Sharing is Living

I went to Madam Sachiko cookies again today. And I almost fainted. And that whole can’t see, can’t feel the ground underneath me, and can’t stand up without feeling the world spinning so fast episode made me think about my near death experiences in the past.

Yes, of course fainting isn’t really dying, but when you’re experiencing it, it’s really scary.

So my NDEs:

1. Diving down the pier on Pulau Bidadari trying to retrieve my missing rental snorkel. I was so out of breath that I thought I would die down there. But I feared my parents’ wrath from losing the snorkel more than my own death. I was 11, I think. I got the snorkel, and obviously I didn’t die. I was quite the fish. So proud of myself.

2. Driving home from work, using the mountain route because the main highway was so backed up. I ran over a big rock, my car was stuck, right there on the turn. Then we got out of the car, and just stood around, without realizing that another car would speed pass by and kill us.

That was actually really stupid. But I was too distracted by the problem at hand, ie, how to get the car back home from the middle of that remote mountain.

3. Falling down the icy hill while skiing. It was 4th trip skiing, and against all fears I tried one of the advanced run. One I took a misstep, I couldn’t stop tumbling down the hard ice.

The run was supposed to be closed because it’s still not suitable for skiing. And lucky me, I fell down that same unsuitable hill. About 500 meters, I think, and I was actually rolling down, feet over my head, then in reverse, and on and on and on. Such a miracle I didn’t suffer any injuries other then few cuts on my cheek.

Therefore, I conclude that falling down skiing isn’t as bad as it looks! How many times have you seen horrible ski falls on TV, with the sort of falls that looks to be bone breaking or even body paralyzing? But then, often, the skier came out fine, suffering only minor injuries.

Well same thing happened to me. It was really cool while you’re tumbling down. First of all it didn’t hurt at all. There’s all that abnormal positions that your body go through, and that helplessness from being unable to stop the fall, but all in all, it was rather painless.

I’d do it again if I can have a guarantee that by the end of it I’ll be 100% fine. It’s sort of fun.

4. Getting lost for about half an hour on the May Lake trail in Yosemite Park. It was the classic getting lost situation. Once we realized we were lost, we seem to get even more lost. After a while, I pictured in my mind that a bear would get me and eat me. Then my parents would be so sad, and they wouldn’t even be able to recognize me anymore, because my face by the time they found me, it would be all deformed and eaten. Yes, really cool.

5. Getting lost in Angkor jungle trying to find Ta Nei temple. What was I thinking anyway getting into a clearly wild jungle? I think I was pretending to be some early explorer finding an ancient Angkor temple. I followed what seems to be a trail, but the deeper into the jungle I get, the trail branched and then they seem to just disappear.

I saw lots of ant hills, ruined so many spider webs, and broke so many plant branches. I think the jungle must’ve seen me as this incompetent intruder wrecking the once peaceful life in there. When I saw some wild berries, I filed that in my mind as food that I could possibly eat if I really have to camp out in the middle of that tropical jungle.

In one of the desperate moments, I started marking the trees with my initial, so that I can see if I’m going round and round. I really thought I would die. Nobody goes to see freaking Ta Nei temple, and I now understand exactly why. They don’t want to die by getting lost in the jungle.

Then by all miracles of miracles, I found my way back. So not dead yet.

So there you go. My fabulous 5 NDEs. Anyone want to share theirs?