the fun-ness of malaysia week.

A few weeks ago I went to Merapoh, a Malaysia Week site in Taman Negara National Park. I spent a whole week with these wonderful people from different grades and countries…

Angela Agustinus
Shaz Seatter
Mehza Memon
Liam Callan
Mason Chew
Nathan Sanders
Vandana Sudhir
Ibrahim Tahoun
Emily Thorne
Emelie Linder
Jasmine Singleton
Paul Im
Arya Marsono
Aizuddin Azlan
Fabian Erikkson
Melissa Lee
Dakshina Chetti
Zijia Kee
Rio Rosano
Tanya Deol
Edward Kim
YiKhai Lee
Jose Febres-Cordero
Casper Pasha.

And our awesome sponsors, who put the whole trip together…
Lynne Smith
Mark Walsh
Marie-France Blais
Everette Burke.

These were the people that made this trip such an unforgettable experience that I’ll always remember when I’m older and I think back to my most cherished memories of ISKL.

Merapoh was a new site this year, and everyone was looking forward to it. The plan for the first day was to get on a bus at 5:00 am, arrive at Taman Negara National Park, take an extremely windy bus ride to the base of the mountain, and from there, begin our hike up Gunung Tahan, the highest mountain in peninsular Malaysia.

The hike was a painful, tiring and muddy experience, filled with many blisters, scrapes, bruises, leeches, painful falls, sweat, tears and just general discomfort, but thankfully - with a lot of determination and hard work - we all reached Kamp Kor, the camping site halfway up the mountain, alive. We put up the tents, unpacked our bags and finally took off our soaking hiking shoes. We had done four river crossings that day, and for the previous six hours of the hike our feet had been marinating in the filthy river water trapped inside our shoes. And so, when we pulled off our grimy socks, stained with blood from the leeches that had attached themselves to our ankles, the sight of our feet was not a pretty one. They looked like prunes- like pale white, wrinkly prunes with dead skin peeling off them. But after our long, traumatizing hiking experience, such slight botherations were easily ignored.

There were a few hours before dinner, and everyone was starving. After yanking off our shoes and socks and throwing our backpacks down onto the tent floor, Angela, Shaz and I unpacked our energy bars and gobbled them up. For the next couple hours we talked and joked around to distract ourselves from the hunger.
“Would you rather have a condition that made you snore 24-7, or have to climb the rest of the way up this mountain and down again?”
“I’d definitely take the snoring thing.”
“The snoring.”
“Hah, same here.”

Dinner was fried noodles, chicken, vegetables and a glass of Milo. It may have been simple, but to our empty stomachs it tasted great.

Fortunately, the rest of Malaysia Week was a lot more fun. Although we had to leave the mountain a day earlier than expected, (thanks to the enormous landslides) Djungle People, the group of people that organized our hike, had lots of great activities planned for us back at Merapoh. We trekked, did an orienteering activity, visited a Chinese temple and village, drove through the rainforest at night, played soccer with a local school, painted an anti-drug mural, acted out skits and a lot more. The meals got better and better each day, although I think I had so much Milo that I’ll never drink any again.

Malaysia week was a week of pain and suffering, but it was also a week filled with laughter, fun and friends. Everyone learned so much about this beautiful country we live in and the culture of its people. I’ll always treasure the memories I have of this special week of March and the people I spent it with. I can’t wait till next year!

ouchie.

(This story is for all of you who want to know why Helena was hobbling around on crutches - don't worry, haha I didn't describe anything bloody)

Yes, as you all know, I love sports. I love lots of sports. I especially love soccer. And another thing you all know, is that anyone who loves sports must, every once in a while suffer from sports injuries. Such injuries - pulling a muscle, spraining an ankle, breaking a leg etc. - happen while you are playing a sport. Most of you have been injured while playing a sport, so you would know what I mean. On Monday last week (first day of school) I was playing soccer and I was seriously injured and had to be rushed to the hospital. But nooooooooooo, this was not the kind of sport injury you're probably thinking about. This is going to sound totally wierd but... I fell into a fish pond.

I live an apartment complex made up of six buildings. A long, narrow koi pond borders the side of my building. One day, I took the elevator down to the ground floor and walked outside. My mom had told me to go down and tell my brother and his friend - who were 'sword-fighting' with some sticks - to calm down and try not to poke each others eyes out. I yelled out her orders to them (they stuck there tongues out in reply) and was turning around to go back in and finish my math homework when I saw Kristina, a 7th grader who lives at my apartment complex, playing around with a soccer ball on the grass. Any excuse for a break from math was fine with me, so I jogged over to her to join in. "Hey" she said, "Wanna play?"
"Yeah sure," I replied and ran back a few meters, "Pass!"
And that's where it all went wrong.
Kristina kicked the ball too hard. It spun through the air over my head and kept going behind me. By instinct, I spun around quickly to follow it ... That was a mistake. I hadn't realized how far back I had been standing when I called for Kristina to pass, and before I could stop myself from running it was too late - I was too close to the koi pond. I lost balance and with a "Whooaaaa" I splashed in. The pond was pretty shallow - the water was only up to my knees. I quickly crawled out, onto the other side. I had landed on the rocks and my right shin felt kind of funny. Bruised, I thought, not bothering to look at it. I sat there soaked, a huge grin on my face.
"Haha" I laughed, "that was pretty stupid. Now I'm wet." I was about to get up when I realized Kristina was staring at my leg, her face twisted in horror. I glanced down at my shin and my jaw dropped. I yanked my eyes away , not wanting to look.
"M-my leg..." I stuttered, "Yikes".

I did NOT want to be put under general anesthesia. I did not want to breathe in that sweet, minty gas and wake up with that aweful metallic taste in my mouth, I did not want to throw up everything I ate or drank - including water - for an hour, and I did not want to have a a needle stuck to my hand that they would pull out in the most painful way. I'd been put under general before and I didn't want to have to suffer all over again. No - I wouldn't put up with it. I wouldn't. I wouldn't.

And I didn't have to. After much argueing and pouting from me, the doctor finally agreed to local anesthesia. It was worth it... but not by much. The doctor poked me with needle after needle - too many to count, each injection more painful than the last. And then, finally, it was over. Well, the first step was over, now it was time for the operation. I groaned.

An hour later I was sitting patiently in a wheelchair, waiting for my mom to finish paying the bill. I was bored out of my mind - I had spent at least four or five hours at the hospital. Urgh, I thought, that was pretty stupid of me, the whole fish pond thing - hah, my friends will get a laugh out of that! Ooh Helena fell into a fish pond and now she has a hole in her leg!
And then the realization struck me.

OH MY GOD. HOLY COW. I AM SO. DARN. STUPID.

How did I manage to get injured right before the track meet on Thursday?! And today is the day the track and field unit in P.E. started! And plus, I just got back from a vacation full of laziness. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I could have kicked myself in my hurt leg right then.

And now it's a week later. I may be missing the track and field meet this Thursday, but I'm not going to miss ISAKL - the big meet. I'm pretty happy about the fact that I seem to be healing fast. Haha thank you for caring (I mean, you read the blog right?). So yeah, the moral of this story for all of you is...

Don't Fall Into Fish Ponds

Thanks for reading! ~Helena