[PinkOcto] No entry today

Sorry guys, too exhausted to write one. Will follow up with another tomorrow!

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

[Dreams] A mysterious person

Woke up from an unusually vivid dream.

Dreamt that I had been going out for dinner with family, when a guy asked me out for drinks. I know this guy casually, but not more than that. Somehow I poofed from having dinner with my family to sitting in this guy’s car, driving at breakneck speed to a shopping complex so he could sign a deal. Thing is, I knew I had to get back for dinner, and I knew my mom would most likely be eating dinner with my bro. I wasn’t sure whether I should have dinner with this guy or with my family, but as it was Sunday, I didn’t want to stay out too long.

He noticed my discomfort and promised that we would be there for only a short while. I gripped the folder in my hands hard, knowing it would be extremely difficult to get home on time from the shopping complex we were headed to. As we talked in the car, I got the sense that he was trying to woo me, and at the back of my mind, I missed my uke. Or so I thought.

We parked somewhere in an open air space with the blessings of the guard and then sat down at a table where I saw a few familiar faces, including my uncle and his daughter, though they were both there separately and with different roles. After a while, without me saying anything, the guy got up and apologised, saying that he needed to send me back. I was relieved, as it meant I could dispense with the charade.

As we walked back to the car, we suddenly realised that the open air space had been turned into an al-fresco dining area. People were lounging on the couch and laughing. We walked a bit to confirm that we had the right place, then we went looking for the guards. As we walked, we stopped by this fair that was selling Italian food. I needed an excuse to have suddenly left my parents, apparently.

He showed me a bottle of pine nuts in oil, which made me say “I hate you for showing me this” because he had discovered one of my weak spots. Then we went back to the guards, who apparently made it out that it had been his fault for not being around when they had moved the cars.

It was no coincidence that all the moved cars were high end luxury cars. A few of them, like this guy’s, were sport cars.

We then went downstairs and into the car park, where he had to give details of his car to prove he was the owner. To be on the safe side, he also described the other cars that were with his, all of them his friends we had just left. The woman seemed annoyed with him, but agreed to give him the cars before asking if she could come to a deal with us. She needed the money the cars would bring, she said, and it was at this point that he left me to deal with her.

I looked into her eyes and realised I was way out of my depth. She stepped away from her desk, and I did so, and I told her about how she had abused trust, and how much more she would fail when she got caught with this. She attacked me, and I fought with her. I almost lost, but the fight didn’t feel very real. It ended with her lying face down and me sitting on her back, pinning her down.

As the reinforcements came, I scolded the guy for leaving me alone. Then I woke up.

In the dream I had a craving for Cantonese fried noodles. Which have now been filled. :D

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

[PinkOcto] The importance of love

One of the things about cancer is that it’s a journey that doesn’t focus on just you alone.

Very often, a battle against cancer is not a battle that you fight alone. It brings in everyone around you. Sometimes it could be just your family. Other times it could be the world.

This does not change the fact that cancer drains not just the person who carries it, but their caretakers. The people who will help you treat the disease. The people who will hold on your hands as you fight the pain. The same people who will tear to see a loved one fighting against a pain they can do nothing to salvage.

Cancer brings out the worst and best of humanity, much like the rest of the other serious diseases. The only thing we know for certain is that most cancers strike at random. Most cancers, including breast cancer, have no real patterns (I have heard a theory that says cancer is caused by repressed anger. I do not know).

What I do know is that in the battle against cancer, we often forget the casualties. The ones who have fought along with the patient.

This is one of the reasons I support Makna and their volunteer program. Very often the press focuses on those who have survived, on those who have “won” the battle against cancer. But you know what? Whenever you interview these survivors, they all say the same thing.

“If it weren’t for my family and the people around me, I wouldn’t be alive.”

So say thank you to the people around you today. The ones who have stood with you all these times. Don’t let it be too late.

This entry has been written in support of Makna for PinkOcto. Please donate!

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.