Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

IT'S around 5.30am. Heart beating against the rib cage, I'm seated outside at the balcony, watching the sunrise. The weather is improving. The sun doesn't burn anymore. The northerly wind probably has something to do with this delightful change. By early November, I expect the first shower of rain to grace this land, and with that, the light sweaters can come out from the backseat of my closet.  I spent the night watching episodes of Mad Men. It's titillating to watch Joan Holloway do her thing. I can watch her forever. I've even been wearing my make-up like her these two weeks. Lots of nude shimmers on the lids, winged eyes, white liner, luscious lashes and red lipstick. Makes me feel terribly naughty and nice. I can't curl my hair to save my life nor it is in that haughty, great red but it will do.  I could also watch Don Draper forever. So beautifully formed as they all say in every season.  Good-looking people do have some advantages in many areas of...

WHAT if you were to go blind one day? It must suck, living in a dark world, where colours and shapes slowly become just memories with each passing day. Not being able to see your loved ones, or not knowing what a new addition to the family or a new friend may look like. Suddenly, every step you take counts as you begin to rely more on your hearing, physical touching, sense of smell and well, gut feeling. Many times, when I lay awake in the dark, I think of the desolation that comes with losing sight. Just what if...it's possible.  Then, in early August, I woke up in the morning and two hours later, I felt hearing on the left side slowly slide shut like a pull-down window. In the following weeks, I was diagnosed with otosclerosis , a rare condition in which a faulty middle-ear bone leads to hearing loss; in severe cases like mine, where there's both conductive and sensironeural deafness, quite permanently too.  I've suddenly lost more than 90% of hearing on the left ...

Here I come again after a full year of abandoning this site. Yes, I'm cringing at that but I can't promise myself that it won't happen again.  For those who've been wondering about my disappearance, well, life has been good to me on most terms over the year. There were things which came up that needed attention and time off.  Doha has finally become home. I can't believe I'm saying this but Malaysia has come to feel more like a tourist destination. I go back to Kuala Lumpur twice a year, and every time I'm there, I marvel at the Petronas Twin Towers like I'm seeing it for the first time. I can't comprehend the pictures I take of the tropical fruits I get in my hometown. It's strange when I sit back and look at my collection of photographs taken while I'm visiting Malaysia. Every tree, plate of food, park counts. If I had a chance though, I'd still like to move around and live some place else, experience some other culture and lifesty...