Many things have happened and I really only have God to thank.
1st: I have survived through my posting in IMH. I certainly was quite scared on the 1st day. When I entered the female's ward, the patients immediately ran or gathered very closely to us. They'll look at you and breathe into your face. Stare stare stare...and shout out, "HELLO! I AM ... YOU ARE?" And they'll shake hands with you.
2 weeks in IMH has opened my eyes to the different types of mental illness and a little on how to handle some of them. I miss them a lot. I do pray they'll get better and be able to assimilate back into society. Hopefully, society will give them a 2nd chance.
Then I had another 2 weeks in TTSH Ward 12C. On the 1st day in the ward, my CI Claire Khoo said, "50% failure is very common for me." Wah...everyone was scared. I heard my classmate didn't have appetite after hearing that. Hahaha. The posting was very fruitful. I managed to do a couple of procedures I had never done before: insulin injections and giving ventolin nebulizer. The staff were very very helpful and nice. I learnt a lot. I really want to thank God that even though Ms. Claire only assessed me ONCE (on serving medication), she gave me a good grade. She said that although she didn't test me on practical, testing on knowledge is enough. What a blessing.
Then came the exams after the total of 4weeks attachment. This time I really don't feel adequate and feel very ill-prepared for my exams. I was double-stress to not going keep up my GPA coz the hospital is tracking my results (now my CCA instructor is also), I have to get good grades to be selected for overseas attachment. Fwahh...and Loretta telling me that if I don't get an A or distinction, she's not going to talk to me. *cries*
Results will be out on 17th March, another 9 days more. But I won't be back from Taiwan till 18th March! ARGH!
ADC Commissioning happened on 30th Jan 2009. I performed a duet with Ikhsan. We both sang and played guitar. The others did magic show and ballroom dancing! Everyone was dressed in Rock-And-Rock style. Who says ADC (Adventure club) ppl are also clad in shorts, muddy socks and shoes and a smelly dry-fit shirt? =)
Many seniors cried! Awww. Though the planning and preparation process was very disorganized and messy and last minute, the end results was fantastic! The year 1 and 2 made a great show for the year 3s!
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Exams ended on 19th Feb. On Saturday night myself, feraldine, lai ying, kai boon (secret pal), lay ho and suhua did night cycling. We cycled from east coast to changi village, had dinner, played cards and stayed overnight at changi beach. Was quite fun and a little tiring. Next time have to go again coz Sarah will be joining us next time! Yay!
28 Feb 2009! MY BDAY! I'm 19! Was a very eventful bday for me! Had a lot of sms-es from ppl! My family sent me to the airport to eat at Soup Restaurant. Then I stayed overnight at the airport coz on 1st march 2009 7am I'll be flying off to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia! =)
James, Loretta, Clara, Andy Leong, Andy Yong, Eugene, Mr. Wilfred and myself stayed over at T2 Mac. Yup! Super funny, at 3.30am James and I stood in front of the Mac counter. This is what happened:
Us: What time is breakfast?
Lady: 4am.
Us: 3.45am can?
Lady: Cannot, 4am.
Us: Okay never mind, we wait. (look at our watches and look at the lady)
Lady: *Laughs loudly*
Obviously we were just irritating them...anyway we gave up standing there and went to rest. 4am we went to buy breakfast. hahaha.
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The Mt K trip was AWESOME. Total 26 students, 2 teachers (Mr. Wilfred and Mr. Ronnie)
Day 1:
Travelled by bus to Rose Cabin at 1.5km up Mt. K. Trek around the farm there, pack up for next day, rest.
Day 2: Travelled by bus to 2km up Mt K where the headquarter is. Begin climb up to 3.2km up Mt K to our lodge. The total distance to trek is 6km. The route was pretty steep, very rocky so the foot grip is very strong and stable. Pretty easy to trek up. I ate a lot on the way, maybe coz it's cold. We had to layer up and down a couple of times.
Here are a few things to remember about mountain climbing:
1. Eat before you feel hungry
2. Drink before you feel thirsty
3. Rest before you feel tired
4. Layer up before you feel cold
5. Layer down before you start to perspire
6. Trek up slowly to prevent A.M.S. (Altitude Mountain Sickness)
Yup. Once you perspire, your shirt gets wet, and with the humid conditions, your shirt won't dry fast and then you'll get really cold. And don't wait till you're shivering before you start to wear more clothing. By the time you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated. Eat more...you need the energy to keep you warm. If your feet hurt, check for blisters and put plasters before it gets worst.
Last impt thing: If your bag is heavy and you know you can't carry on, change for a lighter bag with someone else. Don't strain too much, you still have to trek down the mountain the next day.
=)
We finally arrived at the lodge after 7 hours of trekking. Our lodge is on top of a rockface. Reminds me of sth in the bible which says that God will build His church on firm rocks or sth. It was 9 degrees up there.
We had dinner at the restaurant, had to walk down 5mins on the rocks to reach. Haha...dinner was nice. Just imagine how all the food got to 3.2km up the mountain. We saw lots of muscular ppl carrying 20 - 30kgs of big loads on their shoulders climbing up the mountain at twice our speed. They were carrying supplies. Wow. And we saw one that was carrying the LPG gas tank. Wah...no joke man that one. Looking at their load and looking at our mere 10 - 15kg load...must tell ourselves "cannot complain...look at their load!"
After dinner we had a briefing on via (very intensive adventure) ferrata. Will show you guys pictures next time. Basically, VIA Ferrata on Mt. Kinabalu is the world's highest via ferrata route down from 3.8km to 3.2km. We took the shortest route and it took us 2 - 3 hours to complete it. It's like walking on a very steep 70 to 80 degree rockface slope. You can see the bottom, but that's about 1km drop. If you fall, your safety line will be activated, but the safety line acts like a bungee rope, so you'll go springing up and down the scary slope like tigger. OMG.
10.30pm. All went to bed and we woke up at 1.30am. I repeat, 1.30AM!
Day 3
We packed up our stuff - warm clothing, some water/food, headtorch, spare batteries, had breakfast and off we went at 2.30am. We had another 2.8km to trek to reach the summit. The trek was pretty tiring. It was dark (super dark, can't see what's below us), cold (5 degrees) and we didn't have enough sleep. Don't forget, we had already trekked 6km the day before.
We reached the summit at about 6am. Stayed there for a while to take lots of pictures then have to climb back down 1.7km to the checkpoint hut. We reached the hut at 7.30am. Time to layer down coz the sun was up. Then we wore our gear - helmet, harness, scorpion safety line and trekked down another 30mins plus to the starting point of via ferrata.
Honestly, my greatest fear is heights. I didn't even dare to look over the edge. I was seriously very worried, praying away, thinking twice whether I should do the via ferrata and doubting my abilities. I decided to just trust in my team members and God to keep in safe. It's not that I don't trust the hardy scorpion safety line that can hold up to 2.8 tonnes, it just that, I don't want to go bungee jumping down the mountain at such a height. Haha...
Tess was in front of me, Mr.Wilfred is in front of Tess and Clara was behind me. I like this arrangement because Tess is the ex-climbing captain of ADC! So Tess really helped to guide me along the whole route. And if Tess is unsure, just in front of her is our ADC instructor Mr. Wilfred to help. And behind me Clara to support me verbally. Even though Clara was 3m behind me, she could see my legs shaking and wobbling and my face...pale white. She even asked me "eh qingying, you okay or not?" I gave a fearful " ya ya I'm okay..." answer.
After an hour of shaking and fear, I become quite used to it. And I didn't have much fear in confidently standing up and leaning backwards with just holding on the metal cable for support. Then, as I thought things were going smooth, we met a bridge. This bridge consisted of 2 wires, one on top, one at the bottom. The top wire for the hand, the bottom wire for the feet. We had to walk sideways across is, below the wires...is...well...air. DEAR GOD.
My hands almost gave way. My muscles all filled with lactic acid already. Wahhhh...
After a painstaking (backpain, hand pain, leg pain) I finally saw the ending point. I can't express how relief I was. Here I am, a person so fearful of heights has completed the VIA ferrata. The Lord is my strength and I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.
After the VIA ferrata, there was another 30mins of trekking to the lodge. *sigh* When I finally stepped into the lodge, my hair looked like Medusa's hair. I was a total wreck. Hahaha.
Changed up and ate a hearty lunch.
It started to rain, I was worried coz the 3rd group is still out there on the via ferrata. The rock face was already very steep, now it's wet. I really prayed that they will return asap and safe and sound. The 3rd group was out there for 3 hours on the via ferrata...my gosh. When they returned, they were drenched, very cold and very hungry. So my group quickly prepared lunch for them.
After an hour of the 3rd group's return, we set off down the 6km trek to the headquarters. OMG. Super tired.
3pm we set off, I was in the 1st group. The 2nd group consisted of the "slower" ppl. At about 4.30pm, Loretta and I lost the 1st group. They didn't wait for us, we were too slow to catch up, and they 2nd group were very far behind. So, we were stranded. We 2 walked tgt.
At the 2.5km mark (2.5km more to the headquarters), we came across a 2-way route. Flashback: In 2008 Oct Loretta, myself and 2 other guys met a 2-way route. We choose the left one, but it was the wrong way and we ended up lost at the waterfall). This time, in Mt. Kinabalu, it was getting late, there were only the 2 of us (2 girls), no map, no nothing. I was leading the way, I choose the left route.
My decision was critical, because we cannot waste time going the wrong route and turning back coz the sun was setting and by 7pm the whole forest will be pitch black. It was already 5pm plus. The right route seemed slightly inclined while the left route is going downwards and the railing and steps look more similar with the route we have been walking. So I choose the left route.
The map is at every 0.5km interval. We trekked for abt 20mins, clueless whether we are on the right track and feeling quite worried. To our biggest relief, I spotted the map a few meters away and wah...we stared at the map for a long time. We realised that if we've taken the right route, we could have walked all the way back to the summit (which we came from). Thank God.
7pm came, loretta and I had another 0.5km to go. It was pitch black and we had to put on our headtorch. Suddenly, we saw a REALLY REALLY long trail of steps at regular interval. The steps were going upwards on a slow gradient and curved towards the left. At the end of the steps of a VERY bright orange light. I looked at loretta and said, "we're here". The light was coming from the hut of the headquarters. I held loretta's hand and we made the last 50 over steps tgt. She was scared of the dark and we were both very tired. I pulled her up all the way to the hut. Wow. What a journey.
At the hut, we met MingFei sitting by herself. She walked alone with the mountain guide. The 1st group didn't wait for her too...and she was too slow for them. Just like us. Haiz. Anyway thanks to loretta she asked the driver to drive us back to Rose cabin. =)
The remaining group arrived about 1.5 hours later. They looked...haggard. Hahaha.
We then had a 2h journey to Kota Kinabalu City where we stayed at City Lodge. My room was on the 3rd floor, poor us, we had to climb up and down...legs pain. Haha.
We had dinner at KFC! Then slept.
Day 4
The next day we got up early and took a bus to the train station. The train will take us to Pedas River for our white water rafting. The train is REALLY old. There were cabins, but if the cabins are full, you have to sit outside. Which is a big wooden plank with wheels underneath. Sit out in the open. If you fall out...goodbye. The train is really old, like I said, so it doesn't move very fast. We all sat outside, super cool experience.
The train track run along the river. The river is grade 1, meaning it's flat, no waves, but the current is pretty strong faster then the speed of our train.
The river was calm. We all know that the river we will be rafting in is a grade 3-4 river. What we can see from the train is a grade 1 river. So we weren't very scared (yet).
After about 30mins on the train, the river was still grade 1. Then we saw a big big dam. After the big dam, there were thick vegatation, so we coulden't see the river.
Suddenly, we heard REALLY LOUD splashing sound. And there...lo and behold, in front of our eyes was a hostile crazy river. The waves were high, very irregular and coming in ALL directions. There were big rocks here and there where the water hit on the rocks without mercy.
On the train where we were seated, there was uproar! Everybody's face became stern and worried. Omg. James and I looked at each other and said, "Can we ask the train to turn back? This is scary." hahaha...
We finally arrived at the starting point of our rafting. Everyone had little appetite for lunch. But we ate what we could.
Then we put on our gear - helmet, lifejacket, took our oar and had the safety briefing and what to do on the dinghy (raft). The raft is just like a big orange cushion full of air. Hahaha.
My group consisted of Loretta, Clara, Myself, Henry, Andy Leong and Min. I love my group! =)
We all got into positions on the raft, Loretta in front of me and Henry beside me. I'm seated on the 3rd row.
Then we were off! I prayed like countless of times that we would not capsize or nobody will fall off the raft at the dangerous spots and nobody will drown and we will all meet at the ending point. It's going to be a bumpy 23km, 2hours ride down the mad river. There were no safety lines, nothing to keep you attached to the raft, only your 2 feet to hold on.
The 1st part was calm, we all had to jump into the river to practice the rescue. Then we jumped back into the raft and we met with our first rapid. The very first rapid was a grade 4 one. Everyone was shocked! Our little raft was thrown around and slapped by the high waves. We saw with our own eyes, the raft in front of us shot up a few meters and came slamming down on the other side of the wave. I thought to myself, "Oh dear, we're next".
The 2 river guides behind us were shouting FORWARD FORWARD, HARDER! HARDER!!!" We could hear the anxiety in their voice, if they shout louder, it means it's serious and we must paddle forward as hard as we can. I was almost thrown out of the raft, but luckily I held on to the lifeline just in time, then picked up my oar and carried on paddling.
We were like paddling for our lives.
When we finally came through the 1st rapid, my legs were shaking. Then we all lifted our oars and shouted YAYYYY!!! hahaha! Well...that's the 1st of many rapids to come.
Subsequent rapids were all Grade 3 type, scary but not as bad as the 1st rapid. We could tell the difference between grade 3 and 4. Grade 4 rapid is very strong and waves are higher. (By the way, the highest river grade is grade 5 - wonder how terrifying that'll be).
We past by rapids called Scooby Doo, SnakeHouse...then after that the river guide said, "Next rapid is called...WASHING MACHINE."
We looked at him...washing machine? That doesn't sound good.
Washing Machine rapid had whirlpool in it. So if anyone should fall into the whirlpool, he/she will be sucked in for 2mins before emerging. Thank God we past it. Hahaha!
2hours was really fast! We reached the end point, then we took a speedboat for 1.5 hours to the bus waiting for us. We changed in the bus then set off for 2 hours back to City Lodge in KK town.
Had dinner at a seafood restaurant. Then we went to bed.
Day 5
Next day got up early...walked to the jetty and took a speedboat to an island for Snorkeling! WAH! Hahaha!! We saw lots of corals and fishes swimming about! So nice! And I saw the spikey sea urchins. EEE!! After seeing it, i quickly swam away...i'm not going near it.
We played washing machine game at the beach. And helmi wore bikini stuffed with wet sand to make him a C cup. SO FUNNY. All the other beach-goers were laughing.
1pm we set off back to city lodge and went shopping! I bought 2 packets of Sabah Tea and one shirt! =) Then 4pm took the bus to the airport. 6pm plus was our flight. 8.40pm we touched down in Singapore. Sighhh...
We had a final debrief before checking out. This expedition is indeed one of the best in the history of ADC. Everybody gave each other lots of hugs and kisses (Mr.Wilfred say kisses for non-couples only, couples cannot...hahaha). This is a graduation expedition and...it's the very last expedition the Year 3s will have with ADC. So sad...
ADC will always welcome the seniors back to join us for expedition!!
This is all for the Mt K trip! Next up for me is Jade Mountain in Taiwan! =) I'll be flying off on 9th March 0810 on China Airlines (heard food will be provided. YAY!)
Cheers
QY
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