A few things occurred within the past few days. Here's a rundown:

1. While I was on holiday at home for 4 days (from 30-4-2004 to 4-5-2004), my Nigerian friend, Asa, fell ill. Fortunately, he managed to SMS me in his condition, saying that he had a fever and he couldn't move his legs. I returned to my apartment with my Mum and some medicine in tow, and found him much sicker than the SMS mentioned. After passing him some medicine, we managed to take him to a hospital far from my apartment.

And the diagnosis? Viral fever. And RM60 as consultation, gone.

My verdict? Another friend, who accompanied us to the hospital (and gave us directions there) said that it seemed like malaria, and was quite furious when the doctor mentioned that it was just viral fever. Actually, it wasn't just because of the diagnosis, but because of the prescription: Paracetamol VS my Dad's Ponstan. The latter is much more effective than the former, by the way. Also, the fact that her Medical Certificate was not made out for 3 days, but only for 1.

However, we took the other doctor's drugs, but we told Asa to only take the Vitamin C tablets from the other doc, and Ponstan from us. Thankfully, he recovered fully within 2 days. But his story does not end there.

2. On the morning of Friday, 7th May 2004, Asa LOCKED himself out of his own room by accident; he only realised that he did only after he took a shower.

So it was quite a joke to see him sitting on the couch, in a towel, waiting for help to come. I came to his rescue again. I called up APIIT (our college) and asked them if they could send for the back-up keys. They said that we'd have to wait a while. Called up a 24-hour locksmith, and ALMOST said "Yes, we need help," until I heard his RM60 price-tag.

Ouch.

So...an hour later (and a class gone for poor old Asa), APIIT 's emissary of hope came round, and unlocked the door.

Asa learnt TWO important things that day:

i. Always make a spare set of keys, and keep it someplace nearby JUST in case you lock yourself out of your room. Or anyplace else.

ii. Never put your cupboard too close to the door, ever. As it happened, Asa pushed the door back against his cupboard, inadvertantly locking the door in the process (push-button locks are a bit RISKY), and when he closed the door, voila! Instant humiliation.

I did feel sorry for the poor guy, but that second incident WAS avoidable. So, I got in a few cheap laughs while I was calling APIIT.

So, I hope this little lesson helps those who're about to end up in a similar fashion. Trust me on this.