Drama...

Woke up this morning and spent 3 hours on the phone with various people. By the time I put the phone down, it was already 11am. Time to make a quick dash to Batu Caves for (hopefully) 6 laps of stairs, shower and pop into the office. Sounds like a simple plan, right? How wrong could I be...

The sun was high in the sky when I rolled into the car park. Several tour buses just arrived and spewed streams of tourists, totting cameras and water bottles.

I set the workout tracking software on my phone and started the 1st lap, working up a healthy perspiration. Halfway through my second lap, I got a call from my client in Klang. So I stopped by the side railings and attended to his call. Several tourists passed me by.

All of a sudden I heard a faint puncturing sound and a hiss. Then felt a slight jab on my right shoulder. I turned and looked into this hissing simian face. Phreak! The blurdy monkey bit me!

I moved away in haste but was still talking to my client. He was going on about how he felt about my latest audit report blah blah... I was pacifying him and figuring out a solution while continuing my climb to the top of the stairs. All this while my wound was bleeding a trail down my arm.

When I finally manage to placate him and cut the connection, it was a good 5 minutes past. First thing's first, call JH. He confirmed that I should go to the nearest clinic and seek treatment. Ok... Easy enough.

While I was setting the GPS to direct me to the nearest clinic (thank God for this wonder device), JH called again to tell me to go to the hospital instead. Apparently, hospitals are better equipped to deal with such emergencies. So I reset the GPS to General Hospital, KL.

Next, call my cousin (Dr PL) in GHKL for instructions, i.e. where to check myself in. I am to go to the A&E (accident & emergency).

The 7.2km (as the GPS says) drive to GHKL was spent on the phone with the office, my mom and uncle and a couple of friends who called to make lunch plans. Only my mom didn't laugh when I told her I got bitten by a monkey. Also took a photo of the wound while waiting at a traffic light.

Arriving at the hospital and looking for a parking was a nightmare. It was visiting hours and all visitor parking spaces were taken. I had to park about a mile away and, totting my notebook pack, walk that mile to the A&E.

When I got to the triage window and told the fellow behind the counter that I got bitten by a monkey, he looked enquiringly at my face to see if I was joking. I showed him my bloodied arm.

After getting my blood pressure checked, I got an anti-tetanus jab and got my wound dressed. Not before the nurse had a go at me ("monyet tu gigit you sebab you terlalu seksi kot"). Yeah... That's comforting. I got bitten by a female monkey!

Now the waiting begins. Wait for myself to be registered and given a queue number. Wait to see the doctor. I was #130.

I whiled the time away watching tv and people. For the time that I was in the emergency room, I was the only Chinese. Tells you something, doesn't it?

My turn came to see the doctor. He asked me what happened. I told him I got bitten by a monkey and he had this "oh-oh" look on his face. He looked at me and I could tell that he was trying to figure out whether to take me seriously or not.

When he figured that I wasn't kidding, he tried to cover up the "oh-no-what-to-do-now" look on his face. He looked through a pile of books on his table and asked his assistant to the "black book". She gave it to him and the cover says: Emergency Solutions. G-R-E-A-T!

Bad news! His book only covered dog/cat bite. He left the room (presumably to consult with his colleagues) and came back with a crest fallen look on his face. He daren't meet my eyes when he told me to wait outside the consultation room and he will come get me later. At this point, nothing can surprise me. Maybe it was post-traumatic shock.

More time passed when a nurse called out my name. I went into the see the doctor and he had written out a prescription for antibiotics and a slip instructing me to go to the nearest clinic to get a daily dressing for my wound.

On the left column on the slip was written "monkey bite" under "penyakit". I didn't know it was a disease *lol*

I took a walk to the main pharmacy and took another queue number (#4320). While waiting, I went to the cafeteria for a sandwich. Hadn't eaten all day. Felt kinda selfconscious with the big piece of gauze sticking out of my shoulder like a piece of armour, so I packed and left. Sides, the aroma in the cafeteria made me feel slightly sick.

My queue number was called. I received 2 foil-packed antibiotics. You know it's expensive stuff when they pack it in foil. That done, I trekked back to my car and drove home. All in all, I spent 2.5 hours at the hospital. Not bad for government service.

Dr PL called to asked how things were. I told her the episode with the doctor. It turns out when he left the room, he put out an enquiry to all the medical staff in the hospital. Dr PL's colleague told her while they were making their rounds at the wards and her colleague commented: who would get bitten by a monkey in KL? To which Dr PL said: that's my cousin!

It turns out that Dr Get-Help prescribed me a top of the line antibiotic which costs RM6 per tablet (I received 14 tablets in total). If I were to have gone to a regular, private clinic for treatment, this whole ordeal would have easily cost me RM50 not inclusive of medication. Guess how much I paid at GHKL?

That's my tax dollars put to good use! (",)

Anyways, here's a look at the wound in the evening.

Incidentally, I think Dr Get-Help went on the Net for solutions because I found this site when I got home (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/768875-treatment).

Of Making the Connection

My Friday ended at 0130 hours on a Saturday only to begin again when the alarm went off at 0615 hours. Hitting the snooze button, I stole another 3 minutes of shut-eye before JH gave me a wake up call. No more snoozin', time's a-loosin'. I was out the door at 0630 hours, driving towards TPM to meet the rest. Today, we're going to train at the steps of Batu Caves. 10 showed up.

A little background about Batu Caves for the uninitiated. There are 272 steps from rising from the foot of the hill, demarcated by a charming archway decorated with several avatars of the Lord Murugan / Subramaniam, to the mouth of the cave complex that houses the shrines of several Hindu dieties. It's approximately 28.9km away from TPM which took us about 35 minutes to get there (this after discounting the time wasted making a wrong turn).

We arrived without fanfare at 0745 hours and met PT at the base of the stairs. Our training aim today is to complete 4 laps (1 lap = completing 1 set, up and down the stairs) in 90 minutes. We took it slow with the 1st lap. Everyone broke pace and reached the top together. We took photos within the cave and walked around to shake out the kinks in our legs. Thereafter, everyone went their own pace.

I'm glad to say that the team did a good job meeting the training aim (Well done, guys and gals!). No drama, no incident, no sweat! Ok... Maybe not the sweat part. We all sweat buckets :) I, for one, pushed beyond the 4-lap aim and went for 5 laps and in the process, I struck up conversation with this uncle who "coached" and cheered me along. Thank you!

We had chilled Milo to quench our thirst at the carpark, thanks to PT. And decided to go for breakfast before going our separate ways. Me, being a weekend vegan, had a groundnut bao with "teh c special". That was lunch.

After a 30-minute nap, I was on the road again. I've signed up for the Bikram Posture Clinic in Subang. Rich Nichols (head honco for Bikram yoga teachers in this region) conducted the 2-hour clinic.

I've never been to a yoga posture clinic before and was quite surprised to see the studio packed from wall to wall. When usually we have about 4 feet between yoga mats, today there was only a 2 feet gap. The other difference was in the heat. It was not turned on and we had the windows slightly open. In spite of that, the class was sweating profusely 30 minutes into the clinic.

Today's session concentrates on correction and imparting tips on the standing series of the Bikram posture progression. Picked up some very good pointers at the clinic and I'm now seriously considering getting a tatt to commemorate conquering white water rafting at Padas and the peak of Mount Kinabalu :) Shhh..! Don't tell my parents.

Rich challenged the clinic participants to attend the 1600 hours yoga class conducted by Erik. Only 15 took him on. I must admit though, after 2 hours of posture analysis and learning even without the 40 degree heat, I couldn't make it through all 26 postures. Having said that though, I'm not disappointed in myself. As Sean (another Bikram teacher) always says, "it's yoga practice, not yoga perfect".

Since taking up Bikram, I have noted a marked difference in my physique and psyche. The improvement of the later resulted in my being able to stay focused, remember things better and push myself to achieve more because the brain is no longer setting up roadblocks for the body. It's a whole different life when your brain is not trying to sabotage your body's potential. It's the brain making the connection with the body for both to move in sync. My body surprises me everyday :)

Since signing up to join MY's colleagues to climb Mount K, we've been training together by going on hikes and treks. These have improve my cardio immensely. I find myself no longer out of breath / panting after climbing the 3 flights of stairs (a total of 63 steps) to my office everyday and, in fact, have started to take the stairs when going to JH's place on the weekend (he lives on a 4th floor apartment).

Now you are already starting to wonder: what's the point in all this? Well, I'm getting there :)

Many people have said that climbing Mount K is more mental than physical. I figured that in taking up this challenge, I am putting both to the test. In my daily grind, I find myself able to cope that much better both mentally and physically. So much so, somedays I feel almost invincible. And that is an incredible feeling.

If someone had told me 1 year ago that I would be going for 5 laps at Batu Caves (traipsing up and down 2,720 steps) thereafter attending a 120-minute yoga clinic followed by 90 minutes of Bikram hot yoga all in one day, I'd say, "Who me?" but here I sit today, blogging about it and feeling the endorphins coursing through my veins. Best feeling in the world!

Oh.. And did I mention that there was this incredibly hot Korean teacher at the clinic today. Wow! She turned my head a couple of times and I was so definitely gawking at her. She was HAWT! (",)