It’s the children’s school break. Gina booked a night’s stay at Adeline’s Villa in Gopeng on June the 8th 2011 with intentions to move to Ipoh the next day. The journey took about 1 hour 30 minutes with narrow and winding roads when approaching.
The villa is built in a kampong area amongst trees and streams. In fact the hut that we stayed is built over a tiny stream. There is a tree just outside the hut with star fruits ready to be plucked and eat.
We checked in at about 1pm and had our lunch next to the registration area. The booking includes 3 meals i.e lunch, dinner and breakfast the next day. We had to take a short drive to where all the huts were located.
Upon reaching our hut, we unloaded our bags and wondered around the vicinity.
Reminds me of my younger days in Tanjung Bungah, Penang where I frequented staying over at my friend’s kampong style house.
At 2:30pm, the guide came over to escort us for our white water rafting experience. He made us fill in and signed some papers. We hop on his van and headed to the top of the river.
We put on our jackets and he gave us a safety briefing. We were feeling rather nervous as it’s our first time. We didn’t know what to expect and wondered if it’s safe.
Our first exercise on the river was to be drifted through a moderately strong current simulating an event if anyone was to be thrown out of the raft during the actual journey. The water was extremely cold and I took in some water during this exercise which shook me a bit but it was nothing compared to what I was about to experience.
We then went on our first rapid. The drop was just a warm up. Gina and I were seated in front, the kids at the center and the guide at the back. They assured us that the kids will be safe at the middle.
The second rapid which was more challenging than the first. Made it!
I wondered how many drops were there in all as we were told it was going to be a two and a half hours journey. Many drops I reckon.
It was time for the third. The guide prompted us that this was going to be a 5 foot drop which made me nervous. The drop came and then I heard Noel crying.
We turned around and Noel was holding his mouth with blood gushing out. It seems an object hit his teeth during the drop.
We rushed him to the nearest dentist and the expert claim that his permanent front tooth was broken and needs to be extracted. We weren’t convinced thus decided it was best to take him to consult our dentist in KL the next day.
We were glad of this decision. You will know why later.
It hurts me to see Noel in pain and I was worried of the social and psychological repercussions of a missing front tooth at this age. And the possibility of him having to wear false teeth or to deal with other dental procedures like crowning or root canal just made me sad.
The holiday mood was no longer there. All I could think was to take him for a proper examination the next day to diagnose his condition and to snuff out my assumptions.
We call it an early night.
He slept well the whole night through but woke up with a swell. I could not get any sleep as the vision of him bleeding and crying kept replaying on my mind.
We naturally called off our plans to Ipoh and drove back to KL after breakfast.
Noel said he was no longer in pain but I was skeptical. Have to get a scan to be sure.
We finally arrived back home and took him to our regular dentist in SS2. I was pleasantly surprised that after the x-ray, his tooth was still in one piece.
What a relief! But he has to be careful not to get a knock at the same spot again. I’m keeping my fingers cross.
Thank God!
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