~JcZw

Day 4: A First Aider, not a doctor
We woke at 7.45 am. Washed up and went to have breakfast. The breakfast was the only meal included in what we had already paid so we could eat without thinking about the cost? Hehe… the food still suan quite okay lar. Then we heard that Amanda had taken ill and was not feeling very well. I didn’t think much about it at the moment, cos according to Miss Loh, Delayed Mountain Sickness was common. Little did I know it would affect me more later.

Allen came and asked us if we wanted to go snorkeling. Originally we had wanted to go rafting, but the journey would have been too long (we would have to take both bus and train to the river!). We took up the offer, changed into shorts, sandals (I had no sandals, so wore shoes with no socks), then walked to the jetty there. Approx 10. 30 am. Took a boat to the island, 20 min boat ride through the scenic green water. When we reached the island arh… the sun shining very bright lor… then saw a lot of fish… the water was very chao clear man… originally they were only going to swim, but then we like paid Rm 7 for the trip, if only swim then like very fei lor. So we hired snorkeling equipment for RM 10 and went into the water.

The water was very shallow, if I stood up in it then it would only reach to my stomach. It was so shallow that I gashed my foot badly on the coral. Nothing much to see also actually, unless we went out deeper, which we didn’t. But we saw sea slugs, sea cucumbers, and generally enjoyed the experience lor. Although once I went too deep and got a mouthful of water through the snorkel. After snorkeling we hung around on the beach lor… talk nonsense… then Allen was trying to scare people by bring sea cucumbers out of the water… hehehehe… We left the island at 3 pm? Yeah. A few people had motion sickness cos they went kayaking in strong current. The return trip wasn’t very good either. Cos there was one point where the boat decelerated because it and 2 other boats were aiming for the same point lar. As the boat decelerated, then 2 huge waves hit us sideways on, causing the boat to rock violently. This contributed to a few more people feeling sick afterwards.

We went back to the hotel to wash up, get rid of all the salt water. Between Alex and Wei Quan they used up all the soap lor. I had to go to the sink to get soap. And I’m like blind without my specs. Then we were slacking around the room lor… watching powerpuff girls… oh man… what an *intelligent* show. Realised that Powerpuff girls have variable-diameter eyeballs. At around 7 ++ we went to Nelly’s room, all the sec. 4s, to have dinner, cos we had bought cup noodles from the supermarket to eat. Oh yeah. We got sunburned. The guys I mean, cos we had removed our shirts at the beach.

Then Vanessa (the “are you alright one”) came in and told us that Amanda was violently sick, and could not retain any food or drink that was given to her. Frankly, honestly, I was at a lost. I, we, so totally dunno how to treat sickness, cos 1. we don’t have medical training 2. We are not allowed to give medicine anyway, even though I had Dramamine in my back pack. Okay. I didn’t know what to do. The teachers not around I think. Everyone was supposed to have gone out for dinner lor. So I did the next best thing. I called my mother. My phone bill hor… is going to be ginormous. But I think my mother would forgive me for that… she also understands the enormity of such a situation? Yeah. Anyway she told me that the most important was to get her to a hospital, or qualified medical personnel. While waiting we could administer glucose water in small amounts, and to stop if she felt uncomfortable. A last resort was to show the Dramamine to a teacher, check for drug allergy, and then give her the tablet, since obviously she would not fit the 5-rights of medication. Don’t usually tell people about my mother, but since they were desperate, I was GETTING desperate, so I did…

Okay. I asked her friends to give the sugar water, and I don’t mind making it known that I was scared out my wits, cos I’ve never been in such a situation before. Dehydration can lead to significant results, and I was praying that she could keep the sugar water down. The netball people were wondering if one sachet of sugar was enough, cos it didn’t taste sweet to them. In the end I said that the concentration didn’ t matter, so long as sugar was administered. Later on my mother told me that it was correct – too sweet water would induce vomiting. She took the water and went back to sleep at 8 pm exactly (I checked my watch). We sat around the room whispering about various stuff… about different kinds of IV drips, about O-levels. They asked me about my Chinese… hehehe….

At 8.18 (I checked my watch again) Ms Loh came back with Allen. They were already arranging to take her to hospital. Boy, was I relieved. They woke her up, and accompanied by one of her friends she went off to hospital. It was through this situation I think, that I recognized 5 new friends.

I quickly gobbled up my cup noodles, which had been absorbing water in the 45 minutes I had been helping to administer treatment, and then we pushed off to the shopping centre to watch Ocean’s Twelve. I was feeling kinda uncomfortable… about Amanda, cos it seemed kinda casual to watch a movie just after all that, even though my brain told me it was perfectly okay… I guess I was wondering if I had only reacted to her problem too late or what lar. Irrational? Rational? I duno. Mebbe I’m just like that lar.

Anyway… the movie was very good… haha… although a lot of the jokes was drowned out cos Mr Yeow was laughing so loudly… hehehehe… I would recommend people to watch the show… its really quite amusing… whoo… laser fields rulez… =) But. A lot of people fell asleep during the show. We had been sleeping late and waking up early for the trip, and most people were tired.

And

Wei quan fell sick. He was radiating heat in the cinema, borrowing my windbreaker to keep himself warm. Must have been horrible for him. Cassandra and Nelly were very worried for him. The casualty toll was still rising. We returned immediately to the hotel after the movie, but he was terribly sick. He immediately went to bed. The others went off to Nelly’s room, which is good… cuts down the risk of infection. They helped me boil hot water though =). I stayed to guard him, but fell asleep soon after. Alex came in later to find both of us asleep. If he had been a burglar both of us would have been killed… Some first aider I am. Almost didn’t do anything in the whole blinking journey.

Slept at around 11 plus guarding Wei Quan.

Day 5: The return leg
Woke at 7.30, so that Wei Quan would have time to prepare and wash up. We were slightly late for breakfast, but then most other people were as well. Amanda was up and feeling better… It was nice to see her active again =). But in turn Nelly was sick. She had eaten noodles too late the night before, and was running fever again. Wei Quan was still zonked. I had messaged my mother to tell them about Amanda’s improved condition. She replied “be careful not to catch anything. Fever is transmitted through physical contact, air and water”. When I read it felt like saying a bad word. I had supported wq on the way back from the cinema. I had slept in an air con room with him. We had shared the same waterbottle. The words “too late” started flashing in my head.

Wei quan and Nelly went back to bed immediately after breakfast. Everyone was beginning to transfer their stuff to our rooms, since only our room, the netball girls’ room and mr chua’s room would still be open after 12 pm. Everyone also suddenly seemed very friendly, calling out “hello” to each other in the corridor =)), and in my case, “are you alright”. I was staying in my room watching the two of them until Allen came back. Read James 5.13-16 from my bible, talking about praying for sick people. So I prayed. That they would be better. That they would be fit for the return journey. That I wouldn’t catch anything.

When Allen came back I went to the Sunday Market with Brynner they all. Saw a lot of things, bought some souvenirs, including a Mt K shirt for wq n me. They were even selling puppies and rabbits there… so cute… hehe… But it was very hot. And our sun burnt backs were beginning to hurt.

We went to have Pizza Hut lunch then pushed off to the shopping centres nearby. We walked around a lot… went to the popular book sale… Brynner’s strength seemed limitless lor… he just kept going n going. Then they kept teasing me about a certain PARTY! Alex, Brynner, could you please enlighten me about this THING? Haha… They went to play PS2 at the shopping centre… then we came back to the hotel. We had bought some cake for Allen who had been sitting in the room patiently with wei quan n nelly. Then we, him, ms loh n the netball girls were sitting outside the room laughing, talking n comparing stuff we had bought.

By this time it was already late in the afternoon. We went to the girls’ room to slack. Brynner wanted to go to the night market, but I n Zhi Yong didn’t want to… cos kinda tired lor. So the two of us went to eat dinner with some of the girls as well as the teachers. Got teased by Aloysius about someone again. *arbish* Nearly threw my bottle at him. So went to eat Bak kut teh again lor.

Then. I began to feel funny. Like, not as active as I should have been. Throat feeling funny, don’t feel like talking much, slight nausea. The teachers didn’t need another casualty. Especially one which was supposed to be a First Aider. There were already at least 5 sick people. So I kept quiet. I wasn’t trying to be pro or what lar… I just thought I could last until I returned home lor. We went back to the hotel room and slacked about more lor. Took more pics. Got teased by Aloysius again. Nearly threw my bottle at him again.

At 9 ++ pm we met at the lobby with all our stuff ready to go home. We kept a close eye on Wei quan n Nelly… Sec. 4s take care of our own ;-) hehe… Took the bus to Kota Kinabalu Airport…We saw the Sabah St. John Headquarters on the way… hehe… SJ rox… then had to wait there a long time for the flight. I tried out the different functions of my digi cam lor. Nothing else to do. I was hoping I wouldn’t throw up on the plane, if the trip was rough.

Through the immigation, we waited at the gate for the flight. I think I fell asleep while waiting. Really feeling weird by that time. The flight came at 11.55 pm. By the time we took off it was 12am exactly, scheduled to reach Senai at 2.20 am. My fears of being nauseous on the plane was unfounded. I fell asleep immediately, so much so that when the Flight Attendant came down the aisle with drinks to sell he had to tap me on the shoulder to tell me to get my big head out of the way.

Reached Senai at 2 am, ahead of schedule. Collected our luggage and headed for the bus. I was feeling really woozy… but when the netball girls asked me “are you alright” in their joking way I would automatically respond “yes yes”… haha… so funny… it would also make me feel slightly better. The bus ride was to the Causeway, not the Second Link, so it was shorter, and it took us through the town of JB, instead through the oil plantations. Went through customs smoothly, and reached back at AHS at 4.10 am. 5 days after we had left. There we exchanged contacts… said good bye…

The trip taught me many things, as well as let me experience many things. Crawling along the narrow ledge in the dark with my friends on mt k was one of the best as well as the craziest things I have done in my life. I made many friends. Friends that I respect and that would be hard to forget. I hope I will be able to remain in contact with them even after graduation. =)