Confessions of a City Slicker

I woke up this morning preparing myself for the start of a day filled with pain.  I’m going to the dentist.

My colleague remarked that no matter how tough you are, even if you are the big boss of a triad gang, drilling your teeth is still something to shudder about.

I have never gone to this particular dentist before -  Singapore Dental in Pulau Tikus - but he came highly recommended because of his use of high technology.  Even administering injection is done though machines rather than a human hand.  Oh my, canggih!

The dentist is a pleasant man.  Talked to me to calm me down as he checked my teeth.  What he showed me through the mirror is not at all pleasant.  In spite of  all the care that I take in caring for my teeth, apparently it was not enough.  Let’s just say that my teeth are not exactly in the most stellar condition.  To top it off, I am amongst the small majority of people born with weak enamel.

The drilling started after that.  To my surprise there was no pain at all, maybe because the cavity is still small.  But according to the dentist, there is pain because some dentists press too hard or they use cheap or blunt instruments.  The drilling lasted maybe less than a minute then he started to fill up the cavity.

The whole ordeal was over in less than half an hour.  The cost of the whole experience - RM60.00.

I have a few more cavities left to fill but those will be KIVed for the next few months to keep my bank balance at a healthy level.  Naturally, going to someone who uses high technology, you’d expect to pay a premium for their services.

Next, off to get my tattoo touched up.  I’ve had it for….3 years, if I’m not mistaken and the color has faded considerably.

Touching up took less time than when I first had it done.  I think it took about 2 hours the first time, but now it’s just half an hour.  It’s more ticklish than painful.  Of course there is some amount of discomfort, but nothing like the pain of getting my eyebrows embroidered.  Man, that’s REAL PAIN.

Right now, it’s still a little sore and will probably start to itch for the next few weeks.

There is a picture hanging on their wall of someone’s back tattooed with a tapestry of a Native American on horseback.  The detail is magnificent.  My tattoo artist said that job took 20 over sessions of about 7 hours each.  Yikes!

I read from Yahoo! that a lot of peole are starting to regret getting a tattoo and are having them removed, a process that is waaaaayyyyy more painful than getting tattooed in the first place.

My philosophy is, get something that you can live with for the rest of your life or else don’t get one at all.  But most of these people got their tattoos in a moment of drunken madness.  Else, why would a woman get the word BITCH tattooed on her lower lip or a boyfriend’s initials on her bikini line?

Because the love shape has always been my favorite, naturally, that is the tattoo I got.  Yes, children, it’s a love shape, not an apple.

Yet another denizen of my ex Cina Apek company has found her way out to greener pastures.

There is hope, I guess, considering the amount of people who left, found the big bad world out there too cruel and came running back.  Don’t do that, Au Au, no face-see.

It’s no fun, really, working for a Chinaman company, with all their rediculous restrictions and policies.  But, at least the only politicians are amongst the top management.  The one thing that I treasure most about my time there is the wonderful group of friends that I made.  And we stayed in touch, whereas I hardly see my ex colleagues from my other previous jobs.

Over dinner last night, we remarked that as all of us eventually go our separate ways, there will not be much gossip from the Cina Apek company to share during our gatherings.  The politic-king amongst the top management has always been a favorite topic to share a laugh over.

I’m sure gonna miss bitching about Ah Q and the incompetance of the KKC-less salted fish or laughing over The Speaker and his pasar malam.  There is also Datin, the budding politician whom the salted fish is mentoring.

Well, good luck to the rest of you still stuck there.  Hope you won’t be stuck too long.  Greener pastures do exist out there.

And good luck, Au Au.  Oh ya, remember to buy what I told you to buy from the US, ya