (or group) and one's (their) environment; if one is in jail or even limited by a lack of resources, this person is free within their power and environment, but not free to defy reality. Natural laws restrict this form of freedom; for instance, no one is free to fly (though we may or may not be free to attempt to do so). Isaiah Berlin appears to call this kind of freedom "negative freedom" - an absence of obstacles put in the way of my action (especially by other people). He distinguishes this from "positive freedom", which refers to one's power to make choices leading to action."

But to me, freedom means no Christine. No Christine. Yes, the quiet/tranquil/serene 36 hrs without that loud/noisy and sometimes-delusional sister of mine. Another sister of mine, Pauline, checked out early as well, since her darling is in town today...

My sister's on her working trip to the east coast (Kelantan, Terengganu). These hours of freedom are rare gems, baby!!! Usually at this time of the day she'd be roaring at the top of her lungs at the smallest possible things (???) or seeking solace in front of the mirror for hours (esp. since she did a new 'do a few days back) admiring whatever that's (left???) there... :-)

Hmmm...less than a day to go...wonder when will her next assignment be? Is that why Pauline always pray that Chris gets an overseas posting??? Ouch~

Friday, May 9, 2008

Incapacitated + Liquid Diet for 3 Days = Happiness & Dropped 2 lbs…and counting…

After a few hours of excruciating pain I finally decided to pack loads’a stuff & go back home. Hometown, that is. My parents’ place where I grew up, had my sweet childhood and where my dog is at. It’s a good thing too, since I didn’t have to get my butt up and cook (mom’d do ALL that~~) & listen to that mildly sociopathic Christine whine, brag, boast, and scream just about anything that comes by.


When I reached home mom was already visualizing my would-be clinic etiquettes. Oh boy, maybe u should stay in bed for a few days, she said sympathetically (???) I could still talk with limited speech ability, plus my gum was slightly swollen, and I was taking antibiotics. So I guess I didn’t appreciate it when she treated me like a baby~


The second day…Boy oh boy, mom was probably right. My swollen right cheek was like the face of a roughed-up Sumo wrestler. I have pix of that but I wouldn’t put them up for a million yrs for Pete’s sake!!! Mom shrieked and dad was also surprised (not many things surprise him…) then I asked Christine whether this was normal, her hesitant Yeses cast some clouds of doubts but I decided to wait for another day…


The 3rd day…Thank God the swell slowly soothed. I had liquid diet these few days and was dying for something solid, preferably something savory, something rich & aromatic, something like…French toasts & coffee. But mom said no coffee :-( My liquid diet consisted much of juice, powdery organic drinks and porridge…God I miss my homemade salad so darn much…


The 4th day…Ok my swollen cheek was much better but I still looked like someone who just got creamed by some high school bully…2 word, NOT GOOD. But I’m glad that I’ve shed some lbs while I was still ‘incapacitated’ and recuperating at home. 2 lbs…and counting…haha…hAhA…HAHAHA :-) Guess I’ll have to make do when mom decides to boil porridge again~

Removal of my wisdom tooth & the horror that follows



I had a dental appointment on Monday (May 5) supposedly to remove 2 of my wisdom teeth. This is my first time to have my tooth extracted so naturally I didn’t feel quite in place. Yes, my very first toothie…at the age of 23 ½…

Removal of the wisdom teeth on our upper set of gum is considered normal extraction, the ones below is considered surgery, but the one below was giving me problems so I guess I’d be incapacitated for a few days :-(

When my name was called I felt a sting inside me, and numbness to a certain extent. I lied on the recliner (???) and an assistant gave me enough anesthetics so I couldn’t feel a thing in the next bone-crushing hour…

So I didn’t feel a thing the next hour. But the pressure and bone-cracking (my toothie…) sounds made me wanted to scream but I couldn’t :-( The dentist pulled and kneaded my facial muscles like she was making dough…Thank you Lord for inventing anesthetics…

When it was done I told them not to extract another one. I had planned to have both teeth on my right sets removed…but heck no!!! I’d pass out~

And then, voila! There it was, the little rascal (or so my mom calls it) came out and was right in front of me. I almost couldn’t believe what a tooth-in-the-flesh could bring about such world misery. I suffered a good full week of gum ache because of It. Well, one of the speculations about King Tut’s mysterious death was because of his wisdom tooth …

----- But that’s nothing compared to what I’d have to go through the next 4 days -----

The story is on my next post, of course… Meanwhile, u can check out pix of my toothie…teehee…still very ‘bloody’…

Friday, May 2, 2008

Ridiculous menu pricing…




DucKing Restaurant along Jln Persatuan (opposite Section 17 PJ) in a newly-built business square called Jaya One. My hands are pictured holding up the menu, a sign that incongruously reads: PRICE FOR THIS MENU, RM 1,500 +++ (US$ 450) I was like, WTF???????????? C’mon, there must be some sorta explanation for this??? Maybe there’s just a market out there I never knew existed…