From Half Alive to a Hundred Percent

Yesterday morning when my former boss came across me in the pantry, she asked: “Why do you look half alive?” Haha, what a question.

I have to admit that I was amazed at her spot-on observation. It’s either she knows me so well or I really did look that terrible. See, the night before yesterday, I had gone to bed before 9pm because I was so exhausted. And as what always happens when I sleep too early, I woke up at around 2am and couldn’t go back to sleep until past 4am. So even though I did have more than 8 hours of sleep, it was not uninterrupted, so therefore, only the last hours count, so in effect I only had 4. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the area at the back of my head near the top of the spine hurt like hell. I don’t know if I slept on it wrong or something.

So yeah, I really wasn’t a hundred percent. And what do I do when I’m not at my best but there is work to be done? I pull a Mike Ross.

Redbull + upbeat tunes

What did you think I meant? No of course I did not mean smoke pot! Geez!

To those who don’t know who the hell Mike is, he’s a character on the series Suits which is a really cool, witty and funny TV show about lawyers. Maybe I’ll blog about it one of these days but in the meantime, just take my word for it that it’s a must watch.

Anyway, I’ve noticed that Mike is often chugging Redbull while working with his earphones on that’s why I’ve associated Redbull to him, but he isn’t the reason why I take it. I’ve been drinking the stuff since my college days and know of its amazing powers. I actually know someone who has never tried Redbull before, so in case you’re one of those people, I’m telling you, it works, and it tastes fine. It’s not super delicious or anything, but it’s fine. And it’s what a zombie needs to become – if not a fully alive – then nearly there. I actually got through today without committing any mistakes on my recs or anything, so it really is something!

Mike Ross staple – Redbull and earphones [image source]

As for the earphones, everyone knows music affects your performance. Why do spas play relaxing music, then? Do the opposite and play loud, upbeat songs, and you’ll be sure to be energetic and quick on the keyboard.

But even though that took care of my sleep deprivation, my muscle pain needed something more. When I told my friend Maya about my problem, she suggested getting a massage at this cheap place where she often goes. Now massages in Singapore don’t come cheap unlike in the Philippines where you can get a full body massage for 250 pesos. In Singapore the average rate for that is around 60 sgd or around 1800 pesos. So when she said that you can get a back massage here for 13 sgd, I was very keen.

By some miracle, our entire team got off work early today, so right after work, I headed to the place. It’s at this mall (?) called West Plaza in Pasir Ris. The bus I take to get home passes this way, so at least it wasn’t out of the way for me.

The name of the massage place is Dong Lin Foot Reflexology. It’s an open place so all massages are done fully-clothed and it’s pretty crowded with customers, so it’s not exactly a relaxing place like usual spas with music and scents and stuff. But if you want a budget-friendly healing massage for your aching muscles like I did, then this should hit the spot.

They only accept cash though, and I have this bad habit of always forgetting to bring cash because you can pay most of your way through Singapore with nets (debit card). I looked at the cheapest thing on their “menu” – a 20-min back-and-shoulder massage costs S$14.80. I had three S$2 bills and somehow managed to dig up enough coins to cover the rest. Haha.

The promotion prices in Pasir Ris branch

For my massage I had to sit on a chair and I asked the guy if he could massage the area in pain. Even though technically it was in neither shoulder nor back, he agreed. He also massaged my entire head and I think the massage went over 20 minutes. That was so nice of him! And when he was done, the pain was gone! Yey! 😀

So if you’re experiencing any muscle pain, you might want to check out their branches below.