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Friday, December 15, 2006

Falling asleep as a response to danger????


Went to the Pesta Pulau Pinang with a couple of frens yesterday nite... Not packed, but still quite crowded especially at the fun fair (Eurofun) section.


We took a few rides. I forgot the name of the first ride we went on, but it was like a giant pendulum swaying back and forth. Except that the end of the pendulum (where we were tightly bound to) was rotating as well. It started ok, but as the pendulum swayed higher and higher we started to get the feeling of 'free-fall' and screamed our hearts out. Well, our intention of a slow warm up for the rides did not go go well. :)


The second ride that we took was the Top Gun. Again, it was like giant pendulum swaying back and forth and full 360deg turns as well. Thing only got exciting when we stalled right at the top. Held on only by the body bars and the ankle locks, we could feel the blood rushing to our face. After a few more of these, i was sure grateful i do not have high blood pressure. Else i would likely pop a couple of veins in my brains...


After that we decided to take it easy and went of the Ferris Wheel. It was a nice way to relax, getting a good view of the surroundings.


But surprisingly one of my frens started feeling extremely sleepy. Which brings us to the point of whether this bout of sleepiness is triggered as a response to all the excitement brought about from the rides...


One possible reason that we thought of is the lack of oxygen as we since we were screaming till our throats were sore. Whether or not it is true, i still find it amusing that our body (or at least that of my fren) goes to sleep in response to excitement or danger.
I always thought ostriches slamming their heads into the ground was nature's sillest response to danger.


But that nite, I observed first hand another response that definitely topped that.... :)