All We Want for Christmas is Some Panadol
My family was more than a little excited for our recent holiday to Hong Kong. We needed it. Between work and school, it had been a whirlwind ride for the past five months. Everyone was exhausted. My wife, in particular, looked forward to a change of scenery as 2012 had been the worst year of health in her life. My daughter couldn’t wait to meet the princesses at Hong Kong Disneyland. My son, well, he’s one, so he’s pretty much happy to do anything, and since he just started walking, he was just raring to go. Me? I was just happy to hang out with my family and do whatever it was that my wife had planned.
What no one planned, but what ended up happening, was that we all learned how important your health is when you are traveling.
Everything started beautifully. The flight was smooth sailing. The hotel was heavenly. We got a great dinner recommendation and had a delicious first meal. Heck, I even broke out of my cheapskate mold and bought my wife some nice jewelry. Jewelry!
We woke early on our first day of trekking and hit one of our major tourist destinations: Ocean Park. We had an absolute blast! It far exceeded our expectations, and everyone walked away happy. I tell you this because, in hindsight, I should have realized what you probably already have. Things were going far too well. Something was about to change for the worse. It was inevitable.
That thing that changed for the worse was our health. It happened quickly. It happened completely. And it changed everything.
It hit my wife first. As we sat down for dinner, she commented to me that she felt feverish and achy. To be honest with you, she didn’t look so hot. (Don’t tell her I said that.) At first I didn’t want to believe it. I mean, we were on holiday, right? You’re not supposed to get sick on holiday!
We got her to bed early, but it was too late. She spent a miserable night running back and forth to the bathroom. And the next day she couldn’t even get out of bed. All travel plans ceased. The kids and I spent a lazy, aimless day wandering around the hotel, exploring what we could: a dirty playground with a bunch of shady characters hanging around, the 41st floor “Meditation Room” which gave amazing views of the city, the mall across the road. Not stuff that would have made anyone’s “Top 10 Hong Kong Family Attractions.” We were basically killing time.
And killing time is not something you want to do when you are in a foreign city that has lots to offer. If we only had our health we would have been eating Hong Kong’s famous dim sum and drinking milk tea. If we only had our health we would have been meeting up with our friend who lives there and who would undoubtedly have taken us on a unique adventure only a “local” can. If we only had our health we would have been hanging out with those Disney princesses!
But we didn’t have our health. So we hung around in the hotel.
Unfortunately my wife didn’t get any better the next day, so we took her to a hospital - all the clinics were closed since it was Christmas Eve - where she was given a full range of medicine to cure what appeared to be a stomach virus. That could have ended our problems right there.
But that would have been too easy.
No, as we were waiting for doctors to check out my wife, I noticed that my daughter was feeling quite warm. We had her checked. Sure enough, she, too, had a high fever. Oh, joy!
Just to prove to us all that she wasn’t well, she threw up in the trash bin of the Starbuck’s as we stood in line to grab a quick bite while waiting for doctors to see her.
So, after picking up her baggy of medicine, it was back to the hotel. More killing time.
We tried TV. We watched all kinds of shows throughout the day. Stuff we would never dream of watching when we’re in Singapore. And do you think it was on our agenda for a Hong Kong holiday? No. In an attempt to inject a little fun into a long, dull day, we rented an animated movie. That was fine, but far from the original travel plan for the day.
And we weren’t done. There was one more lump of coal in our “Christmas Travel Plan Stocking”. My son developed a high fever with lovely diarrhea and vomiting as added bonuses. I was starting to feel like Florence Nightengale.
In the end we wound up extending our stay in Hong Kong. If we hadn’t, the only sightseeing for most of us would have been the hotel toilet and the hospital! Everyone rebounded, and we did eventually see those princesses. And they were worth it, let me tell you.
My takeaway from this little travel tragedy of ours was that, when traveling, what’s most important is that you have your health. And coupled with that is that it pays to stay in a nice hotel, because if you don’t have your health, you’re going to spend a lot of time there.
Lots of people I’ve shared this story with have told me that they have, at some point in their travels, had a similar experience.
Do you feel my pain? Can you relate? Or was Santa just punishing us for being naughty this year?
I like how this post sounds like something you would say. I also like how you put detail about everyone in the first paragraph instead of just your daughter. Your title is very cheesy (that's not meant to be taken as an insult). :P
ReplyDeleteI like your post because you blended some humor into an otherwise tragic story. I think that your idea was a good one, and that you used a lot of detail to make the reader to feel like they were actually there.
ReplyDeleteRight off the bat, I have to say that I like how you used a lot of voice in your piece which made it more interesting for me to read, even though it wasn't for your holiday. I like how there was some humour in it which kept me entertained and that there are some little jokes in it. Overall, I feel that this blog post was done extremely well as your voice made it easier to visualize certain things and hooked me into it.
ReplyDeleteI liked your post because of your inside voice and the detail that was in it, it felt like there could be a video just playing while you read. Like when the doctor was looking at them to find out what illness they had.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of voice in your story and a topic people can relate to.I definitely think dialogue could have fit in this story very well though.
ReplyDeleteI liked you story, and careful wording, my family our quite apt travellers, and I especially liked how you said "there was one more lump of coal" when you were talking about Christmas
ReplyDeleteYour post was awesome because you added lots of humour and voice, making the post sound like you're talking to the reader. It's very detailed and I cannot agree more that it isn't fun being sick during the holidays.
ReplyDeleteI felt like your second paragraph could be connected with your first, since that is your introduction. You put a lot of voice in your piece which really brought out your personality. In your eighth paragraph, your repetition was a really good idea. Don't forget to indent your paragraphs! Your one sentence paragraphs were really good in terms of voice. Great piece!
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you had sarcasm in it, but you might want to add a way to solve your problem next time.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the way you shared your emotions because instead of being mad about it you were talking in a funny way. But maybe you could have made it shorter.
ReplyDeleteI think you had a really great voice in your peice. I Had the same kind of thing in my post.
ReplyDeleteYou really had the MEMEME voice. TO LONG!
ReplyDeleteI think that the latest blog post you did is very well written. It has really good paragraphing that somehow makes you want to read more without you knowing it. I think that your post could have some more "I" voice though. There is a lot of "we" It's too long. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I see the length of this blog post it makes me kind of bored. Maybe you could take out some of the extra details. All in all I really like how this post can relate to a lot of us.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to an experience like this and it is a horrible experience when you are sick on a holiday. Also one thing in your blog post is that I really liked the voice in this blog post. But maybe it could have been a little shorter.
ReplyDeletei think you had a great me me me voice. also you used a funny voice so it kept me captivated,plus because the humor i enjoyed it :D
ReplyDeleteI think that the length of this piece is too long, but the ideas it fills itself with are really good. I like how you did a really good job of writing this like it's something you would say, but I think you should change the title because it is kind of cleche. :)
ReplyDeleteI really liked this comment for many reasons. First, most blog posts that are long can get a little bit boring, but your blogpost was really interesting. Second, " It happened quickly. It happened completely. And it changed everything." was a great line. I like how in the beginning, you talked about everyone feelings, that makes me understand the post a lot more. Great!
ReplyDeleteI can't relate to you but I understand what you are saying. I think your piece is a bit too long, so you should cut it down a bit. You also use your own voice and I Imagen you saying it.
ReplyDeleteI like how the paragraphs were short. But it was way to Long
ReplyDeleteI really liked your voice in this. Since you speak with humor in the real world, I liked how you put tons of humor in it. And like almost everyone before me, I thought it was slighty too long. But not too boring.
ReplyDeleteAwesome title, and really good word choice and humor. I like your opening paragraph and ending of the story. A bit too long, but I think it was necessary. I can't relate to your experience, but I know what it feels like to wander around a hotel with nothing to do.
ReplyDeleteI like how much voice and detail you added to this piece to emphasize your irritation that your wife and daughter got sick.
ReplyDeleteI like how you wrote a piece that was interesting and very detailed. But what was a little bit annoying was how long it was... (don't take it in a bad, mean way) :)
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