Monday, November 21, 2011

My First Pair of Contact Lens

It felt like it was only yesterday when ShinTien persuaded me to try on contact lens.

It's the greatest invention ever, she used to tell me. But the mere thought of touching my eye balls totally freaked me out. Until one day I was unable to resist the temptation any longer, I bought my first pair of contact lense.

The shop assistant could immediately tell I was new to this - a pair of spectacles and the hesitation must had given me away. He offered to help me put them on. I tried for less than 5 minutes then I gave up, couldn't bring my fingers anywhere near my eyes.

That time I was studying in UPM and Tien and I were housemates. I brought my first pair of contact lens home and told her I couldn't do it. I could never do it.

It was easy and all I need was a little getting used to, she said.

After spending more than 1 hour standing beside the sink, parting my eye lids with my fingertips, trying hard not to blink, forcing myself to put the contact in, hypnotizing myself that there was nothing to be afraid of - I finally did it.

It was the strangest feeling. When you're short-sighted and wearing glasses, you can only see clearly through the glasses. If you look up or down or sideways outside the frame, you feel as if you're looking at a smeared painting. But in contacts, you see everything clearly even through the corner of your eyes. And most importantly, I touched my nose and there was nothing on it. You see, I started wearing glasses since I was 10 and I had already forgotten what it was like to have perfect eye-sight.

Now I take less than 5 minutes to clean and put on my contacts every morning. In fact, I couldn't live without them.

Once I had to travel as early as 4 in the morning to Kelantan. Mr. Chin said that I should just wear glasses. I told him walking on the streets without my contacts was like going shopping without panties - it was more comfortable but it just felt wrong.