Brown Nuggets

Lasik

I've booked a Lasik consultation with Prof Hing of NUH for the end of the month. Mom did hers with a Dr Lee Hung Meng (apparently quite famous in Singapore) but this particular doctor has switched to private practice. Anyway, I was told that Prof Hing is as senior as Dr Lee so I guess I'm safe. Will have to fork out $110 for the consultation and about $2,600 for both eyes for the actual surgery. Can't wait!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm still in a holiday mood. Not exactly dragging myself to work everyday but I do wish I was back in Phuket having long lazy days and nice meals...

Des and I are thinking of going away again in August/ September (August preferably) but that's still 5 months away :P

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My cherry coconut blondie is baking in the oven and it smells utterly divine :o)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Had a close shave with death (no, not really) while jet-skiing in Phuket. Des and I shared a 2 seater jetski and managed to bargain for 10 extra minutes. Des who took the front seat first didn't want to go too far out coz he thought it might be dangerous but I was urging him to take us further. When we switched over after about 10 minutes, I zipped us all the way out towards the end of the bay - it was really exciting! Just like in a James Bond movie!

Unfortunately, just as we were about to turn back, the engine died! Gasp! My heart skipped a beat and for a moment (when the waves bumped the jetski gently against some rocks) I thought we might actually get into trouble. I started praying that the engine would start again but it didn't. We were about 15 minutes away from the beach and too far to spot.

I didn't think there were any sharks coz the water seemed quite shallow but I did realize that if the waves got any bigger, we would be thrown against the rocks. Gulp! Instinctively, I stuck out one foot and tried to kick the jetski away from the rocks. That worked and I bent over and stuck one hand into the water and tried to paddle us further away.

The waves started bringing the jetski further out and Des got really worried that we were going to be lost at sea. I didn't really think we were going to die (cos the last time I went jetskiing, the vendors came looking for us about 5 minutes before time) but I did realize that we were probably going to be stranded and left baking in the sun for another 15 minutes before help came.

A couple of long boats passed by with tourists and we tried to solicit help but they were going a different direction (towards some of the smaller islands) and assured us that help would come eventually - how kind :-

Help came in the form of a double seater jetski and our saviour pillioned the two of us back to the beach. Phew! It took about 20 minutes to get back - we were that far out. Another speedboat was sent out to tow the jetski back and according to Chicken (the jetski peddler), he made a loss coz he had to pay for the towing of the jetski.

How fortunate that Des was there with me coz if not I might have been afraid - being stuck out in the open sea alone is so not cool. Even though he was reprimanding me for not listening to his warnings, I did realize that I was in the wrong. I endangered both our lives in the name of fun went overboard with my penchant for risk-taking.

Moral of the story - stay close to the beach while jetskiing cos you never know when the engine is going to give up on you :P

posted by Pocahontas @ 2:15 PM