Warning: Westmall's Arcade

Just last Saturday, Melvyn and I had the misfortune of vising Westmall's arcade. I'm extremely disgusted by their horrible service attitude, and that's saying something. I am very hard to displease. I suppose, due to the huge amount of electricity consumption by their newly added toy-catching machines, a power trip occurred. The entire area of toy-catching machines, as well as, Sweet Land, simply went dark.


The most ironic thing of the encounter was this:


Oh yes, the hook stuck in the middle of nowhere, the piglet I was attempting to capture, and judging from positioning I would have caught it. Which brings me to the part where they failed to get the power back on. There we stood, foolishly in front of the aforementioned piglet machine for at least half an hour, waiting for the horribly disorganized staff to fix the power failure. Failing to diagnose the problem and bring the power back up, the staff did not so much as attempt to address the people foolishly waiting for their money and chances stuck inside the machines, until we, the foolish people confronted them.


There's Melvyn in the white shirt, amidst the group of dissatisfied customers, waiting for the staff to render us with a suitable solution. Well then, as I mentioned earlier, I'm an extremely dissatisfied customer, horribly disgusted by their lack of service. The only solution they gave us was to record our game cards in the system and lock it down so they can return us our credit to the specific machine when we return to the arcade at a later date. As staff of a game arcade, their lack of understanding of their own services simply disappoint me.

Toy-catching is based on chance and position. It takes much more than 1 credit to get your prize positioned to the exact position for catching. Once you miss that chance, you are going to spend much more than that 1 credit you use on a capture attempt to get the toy in a suitable position once again. Not to mention, the fact that our cards are locked down, unable us to use that particular card in other arcades.

I feel more strongly towards those playing Sweet Land at the moment. Let me explain. Sweet Land's main objective is not to catch sweets, but to hit the jackpot. There are 3 stages in the road to the jackpot. The stages are labeled A, B, and C. It takes approximately 5 bubbles to reach each stage. C is the last stage. After C, it takes 5 more bubbles to hit the jackpot. At the jackpot, you get a stuffed toy. When you scoop up the sweets onto the platform, the sweets at the front line usually fall off the platform into the "hole". Only when a sweet falls at the specific tiny tab right in the middle of the platform, you then get a bubble up. There is a spinner, like the Wheel of Fortune that sees how many bubbles up you will get, ranging from 1 to 3. The machines are usually rigged and it always ends at 1. So imagine, you need at least 1 credit to get 1 bubble up, and in total, there are 21 bubbles if I'm not wrong, and there are many chances that you miss that tab. Imagine how many credits the player would lose if he was at C when the power trip occurred. Totally unfair, isn't it?

Remind me never to go back to Westmall's arcade. Let this serve as a warning and insight to their extremely dissatisfying service and attitudes.

Footnote: Who are you Arameya?

The Craziness of Charmaine

Why is it, every time I read about a disorder I realise I have it? Am I really that hypochondriac or is it really real? Just last week, I was doing a literature review on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and then, the more I read, the more I kept having this nagging feeling that I have some form of it, minor or major. For those that do not know,
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder in which a patient is habitually subjected to intrusive or disturbing thoughts and impulses (obsessions), which are unfounded. These obsessions lead to the engagement of repetitive behaviors (compulsions). When I say repetitive behaviors, I mean activities such as the repeated washing of hands, counting the number of times you wash each side of each arm, or just counting in general.

So, I say I have OCD, why? Well, when I shower, I will smooth water off my face. Most people do not keep track of how many times they do it in one shower, but I do. When I hit the third time, I will smooth water off my face again, because I think 3 is a bad number, and I don't like 4 either, because 4 means si in hokkien, which means die. So, it will end up at 5 usually, but if for some reason or another, I go past 5 and end up at 6, I will go to 7. Well, because 7 is a neutral number and 6 is the devil's number. I won't go to 8, because 8 means huat in hokkien, which means it's a good luck number so I for some reason will always pick a neutral number. The same goes for the number of times I wash my hands while in the shower. With soap. Superstition or OCD?

That's the first point, now the second. Do you ever notice, how many commas I have in a sentence and how I like to repeat certain things I say, whether with the same usage of words or not? I'm not saying I count the number of commas I use or purposely repeat stuff, I don't think I am that crazy. I notice it when I re-read my stuff. Next, when I turn the volume up and down on my car's radio or on a stereo or air-con controller or whatever, they cannot have a 3 or 4 in them. So if my boyfriend turns the stereo in the car up to 24, I will make it 22 or 25. Superstition or OCD? Lastly (well that's all I can think of for now; my actions that I link to OCD), when I'm waiting for time to past, I like to count the seconds. I will count from 1 to 60, then rinse and repeat until the time is up. So then, please tell me, do I have OCD, or some form of it, whether major or minor?

Moving along, I most definitely have sleep disorder, I can never sleep. I need to lie there for 2 hours each time before I can fall asleep. So, we will skip this one.

Anxiety disorder. My boyfriend insists that I have it. Well, once again, for those that don't know. Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fears and anxieties, mostly unfounded.

Why do I think I have it then? I worry about the most irrelevant, illogical things, often very very negative. Whenever I cook myself something to eat in the middle of the night, I will go back downstairs, to the kitchen, to check the stove 3-4 times, to make sure I have shut it properly. I fear the kitchen will explode. I will never put my face close to the stove to check on the food. I fear the stove will explode. I will never leave my door unlocked at night. I fear a burglar will come in. (Please note, my house has an alarm system.) I dislike it when people throw a cigarette butt near my car and do not stub it out, I fear that when my car rolls over it, my car will explode. Just to be sure, these are minor fears that are inside me most of the time, but they are not that serious till they consume any part of my life.

Fears aside, lets talk about the negative thoughts. Lets say if I go to class and one of my classmates doesn't talk much and looks stony. What will Char think - I think I did something wrong to piss him/her off, or, I think he/she hates me, or, It's definitely my fault. Yes. This is what Char thinks all the time but doesn't say, and yes I will worry. When other people would be thinking, maybe he/she is in a bad mood, I would be thinking that it is me who caused him/her to be in this state. Or, if I forget to thank my boyfriend's parents' for dinner, I will keep worrying and asking my boyfriend if his parents noticed or if they will hate me. To generalise it, I read deeply into the actions of others and think the worst and most negatively about anything that happens, and most of the time, I will think that it is my fault that it happened.

That certainly does not help my boyfriend. Obviously not, when I keep wondering and thinking of the million different ways of why he would hate me and why he should dump me. You know, there's only a limit to the amount of patience and reassurance one can dish out and I'm afraid this limit would come soon. See, I'm doing it again. Ugh. So yes, he even asked me what treatments are available for Anxiety Disorder. It's that bad it seems ): I told him, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - where you first try and build up one's self-esteem and general idea about themselves, then proceed towards changing their perception of scenarios that occur, from negative to positive. He actually wants to try! I think it's that bad, maybe that's why I have sleep disorder, because so many unfounded, negative thoughts are running through my mind each night so that I can't sleep. That being said, I think it's now time for another attempt of sleeping.

P.S. Those who read this, please do not think I'm crazy ):

New Dawn

Good riddance. I have just realised how long a hiatus I've taken from my blog, that long until I even forgot my login info. I was over at blogspot going crazy trying to figure out my password and then I realised my blog, is actually at wordpress. Sandy is going to laugh at me. Yet again. Hmms. Life has been too good to me, it's going to take something back, I know that but I'm not going to waste my time being emo and awaiting the unexpected. My anxiety disorder isn't that bad. If compare my life now to this time last year, I would say, I've gone a long long way and I'm appreciating and loving every moment of it. I'm at that point when I'm ready to wake up and tell myself - It's all real, stop worrying about it all disappearing. Still, I just can't. I know something bad is going to happy, it's all to good. I'm too happy and content, something bad is going to happen to take it all away. One can't be that lucky, just one of the rules of fate. I just can't shake that feeling of impending doom. Sigh. What am I going to do with myself. Maybe, Psychology just ain't a good option for me. The more I read, the more I keep associating myself with all sorts of disorders. I'm becoming a hypochondriac. See, I'm doing it again. Argh. I'll keep this post short, it's a warm up post since I've been away for so long. My brain is searching for things to say but nothing is coming up. Must be withdrawal. Oh yes, I'm also suffering from iPhone withdrawal symptoms. The waranty of my iPhone with Singtel is void, because I dropped it in the toilet and the water damage indicator is bright red. That was a couple of months ago. Miraculously, I got it to work by blowing it toasty warm with a hairdryer and it works fine. Right now, the sound/vibration button doesn't work and I got all upset about it, I started sourcing Mocca.com for people wanting to buy used iPhones. Then, I realised noone is going to want a phone that is warranty void. Ugh. So, I started sourcing for third-party iPhone repairs and came across a forum about a guy who does iPhone repairs. He's sort of freelance. Of course, I've got my misgivings, but he seems reliable. Right now, I'll just have to wait then, or maybe that's the impending doom coming. The guy makes off with my iPhone and disappears. Okay, time to stop, the negative thoughts just ain't helping me. Since my last post, I've stopped with the psychology book because I felt that my brain was on overload and I should take a break, but now, even after so long when I want to start again I think it's a bad idea, seeing all the negative thinking going around in my head now. It's alarm bells not to start. In any case, I know this post has been sort of rambly and unlinked and random so I'll stop off here for today. Before that though, I want to advertise my new blogshop! Here's a little advert then.

Looking for affordable little gifts/trinkets of affection for your loved ones, look no further. We have exactly what you need to put a smile on their faces. Cute, lovable, hugable plushies that are readily available; waiting patiently for you to take them home. Visit http://plushi-o-logy.blogspot.com today!

Basically, the origin of this website. Mel and me have a really really bad habit of spending our money at toy-catching machines. Unfortunately, to us, it's a great pastime. It's so stimulating and thrilling that we have turned it into one of our date events. Almost every week, we will go plushie-hunting to fulfill our horribly-placed release of brain adrenaline. Sounds stupid, but we can't deny our pleasure at working our brain cells to the bone to drop the cute plushies into the holes! :D So yea, I put up the website in hopes of finding a good way to finance our pleasure and also to showcase our conquests! Just a note, all the plushies are first hand! I do not cuddle them all to sleep at night. I put them in a clean, dry place, so rest-assured, they are NOT secondhand. ((: Please visit my blogshop then, if you like something, drop me an email! ^^

Cheers, signing off for now!