Thursday, 27 September 2001

Someone send me these amazingly beautiful pictures of apparently Tahiti. Must make a trip there before I die.

Tahiti     Tahiti     Tahiti     Tahiti     Tahiti     Tahiti     Tahiti     Tahiti     Tahiti     Tahiti     Tahiti

Wednesday, 26 September 2001

Here's a good King Kong picture.

King Kong

Wednesday, 26 September 2001

Here is an Get Osama game for all to download.

Get Osama

I still keep getting photos on the collapse of WTC and the Pentagon. This page is already too big and taking too long to download so I don't want to put any more pictures. So I have decided to create a page dedicated to the “Attack On America”. I have just put in another 20 devastating photos and 12 cartoons and parody on this page. I think it's worth your click.

1 more e-mail regarding WTC. 

Thank you for the great photos and the ability to see views of the World
Trade Center which can never be seen again.

Your generosity is a contribution to society

Peace
Peter

Contribution to society? Wow, very kind words but I doubt if I am that noble.

For the photos of WTC taken by me on January 2000, click here.
Any comments, please e-mail me.

Due to the size of this page getting larger by the day, I have decided to archives the old news. I will archive each month and put it at the end of this page.

Monday, 24 September 2001

Here is a very interesting flight simulation of the 4 flights that were hijacked 2 weeks ago.

Flight Simulation

Another face on the WTC as it was burning up? You be the judge!

Sunday, 23 September 2001

Here's some great sites to try out.

GSMArena.com - An International Mobile Phone site.
Mobile88.com - A local Malaysia Mobile Phone site.
Am I Hot? - Put your own picture here and let other people vote if you are hot or not. You can also check out some pretty sexy girls here. ;-).

Here are some very nice sunset shots for your wallpaper.

Sunset     Sunset     Sunset     Sunset     Sunset

Saturday, 22 September 2001

I got another e-mail regarding WTC. It’s from Connie from California.

Loved your pictures of the World Trade Center.

My 9 year old daughter and I were looking for before pictures since we had never seen this building in person. 

We live in California but feel the great loss.

For the photos of WTC taken by me on January 2000, click here.
Any comments, please e-mail me.

Here are some cool sites. Ever want to send some free SMS. Goto this site. www.sms.ac. I have tested this to work with Maxis and Celcom in Malaysia. Keep in mind though that you can only limited to 30 free SMS a day. Meanwhile ICQ’s SMS has just been tested to work with Digi in addition to the rest like Maxis, MobileOne and Singtel.

Thursday, 20 September 2001

I went for my checkup at the Hospital this morning. I feel perfectly well and the doctor agreed. But he did mention a few times that I was very lucky. He said that if I had arrived 10 minutes later, I could’ve sustain brain damage. My gasp for air before arriving to the Hospital was not sufficient to provide me with enough O2. That’s why I couldn’t remember a thing. My brain was probably too starve of O2. The doctor said that there were a lot of water in my lungs. He said that it could have been about 1 liter or more. Keep in mind that an average lung hold only about 4 liters. I guess I am lucky to be alive with no apparent brain damage. He said that there was recently another case where a guy didn’t make it. But his case was salt water which is a bit more complicated.

Here is a more detail look at my near death tragedy. This is what my brother has written in a very detail chronological order. This was written on Tuesday 11 September 2001. I was in the observation ward for the first night.

Sat, Sept 8
1800hrs: bro call me up ask if I have chickened out, I said I’ll be there
shortly as I have things to do.
1825: came back home, told mom that the dinner will be after my swim
1835: reached the kelana jaya swimming pool and ready for the competition
so we went to the swallow end of the pool (at the perimeter so we can push
ourselves to have our nose just underwater) and he told me how to use his
citizen stop watch. both of us agreed that this is a best of 3 so that
whatever moaning and excuses will be considered null and void. and on we
went, preparing ourselves for the next few minutes of total abstinence from
air. so the first underwater experience, we held our breath and came out
unscape being me lost by a mere 15 sec. - he came out 3 min 05 sec.

The reason for this competition was that he thinks I cheated while I was
doing 4min 30sec of breath holding on my bed. thus, the real thing. and the
night before, we watch a documentary on free diving and breath holding.

so came the second time, yk - 0, yp - 1, so he asked if I wanted to hold the
watch since he is confident that he will beat me again, I say no since he
gets inspiration from looking at his stop watch. I find it difficult
actually to look at a non digital LCD stop watch. so we prepared and then we
went underwater again. this time I came out and he is still underwater. he
seem as though he has either zero or negative buoyancy right above the pool
bed of 3 and a half feet deep with his watch 5 inches from his right hand
and nose clamp tight with his left. So I thought after a few minutes he was
at the pool before me that he has mastered something. I took and looked at
the watch (being very difficult but I think I saw it was abt 3 min 30 sec)
so I was amazed that he can actually hold longer than this but I was
cautious as well that he may have passed out so I took a dive again and
circled him twice to see if he is still conscious. With his left hand still
clamping his nose I thought ok, I’ll surface and have a look at the watch
again. and when it reached 5 sec before 5 minutes, I went down and give him
a small push and I wasn’t amazed anymore. Absolutely no reflexes from him as
he just drift a few inches away and now with his left hand detached from his
nose and the word shit came out of my mouth.

At situations like this, it is hardly the time to panic. So I said to
myself, concentration is the utmost importance if I want him alive without
brain damage. I know for a fact that 5 minutes will not have any brain
damage but he seems like he is NOT breathing so every second ticks. I lifted
him up to the perimeter of the pool, accidentally bump his head on the
concrete, and quickly climb out of the pool and do the ABCs on him. I took
out my goggles as well as his off and the pale face he gave me was enough to
keep me more determined. Airway is done by opening his mouth and digging his
tongue out. Breathing is then checked by one hand (right) on his pectorals
and my left ear at his nose and mouth. My left hand moves to his neck to
check for pulse (circulation). Believe me, you don’t want to know how he
looks like at this point in time. Before I got one second on his neck to
check for his pulse, the lifeguard came. At that point I am prepared to give
mouth to mouth and CPR all the way until the ambulance came and the
paramedics take over. The lifeguard just gave 2 compresses on his rib cage
and he sprung back to life with a huge gasp of air and started breathing
very hard. Then I said, "ok, he’s breathing again, don’t do anything else"
and the lifeguard agreed. At that point in time blood was coming out of his
nose and then mouth as he continues to breathe very hash. Everyone was just
standing around me, bro and the lifeguard. Then I said "ok, now the recovery
position" and then 2 more people helped to put him to a recovery position
which is lying on the side with hands supporting his head. The reason for
this recovery position is so that the tongue will not block the airway.
After this small relieve, I felt cold from the evaporating chlorinated water
so I went to my bag and got my shirt out and tower to blanket bro. Mrs.
Cheong was there to hand me one of hers. Very thoughtful of her. My new
shirt is now the handkerchief for blood.

Bro and I are both qualified but expired first aid medic. We even jokingly
said before the competition that if anyone of us were to fail, there should
be no worries since we know what to do. Well, so much so for us but
unfortunately a very inexperience lifeguard. But you can’t blame them
completely, I mean, how much experience do you expect them to have when
cases like this happens once in a blue moon and some of them are just
part-timers. Every man for himself. I know that at that point in time, all I
can do is to make sure he is still alive when the ambulance came and that is
exactly what my focus was even though is quite different from my first
experience because it was someone else. It’s easier to concentrate and be
focused when the person dying isn’t someone you know. This case is
different, he is my brother and keeping focused was the only thing in my
mind and I kept that until the ambulance came. One of the reasons why I was
able to concentrate was because I believe that 5 minutes underwater is not
severe and he will be able to push on through. And luckily he did. I have
told many people that you have to at least act tough and think tough at
situations like this but seriously, it’s not so easy when you are partially
to be blamed and it’s like the whole world is looking at you and failure is
not an option. I didn’t get the scare of my life but I think bro did.

The stretcher finally came and the lifeguard said that it is better to get
him into one of the rooms so that there is less distraction while waiting
for the ambulance. He is still breathing very hard. After 15 min a lady with
a Honda CRV I think decided that she may be able to give a lift. So we
decide to take that option but the next 5 -10 minutes was used just trying
to fit him and the stretcher in that 4-wheel drive but it just would not fit
(like 2 -3 inches short). He was getting very agitated at this point in
time. No one knows why but I think this is due to the fact that the
condition of lack of oxygen is showing. Finally the ambulance came. and it
took another 10 minutes to get to the hospital. Subang Jaya Medical Centre -
one highway away, but a long one though with lots of left turns. thus,
sitting on the right side of the ambulance does take some time getting used
to especially with bro’s limbs retracting and extending more often than ever
even as well as curling of the hands and feet although the oxygen mask is
being strapped to his face.

At the hospital, this is what I think happened in the ER. Since he was so
agitated, the doctors just check his vital signs, he puked - which is good
news, and then put him under life support system.
1. a drug called tracium (paralyse the body) was administered by an
anaesthetist on the right hand I think.
2. a rubber hose passes through his nostril to his stomach
3. a rubber hose is locked tight at his trachea and a regulator was on to
give him a constant of 14 breaths a minute.
4. a rubber hose was hooked on to his urethra
5. a chest x-ray was taken
6. 0.9 % sodium chloride (salt) and 5 % glucose solution dripping through a
rubber hose to his left hand
Standard procedures. I didn’t feel that all these hose was much of a
distraction when life is at stake, just felt that if there are more rubber
hose, he stands a better chance of quicker recovery because I know that 5
min without air on a full tank of air in both lungs expanded > 40 inches is
no big deal. That is why I was not very shaken. I had a look at him at the
ICU, 6th floor. spoke to the doctor and the doctor said that it is too early
to say. I went down to the lobby and see if there is a vending machine that
I can get some food to keep my energy level up. Finally found someone
helpful enough to change my 1 ringgit note (I can’t go out for food because
I am without any shoes and my sleeve filled with blood) after the cashier
turned me away because he said that even 1 ringgit of coins changed for me
will ruin his day tomorrow as he cannot get coins from the bank. What a
bastard.

So Saturday night, I though he needed some rest so I got back home and
imagine what would it be like to have rubber hose sticking out of your
feeling of limbless body. It makes you feel as if you are marching along
others with a little push by the undertaker. Yes, if you can imagine that,
the conditions, can’t open your eyes, 4 senses reduced to none with the
worse of them all, your ears working, all the things that you hear, foot
steps, breathing, beeps from the machines, hint of human conversation and
also the constant buzzing and fear. How long does it take to bring you from
memory lane to meet up with the history books? I imagined that, but I’m sure
that I was no where near to what bro was feeling.

2230: got both bikes back and checked the clothing that was handed over to
me by the nurse, which contained towels and bro’s scissored swimming trunk
containing a key to the locker which I will get from the pool the next
morning. Followed by food at McDs.

2359: Deep thought of what happened tonight, the images and fear and the
anxiety as I lie in bed. All the concentration of helping bro get through
was long depreciated with tiredness and constant fear of wrong doings of
that situation lingers. More and more flashes of images starts as the slide
shows kept pressing on in my mind. Me, bro, bro without reflexes underwater,
the lifeguard, Mrs. Cheong, bro’s first breath, bro’s head knocked on the
concrete surface, the watch, the tubes, the wet floor of the ER of bro’s
puke, the nurses, the ambulance, the agitated bro, the ABCs,... the tears in
my eyes. I was not as tough as I thought I was. The strength that I had when
I needed it is no longer required now, the feeling of fear and anxiety and
the lesson learnt fill the helpless mind at a slow trip to slumberland
continues was greeted with self confidence as the panic button is now pushed
when it is not needed. z. and was I glad I slept.

Sun, Sept 9
0900: got the bag from the locker
0930: got mom to the hospital, then mom left for kl to do some minor
shopping for food.
1100: spoke to bro as he can just open his eyes a bit. don’t think he can
remember much about this conversation anyway.
1200: though he needed some rest, had lunch and I went back home.
1900: dinner
2000: hospital again with mom, this time, he’s more conscious as he slowly
come to terms with the drug tracium, being able to just move his fingers and
head. so it was twenty question time. No apparent memory lost.

Mon, Sept 10
0900: got to the hospital alone (took leave), he’s breathing on his own now
and all he has taken so far was just liquid food. Completely off from
tracium. Twenty question resumed.
1100: EEG was done
1600: neurologist explained that his electrical impulses was a bit weaker
than normal.
1630: colleagues came to pay him a visit
1730: went back home for dinner
1900: went to hospital with mom, waited for the nurses to detach the rubber
hose from his trachea and insert just a normal 5-10 mm hose to his nostril
for oxygen. Spoke to him. he said sorry to mom for making her worried. Told
me "Thanks for saving my life, I’ll remember that", I said "no worries mate,
all in a day’s work". So there you have it, he is on a splendid path of
recovery. But sadly, all he can remember from Sat. was up until he put his
bag in the locker.

Tue(today), Sept 11
0845: saw him and he looks healthy apart from his dandruff hair.
midday: Moved from ICU to normal medical ward with all but one rubber hose
still attached to his right hand just in case there is a need for
intravenous injection of drugs.
1300: saw him with colleagues before lunch, and again, he said he couldn’t
remember anything abt the incident but I assured him that flashes will
comeback (only if he slowly find it - this happened to my friend).
Will be seeing him tonight. Probably be out of the hospital in another day
or two. so there’s absolutely no worries at all as I have suspected even
since saturday night. but I was preparing for the worse. That is what has
been taking the toll on me. Preparation for the worse which I know will not
happen.

Things done to my bro when I’m not in the hospital, the lungs and heart
doctor and nurses suck water out of bro’s lungs - not very pleasant bro
said. The doctor should have become a plumber instead coz he’s so rough.
 

Thanks to my brother, I am alive to write this website today. Another lesson to be learned here is First Aid. If you don’t know it, learn it now. It can save someone’s life. It could be someone close to you and someone you care for very much. If you do know it, maybe it’s time to browse thru the First Aid procedures again in case you are a little rusty.

Wednesday, 19 September 2001

More proof that the Devil is behind the WTC. And the Devil happens to be a big fat bastard too.

Here’s something light also related to the WTC.

bean_laden     Petronas Twin Towers

Tuesday, 18 September 2001

Here is a very addictive game. I haven’t played a game so addictive for a long time. Try it.

Bridge Builder

Tuesday, 18 September 2001

Here’s 2 e-mails I have gotten in regards to the WTC. One is from a very good friend who is working in New York City. Here’s his take on how the city is like after the collapse of the WTC. This is the friend whom I stayed with when I was visiting NYC during the 1999/2000 New Year’s Eve.

Dear all

 

Luckily for me, didn’t personally know anyone that got hurt on Tuesday. Closest I know of were some of Michelle’s clients who worked out of Building No. 5 (the one that collapsed much later). We were rather fortunate that this happened on Tuesday; Choo Kien and Shireen had transited through WTC on Monday (they take it if their preferred train is too crowded), and Michelle was supposed to transit through WTC on Wednesday to go to a client’s place in downtown Manhattan. The randomness of all this is beyond my comprehension.

 

Anyway, since I last wrote, this is what happened: hung around Michelle’s boss’s place until about 7.00, with a short break for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Watched the news most of the time, because there’s not much else you can do. All of us tried to go down to the hospital’s blood drive, but they turned us away because they had more than they could stock. We were told to come back after a few days, but for depressing reasons they don’t need much at the moment.
Some of you have written wondering whether there was chaos that day. I can only comment at the mid-town area (the WTC is downtown, maybe 2 miles away). The answer is, surprisingly, no. People were getting out of their buildings and on the streets, and just hanging around there talking to each other. There’s not much you can do except that. They shut down the subways and trains almost immediately, and the only way you could get out of Manhattan was by ferry or walking across a bridge (for those of you who never bothered with this part of the world, Manhattan is an island, reachable mainly by a couple of long-ish bridges and tunnels; there are also a handful of ferry services) . We thought there was no point doing that because of the long queues at the ferry, and the closest bridge was 10+ miles from home. (I go to work by underground/under river train), so we waited until train service resumed in the evening. Checked the web site every hour for changes. Choo Kien went by ferry to Weehawken, then bus to Hoboken, and the walked from Hoboken. Took him 4 hours to do all that.

 

Oh yeah, no panic buying/hoarding either :-) Crazy New Yorkers.

 

The rescue crews were calm enough that they walked into restaurants for dinner. Saw some of them at ours, all dusty. Nobody complained though. Some restaurants were closed, but this one was Irish (accents and all), so maybe they’re more used to this kind of thing.

 

The experts say we should go back to our normal lives, and not feel guilty about doing our regular stuff and having our normal fun (to be honest, I did feel some of that guilt on the first 2 days). The NYC mayor was on tv the other day urging people to go to the movies and other stuff. But it’s kinda hard, not least because of all the bomb hoaxes which we’ve been getting. There were 90 reported yesterday (Thursday), one at Grand Central Station which is across the street from my building. Real pain in the you-know-what. This is wreaking havoc on the subway system; a lot of people needed 3 hours to get home yesterday (Thursday).

 

The city’s still shaken up by all this, as you would imagine. People are mostly grim and quieter, and don’t talk as much on the trains as previously. The normal city buzz has been replaced by the wail of police and emergency vehicle sirens crossing the city every ten minutes or so. A lot of the police on the streets are not NYC police, but those on loan from the state police. They’ve also got police cadets directing traffic. Guess a lot of the NYPD is down at the WTC site, either rescuing or being rescued. I hope this is all only because a lot of businesses (including Michelle’s company) have shut down for this week; Monday might be better. [Monday, the trains were really crowded, with the WTC line no longer available and people using the one other line available to get them from NJ (Hudson-river area) to Manhattan. There are more people in the city now, but it’s still not as vibrant as usual.]

 

On the first few days after the attack, I think the first thing everybody did when they got to the first street corner of their walk was to turn and look at where the WTC was previously. You can’t really see much, just that steady stream of smoke which keeps coming from it. Right now, you can’t avoid the effects of that day; the families of the missing people have plastered their photos and descriptions (e.g. tattoo on left arm) at a lot of public places in the hope that somebody can tell them where they are. The American flag is flying outside a lot of places, cars and a few people actually carry it in their hand.

 

I’m sure a lot of us have developed a habit of ignoring fire alarms, so I’ll mention that all this brings home the point that your life is worth more than an hour’s worth of work. Friend of Michell’s boss (ok! this is hearsay) who got out from one of the towers told him that some people chose to ignore the evacuation order so that they can do more work. Don’t think anyone will do that again for a while, but try not to slip back into that way of thinking, ok?

Here are some more pictures of WTC.

The other e-mail is from an Afghan named Tamim Ansary who has been living in USA for 35 years. I don’t know him personally but got his e-mail thru the normal chain e-mails style. His words seems very authentic which I have decided to put it on my site..

I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about “bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age.” Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today, allowed that this would mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do with this atrocity, but “we’re at war, we have to accept collateral damage. What else can we do?”  Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing whether we “have the belly to do what must be done.”

And I thought about the issues being raised especially hard because I am from Afghanistan, and even though I’ve lived here for 35 years I’ve never lost track of what’s going on there. So I want to tell anyone who will listen how it all looks from where I’m standing.

I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no doubt in my mind that these people were responsible for the atrocity in New York. I agree that something must be done about those monsters.

But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan.  They’re not even the government of Afghanistan.  The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a plan.  When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think  “the people of Afghanistan” think “the Jews in the concentration camps.”

It’s not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators. They would exult if someone would come in there, take out the Taliban and clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed up in their country.

Some say, why don’t the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The answer is, they’re starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering.  A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food. There are millions of widows.  And the Taliban has been burying these widows alive in mass graves. The soil is littered with land mines; the farms were all destroyed by the Soviets.  These are a few of the reasons why the Afghan people have not overthrown the Taliban.

We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age. Trouble is, that’s been done. The Soviets took care of it already.  Make the Afghans suffer? They’re already suffering. Level their houses? Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Done.  Eradicate their hospitals? Done.  Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them off from medicine and health care? Too late, someone already did all that.

New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs.  Would they at least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today’s Afghanistan, only the Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around.  They’d slip away and hide. Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans; they don’t move too fast, they don’t even have wheelchairs. But flying over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn’t really be a strike against the criminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it would only be making common cause with the Taliban--by raping once again the people they’ve been raping all this time.

So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with true fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with ground troops. When people speak of  “having the belly to do what needs to be done” they’re thinking in terms of having the belly to kill as many as needed.  Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms about killing innocent people. Let’s pull our heads out of the sand. What’s actually on the table is Americans dying. And not just because some Americans would die fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin Laden’s hideout

Will other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I’m going. We’re flirting with a world war between Islam and the West.

And guess what: that’s Bin Laden’s program. That’s exactly what he wants. That’s why he did this. Read his speeches and statements. It’s all right there.  He really believes Islam would beat the west. It might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into Islam and the West, he’s got a billion soldiers. If the west wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that’s a billion people with nothing left to lose, that’s even better from Bin Laden’s point of view. He’s probably wrong, in the end the West would win, whatever that would mean, but the war would last for years and millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for that? Bin Laden does. Anyone else?

Tamim Ansary

Sunday, 16 September 2001

Was the collapse of WTC the act of Satan? Some believe so and has the proof for it.

A front-page photograph on more than 13,000 copies of Tuesday’s Saginaw News has prompted some to believe that Satan himself presided over terrorist attacks on the United States.
The picture, shot by an Associated Press photographer, captured the features of a seemingly demonic face -- eyes, nose, mouth, beard and horns -- as it emerged from the billowing smoke over the World Trade Center, observers say.

There you have it. Associated Press claimed that the photograph was not altered in anyway.

Sunday, 16 September 2001

I got many warm wishes from friends after they read about my ordeal. Thank you so much for caring. Another lesson to be learned here from my hospitalization is Insurance. I guess now there is a sense of regret that I wasn’t on any Medical Insurance to cover my hospital bill. I advise everyone who doesn’t have any Medical Insurance to re-consider taking up one.

Here are some great sand sculptures for you.

Sand     Sand     Sand

I also got this e-mail regarding the WTC from Sheryl.

Hi.  I just viewed your pictures of the World Trade Towers.  Wow!  I was in NYC on July 4,1976 and looked up at the towers but didn’t get to go up! (We went up in the Empire St. Build.)  I am sure your trip there to the towers was even more meaningful since you went up!  I hope your friends were not involved with this tragedy.  We do not know anyone directly involved.

Your photos have helped me to remember what the towers looked like.  I was only 15 when I was there and sure didn’t take enough pictures.

For the photos of WTC taken by me on January 2000, click here.
Any comments, please e-mail me.

Friday, 14 September 2001

When I was in ward 431-1 on Tuesday night, there was nothing to do but watch TV. And the first thing I saw was the World Trade Center (WTC) on fire. I had no idea why then. Later CNBC said that it was 2 airplanes crashing into them and it was an apparent terrorist attack. I was kind of shock. Later that night, I saw the South Tower collapsed Live. I was there in January 2000 and I am deeply sadden by the terrorist attack. The ruthlessness of some people is incomprehensible. Hitting civilians only is an act of a coward and I don’t see how this helps to fight the cause of Islam. I don’t hate Islam but those who organized these act of terrorism. Here are some of the pictures of the WTC last Tuesday. Very devastating pictures.

I got this e-mail from Toby Kanoby and he has this to say:

I have been fascinated with the WTC since I was a little boy, about four or
five years old. That is when I saw the remake of the movie classic King Kong,
which featured the twin towers. I was able to visit NYC while on Spring Break
in ’97. However, I failed to photogrph the twin towers. Thank you for your
pictures. The towers are gone now along with thousands of people, all in a
matter of a few hours. I hope you use your pictures to inspire those around
you or to educate those who are to young to understand. The WTC was a very
important landmark. Now I am twenty seven, the same age as the towers, but
they are gone. I hope they rebuild them in honor of those lost.  

For the photos of WTC taken by me on January 2000, click here.
Any comments, please e-mail me.

Friday, 14 September 2001

HOW I ALMOST DIED DROWNING.

Back from the dead, gladly.

Those who visit this site daily (and I thank them for it), must be wondering why I have slack off for 1 week. Truth is, I didn’t. I was admitted to a hospital after drowning in a local swimming pool. I was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for 3 days and a further 2 days under observation in Subang Jaya Medical Centre. This is an expensive private hospital and was the nearest hospital from the Kelana Jaya Swimming Pool.

What the hell happened?

Here’s the story. My brother and I are quite competitive individuals. Him being 5 years my junior has always been at a disadvantage when it comes to competing with me, in everything. Now that he is 25 and I am pushing 30, that disadvantage is evaporating fast. In fact, youth is in his favor. Still, I beat him in most things, Chess, Checkers, Othello, computer games and pretty much anything we compete in. Him being the younger brother of course wants to beat the crap out of his elder brother (isn’t it always the case with all younger brothers). Especially when this elder brother is a bit of a bully to him all his life. Hey! I was trying to make a man out of him. Really.

Anyway, back to our spirit of ‘healthy’ competitiveness. One thing that he has been very keen on lately is Free Diving. Free Diving is a sport whereby you dive with no breathing apparatus like SCUBA gears and see how deep you can go and surface safely. He has been watching ‘Extreme Contacts’ and other documentary on Free Diving and Breath Holding. He has been practicing on his own and claimed to be able to hold his breath for 5 minutes. This is done by lying down on his bed in his room with a CD playing as a guide of how long he has been holding his breath, as he does not have a stopwatch. Of course, I dismissed the idea that he could actually hold his breath for 5 minutes. I told him bluntly “BULLSHIT”. I consider myself to be above average when it comes to holding breath. I could easily do 3 minutes and have done 2:45 minutes underwater. So when he tells me that he could hold his breath for 5 minutes, I told him “prove it on real life condition where cheating is impossible; underwater”. This has been going on for months until last week where we agreed to settle it once and for all, ‘Who can hold his breath the longest?’ To prevent any cheating (intentional or otherwise), real life condition must take place; underwater. This is the only method that is acceptable and also the only method used in all breath holding records in the world.

On Saturday 8 September 2001, we meet up on Kelana Jaya Swimming Pool. We arrive separately. I arrived first, changed and put my bag in the locker. I have no recollection of what happened after that. The next thing I remember, I was in a hospital.

This is what my brother told me.....(kids, don’t try this a home)
He showed up a little later, then we did the first round. We agreed that this was to be the first thing we do as we don’t want to exhaust ourselves before the breath holding competition. So no swimming, no laps, nothing. This was going to be ‘Best of 3’ competition. On the first round, I won with a time of 3:05 minutes, about 15 seconds longer than him. 1 more and I am the champion. Unfortunately, this time, I passed out. My brother saw me dropped my watch at about 3 minutes but was still holding my nose. He thought I was still OK. I was not. I had already passed out. At 4:30 minutes, I had begun to lose balance (we were at the shallow end squatting down) and had tilted over. He pushed me and I had no reaction whatsoever. He then pulled me out of the pool after approximately 5 minutes underwater. I was not breathing at that time. I probably have taken a few gulps of water into my lungs. The lifeguard came over and did 2 chest compressions on me. I split out some water and begun to breath again. But I was highly agitated, couldn’t keep my limps together, pushing and kicking. Finally, I was put on the ‘Recovery Position’ and an ambulance was called. The ambulance only arrived about 30 minutes later. I still have no recollection of any of the events that took place as described on this paragraph.
For a more detail report of what happened, read what my brother has to say of the actual event.

This is what I think happened.....(from a PADI Divemaster point of view)
I am a PADI Divemaster. I have done dives that lasted over an hour and have done depths as deep at 40 meters or 130 feet. I am trained to rescue SCUBA divers in trouble, from pulling them out of the water to giving CPR until the paramedics arrives. I am supposed to know everything about recreational diving. I am 1 step away from being a SCUBA Instructor. From my knowledge as a Divemaster, this is what I think happened to me.

Not many people know this but the urge to catch another breath does not come from the lack of Oxygen(O2). It comes from the built-up of Carbon Dioxide(CO2). When trying to hold your breath, most people will take a few big and fast breath. This is called hyperventilating. The idea is to load as much as O2 into the blood stream as possible and at the same time, clear out as much CO2. It is recommended that one should not hyperventilate more than 3 times before holding one’s breath. I didn’t heed the recommendation. I don’t remember how many times I hyperventilated, but it was enough to clear out so much of CO2 that the urge to catch another breath never came. Since this is the second round, my brain was probably still a little starved of O2. It absorbed all the O2 it could and when there was none left, I passed out. But my CO2 built-up was not yet enough to trigger me to ‘take a breath’. So I passed out before I had the urge to take another breath. All very painless. Again, I have no recollection of all these events but this is what I think happened to me.

What happened after that?
The ambulance came and took me to the hospital. I have tubes hooked to both my hands (one for Glucose, one for administrating drugs), one thru my mouth to my lungs to supply O2, one thru my nose to my stomach to suck up gastric acids and the last one, up my penis to the bladder to suck up any urine. I was given anesthesia  and paralyzing drugs so that I won’t fight so much. I was highly agitated and was pushing and kicking. After that, I couldn’t move a muscle and couldn’t talk as well coz of the tubes in my mouth. I was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was on life-support for 3 nights (Saturday, Sunday and Monday). No food, very minimum water, mostly Glucose Drips and not much activity. I slept most of the time (actually put to sleep by anesthesia). The doctors took some X-rays and found some fluids in my lungs. Kelana Jaya Swimming Pool is not known for the cleanliness of their water. So once in a while they will put a suction hose though my mouth and suck out any fluids. An incredibly unpleasant procedures. I was coughing very hard due to the foreign object (the hose) in my lungs and it was trying to suck out any fluids it can find. That was the worst procedure I had to endure in the hospital. After my Blood Pressure, Temperature and Pulse were back to normal, I was carted to the observation ward. This is a double room at MYR 120 per day. ICU was at MYR 350 per day. So on Tuesday morning, I was no longer in danger and was staying in ward 431-1. Once I was out of ICU, the nurse took off all the tubes except the one on my right hand. This was still needed to facilitate injections of drugs. I was on a solid food diet again. Porridge and soup for both lunch and dinner on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I progressed to eating rice for dinner. I continue to stay there until Thursday morning before discharging. When I finally discharge, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the hospital bill (but quickly decided that I couldn't afford a heart attack at that hospital). The bill came up to MYR 8,979.49 for 5 nights stay. That’s USD 2,363.02. This includes the ambulance, doctors’ consultation, room, food and all the drugs. Still, this is a hefty sum, more than twice the figure I expected. But I am alive and that itself is worth more than 9K (at the least, that’s what I tell myself). I hope the company’s insurance can cover the cost as much as possible but I heard that they will only cover 2K. The rest? We’ll just have to see what happens next.

In conclusion (without the conclusion of my life).....
I owed brother my life. As far as I am concerned, he saved my life. True that if the roles were reversed, I would have done the same thing for him, but the fact remains that he saved my life. As for the competition, I declared him the winner as I was disqualified even though I stayed underwater for 5 minutes. I am glad it happened to me before it happens to him because he was very convinced that he could actually hold his breath for 5 minutes. If he had tried that alone in a pool, he could have died. Now I guess we are both smarter and won’t try to break the world record anymore. Not without a professional team to back us up anyway. Only today, I heard from the radio that brain damage start after 6 minutes of O2 absence. So with me being 5 minutes, I hope I don’t have any permanent damage. I was a bit dizzy yesterday after coming back home and couldn’t really concentrate on anything for a period of time. That’s why I only did this write-up today and not yesterday. But even today, I feel that my reflexes are much slower. I used to have lighting fast reflexes. I hope this too, will go away in time. I hope all these are caused by the drugs that I took and not from any brain damage.

Another STUPID action, another valuable lesson learned. Let this also be a lesson to all you readers out there too. Let my mistakes be your guide.

For a more detail report of what happened, read what my brother has to say of the actual event.

To tell me how stupid I have been.

Saturday, 8 September 2001
Here are some perverted stuff toys. I wonder if McDonald is going to launch these collectables.

Bared Bear     Floppy The Bunny     Hungo The Monkey     Maximum Mouse     Randy The Racoon

Quickie The Hare     Pepe The Pig     Monty The Moose     Mick The Koala     Ice Pube The Polar Bear

Here’s more treat for you guys coz I missed 2 days of updates. Ever wonder where to bring your girl to, for that very important first date? You want to give the right message across without having to say it out loud. Plus you really don’t want any misunderstanding. Unless you are gay, don’t choose a place called Blue Oysters. Well, I think this Japanese restaurant below will send the message to your girl, loud and clear.

Romantic Night Out

One last one for all you Dumbos who love to play “Where’s Wally?”. Here’s a twist to the old game.

Where's Willy?

Wednesday, 5 September 2001
Did you know that Michael Jackson made a cameo in movie “Planet of the Apes”? He did, really. Here’s the proof.

Michael Jackson

Tuesday, 4 September 2001
Looks like I am updating this site on a daily basis so all you viewers better put this on your Bookmarks or Favorites. Here are some cute stuff. Some pictures of a baby doing 1 arm push-ups. Jack Palance, look out!

Baby     Baby     Baby     Baby     Baby

Monday, 3 September 2001
Some interesting funny T-Shirts for you to see.

T-Shirt     T-Shirt     T-Shirt     T-Shirt     T-Shirt     T-Shirt     T-Shirt     T-Shirt     T-Shirt

Sunday, 2 September 2001
Sorry for the delay. I guess I missed last month’s update. But I promise from now onwards, it’s going to be different. I will start put up some interesting links as often as possible. Most likely on a weekly basis. Here are some links to a mean looking Harley Davidson. Those who know me well, know that I am biker. Those who know me really well, know that I like super bikes rather than a cruiser like Harley Davidson. I never liked Harley Davidson. This bike below is the first Harley Davidson that I don’t mind owning.

Harley     Harley     Harley     Harley

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