This is my first time going for a cruise. I always wanted to go on a cruise but i heard friends telling me, when you go on a cruise, it is just eat eat eat and grow fat. But this particular cruise trip is different because it is tied in with a cycling tour, in which i can cycle around Penang and Langkawi for some leisure sightseeing. So after all the eating, the cycling would take away some calories. You can imagine my excitement as the date draws near, i was really looking forward to it.
I remembered there was an important soccer match that night between Liverpool and ManU.
I also remembered, that morning, news of Mr LKY's death was everywhere on TV.
Anyway the next day was also a day of carbo building, eat and eat till 3pm plus when we get ready for the cycling. We got ready our bikes at 4pm and start cycling out of the busy pier. I cannot remember a single thing how i cycled and the views along the way, i only remember snippets of heavy traffic, a man on a motorbike guiding and leading us as we cycled along the busy roads. And my last memory before the fall was a stop point near the snake temple, where we hydrate ourselves and ate some bananas, and friends telling us that we are going to climb a hill, so we better eat more bananas for the energy to climb.
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I was totally unaware of what happened after that. My mind was like going through a roller coaster ride, with snippets of the cruise on day 1. I regained some consciousness some time during the night and could sense that I was lying down and could not move much, i can feel this bandage on my thigh, i could not talk, my jaws seems to be pushed forward and my teeth seems to be unaligned. I can feel my twin stroking my hair and touching my face, i can hear him praying and after which i feel a sense of peace as i slowly fell asleep, listening to Hosanna in the background.
The next morning, i woke up and that is when i really regained my consciousness. I was told what happened. I fell down from the bike while going down the slope, twin says i lost control and was flung forward, another friend says i knocked into two black garbage bags. I cannot remember how i fell at all. God has the brain so amazingly made that it shut down certain events, and in this case painful events. I was told i was like a kid last night, asking these few questions 100 over times,
"where are we?" and " Am i disfigured?"
I was told that our friends were talking to me the night before, trying to make me recall what happen and i could not recall recent events as early as 2014.
Thank God i woke up, and recalled almost everything!
except from the time of the snake temple, to the time when my twin was praying for me that night...
I started to ask twin, as there were so many scenarios in my mind, i could not differentiate which ones really happened and which had not. Yah, i have what they termed as brain concussion. Those dramas that i saw on TV on people losing their memory, and....its happening to me now. Twin even told me, when i visited the cruise doctor the night before (which i could not recall), the doctor asked if i need a jab to reduce the pain, i actually said i don't need because i have a high tolerance to pain....
YOU KNOW WHAT...THAT IS NOT TRUE!!! I AM ACTUALLY EXTREMELY FEARFUL OF PAIN!!! AND I CRY BIG TIME WHEN I AM IN PAIN!!!
i am so surprised i said that when i was not in that right state of mind. Perhaps, subconsciously, that was always what i wanted....
My right cheek was swollen and i could not bite. There was no pain but there was just no strength to bite. Twin cuts the food into small pieces for me. My meals that day took me two hours to finish and when i was done, it is time for the next meal! Eating was a chore...for someone who loves to eat...this is a terrible ordeal...
That morning, the ship has embarked at Langkawi, and the group has gone cycling around the island. I was very disappointed that I could not see the black sandy beach that was mentioned. And because of the fall, i missed out on local Penang Char Kway Tiao which was already targeted in my mind right before the cycle.
My twin must be worried sick that day. He told me, the night before, my nose was bleeding and he was advised that i should get a scan done on my brain. When i woke up, we started calling my family in Singapore to tell them that i would be going A & E when i reach SG. Also, we started checking with our insurance friends, how much claims i can get from my current hospitalisation plans.
Something i must remind friends about, travel and health insurance plans are really very very important. I remembered few days before the trip, i was looking through my insurance policies, and wondering if i should surrender any, and when i come across my Aviva shield, i was like, thinking in my heart, i have been paying for this for quite awhile, maybe i should remove the shield plus and just keep the shield....& fortunately i did not do that! And not only that, few hours before the trip, i remembered i did not purchase travel insurance, so i just quickly go online and get the cheapest Ace insurance for $8, should have taken the next one instead. This plan only covers the overseas medical costs and not post journey medical costs. And my $8 has only managed to cover back $70 worth of overseas bills. If i have purchased the other one, maybe i would not even need to tap into my medisave.
Our cycling friends came back after lunch time and they came over to visit me, they were very relieved that i have regained my memory. That night, there was a gala dinner on the cruise and i decided, i am NOT going to miss it. I shall just go ahead, even if i cannot eat, i must also put some into my mouth. Well, i did, dressed up for the dinner and went ahead. That night, i could not eat fast but i could still take small pieces of food and i even remembered drinking wine as well. That swollen cheek is not going to deter me from enjoying my last night on the cruise. We went to watch some dance performances after that too. I totally enjoyed myself that night.
The next day in the evening, we reached SG and i really want to thank Star Cruise and Colin for taking care of us. They allowed us to disembark first to go to Tan Tock Seng A & E where i undergo Xray and CT scans on my face and my brain. Colin even helped us to keep our bikes with him first.
If you observe the helmet, there was a big dent in the helmet. This was where i knocked my head, and i really praise the lord for his protection. This helmet has protected my head and i am very glad to be alive to write this account. I would like to remind all cyclists, whether you are going for a leisure ride or a fast one, please... a helmet is a must. Even if it is a short ride, anything can happen within that short time period.
Being curious, i decided to check my RunKeeper to see where exactly i fell. From what twin has said, there was an uphill slope which i could not manage and i was walking with the bike up, and i noticed at my 32nd and 33rd km, my speed was extremely slow, and then the speed jumped to 20.16km. I figured that i fell between 33rd and 34th km. That is where the safety van brought me and sent me and twin to the clinic immediately.
So that is what happened during the trip. An experience that i lived to tell others in which i would never forget.
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