The month of June was full of surprises. Of course, there was the honeymoon. Suffice to say, it was great, not because of the place (I would have preferred Europe any time) but because it was wonderful travelling with him and being silly together.
I went back to the office on the 24th, and was told at 10am in the morning that I will need to fly to Manila in 2 hours time. For contract negotiations, apparently. For a contract I left alone for one week. Like a chicken losing its head, I rushed home, packed and went to the airport in 1 hour.
It was overwhelming because:
1) I did not know anything about Manila except that it is in the Philippines;
2) I did not have any foreign currency (my mind went - I think it's Pesos... gosh, how much is that in RM?);
3) I hated unplanned packing;
4) I wanted to be home after a week of traveling together;
5) I had no idea how much the contract has progressed in my absense;
6) I was told I am to convince the Iron Lady to accept our terms and conditions and that she may just eat me up.
I didn't have any choice, unfortunately. Except to pray profusely.
Manila is nice, because I don't have anything more to say about it. All I saw were offices and hotels. I went shopping for an hour, but that was it. The Edsa Shangri-la was nice, but I hardly had time to enjoy it.
Anyway, the point is, when I got back, I developed a cough, followed by mild fever a few days after that. Of course, that means I went to the Sungai Buloh Hospital to check it out. I will admit, the hospital looked impressive as we exited the highway. Unfortunately, that's the only good thing I have to say about it.
You would think that since Influenza is the pandemic at the moment, hospitals such as this would have clear signages and special units to direct people who may be having the it or who want to check it out. The only signages we saw were those asking you to wash your hands, wear a mask, telling you what the signs are, and which country is affected. It must have taken us 10 minutes (and I must have asked about 3 people) to find the place where they will check us for Influenza.
When we finally found it, it was a sad area on the tar road in front of the emergency entrance. They slapped a mask on my face and told me to wait. This was 7.15pm.
I must have waited for almost 40 minutes when some guy, fully masked, gloved and covered in plastic came walking out with a pen and pieces of paper. He asked me for some details of my traveling and then, I was to sign that piece of paper. After that, he took my temperature and told me to wait yet again.
Nothing happened for the next one hour or more, until I went up to one of them and asked them what I was waiting for. It was only then that they said to me, to go to the back of the building (some dingy room) where they would swab my throat for a sample. They told me that they would call me with test results in 2 days.
After being swabbed and interviewed, I was asked to wait for medication. I thought this was finally the end (it must have been 9.15pm by then). However, I was wrong.
We couldn't stand the waiting any longer, so at approximately 9.45pm, he went to the counter to threaten to leave if nothing is being done. Miraculously, the precious medication we were waiting for was given to us within 5 minutes. I left the hospital at 9.55pm. I daresay by the time I left, I already felt better and my fever may have decided to healed itself.
I went back to the office on the 24th, and was told at 10am in the morning that I will need to fly to Manila in 2 hours time. For contract negotiations, apparently. For a contract I left alone for one week. Like a chicken losing its head, I rushed home, packed and went to the airport in 1 hour.
It was overwhelming because:
1) I did not know anything about Manila except that it is in the Philippines;
2) I did not have any foreign currency (my mind went - I think it's Pesos... gosh, how much is that in RM?);
3) I hated unplanned packing;
4) I wanted to be home after a week of traveling together;
5) I had no idea how much the contract has progressed in my absense;
6) I was told I am to convince the Iron Lady to accept our terms and conditions and that she may just eat me up.
I didn't have any choice, unfortunately. Except to pray profusely.
Manila is nice, because I don't have anything more to say about it. All I saw were offices and hotels. I went shopping for an hour, but that was it. The Edsa Shangri-la was nice, but I hardly had time to enjoy it.
Anyway, the point is, when I got back, I developed a cough, followed by mild fever a few days after that. Of course, that means I went to the Sungai Buloh Hospital to check it out. I will admit, the hospital looked impressive as we exited the highway. Unfortunately, that's the only good thing I have to say about it.
You would think that since Influenza is the pandemic at the moment, hospitals such as this would have clear signages and special units to direct people who may be having the it or who want to check it out. The only signages we saw were those asking you to wash your hands, wear a mask, telling you what the signs are, and which country is affected. It must have taken us 10 minutes (and I must have asked about 3 people) to find the place where they will check us for Influenza.
When we finally found it, it was a sad area on the tar road in front of the emergency entrance. They slapped a mask on my face and told me to wait. This was 7.15pm.
I must have waited for almost 40 minutes when some guy, fully masked, gloved and covered in plastic came walking out with a pen and pieces of paper. He asked me for some details of my traveling and then, I was to sign that piece of paper. After that, he took my temperature and told me to wait yet again.
Nothing happened for the next one hour or more, until I went up to one of them and asked them what I was waiting for. It was only then that they said to me, to go to the back of the building (some dingy room) where they would swab my throat for a sample. They told me that they would call me with test results in 2 days.
After being swabbed and interviewed, I was asked to wait for medication. I thought this was finally the end (it must have been 9.15pm by then). However, I was wrong.
We couldn't stand the waiting any longer, so at approximately 9.45pm, he went to the counter to threaten to leave if nothing is being done. Miraculously, the precious medication we were waiting for was given to us within 5 minutes. I left the hospital at 9.55pm. I daresay by the time I left, I already felt better and my fever may have decided to healed itself.
The very fact that this has to happen to anyone is in itself appalling. If I did have Influenza, I would have died, if not because the disease, because of the waiting. And, if I did not have Influenza, I may have contracted it after being left in that stupid place for so long. Or, I would have contracted something else from the patients going in and out of the emergency room.
So ask me now, is my country taking measures to curb the pandemic, or at least, trying its best to contain it? I would be too ashamed to answer.
By the way, I never got the call to tell me what the test results were. It has now been more than 7 days. If I had it, I would have passed it on to every single person I've spoken to, laughed with, in the same room with in the last 7 days. Thank God I am blessed with brains to know that since my fever and cough are now gone, I would be negative forInfluenza. I didn't need to wait 3 hours in a hospital for a stupid test (which may not have been done in the first place) to tell me that.
So ask me now, is my country taking measures to curb the pandemic, or at least, trying its best to contain it? I would be too ashamed to answer.
By the way, I never got the call to tell me what the test results were. It has now been more than 7 days. If I had it, I would have passed it on to every single person I've spoken to, laughed with, in the same room with in the last 7 days. Thank God I am blessed with brains to know that since my fever and cough are now gone, I would be negative forInfluenza. I didn't need to wait 3 hours in a hospital for a stupid test (which may not have been done in the first place) to tell me that.
