The first port of entry was at Penang, Malaysia. Here we encountered a not-so-good experience. We were all shaken by an untoward incident that happened when one of us experienced a sudden chest pain. She had to be brought to a hospital for an emergency angiogram operation. The ship’s captain decided that she (Dra Ocampo, a doctor by profession) could not come with us to Thailand in such condition. The Virgo Cruise resident doctor advised us to bring her to the nearest hospital in Penang for emergency treatment. We were then currently docked at the port of Penang, Malaysia as it was the first port in the itinerary to be toured around by Virgo Cruise guests. I can still remember how our city administrator was shocked about the incident as the cruise staff continuously paged him since we could not locate him inside the ship to inform him about what had happened to one of our companions. The ship captain kept nagging us to bring down our patient as soon as possible so as not to hamper the travel time of the ship going to Thailand, but none of us could decide. And when city admin finally came and assessed the situation, he reminded me to just stay put. Maybe he was also worried that I might add tension to the present situation as I had also experienced a similar condition in one of our group tours. Then it was Dra. Ocampo and city administrator who brought me to the hospital. Ironically, this time she was in the same situation. My case though was different from hers because that time I had severe asthma attack and needed to be transported to a nearby hospital. I was just so lucky there was available speed boat along the coast at that time as we were on a remote beach for a certain official business. We proceeded to the next port of destination without four of our department heads. They stayed behind and accompanied Dra. Ocampo.
While in Penang, I can still remember we were all excited as we went to one of Penang’s famous chocolate and candy stores to buy some pasalubong. We rented a van to take us around Penang for some shopping!
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