Throwback to 2019 in a world before the pandemic: every year, the Year 3s in my course will embark on a 2-week Overseas Immersion Programme to attend classes at the partner schools, visit companies and cultural sites, and work on our Final Year Project.
My batch was lucky enough to go to Taiwan for this exchange. I was looking forward to the trip because the idea of living independently and working on our very own project was so exciting! But this excitement was soon replaced by a feeling of impending doom.
Our flight was scheduled to take off at night, and I started feeling feverish, nauseous, feeble, and experienced a bad case of diarrhoea sometime late in the afternoon. Fear gripped me because I was worried my teachers would not let me go but I’m glad I made it to Taiwan eventually, although in a really bad state.
Pre-departure briefing at the airport where I (right) was leaning on Vanessa’s (left) shoulders for comfort and support.
You see, as someone who rarely falls sick, I tend to become extremely needy and whiny when I'm under the weather. From the moment I bidded my parents goodbye and entered the departure hall, all the way till when we touched down in Taiwan and checked into our dorms, my good friend Vanessa was there to care for me and ensure I was doing fine. From attending to my discomfort and cheering me up, to helping me with my luggage bags and taking on my role as the group leader, shoutout to my MVP Vanessa!
Vanessa (left) carrying my yellow bag on the front and holding my hand to ensure I was following along the school tour.
The first few days were horrible. I was tired and unwell, wondering what the remaining days of the trip would be like. I wasn’t able to enjoy the site visits or focus in class, my friends had to force me to eat because I simply had no appetite, and I was always on the lookout for the nearest toilet (for obvious reasons). I lost out on fun and enviously watched my friends enjoy the food and shopping.
Because of my poor appetite, Vanessa would share food with me in an attempt to encourage me to eat while reducing food wastage. In hindsight, that was a poor decision because I passed the (self diagnosed stomach flu) virus to her. As I started feeling better on the fifth day of the trip, Vanessa threw up and that's where we knew we messed up.
Unlike Vanessa who took really good care of me when I was sick, I wasn’t that good of a buddy to her because I have a fear of people vomiting. We shared a room in Taiwan, so whenever she ran to the toilet to puke, I would hide at a corner furthest from the toilet and cover my ears tightly instead of attending to her.
That went on for a few days and when we were past the halfway mark, Vanessa fully recovered. We were overjoyed as we finally got to enjoy ourselves and can focus on our Final Year Project! Or so we thought.
Jump shot taken at a culture site visit (Atayal Aboriginal Village). One of the rare days that everyone in the group was feeling well.
One night as I was about to come out of the shower, Vanessa called for me saying that she knocked her head against the sharp edge of the cabinet and wanted me to take a look. I was shocked when I saw an open cut of around 2cm on her head. Although she was not bleeding profusely, it was a bloody and open wound. I threw on my clothes and dashed out of the room, furiously knocking on everyone’s door shouting “Is anyone a certified first-aider? I need help now!”
Soon, my group mates were alerted and they came to help. Some called the lecturers while others tried to apply their (limited) first aid skills on Vanessa, where someone nearly used toilet paper to clean her wound! (P.S. you should never clean an open wound with tissue as the paper will stick to it!)
The commotion and chaos amused Vanessa so she broke out laughing, but that caused her to become giddy and nauseous. Having displayed those symptoms, my lecturer was worried it could be a head concussion so before we knew it, we were in a cab on our way to the Accident & Emergency Department.
Thankfully it was just a cut and there were no major complications. Vanessa was treated and the trip to the A&E turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we got to have supper while waiting for Vanessa at the hospital, and even escaped a lashing session back at the dormitory! Apparently our lecturers were unhappy with our conduct so everyone was getting lectured at night. Worse still, at the void deck feeding bloodthirsty summer mosquitoes. We were lucky to get a concession and return to our rooms because we had to care for our friend who just returned from the hospital.
My friend and I enjoyed supper while Vanessa (third from left) got her wound treated at the A&E.
Unluckily for Vanessa, she was ordered to stay in the next day so that the lecturers could monitor her health. As a result, she missed a trip to the Detective Conan exhibition, which is her favourite anime character! As the good friends we were, a few of us got her a souvenir to brighten up her day and make up for the lost trip!
Left photo: My Final Year Project group mates and I at the Detective Conan exhibition. Right gif: Vanessa’s excitement receiving the Conan case we bought for her.
If you thought that was the end of the drama, there was still a closing episode.
I had developed a sore throat during the last few days of the trip. Initially I wasn't too bothered by it, thinking that it was just heatiness as a result of surviving on little sleep. However, the pain got progressively worse where even swallowing water hurt so badly (I know what you are thinking. No, it wasn’t Covid. This was in 2019 before Covid was ever part of our vocabulary.). Turns out, it was Tonsillitis. Thankfully by then, I’ve returned home and was back under the tender loving care of my mum.
Looking back, it was such an eventful, or should I say uneventful trip, with so many of us falling sick (many of my other course mates fell sick too!). Despite this, it was still a memorable trip I look back on till today, and I’m glad we all made it back to Singapore in one piece!
