Kien Lim

and eerily quiet flat. The kitchen floor still wet from a mop, but the weekly cleaner nowhere in sight. Nobody is in. They have left for rendezvous without London for the festive season. I am alone.

I love it.

I have no family to visit this Christmas. Usually I do, but this year some relatives are chilling and others in faraway lands where the mighty sun bids a steamy Christmas.

So instead, I am going to celebrate Christmas with some fellow homeless bodies. Bodies with nowhere to go as families are in lands yonder, some asunder.

Lunch looks fantastic. Here’s the menu:

Starters 2:00
Canapes
Hot spicy punch
(alcohol free)

LUNCH 2:30
Cucumber Soup
Warmed Breads

Bon-Bon Snaps & Party Hats

MAIN COURSE 3:00
Roasted Crown of Turkey
Slow Roasted Lamb
Sage & Onion Stuffing
Roast Potatoes
Creamed Parsnips with Nutmeg
Carrot and Swede Mash
Steamed Green French Beans & Asparagus
Bread Sauce
Cranberry Sauce
Gravy a la Razzle

PUDDING
Untraditional Christmas Pudding Von Tex!
(this comes with a warning… LOOK OUT!)
Brandy Butter
Double Whipped Cream
Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream
Mince Pies
Stollen
Oranges Fruit Bowl

PREZZIE SWAP
(see below for deets)

Cheese & Crackers
Arabica Café
(+ Tea, Diet 7-Up, Punch etc)

Sparkling Mineral Water
&
Dark Chocolate Pralines

Well, my Christmas present to myself came early. I went to the Apple Store on 18th December and purchased a 15″ MacBook Pro and Logic Audio Studio. It’s a luxury and a work tool. A luxury to work on, and my studio for writing, producing, recording, and my office. My poor iMac is giving up the ghost. It is complaining, misfiring and generally tired and slow.

So there, that’s me for now. I bid you all a FANTASTIC CHRISTMAS!

is cold. The first of snow has fallen in the swirling of gusty winds. A forecast of sub-zero temperatures for the next 48 hours. Winter has arrived.

I played a gig tonight. It was for the homeless at St. Mungo’s in Covent Garden. It was fantastic. I really enjoyed it. The audience very receptive and appreciative. I declared my love for my mum and dedicated a song to her; “The Queen of Everything” of course!

The Dash kicked up a storm too. As did a favorite of mine, Charlie of “The Coolness“.

The bubble of water in my eye has not receded and I will visit the Western Eye Hospital again tomorrow morning, weather permitting, for a second opinion. I’ve been there before and in reality, this is the fourth diagnosis I am seeking as first I had was in Malaysia, then another from my GP when I arrived back in London, then the Western Eye Hospital. I have tried to research this online and feel it might be some diagnosis other than “water retention”.

Some other things on my list for tomorrow is a visit to the Levi’s store in Regent Street. I seem to have grown out of my desire to have my jeans hanging on my hips that give an illusion of a longer body, to having it slightly higher. I have been wearing this new pair of high waisted jeans this for the last 3 weeks (yes, I have washed them every week) as I can’t bring myself to don my old 507′s.

Another thing on my list is a visit to the Apple Store also in Regent Street to configure my laptop and possibly bring it home tomorrow. I was a bit hesitant as it will cost me around £1500, software included. I do however feel the urge to start remixing, recording, producing, writing and generally being artistically creative.

Today has been a good day. I am grateful.

I must profess my love for “The Cardigans“!

saw me one day after my health check. I told him I wanted a diagnosis as I thought I had been given a wrong one. He examines my eye and confesses that he is no eye specialist. I tell him I suspect it’s a Pingcuela. So he checks online, concurs, and proceeds to administer the treatment he has gleaned from the internet.

“Steroid eye-drops” he concludes.

“But don’t use anymore than prescribed as it might lead to complications like Glaucoma. And if that doesn’t cure it, then go to the Western Eye Hospital as they are specialists. It’s easier just to turn up there as if I refer you, it will just take longer” he says.

“Are you sure there’s no danger if I use the eye-drops as prescribed” I ask, feeling slightly alarmed.

“Oh yes, don’t worry” he replies and hands me the prescription and address of the hospital.

So off I go to the pharmacist the next day and pay £7.20 for my eye-drops. I decide to start treatment the next day.

Of course I have reservations.

The next morning arrives and I decide not to start treatment as I think a visit to the specialist for another diagnosis a safer bet than listening to a doctor who clearly has not much of a clue of what my condition is.

After work this evening, I drop in to the Accident and Emergency department of the Western Eye Hospital and after registering, get seen by a doctor an hour later. After asking what was wrong and peering into my eye, he says “No treatment is needed. It will go away by itself. It’s just water retention”.

“Could it not be Pingcuela?” I ask incredulously thinking that he might have diagnosed wrongly.

“No, it’s not. Get online and you will see it is different. I was tempted to pierce it with a syringe but thought the better not to as it might lead to infection. It’s better to leave it. It’s just water retention and will disappear in time!”

“Thank you!” I say to myself silently. I really don’t fancy getting my eye pierced!

“What is the cause of it?” I ask.

“Can’t say. It’s definitely not because you’ve been to Malaysia. It will go away”.

“Thank you very much for your help. You have taken a load of my mind” I say.

I walked out with a spring in my step glad I didn’t use the Steroid Eye-drops.

with the Doctor’s Surgery last Monday, I finally get to the surgery that services my area, and was told that I needed to supply proof of address and ID.

I get there this morning with my bits, and was told that I’d have to make an appointment to have a medical check up before I could make an appointment to see a doctor. She informs me that the earliest available time was next week and lord knows when the doctor could see me, hands me the registry and application forms together with a plastic vial “for a pee sample!” I now understood that they had procedures they could not depart from and she very much wanted me to know that. I was disappointed but politely said thanks and acquiesced to her instructions. Seeing I was compliant and polite, she then tells me that actually there is time for a check up this very afternoon and could see a doctor tomorrow if I liked…..!

I thanked her for her help.

************************************************************

The check up was not much more than asking me question about my medical history and that of my family, taking my height and weight. After taking my blood pressure, the nurse, a nice enough Indian man in his early sixties, informs me it’s a tad low and tells me to take more salt and drink more coffee. “At least 2 coffees a day” he says, “helps raise your blood pressure!” I laugh of course thinking that most people are told to do the opposite!