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Saturday, June 5, 2010

Motion sickness

 I can remember as far as when I was 3 or 4 years old, whenever my parents take me for a train ride to visit my paternal grandparents, I would throw up over board. It was a single car train and the click-clack movements on the track made my tummy wrench. And I remember my dad telling me to focus my eyes on the big rocks and blue sky but it didn't work very well. My head was spinning.

My first training flight from Singapore to Perth as a flight attendant, was head spinning! Plus the bad air turbulence, I actually saw the whole cabin spin in front of me and I had to throw up many times! When I reached my hotel room, I flopped in bed and told my batch girl that I wanted to resign. If it weren't for the 1 year contract that I've signed, I would truly had left after that first spinning flight. For the rest of my flying career, I relied on my trusty marzine (airsick pill). I needed one before every flight otherwise I would feel sick and the passengers would have to take care of me instead!

Reading on moving vehicles are definitely out of the question for me. Don't ask me to help look into road maps and directory while the car is moving, I will feel as if oxygen is suddenly cut off from my surrounding and I will feel giddy after that. I felt more tired than relaxed after our bus trip to Genting, Malaysia, a few years back. I'm really terrible with long winding rides, my head will spin.

A couple of months back, my hubby took me and the boys to watch Avatar in 3D. After an hour, I felt stuffy and my sense of smell became very sensitive to the snacks other patrons were eating in the cinema. When I took down the 3D glasses and looked at my hubby and boys, I knew something was not right. They were watching the movie intensely and didn't look like they had any trouble with the air-conditioning. And then I felt my tummy turn, the smell is nauseating and I needed some fresh air. As I was walking out of the cinema, my head began to spin and I felt something travelling up my tummy into my throat. I ran towards the direction of the toilet but it was too late. I threw up in a corner onto the carpet of the corridor before I could leave the cinema's lobby. No one was around as the other movies were still in progress, and I decided to clean myself in the toilet first before informing the cinema's staff about the mess I made. When I returned to the spot where the puke puddle was, it was gone! I didn't see it anywhere.....Hubby said maybe it wasn't the first time someone did that during a 3D movie so perhaps someone was watching the place just in case. Awww...it's so embarrassing!


Hubby took me and the boys for a vacation in Krabi, Thailand just recently. Our friend lives there by the beach. He bought a boat a few months back and invited us to join him. It was a beautiful, beautiful place. And Janejira was a very comfortable boat and the boys enjoyed fishing, swimming and feeding the fish at the island. I did too except for the boat rides. Even after taking the seasick pills, I still wasn't able to fully enjoy myself. Especially when they anchored the boat to fish. The rocking movements just made me want to lay down and close my eyes. Watching the trees in the nearby island is like looking at a 3D poster. Where the graphics seems to move about and form a hidden picture. The trees seemed to move that way to me too. Fortunately my boys didn't inherit the imbalance chemicals genes from me. They even breezed through a storm that we met during the trip. It was pretty scary and yes, my head was spinning!

Can you spot me on the upperdeck? I'm the one half hidden and lying on the comfy beanbags.

3 comments:

Euphoria said...

Oh Eileen, I undesrtand you completely. I can´t read maps in the car, read books on the bus or in the plane. I have to do what your father told you, choose something in front of me and look straight at it.
I really don´t understand how you´ve been working on airplanes having this problem.

Eileen W said...

Euphoria, I don't understand it either..... I once met a US Navy officer who was nicknamed 'barf'. His crew told me it's because he was always sick whenever they are onboard their aircraft carrier!

The Beauties In Our Lives said...

Same here, ladies! I get all dizzy and nauseous in some cars and stuffy boat rides, so I avoid 3D shows completely! I can't walk around on planes, else I will feel sick, so I really admire how you can work on a plane!