It had to be me. Of all the ppl who’ve taken Zyrtec (Cetirizine) for their allergies, I’m probably the 1 out of 10 ppl who gets drowsy after taking it.

Serious.

I started taking it on Tue afternoon, after getting back from the doc’s. Then I got sleepy towards the evening. I took it Wed morning, and I started getting sleepy by noon. By the time work was over, I had quite a difficult time staying awake while driving home. It is NOT wise to operate a heavy vehicle when u’re half-drugged. By now I’d already figured it was the Zyrtec that was making me feel like I was drugged (literally!) so I didn’t take it on Thu morning. I called the clinic and confirmed with them that the meds is non-drowsy. Anyway, to be on the safe side, I only took the pill on Thu nite before going to bed.

I wake up this morning and go, “Oh maaaan, I’m soooooooo sleepy!” (

I came to work and could barely hold up my head, let alone keep my eyes open. I seriously, literally felt like I was drugged. Only felt more awake after lunch.

Just came back from the doc to tell him wat happened. And he prescribed me another set of meds, also antihistamine but slightly different content? Doc says it’s non-drowsy. If all fails, I guess I just have to stick to the nasal spray alone.

Anyway, am gonna take it at nite, just to be safe.

Oh, did I mention I now have a pounding headache from the drowsiness and not being able to sleep it off??

Which defeats the entire purpose coz the reason why I’m on the antihistamines and nasal spray is to see if it would GET RID of my headaches!! ARGH! (

With Champions badge!!!!!

Estimated Damage:

Chelsea Centenary Jersey (Women’s) = RM169
Champions Badge = RM39
Total = RM208 (GAH!)

Methinks I shall drag myself down to BB Plaza this weekend to get it before the EPL season ends and everything’s outta stock!

Doc says : I see that your sinuses are rather swollen. Let’s treat you for rhinitis first and see how it goes in 2 weeks. Take one Zyrtec daily and 2 sprays in each nostril of Beclomet 2x a day. Do this for 2 weeks. I’ll also give you something-something-zine for your headaches. Take only when necessary. If within these 2 weeks u get worse, come back and see me. Else come back after 2 weeks and we’ll do another check.

Sigh…

See, I’ve been having headaches quite consistently for the past 2 months, always in the afternoon, after lunch. So was getting rather concerned coz I dun normally get headaches. At first, though it could be PMS but then, am still getting headaches when it’s not PMS time. So today, I decided to go see the doc, who’d seen me last time for my bad bout of runny nose, which he diagnosed as an allergic reaction.

Today, he checked my nose again and said my sinuses were rather swollen. So he said most likely, I’m having rhinitis.

According to Mayoclinic.com :

Allergic Rhinitis, or hay fever, is an allergic response to certain
substances in your environment.

So, this is the concoction of drugs that I’d gotten today:


1. Beclomet Nasal Aqua – Nasal spray
2. Zyrtec – Antihistamine
3. Nose drop – for congested nose only
4. Something-something-zine – Painkillers

I hope it’s just the rhinitis and not anything more serious.

Damn! These pet memoirs never fail to make me cry. Why? Coz they always end up with the pet dying! (

There I was, reading Marley & Me by John Grogan at 1am, and I knew I was getting to the sad part where the dog gets sick and the owners had to decide whether or not to put him down. Reading, reading, reading… then *trickle trickle*… So sad!!!!! ( It sucks that animals have shorter lives that humans. Bah!

In Marley & Me, John Grogan, a columnist for the Philadelphia Enquirer, pays tribute to Marley, his ‘mentally unbalanced’ yellow Lab Retriever. Where Labrador retrievers are generally considered even-tempered, calm and reliable, Marley appeared to be the total opposite. He ate everything (even an 18-carat gold necklace) and got kicked out of obedience school. However, his heart was huge, his love and loyalty to the Grogans boundless despite his lack of social graces.

Grogan recounts his life with Marley, together with his wife and eventually, 3 kids, from the time he brought Marley home as a puppy to Marley’s last days as a rickety, 13-year-old.

I really enjoyed the book and was particularly touched when I read how, towards the end of Marley’s life, the family accomodated him and tried to make his last days as comfortable as possible, much like how we’d do for a human family member.

Most ppl, if not all, would remark “But it’s just a dog/cat/pet. Why are u going thru all that trouble just for a dog/cat/rabbit/pet?” But I guess that’s the difference between animal lovers and non-animal lovers. They will never understand how a family pet touches ur heart and provides unconditional love and companionship. Dogs, especially. Whose ultimate goal, it seems, is to please its master/mistress and are contented to be rewarded with belly rubs and walks. Pets are so easy to please, no?

My 2 kats have been my constant companions when I was living alone in the States. When I got home from work everyday, they would be at my apt door to greet me. It does make a difference having them around coz they’re the other living beings in the entire apt aside from me and at times when I got a bit lonely, they were there to keep me company and make me laugh at their cute and funny antics.

When I decided to return to M’sia, I was at my wits end, trying to figure out what to do with my kats. Should I bring them home or find them a new home? But I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving them there coz I was thinking, if they were my kids, of course I’d bring them with me. Just coz they’re cats, dun mean that they’re any less important. So those early days after I’d decided that I’m coming home, I’d called up different airlines to find out what are the regulations on pet transportation and more importantly, how much it’d cost. I know that Air France allowed a limited no. of small pets in the cabin and yes, I did call them to find out the price, and the one-way ticket for myself and 1 pet wat USD5,000!!! Obviously my head wasn’t in the right place at that time, but the again, I didn’t know anything at that time so that was a learning experience.

So I sourced the net and found out that there were pet shippers, companies that specialize in transporting pets all over the world. They did everything for u, from booking the flight, arranging the paperwork, and if there is a connecting flight, they will arrange for another pet shipper in that particular state/country to receive the pet and board it on the next plane. When I found a pet shipper that I was comfortable with, I felt like a whole weight was lifted off my shoulders, though I was still very worried abt how my kats would handle the long flight. But my pet shipper told me “Dun worry, they’ll be fine. You’re probably more nervous than they (my cats) are!” Well, on the day I’d sent them off (1 day before my departure), I couldn’t sleep the entire nite, I was so worried! Anyway, they arrived safely, were quarantined for the stipulated no. of days, and released with a clean bill of health.

So yes, I’d say that my cats are definitely part of the family. And even though they dun always come when they’re called, and I definitely can’t teach them any tricks (I’d only managed to teach them to ‘Sit’), I still love my cats coz they’re always there for me to rub and pet, and best thing is, they dun ask me questions when I’m having a bad day. I just lie next to them and stroke them and I’d feel a bit better )

Have you always been the one to initiate contact with another person? Have you ever felt that you’re always the one to make the first move and the other person just sits around and acknowledges you when you make that first move?

Over the years, I’ve been in a few situations (thankfully, only very few!) where I choose to initiate contact with either an acquaintance or a long lost friend, only to find out that I seem to be doing all the initiation and the other person never once initiates contact with me. Needless to say, I’ve stopped initiating any further contact with these few ppl.

See, my rule of thumb is, 3 strikes and I’m gone. I dun mind initiating contact a few times but if I have to initiate contact 3 times consecutively, that shows me that you’re not interested in keeping in touch with me so I shouldn’t bother any further to contact you. Simple as that. There are so many ways to begin communicating with another person — face-to-face, phone, email, etc. — dun tell me it’s sooooo difficult to choose a method and say a quick ‘hi, how’re things?’

There are a few rare cases where I’ve exceeded or reduced my ’3x and i’m gone’ policy, either coz the other person has expressed his/her wish for me to stop contacting him/her (in the case of reduction) or I feel that the person is worth a few more tries (if more than 3x). But these cases are rare.

Oh well… it’s their loss and not mine. I’d just take it that I know one less person in my life. No sweat.

Wat’s your limit? How far would you go to keep contact with a person or ppl you know when they are not responding to you?

We managed to catch some salsa action when we were in Singapore.

Venue : Union Square, near Amara Hotel
Time : after 11pm
Cover Charge : S$14 (or was it S$15) for 2 drinks – I think. I wasn’t the one who made the payment, hehe…
Crowd : LOTS of ppl!!!

Union Square is quite a happening place. There was a live band there that nite and they were quite good! Music was interspersed between DJ-spun music and the live band. Dancefloor size is moderate, I’d say similar to Salsa Havana but more squarish.

From my observation, the S’porean guys (I assume they’re all S’porean, aside from the occasional mat salleh) are more groovy than KL guys. More showy, I would say. The gals were, mmm, ok lar… some groovy, some not so. Not that different from KL. Was quite fascinated with one gal’s top though. It was quite cool, the back of it was like, spider-webby. As in, multiple straps meeting in the center and there were crystal-like thingies on each strap.

Was rather intimidated by the S’porean guys so I didn’t ask any of them to dance ( except for one guy, whom CL knew (I can’t, for the life of me, remember his name!). He was kind enough to ask me for a dance.

All in, had quite a nice time and managed to put in quite number of dances that nite )

This is a pitch for my vet.

Anyone who’s looking for a vet, I definitely recommend Healing Rooms @ Subang Parade. They have a team of vets there and my regular vet is Dr. Vijay, who’s also the head vet there. Not only are they thorough, they actually take the time to ask detailed questions about your pet to try to make the most accurate diagnosis on your pet’s condition and they also take the time to explain exactly what your pet’s condition is and the treatments available as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each treatment. Heck, they even entertain the stupid questions that I ask sometimes coz being a concerned pet owner, of course I’d wanna know everything about what’s happening to my pet. This is more than I can say about some of MY doctors, who couldn’t even be bothered to ask me pertinent questions about my health, let alone explain anything to me!

In addition to that, the clinic also actively participates in the SPCA’s spay/neuter program and assists the SPCA in providing an alternative location for low-income earners, students, pensioners, and pet rescue individuals to get their pets/animals fixed to prevent breeding and overpopulation. Dr. Vijay was kind enough to entertain my numerous phone calls just so I could get the program started up at Healing Rooms, given his busy schedule and all.

So yes, if you’re looking for a vet around the Subang vicinity, please do check out Healing Rooms @ Subang Parade, next to Pets Wonderland. I think they’re doing a wonderful job.

Thank you for your kind attention. Now you can go back to work :p

Some random pics from my recent trip to Singapore…

Yuuumm… McD’s sundae with flavored swirls (Choc, Grape, Raspberry, and a couple more). They dun have this in KL, hence my fascination :-p

Interesting hairdo… the one with the red hair, that is…

Was trying figure out if they were going to a costume party but the boyfriend is dressed normal… hmmm…

This is almost like heaven.. aaahhh…

My dresses…

…and sparkly hair clips! )

This is, by far, the best hotel (in terms of room furnishing and facilities), that I’ve stayed in thus far! Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to be adjoined to Bugis Junction i.e. SHOPPING!!

This has got to be the longest, wat do u call it, walkway (?) from the door to the bed that I’ve ever seen! :-O

HUGE bathroom!!

With separate shower stall

And robes!!!! I lurve bathrobes!!

Lurved the bedcovers! Soooo soft and warm!!

Ok, let’s see where we are now…