the contact lens episode

oh, i had one of my most embarrassing moments yesterday when i was out at suntec with yaosheng.

okay, we went there to get a birthday present for his girlfriend, val. and by the way, he got a braun buffel clutch, golden in colour and with a bit of fur on one side. very elegant, very classy. i think she'd like it. but that's not the point.

so, while he went to novena to get something from his cousin, i waited for him at gloria jeans coffee. and speaking of gloria jeans... boy, has they got some really good coffee. i had hot mocha. it had this subtle bitterness with a tinge of sweetness. coupled with the fragrance emitted, it really blew me away. but i kind of had it ordered large and that serves to be one of the mistake of the day.

and so, back to the story. i waited at gloria jeans, drinking mocha, flipping through some magazines and enjoy the ambience of the coffee house. just then, something caught in my left eye. i wiggled my eyes slightly and try to get it out but to no avail. so i used my left index finger and rubbed my eyes a bit. the thing came out but just when i open my eyes again, everything at my left eye went blur. oh, did i mention i was wearing contact lenses that day?

i kind of freaked out. i covered my right eye, where the contacts is still intact, and i realise the contacts on the left eye is gone. i looked around and search for it, trying to minimize my movements as much as possible as there are quite of lot of people in the coffee house. but i still couldn't find it. okay, maybe it didn't come out? but where is it? i covered my right eye again, and focused on looking with left eye. it appeared that there was this slight shine on the top right side of my left eye. OH NO- the contacts actually went to the other side of my eyeball.

i kept rolling and wiggling my eyes. i was like this lunatic doing some weird actions, cos' when you roll your eyes, wanting the contacts to fall back to place, you kind of make very weird and distorted facial expressions. so i tried to turn to my right where there weren't anybody and continued my antics. but, to no avail. so i closed my left eye, placed my index finger on the right side of my left eyelid, and shifted it to the middle. then i opened my eyes. OH NO- still blur. what is more OH NO is that the shine which is on the right side of the eye disappeared! i refocused again. OH NO- the shine went to the left side! oh, that is fantastic...

i was kind of getting pissed at that stubborn contact lens when i suddenly felt an icy feeling on my left lower eyelid while i tried to shift the lens again. then i realised it came out of the eye. i placed the lens of my index finger and was hesitating if i should put it back into my eye as there were really quite a lot of people around, mostly facing me. in the end, i still went for it. i swear this lady on my left was looking at me as if i am some weird creature who loves to touch its own eyes. but who cares? so i opened my left eye wide and tried to put back the lens, but it just can't go in. it's too dry. but i do not have any contacts solution with me. then an idea stuck me - why not put it in my mouth? there's this person in aj who did the same when her lens drop out while singing the national anthem. but the idea kind of turned me off after a second thought.

and i sat there, with more than half a cup of mocha not drank and the lens still sitting on my index finger, deciding how i should go about putting that idiot back into my eye. then a perfect idea dawned upon me. i downed the entire cup of mocha in one gulp, which caused quite a stir in my stomach, and left gloria jeans. i walked into YES!, which is an optical shop, and asked the sales personnel.

"erm, do you sell one pair of contact lenses?"
she replied, "huh? we don't sell leh..."
"but mine just dropped out..." and i reached out my hand and showed her the dried-up and curled-up contact lens.
"haiyo... but, we still don't sell, leh..." she insisted.

thank god this lady, who's the superviser came and asked me to follow her. she got the details of my lens and gave me a new one, free of charge. she made sure i wore them in front of her, so as to ensure i'm not some kiasu trying to get freebies.

but still, all thanks to her, my day is saved.