Sunday January 24th

A special moment I enjoyed with my family

In the recent December Holidays, my family and I had a whale of a time in Genting, Malaysia. As it was our first family trip, I was on cloud nine and in anticipation of the trip. It was a blue moon occasion as my parents were often unable to afford the time and money. The trip was extremely memorable but one specific event stood out in my mind and I would like to share this personal anecdote.

On the coach bus to Genting, my parents constantly reminded me to put on my safety belt as many accidents had happened recently. Very soon the bus reached the foot of the mountain and it started climbing up the mountain. I suddenly felt nauseous and started to vomit. Luckily my brother had prepared a plastic bag for me in case I vomit. Hurriedly, he took it out and I puked into the plastic bag. Seeing all the gross remnants of my lunch, I almost to puke again. My parents took out a bottle of ointment and applied it on me they made me drink some water too. I was touched by their act of concern.

My family

On the second day of our trip, we decided to enter the Genting outdoor Theme Park for some of the thrill and family rides. The moment we stepped passed the entrance, we made a mad dash for the ‘space shot’, the signature ride that was the most prominent in the whole of the theme park. Standing at 56m, the space spot is an adrenaline pumping rapid vertical and ascent and descent ride. Falling at 65km/h or about 18m/s, the experience felt like a free fall from the clouds. My mother was the most hilarious during the ride.  We had to repeatedly coax her before she agreed to take the ride and even then, it was a sight to behold. The moment she was strapped onto the seat, she closed her eyes shut throughout the entire trip. I told her that the whole experience would not be complete without seeing she insisted that she would otherwise not have survived the ordeal. The journey upwards was a torture as I imagined myself flying out of the seat as it dropped. The ride reached the top and ‘hanged’ on for 5 sec before descending. The instance it dropped, I could feel the cold wind rushing against my cheeks and I involuntarily closed my eyes (so much for trying to be brave). The name space shot holds testament to the kind of experience I felt. I was pumped with so much epinephrine I felt like I had just taken a dose of marijuana. I would have gone for it again and again if not for the 1h long queue.

The 'Space shot'

Immediately after the ‘Space Shot’, we went for the ‘Flying kite’. As the ‘Flying kite’ picks up speed I started going higher and higher and I could feel the chilling wind blowing onto my face. My family felt the same too. I thought that I heard my mum screaming in the back ground. I didn’t know that she was afraid of something similar to a merry-go-round. I could hear my father laughing along with me.  But the moment we exited the ride, my father was not laughting anymore, turns out that he was dizzy after the ride. Despite being 'old' (my parents said so) and worned out after the rides, they still accompanied us for the rest of the day.

My dad was not in the photo as he was the one taking the photo

Only my brother seemed to be enjoying the ride

There were many other fun games and rides but due to the height restrictions, I was unable to take the Go Kart (1 new item added to my New Year’s resolutions list). My parents were tired after the a few rides but tried their best to accompany us in each of the rides. My siblings and I took many of the rides together and each experience was unique in its own way. We talked and laughed while waiting for our turns and it was a truly memorable experience. For those of you who are interested to know more about the trip, I have uploaded the images on this video clip to give you a glimpse of what happened during the trip.

The trip in malaysia

Anyway, after that unforgettable day at the theme park, we chatted with each other more and communicated with each other better. I felt that the day at the theme park was a good way to strengthen ties and bonds among us.

Tuesday January 17th

Something unusual that happened that day

It was a relief that I was punctual for school. Otherwise, I would have been spending my lovely afternoon with the discipline master, even if it was not my fault.

Yesterday after getting ready for school, I went downstairs and waited for my school bus to arrive. It was a daily routine and I expected nothing out of the ordinary. Shortly after the arrival of the school bus, I boarded it and sat at my favourite location beside the window. I turned to my activity while on the bus – looking out of the windows and admiring the serene morning scene

Just when I was deep in thought, the bus jerked a few times before slowing to a stop. The engine coughed a few times and went dead. I turned to see the bus driver getting off the bus and looking aroud, trying to identify the cause of the breakdown. Moments later, he returned on board and announced that the bus had broken down. Surprisingly, my friend was still sound asleep in this time of crisis. We proceeded down the bus single-file and were told to complete the rest of the journey in the cab. Still rather confused and in shock at what happened, I stepped out to flag a cab with the rest of my friends.

An artist impression of a bus breaking down (sorry but it was really hard to draw using a mouse)

The last time I took the cab was half a year ago when my family went to my grandparents’ home. Usually, we would not have taken a cab but we had too many things to carry home so we had no other choice.

As a cab was about to approach, another group of students got the upper hand and beat us to the cab. I decided to be a ‘kiasu’ Singaporean after what happened and rushed to flag the cab at the next opportunity presented. Very soon, we were on the way to school. The ride was smooth and we encountered no other difficulties.

On arrival in school, I realized that I did not have enough money to foot the bill. I started to conjure images of the driver blowing his top and was relieved when my friend offered to pay in advanced. I heaved a sigh of relief and was glad that I made in to class on time.

Reflecting on this incident, I feel that it was a really close call. Despite the unusual incident of my school bus breakdown, it has left behind a significant memory.