I’m not a smoker, but I have smoker friends. I’m ok with them smoking (their life anyway), but my partner will not be one. Yup, that’s how I see it.

If someone’s going to have an expensive, pointless hobby, I’d rather it was skiing. Or better still, buying me expensive, pointless things.

— Belle de Jour

Exactly.

I actually wrote this as an add-on to the ‘about’ page of my product review blog, VERY BEAUTY, but decided that it’s a bit too personal to post it there afterall. So, I moved it here.

I will not lie; I love receiving freebies and samples. As much as I would like to join the ranks of beauty bloggers (or whatever fancy name professional bloggers get these days), I know that is not possible because:

1. I’m painfully aware that I’m not model material. I’m certainly not stick thin and how many times do I have to say that I have fats in places you can’t see? It’s VERY annoying that blog shop clothing is made for skinny people. Even if the chest area fits, the waist doesn’t. Like WTH. And don’t even get me started on the ridiculous prices I have to pay for clothes that end up not fitting well.
2. My fashion sense is well…I just wear what I want. I can’t walk in heels. I just prefer wearing footwear that I can run in. Heels do not fall in that category. *sigh* Ok, I will try.
3. My make up skills are mediocre and I hardly put on make up on a regular basis (even worse when I stopped working). Le husband prefers my au naturel face…actually it’s just an excuse for being lazy.  Well, the excuse is somewhat true. But anyway, I do try now and then to up my make up skills.
4. Excuse me but which beauty blogger wears glasses? Unless by some mysterious power, wearing glasses becomes the in-thing (real ones and not some fake black-rimmed oversized ones), yup… I’m just not comfortable and confident to go without my glasses as I have 大小眼 (one eye big, one eye small). Recently, I examined my eyes very very carefully in the mirror and realised the reason for this is the difference in the way my eyelids crease/fold. My right eye is hooded, which means the fold is close to the lash line. This makes my eye look smaller and god forbid, my eyeliner disappears beneath the fold. Yes, this is absolutely frustrating when I line my eyes. Glasses hide the imperfection or at least draw attention away from my eyes.

But so what if I can’t join the ranks? I will write just because I fancy it. A girl can hope right, whether it eventually leads me somewhere or not.

On a separate issue, it seems that the title ‘blogger’ is reserved for people who actually earn a living off writing on the internet. I beg to differ. I would call such people ‘professional bloggers’. Me? I’m just a blogger. Like I said earlier, I write because I like to and want to…even if half the time I feel like I’m talking to myself.

That was what my friend told me.

It took some courage to let her know what was bothering me all this time. Yes, it was something that happened 10 years ago and one should “forgive and forget”, but I never received proper closure for it. Although I laughed and casually said that I was 年少无知 whenever I mentioned my Polytechnic time, the hurt and pain never went away. Haha, I am a negative person after all.

But what she said made sense. Let it go because it was something that happened so long ago. Not many would remember the details anyway. Let it go because it is alright that not everyone is cut out to be your close friend. Maybe it is fated that we were meant to be friends only for a short while. What mattered is that I still have my close group of friends; those are the ones who will be my strength and support.

It was a two hour lunch and chat, but I walked away feeling a whole lot better. Perhaps with her words, I will really let it go.

Thank you, my friend.

As most Singaporeans would know, there are different classes of rooms in hospitals which vary in price. Of course, the price for a night’s stay in a single room is more dear than a shared room. Besides the difference in price, what other things do people expect to be different for each class of room? What do you expect if you paid more for a higher class room?

For me, I think that the biggest and most obvious difference would be personal space. Noise level and exclusive use of amenities (e.g. wash basin, loo, etc.) comes hand in hand with personal space. Less people sharing the room = less noise and more exclusive use of amenities. Quite logical right? Oh, and if I paid more, food choice for meals might be better?

However, there’s one thing I think should not differ no matter the class of room a patient is staying in. That is the quality of service and care from healthcare givers.

I am able to accept that the level of attention could be different because the healthcare giver to patient ratio might be different for each class, but I cannot understand when the service quality is also different. Don’t doctors and nurses take an oath to give the best care they can to patients? Why then should the quality of care be different?

I ask this because a relative of mine was hospitalised and the attitude of the nurses was very different while he stayed in different classes of rooms. He initially opted for a two-bedder as it is cheaper than a single room.

Two incidents to note while he was in the two-bedder room:

1. Nurses only dispensed medicine after taking his temperature.
2. Doctor required a stool sample from him and said that nurses would assist to collect the sample. One of the nurses later “reminded” the relative’s wife that either she or the patient would have to collect the sample when the patient had to do the big one.

The second point is RIDICULOUS! How can the patient collect the sample on his own when he is feeling weak and at times can hardly stand without keeling over? If I was there and heard this, I wouldn’t hesitate to give that nurse a piece of my mind. First, the doctor clearly said that the nurses would assist to collect the sample. Second, yes, it is not the most glamorous of things to do when collecting a stool sample, but this is part and parcel of a healthcare giver’s job. Why would the hospital even hire you as a nurse if you’re unwilling to do such things?

My relative changed his mind and decided he wanted to stay in a single room after someone moved into the room. (Initially, he was the only patient in the room.) He needed the peace and quiet as he had to bear the discomfort of a pounding headache that came with his high temperature. The quality of service and care was noticeably different while he was in the single room.

1. Nurses not only dispensed medicine after taking his temperature, they rushed to get ice packs to try and bring down his temperature.
2. He only had the urge to do the big one while in the single room. Nurses assisted to collect the stool sample.

One could argue that the difference in attitude to assist in collecting the stool sample had nothing to do with the difference in class of room the patient was staying. It could be that the problem was just the attitude of THAT nurse. The other nurses would have assisted anyway. But how do you explain the first point?

Why? Just because he paid more for this room so he could have access to better care? Please…how much do ice packs cost? Why discriminate when ice packs don’t cost that much? Are you saying that the life and well-being of a patient staying in a single room is worth more than one who is staying in a shared room?

A life is a life. It is important no matter whether the patient is rich or poor. That’s how I see it.