Odysseys of George

Destination: Ho Chin Minh City or better known as Saigon

It has been a while since I planned to visit Vietnam and somehow it was possible now. In view of my recent depression, I think this was a much needed break.

The flight departed Kuala Lumpur at sharp 9am taking almost 2 hours to reach Saigon. The time difference was an hour behind - we reached Saigon at 10.55am Malaysian time or 9.55am Vietnam time.

I was surprised to see the airport being busy for a Sunday. The airport looks new and maybe recently upgraded. As I walked past the Vietnamese immigration I could not help but find similarity in their uniform to the Rambo movies of vietcongs. It was of dull green. The guy who took my passport tried to make conversation which I felt was good, later telling me that he stamped a one month visa on my passport.

The journey to the hotel, provided me with many other info as one there are more motorcycles than cars. The traffic system can still be improved. they still block roads to allow trains to pass. All in all,it reminds me of certain parts of Malaysia or rather a 1970s’ of Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur.

New World Hotel is a new hotel. The rooms are alright. Let me give you a peek….

They even places a ribbon on the new roll of tissue paper.

I like this

And the streets of Vietnam:

Hmm.. notice how clean the roads are and how they manage to preserve their trees along the roads. Malaysia could learn a thing or two from them for we love to chop down age old trees and break down age old buildings!

Thats all for now - will continue tomorrow. There is more to day 1 still. Ha ha ha.

Wow! I can’t believe it! It has been almost 3 months and about 6 months since writing my blog became slightly erratic - hmmm…. an understatement actually almost lifeless. It was during these times that I was reflecting on my life and despite many loyal readers who have asked as to why I stopped blogging - it was purely — i lost the beat and momentum to write. There were days when I had many things to write but the words were missing. There were days when I wonder how much I can write as I find there are some who rather spend their time analyzing ways to get back at me. My life has been alike the highs and lows of a manic - depressive person but I have somehow manage to keep myself sane. Problems seem to be hurdling into me in every direction and consume me. Then recently, after having gone through the lowest ever moment in my life, the great depression in my life, I found a spark to lift my spirits high and soar through the skies. I hope this is not another manic phase though it has all the criteria for one actually.

So I promise to start again - those medical articles, the personal ones , travel blogs and above all my diving articles.

It all started on facebook. The need to gather my long lost friends made me decide to start a group for my batch specifically and my school generally. It was the group called College Sultan Abdul Hamid. Though wrongly coined as it is supposed to be Sultan Abdul Hamid College, I decided to continue the group. It was slow but thanks to photos uploaded by Alex and Ujin, the group took off well. Old memories rekindled and the need to know was just insatiable.

Then we decided to meet up - just to get the ball rolling. It was a little jittery at first but somehow we made it.

Meeting point - Bangsar Shopping Centre

Dining at Dome

Attendance: Allan, Alex, Christopher and his fiance, Wen Shioung and his wife and kid, Vernon and I

It could have been more but such impromptu meet is difficult to entertain sometimes.

Time: 7pm

I remember feeling excited about the whole thing. Early in the morning, Alex smsed me to confirm that he was going. Then it was all quiet till Vernon smsed me too saying he and Shioung was coming and both were trying to get the rest to come. As I was getting ready, Vernon called again sounding worried that there was nobody that were coming. I reassured myself and him. Allan then smsed me to say he had just noted the meet and I invited him immediately.

Allan was there first then I. The rest arrived shortly and we headed to the Dome after a brief introduction. We were surprised and pleased to meet all. It has been a long time. I have not met Alex for 14 years and Allan and Chris for 12 years. Vernon, I met him last was 3 years ago and Wen Shiung was last year.

From left to right: Allan , Alex , Christopher, Chris es’ GF, Wen Shioungs’ Wife , Kid and Wen Shioung and lastly Vernon Seaton.

Allan looks the same and so did Alex. Chris have the same features but has put on some weight. Vernon and Wen Shiong look the same too. I wonder how much I have changed?

We spoke and chatted till we were tired. We left Dome at 10pm saying our goodbyes and with hope to have another meet soon - this time with a larger group and more variety to the palate. He He!

Many divers are introduced to this complication of diving during their basic open water course. However, many still are unsure of what decompression illness is all about, even those at much higher levels in their diving career. To make things worse, many medical personnel are also unprepared to handle such cases due to its rarity or assumed rarity of presentation. This assumption is however incorrect as more and more indulge into the sport of scuba diving.

Decompression illness is a disorder caused by bubbles forming in body tissues or in the blood where they should never be.

The source?

The first source is bubble formation from nitrogen that has been dissolved in tissues during the dive. This is otherwise known as DCS (Decompression Sickness)

- During descent and diving, air is breathed at increased pressure, and therefore more of the nitrogen molecules from the air can dissolve into the blood. The nitrogen enters the blood in the lung capillary bed, and is distributed to the tissues via the arteries where, nitrogen leaves the blood and diffuses into tissues.

- The deeper the dive, the faster the nitrogen is taken up from the air we breathe, and the longer the dive, the more time it has to accumulate in the tissues.

- During the ascent, pressure falls and less nitrogen can remain dissolved in the tissues and therefore, the nitrogen diffuses out of tissues and into the venous blood of the organs, back to the lungs for elimination. Ideally, this elimination process occurs fast enough to dissipate the nitrogen molecules without bubble formation.

- However, different tissues in the body have differing rates of elimination depending on their blood supply. Those with very good blood supply tend to accumulate and dissipate nitrogen fast and are called “fast” tissues. “Slower” tissues such as tendons are often not a problem after a short dive, even if it is deep, because they don’t have enough time to accumulate significant quantities of nitrogen but they become more important during long dives, or repetitive dives, when nitrogen can build up over a long time. Then there are the intermediates or “medium” tissues such as the nerves and spinal cord, where the accumulation is fast but the dissipation is slow especially if the bottom time is long or ascent is slightly faster.

- When nitrogen is not dissipated fast enough, the pressure of dissolved nitrogen will exceed the ambient (surrounding) pressure at some point during the ascent and the molecules of dissolved nitrogen will form bubbles.

- Bubbles formed in the blood (usually the venous system) are mainly filtered as it passes the lungs and rarely enters the arterial circulation except in foetus and some with a vascular heart anomaly (patent foramen ovale).

The second potential source of bubbles in DCI is the introduction of air bubbles to the arterial circulation because of lung overexpansion. This is better known as Arterial Gas Embolism(AGE)

- This has nothing to do with dissolved nitrogen, or time and depth for that matter. Indeed, this problem can arise during ascent from depths as shallow as 1 – 2 metres. The most important rule in scuba diving is “to breathe normally at all times; never hold your breath”. This is because any air trapped in the lungs during an ascent (by holding the breath for example), will expand as pressure decreases. If there is sufficient over-expansion of the lung it may rupture some of the small airways and the associated blood vessels. Such damage is referred to as pulmonary barotrauma.

- This barotrauma causes introduction of air bubbles to the lung capillary circulation which are then circulated throughout the body as air embolus. Bubbles arriving in the circulation of the brain may cause stroke-like symptoms. These arterial bubbles are therefore considered very dangerous.

Embolus = foreign particles that float and travel freely in the blood e.g air, clots
Arteries = blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body
Veins = blood vessels that carry blood from the body back to the heart

Taken from various reading.
( To be continued )

I have been restless,
I was in foul mood,
I was temperamental,
Because I was anticipating this day.

But as the day approach,
I was dawned with sadness,
I was filled with tears,
Because I could not see you.

The day has come,
I feel like embracing you,
I want to kiss you,
I am sombre,
Because I am without you.

I called but to no avail,
But you would not know,
I wanted to let you know,
Nothing more but to how much I miss you,
And that I love you,
And ………,

In all that I wished,
I could have you in my arms,
Kiss you and look into those eyes of my own,
Smile from the depths within,
To see my mirror image, you, smiling back at me,
My very own,
My love, my life,

But the day passes,
My wishes vanishes in thin air,
I sit still wondering the future,
If I could still have my wish come true,
To embrace you my dearest child.

Happy Birthday Ruban.

I was thinking twice as to whether I should blog about a such a person - whether he deserves this spot on the blog. Looking at the recent events, I think I believe “what goes around, comes around”.

So, a brief recap. Dato Z became national news around late October when the press revealed his questionable mansion which has 21 bathrooms and 16 bedrooms, including 11 that occupied by each of his children, as well as a VIP room, three living rooms, a dining hall and a prayer room. The mansion also has a swimming pool, several gazebos, an orchard, a two-hole golf lawn, an office, a storeroom, two rooms for maids as well as a wet kitchen and a dry kitchen. This particular mansion despite being illegal is still very much grounded.

I wrote about this in October 2007 namely “Of Arrogance and Tolerance” and ” Of Sultan Selangor, PM and Rakyat Power“.

So with the loss of Selangor state to the opposition and the loss of his daughter who stood for election, worsened by the fact that all hell would break open revealing more juicy bits, Dato Z probably got too stressed and died from heart attack early Tuesday morning.

For the very least, I know God is watching and the Rakyat has shown its power.