Simply Christine

First Ever Tarot Reading

2008-06-19T15:52:00.003+08:00

Lily organised for me to have a quick reading with her friend Beverly today. I'd always been wary about Tarot, but Lily assured me that Beverly's readings were always positive, never dark.

I went to level 4 of UE Shopping Mall at the appointed time. As I shuffled the cards, 3 immediately fell out: wheel of fortune & two "9" cards. This signified that I was in a closure phase of my life, and anything can happen in future.

Then when I was done wth shuffling, she asked me to cut the deck into 3 and choose one. I went for the middle pile (as 90% do), which was also the smallest. She kept asking me to draw pairs of cards. On & on & on till there were no cards left from that pile. She was amazed that I had picked a pile with exactly the right number of cards. Very rare indeed!

Looking at past first, she saw that I had a horrid past. The first card had me lying face down with 10 knives in my back! Frightening thing though, is that I'd spent my entire life trying to avoid (and failing) being stabbed in the back! The 10 knives also signified problems with my mother. Well, well, well... The other signified that I'd given all my power away. Again, true.

Then looking at the present, she sees the Empress, which is a card of nurturing. There were quite a few cards with nurturing & caring & healing, particularly of women. My past drives me to care for & heal other women. She wondered if I studied psychology & felt that I should.

There were 2 cards signifying travel. One was next to one with revival of abandoned plans. She said I had to go on my trip... to America! Lo and behold, in the same stack was the one & only card with stars & stripes.

She said I had to go, and it had to be in July, before the new cycle comes in in August.

In August, all my plans will come to fruition, and the new man will enter at that stage. She sees him as a younger man, possibly psychologist, earth sign.

She also sees me writing and bringing my work abroad.

The central cards were markedly obviously "lonely". There was no other figure with me in them. This showed that I have been on this journey alone & pretty much unsupported till now.

I have to say that I'm impressed by the entire reading. I never expected to be! I'll be back after August to see how the cards change in the new cycle.

Survived PC Show 2008!

2008-06-15T20:37:00.002+08:00

Lily & I braved the PC show this afternoon. Brave being the operative word! There were thousands of people at Suntec City today. We could barely walk for the number of bodies milling through the place.

Fortunately, we got there early, so it was still relatively easy to locate he items we wanted.

I'm convinced that LIly needs an ultra-mobile portabe computer (UMPC) so she can work from anywhere in the world. I've personally been lusting adfter the ASUS Eees for ages, and the newspaper reports suggest that there are a few new players in the market. We found 2 of them, the ASUS being the second which paled in comparison to the KOHJINSHA SH series UMPC. There were 4 options. Lily bought the entry model at $799. I opted for the one with fastest speed and greatest memory.

They are sooooooooooooooo cute! Even Ivan was enthralld by them. And he normally scold if he thinks I am wasting money.

I aso drove Lily & Ffion crazy by testng every digital camera in search of the one with the best Macro function. We tried SONY (the current clinic camera which has great macro but a tendency towards epileptic fits!), SAMSUNG, OLYMPUS and finally CANON. Despite my badexperience with my last CANON, it was undoubtedly the best of the bunch this time round. ot small, or cute, or pretty, but fantastic macro. And very expensive. Mucmore than I planned to spend.

I'm having fun with my little UMPC for now. I'm looking forward to carrying this around instead of the mega ton Compaq laptop. I won't be able to do much work on this, but simple surfing and chatting through gmail are perfect.

Actistem

2008-06-10T19:25:00.003+08:00

I couldn't resist having Actistem again even though it's not quite 6 months after my first treatment in January this year. I got totally hooked on the effects it produced. And people kept asking me what I had done. The results were more stunning than my eye lid & nose ops! Wonderful!

What I noticed:

Amazing radiance and glow
Smaller pores
Skin tone clearer and fairer
Lifting of cheeks, jowls and eye brows

It is just starting to look a little lack lustre again, so I got Ivan to roll more Actistem in yesterday. This time, he was much more gentle, so the redness and itching was minimal. We also used the FIR mask after instead of CO2 Gel mask. It was in hope that the FIR would allow deeper penetration of the protein extract.

And now I wait. It took 3 days to see the changes begin last time. Can't wait!!!

PC Show

2008-06-10T19:11:00.003+08:00

Just found out the PC show is on at Suntec Convention Centre this weekend.

I just bought a new printer 2 days ago! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I'm still tempted to go though. I think it's a good opportunity to pick up another camera for the clinic. My old Casio just isn't getting decent macro shots any more. The new Sony Cybershot is great when it's not vibrating. Not sure why it does that? Methinks some water seeps in every so often. The pictures are crystal clear though!

And Lily needs a new laptop. Desperately. Guess I can drag her there on Sunday. She'll hate it though! The energy will floor her completely!

If all else fails, I will just get more ink for the printers.

I wonder if the new iPhone will be launched soon...

Back to Blogging!

2008-06-10T18:52:00.004+08:00

It's been over a year since my last post in my personal blog. Such laziness!

Yet so much has happened! We moved clinic location, I started liposuction & I have a dog! Jamie is the little love of my life, cutest shih tzu in the world!

And since I was nagging Dyna to start blogging last night, I figured it's time to start myself!

Kickboxing

2007-04-30T21:11:00.001+08:00

I've started my kickboxing training again. It's almost a year since I last did a session with Psycho Chris. It's been poxy Body Combat since, and nothing for the last 2 months. Time to get my physique back.

This is the motivation. This is the goal.

New Acne Scar Treatment

2007-04-24T21:42:00.000+08:00

Collagen Induction Therapy with the Microneedle Dermaroller has arrived at Simply Aesthetic. Finally! I've been waiting for it for the last month. At last, the wait is over. We have never had a longer list of people eagerly waiting for this new treatment to arrive!

So what is this all about?

This little plastic roller has rows of tiny needles that penetrate the skin. This stimulates collagen production and allows effective penetration of treatment products. Just the roller alone can dramatically reduce fine lines, wrinkles, stretch marks and acne scars.

Acne scars!!! The nasty deep pits from ignorant zit squeezing that have scarred so many for life. Previously, the only effective treatment has been laser resurfacing, which is painful and requires prolonged recovery. Other treatments such as peels and microdermabrasion can improve the skin's appearance, but require many sessions to treat.

With this new treatment, up to 3 treatments, 6 weeks apart, will be needed for full benefits. Add in our Easy TCA peel for even better results.

For more information: http://www.clinicalresolution.com/mts.html

Boat Asia 2007

2007-04-22T21:58:00.000+08:00

A most enjoyable day out! We managed to check out a few boats. Gorgeous! Some were floating mansions! I'd love to go out to sea in one of these...

Audi Dreaming

2007-04-22T21:48:00.000+08:00

It is a known fact that I love Audis. I'm on my 4th Audi A4. I hated the Nissan Sunny I drove prior to my current vehicle. The A4 was my favourite car from the moment I first saw it. It's not any longer. I'm now in love with the Audi TT Sport.

I saw it at the Audi Pavillion at Boat Asia 2007 today. A beautiful bright yellow model. Such beauty! Oh so impractical, but oh so gorgeous!

This is going on my manifestation board. I'd really like one in a shiny black, but I can't find a good photo of one. So I shall have to use my imagination.

All Good Things...

2007-04-20T21:20:00.000+08:00

I've just heard about the demise of Gethat Magazine. The April issue will be their final one.

I will always have fond memories of Gethat and the team behind it. They have been very supportive of Simply Aesthetic and I have enjoyed my working relationship with them. I am sure the regular readers will miss their inspiring feature articles. I don't say this because I have been featured before, but Rossara certainly asked very deep, probing questions and dug into the soul of each personality. Anyone who takes the time to really read through the magazine will learn that we truly have some remarkable people in Singapore.

And Gethat gave me my first experience with press coverage. First in December 2006, then as the cover personality in January 2007. And of course the monthly article contributions: Aesthetics for Men, Simple Solutions to Brighten Tired Eyes, Effective Cellulite Solutions and Project Personal Wellness.

I spoke to Ronald, their new Publisher just last week. He did not give any hints about closure. In fact, he seemed determined to give the magazine new life, improve its distribution. He has found it difficult to locate the magazine at its distribution points just 2 days after they were due to have gone out! Maybe that's why we don't seem to get many clients from our monthly articles in the magazine.

I wish all the team from Gethat the very best for their future ventures.

Don't ONLY Me!

2007-04-20T12:08:00.000+08:00

My entire Specialty as been insulted all week. I get it pretty frequently: Anaesthetists are so frequently hidden in the background that people don't even realise that we are doctors. Not just doctors, Specialists. We take years to train after medical school. And we have to tailor our services not only to each individual's needs, but to the type of operation and to the surgeon's preference (and skill). So why am I ONLY the Anaesthetist?

Monday: I accept a couple of minor cases at TMC on the proviso that finish by 3pm as I had something on in the clinic. I arrive at 1.30pm only to be ignored by all the theatre nurses. The surgeon is 5 minutes behind. The nurses apologise for the delay as theatres were full. I wait an hour before we get in. Lots of glares then stomping down the corridoor and finally loud demands before we were finally allowed in. No apologies or explanations to me. No estimate of time of theatre availability. No concern about whether I had another appointment to get to. Me? I'm a nobody. They shaft me like this regularly. So what if my uncle is WC Cheng? Doesn't give them the right to disrespect me or expect me to wait at the end of the queue for an available theatre.

Tuesday: my patients either refuse to acknowledge my existence (they won't look at me or speak to me or answer my questions) or they are ready to run off when I introduce myself as their Anaesthetist. Don't they realise that by witholding vital health information from me, it puts their lives at risk? Sure they are worried the diagnosis may be cancer, but that's hardly my fault right? Any intra-operative mishap would be my fault. But if they won't talk to me, is it still my fault? Or theirs? And if they feel s strongly about Anaesthesia causing their cancer, fine! I'll go home, they can have their operations awake with no professional sedation.

Today: The nurse introduces me as the Anaesthetist. Patient looks worried and the nurse reassures her that I'm ONLY the Anaesthetist. The surgeon will come soon and then I'll put her to sleep. He will do the procedure. THANKS!

I keep getting asked by people outside the medical industry why I don't shove my degree in people's faces. Well, this is probably why. Years of being treated like an unimportant part of the sytem, years of being a high class prostitute by surgeons, years of being ignored & trampled by nurses rushing over to serve surgeons... That's why!

Anaesthetists are the largest group of Specialists worldwide. Our exprtise brings us from the operating theatre and intensive care unit, to the labour room to fertility centres, clinics, radiology suites, etc. We are vital members of the resuscitation team. We have to know a little about virtually all medical conditions and drugs so as to do our jobs safely. So why do we, particularly in Singapore, allow ourselves to be put down in this way?

So for all of ou who don't know, Anaesthetists are fully fleded medical doctors who have undergone rigorous training ad passed what is often considered the most difficult post graduate examination. You rely on us to deliver safe Anaesthesia: wake up after the operation feeling well, reasonably comfortable and definitely not brain damaged. You beg for us when you are in agony during childbirth. So please respect us as the Specialists that we are.

Ffion's Birthday Party

2007-04-14T22:38:00.000+08:00

Today is NOT Ffion's birthday. But she's at a mysterious age where she no longer wants her friends to know when her birthday really is. Strange child...

She's planned this all from scratch: guest list, BBQ, Hawaiian theme, cake, menu... But left everything till the last minute, as usual... So big stress over the past few days. It seemed we weren't going to pull it off, especially when she realised it was too late to order the cake of her choice from Coffee Bean or Prima Deli or Swenson's. And I've had a crazy busy week, so couldn't buy any food till today! But after a ton of phone calls (by Miss Ffion of course!) to various Swenson's branches, she located the cake design of choice (who cares what flavour ice cream's inside???!!!) and we managed to get everything we needed from Carrefour this morning.

So with the help of an surprisingly domesticated Ivan, we managed to prepare mashed potatoes, a green salad, chicken kebabs, chicken wings and vegetables for the BBQ.

That's when things started to fall apart... The BBQ pit tray was very warped. It's been a year since we last went up there. The fire lighters were damp. It took over an hour to start the fire. And just as it was roaring hot, the heavens opened and rain poured down! That was the end of BBQ. We now had a bunch of very hungry kids and a bunch of very raw food in the middle of a rainstorm. Great!

So evacuation back indoors. Food cooked on stove and in oven and finally we got to eat!

No pretty dresses by that time, no Hawaiian anything (except the cake) and no BBQ flavour. Still, the kids had fun. We stuffed ourselves silly, and the evening drew to an end quite quickly. Peace prevails at last! Phew!

All other photos can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7877298@N08/sets/72157600075835173/

Start of Birthday Season

2007-04-06T22:17:00.000+08:00

I'm surrounded by Springtime babies. From the start of April and all through May, there's someone I'm related to or close to that's celebrating their birthday. Sometimes, I think half the people I know have their birthday celebrations during these 2 months!

Feasting season starts with my father's birthday. It happened to coincide with Good Friday this year. So he doesn't have to work for a change! Me neither! He chose to celebrate at Peach Garden Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant at Novena Gardens (next to IRAS building). It's a bit of a family favourite as the food is modern Cantonese with an element of fusion.

It's very popular and often booked out at weekends. But as we decided to eat at 6pm, I figured it would be ok. And it was. The Captain introduced a few special dishes to us, and we ordered most of them. They were excellent!

The Menu:

Deep fried whitebait

Steamed perched Cantonese style

*Deep fried perch with plum sauce

Black pepper beef

*Lobster noodles

The asterisked dishes were the special items of the evening. The steamed perch and lobster noodles were fabulous! The noodles were in individual portions and a unique presentation of great flavour. Each portion came with half a lobster. The 3 portions came up to S$70. Not cheap, but I would prefer this to say a bowl of sharks fin soup any day! Yum!

Dessert consisted of either mango pudding or mango-pomelo-sago, birthday buns and mango cake.

We were pretty stuffed at the end of that, even though each dish was rather small. All in all, a great way to start off pigging season.

:o)

Painless Aesthetic Medicine

2007-04-06T11:41:00.000+08:00

No pain no gain? No way!

I'm a total chicken as far as pain is concerned.Why suffer for no reason? Sure, I'd suffer if there was really no choice. Or would I? Before I opened my clinic, I'd tried all sorts of things: Thermage, IPL, laser, fillers, Botox... PAIN!!!

Ultimately, I'm still an Anaesthetist and my instinct is to figure out how to minimise pain. In fact, it's one of my major obsessions. I've tried so many aesthetic treatments, and the main thoughts are aways: does it work and how can I make this comfortable for my patients? So I've really stocked my clinic up with every form of pain relief method conceivable! And a reasonable level of pain relief is standard in our procedures (except mesotherapy which I'll mention briefly below).

Anyway, I recently came across this video on youtube. It features Georgia in action on brave Ros. Check this out:

Poor Ros! I cringed so much when the needle plunged into her lips! Ouch!!! She was so brave, but that kind of suffering is so unnecesary! I had my lips done before, and with a block, it didn't hurt at all! Even the block was pretty painless! I always block before I inject fillers, whenever I can anyway. If I can't then I use my wonderful laughing gas. And the most difficult area to block is the nose. So I just gas and my patients love it!

I recently attended a Restylane product launch. (Actually, Georgia was sat right next to us!) They brought in this Korean expert who demonstrated filling various parts ofthe face on these very brave volunteers. No pain relief save some EMLA numbing cream. Yikes! They were very very brave. For nose enhanements, he plunged this great big 2 inch needle from nose tip all the way up! With no pain relief! Arghhhhh!

Our local doctors kept asking what pain relief he'd normal provide & his answer as a frightening NONE!!! Beauty before sanity!

Guess my clients are very spoilt [but they derserve it! :o)]! I try everything, so I try to keep the procedures at a reasonably comfortable level based on my own rather low pain threshold. I sometimes wonder if it's really appeciated? It keeps my price on the high side (actually not by that much), but I for one would pay a little bit more for comfort & sanity. I have post-traumatic stress disorder from Thermage!

Anyway, the only time adequate pain relief is not included in the package is with mesotherapy for fat melting. Reason is that I've kept my price the same, but changed to a super duper fat melting product. This new cocktail works 2-3 times faster than the old cocktail. I really wanted to double my charge and add in pain relief, but I didn't think that was fair. So I now give my clients the option: same price, they can either go for old cocktail which works okay and is very comfortable, or new cocktail which works really fast but is painful. If they choose the latter, they can always pay a nominal sum for pain relief. And trust me, it makes a big diference!

So no pain, no gain? No need! Simply Aesthetic is where beauty doesn't hurt!

Purify Me!

2007-04-05T17:26:00.000+08:00

Purifying Facial at MediSpa Simply Aesthetic

With an hour to spare this afternoon, I decided to treat myself to a facial at MediSpa Simply Aesthetic. It was a difficult choice: purifying algae mask or whitening collagen mask? Oh for the luxury of time to enjoy both! But I felt in need of deep cleansing, so purifying algae mask it was!

This impression of my face after the dry mask was removed. Looks like my pores weren't that congested after all! Sometimes we see blackheads studding the mask! The kids that have this done for acne management love it! They think it's really cool to go home with an impression of their face! The mask leaves a clean tingling sensation which is really refreshing.

MediSpa Simply Aesthetic provides medical-grade treatments in a non-clinical environment. The treatments are performed by Aesthetic Therapists that work at Simply Aesthetic Rejuvenation & Contouring Clinic. MediSpa bridges the gap between beauty therapy and aesthetic medicine. Only quality products are used, and clients concerned about product sensitivity with the inferior products used elsewhere can have peace of mind when having treatments at Simply Aesthetic.

The full range of services are listed at www.simply-aesthetic.com/medispa.htm

Ramada Resort Karon Beach Phuket

2007-04-03T22:06:00.000+08:00

The Rooms

We stayed in a standard sea view room from 30th March till 1st April 2007. This place is a paradise for families with young children! My daughter, Ffion (almost 11 years old), was thrilled at the facilities available for kids of all ages.

This was our home for the duration of the stay. Having just been refurbished,the decor was clean and modern. We had 2 single beds. The mattress was a little on the hard side, but comfortable enough. There was a TV in the room, with a selection of cable channels including Star Movies.

The Facilities

There are two swimming pools in the hotel. One's an amazing kid's pool with a huge water slide and other water features. Ffion had some trouble sliding down at full speed though. Not sure why?

The Kids Club is located right next to the kid's pool. All kids are entitled to free flow of ice cream, slush drinks and pop corn! Child minding is available at a cost, as is supervised activities such as batik painting. They've provided a basketball hoop, ping pong and table soccer facilities for guests to use with no additional charge. The staff are friendly and professional.

The adult pool is pretty standard. The whirlpool wasn't working though.

The main hotel restaurant Joe Cool's is located next to the adult pool. Breakfast is served here. The selection is fantastic, with an assortment of cooked western & thai favourites as well as a selection of breads, pastries, cereal and fruit.

Internet access is available at the coffee house at 20 Baht for 10 minutes. Wireless access was not available on site.

The Beach

The beach is a short walk across the road, but finding the path across can be a tricky affair! There's a huge drain between the road and the beach. The easiest route faces the hotel entrance, and leads towards a large pond.

The beach is very clean, with lots of crabs, but few shells. The water is clean. Beware of rip tides though!

We were able to walk from the beach towards the main town area in Karon Beach. This route is certainly a little cooler than attempting the walk on land.

Karon Town

Karon Town has a series of shops geared towards the tourist industry. Most are restaurants, mini-marts and travel agents. Shops offering massages (250 Baht), manicures, pedicures and hair braiding dot the area.

Transport around Phuket can be booked through the various travel agents. Taxi prices are far more reasonable through such establishments than if you should find one on the steet. Tours to the neighbouring islands or dinner shows are booked through these places too.

Getting Around

Taxis are extremely expensive in Phuket. Far more so than Bangkok! The short drive (10 minutes) from Karon Beach to Patong Beach cost 300 Baht each way! The prices are fixed by the taxi and Tuk Tuk drivers, and they were unwilling to reduce the prices even with bargaining. Taxi and tuk tuk prices were the same.

Beware getting a taxi from the road side for travel back to the airport. We were quoted 1000 Baht initially. When we refused, they brought the price down to 800 Baht. We eventually booked a taxi through a travel agent for 600 Baht. Big difference! The taxis are generally fairly clean and new. No meters at all.

We were hoping to get a mini bus back to the airport. That would have cost 180 Baht each. Unfortunately,all the mini buses were full that afternoon. We should have booked when we first got into Phuket to guarantee our seats.