Vagabond Jim

 Pretty lazy these last few days. The CATV gang was here yesterday.  It worked when they left.  But not since then.  But, I'll just let it be until next week. Low energy Jim has returned. Yesterday was Laksa from the same place, again.  With prawns.  The prawns are not the key.  I realized it's the lack of fish balls.  Best broth, but not the best laksa. Tried Kolo Mee at the mixed pork soup joint (literally the closest food joint to the apartment.)  Not bad.  The absolute hottest chile peppers I've encountered yet.  The meal was pretty good.  Good enough for 2 bowls. More later when I'm feeling ambitious.

The Day of Pork Soups was a gastrological success.  I am fully past the food poisoning.  So, I'm back to looking for good and fun stuff. And, I 'm gonna return to Laksa regularly.   Last night's kopitiam was enticing enough that I hit it twice today.  Among other things, I need to get walking again.  And, it's more than a block away. Brunch (I never fall asleep early enough to wake up early enough to eat breakfast) was Laksa at last night's joint. This one was good but in a weird way.  I always order it without prawns (shrimp are always called prawns here).  A good prawn is a fine thing.  But a good prawn is hard to find.  Mediocre ones are prevalent and bad ones,...yuck.  Amazingly, this time they took RM 2 off the price.  That will get my return business with certainty.  I never ask, because when the list price is less than $3.00, well.   I think they loaded it with extra omelette (paper thin and cut into strip...

One of my favorite YouTubers is a kid named Aldric from Singapore.  He's a foodie.  He picks a dish and looks for the best version of it.  He's based in Singapore but will travel for many dishes.  To explore the "Mala" flavors of Sichuan peppercorns and chiles, he went to Chongqing in China for the authentic stuff.  For Nasi Lemak he visited Malaysia and Indonesia. He's got a good niche and plays well in it.  2 or 3 restaurants per episode, 6-10 episodes for each dish.  Nasi Lemak, Mala, Chicken Rice, and more.  He's currently comparing Singapore and Malaysia styles of Bak Kut Teh - Pork Bone Soup Teh.  The Teh is the traditional accompanying drink, not an ingredient.  His last episode was in Kuching (which failed to impress him.) Today, I'm feeling better so I decided to try it. At lunch I thought a nearby Kopitiam might have it.  They had a mixed pork soup.  Turns out that's not Bak Kut Teh.  It's boiled pork parts serve...

Finally, my guts are happy.  And that means I'm getting happy again.  There's not a lot to report because it's been a long, slow slog. I'm watching the Tour de France again for the first time in a few years.  Man, the love of suffering those guys go through.  There is NOTHING like it in sports.  Yesterday was a time trial (each rider against the clock, no teams, "TT") and it was brutal.  It was a 11KM course (shortest in TdF history) and took the winner 23min.  Basically all up hill.  Clibbs are rated 4, 3, 2, 1, Beyond Category ("HC) from easiest to worst.  The last 9 clicks a Cat 1.  And there was a pitch at the end of it that was 13% I believe.  It was taking guys 2 minutes to cover the last 400 meters.  That's about 20KPH.  Some guys took 4.  The winner about a minute. On a flat, windless pitch these men can do 50KPH for hours on end. The winner's time was 23min.  For 11Km.  Superhuman.  Others took...

Slept late - OK. Woke up IN an anxiety attack, From an anxiety laden dream - YUCK. But, felt physically better than I have in some time - GOOD. HSBC online banking is confusing, I managed to pay my rent twice this month - SIGH. Decided to put off finding a doc until tomorrow, no real physical reason - FOOLISH. Felt so good, I actually wanted to eat.  The bananas at the roti place were not fully ripe. I was warned, I ordered them anyway, tasty enough - QUESTIONABLE. A day of "investigation" and "immolation"?  Only one takes the prefix "Self-" - SEMANTIC.

 I'm feeling better today.  Not well.  But I was able to do more than lie on the couch and drift in and out of sleep all day. Walked to have some noodles for my meal of the day.  Most days having more than 1 meal just hasn't been appealing.  I'm down 5Kg in a week.  Not the way I want.  But when you can't eat and are doing a world class goose imitation the best you can do is stay hydrated. Tomorrow I'll find a doc.  I'm deciding to go for a health screening or find a straight GI.  I think I'll go to address the immediate problem. It is the "immediate problem" after all. My guess is that it is chronic gastroenteritis in the form of flare.  These are not new symptoms as I think about them.  I can certainly remember similar, lesser, bouts going back a decade.  Gastroenteritis can be caused by virus, parasites, or bacteria.  I'm going to guess it's not parasites as I had a colonoscopy in '21.  I have to believe that big c...

I'll be finding a Gastroenterologist on Monday..  Sleep all day, alwep all night, proverbial goose and needle whenever I manage to eat. No bueno, no fun. No more. Dentist called this morning. The implant is going to go in on the 31st.

Whatever insidious little bug is inside me. Is leaving town.  Just entirely too slowly.  I'm alive.  But I'm sleeping a lot. Yesterday I had two bowls of rice with some pork on it and I thought I was close enough to say I was over it.  We'll see how some dhosi treats me.  The curry wasn't very spicy so I went with that and dal.  Skipping my favorite spicy yogurty dip.  Just got to get through a few more days. And I'm grateful to report that throughout this whole mess at no point has there been nausea or vomiting involved, but the rest has been pretty fucking miserable.  I'm more grateful to report a person who I care deeply about, who's not been feeling well, sounds like they're on the mend as well.  But boy have I been running on empty... Apologies to Jackson Brown for that.

I took my fit bit off to charge on Saturday.  I woke up briefly at midnight today and put it on.  11 1/2 hours of sleep since midnight and I slept the majority of the previous 36 hours. The $5 spring scale I bought but I do not trust a bit says I lost seven pounds.  I did have a pizza yesterday - delivery. I'm currently waiting for takeout food. 

There is a world of difference between Travellers' Diarrhea and Food Poisoning.   The former is is typically just a matter a new or novel exposure to local, generally harmless germs.  The locals don't get it - ther bodies are old friendNot contagious.  Just new to your biome.  TD is not a wicked contagion.  It's a new visitor to your guts.  I got in West Germany (there were 2 back then) in '80 and '84.  I got it in Mexico, Bolivia, and a host of other places in the '90s.  Take an Immodium or two and you'll be good inside of 36 hours. Got it bad, take 5 days of Cipro.  Inconvenient and uncomfortable. Food poisoning is a whole nother monster.  It's brutally unpleasant.  It sucks badly.  I have never had it anyway from home.  Not anywhere outside the US.  I mean while I was living at my domicile.  I've had it in Arroyo Grande, NY, and a few other places.  Never outside the US. Until now. Saturday night my ...

The tooth is out but there's still a lot of pain.  No stitches kind of surprised me.  They gave me Tylenol.  In large part because it is not an anticoagulant I suspect. But for me it's a very sucky analgesic.  And, it's not an anti-inflammatory at all.  Add to the fact that it's every 4 hours (hard to "stay ahead of the curve), rough on the liver, and generally sucky...I hate it. I've switched to Alleve.  1 pill 2/Day (Smallest dose here is 550mg!) and it's helping. Been pretty much couch ridden with the pain.  Well, except my Tuesday.  When I slept until 4pm.  Had dinner, got Alleve and returned to the couch.  You know what follows next.  No sleep Tuesday night  I did not fall asleep until 4am Wednesday.   When I then had vivid and persistent zombie nightmares for 6 hours.  Zombie nightmares?  I have never watched The Living Dead.  Or, any zombie related shows as an adult.  If I saw zombies, they ...

Extraction - amazingly quick and easy. Impression - no gaging! X-ray - amazing; no bite wings needed! Overall a very good experience. Details in next posting.

 Not much to report.  Things are generally better. That may be related to starting the day with some excellent Laksa.  So good that I had a second bowl.  Laksa makes everything better. Really good - the sourness was just right. I also have some work being done in the apartment.  3 guys are here serving the 5 A/C units.  3 are normal service, 2 need parts that will be ready tomorrow (hopefully.)  The amazing thing is that I'd been putting this off for 2 weeks as I just didn't want to deal with the scheduling hassle.  I called after breakfast.  They suggested 1700.  Sure.  They were here at 1600.  Same day service?   So far it's RM 280, $65 for the work today.  There might be more tomorrow, but not much. This is not California, Jesse & Rayleigh!  I'll have them serviced every 6 months (a lease requirement.)  But assuming there will not be a need for parts, it's only going to be RM225 (45 per unit.)...

 I'm alive. Just feeling out of sorts.  (Not unusual.) Emotionally, just take a look at the headlines.  Pissed, disappointed, and so much more. Physically just some gut inconsistency.  Comes with the territory.  As does the endless sweat from the heat.  Time will cure all this.  I'm just low energy.   On the good news front, I can get all my scripts, except the "Z" drugs (Ambien (Zolpidem) and Valium (Diazepam)) without seeing a doc.  Lipitor, Inderal, Lexapro, and Prilosec for sure.  I seem to have a lifetime supply of Benazepril so  I'll look into that in a few months.  The Z's are "as needed" and hopefully not to be needed.  I don't take them often.  So, I'm not worried about that.  A month of the stuff I know I can get costs RM140.  I know that as I picked up a month of them I intended to walk it off today, but my legs were heavy.  So, I fell asleep on the couch instead. Wednesday, I have the f...

Feeling much more sorted out now.  My gut biome is finding some stasis.  It has not been a problem, just inconsistent.  Tuesday I lollygagged a bit as it was a rainy day.  But in the evening I went and bought a vacuum cleaner.   And, set it to charge. Yesterday was a long day.  I started with Pan Mee as my source for that is near a few other stops I needed to make.  Excellent as usual.  Then I went to the pharmacy. A pleasant surprise.  My hypertension, cholesterol, anti-depressant, and anti-anxiety/hypertension (beta blocker) meds are all available without Rx.  A month's cost RM145 or less then $40.  Bingo!  Only thing I can't get without a script in Ambien.  That's fine.  I've been taking a half dose the last week with expectations to just drop it next week. There was no need to check for Valium.  Haven't taken it much in the last 2 weeks.  I should have taken it today (1/2 dose) and will take a full ...

 Not much to report. I got myself out of sorts foolishly.  Stayed up late, really late (0400) for some reason.  In part simply because it's been super hot and sunny.  That just got me out of the rhythm I'm seeking. Things got better throughout the weekend. Let's see if there were any photos... Got the numbers wrong...86-47 "Custom" soaps, I smell even better. Low sun; lower yide Fried cauliflower - turns out to be a local thing.  Remains a favorite. "Popcorn chicken" pretty good.  Needed something other than brown gravy. Honeydew Melon Juice.  Tastes like you'd expect.  Like honeydew, and this good. The heat broke today.  Rain, all day.  That's OK with me. More as the energy returns in the coming days.

Just back from WAKxMiri.  It is a scorcher of a day.  No clouds.  Apparent Temperature according to my app (Nautide) is 36C or 97F. It feels it. I woke up and walked to Tin Shack Aunties.  Late arrivals come at a cost.  She was out of "Mee" (wheat, round) noodles.  Only "Bee Hun" (rice, flat noodles but narrower than "Kway Teow") were available.  So, I rolled with that.  Next time I'll ask her to use them for Char Kway Teow.  Noodles make a difference to the dish. Kway Teow Wonton Mee. The rice noodles lack the tooth, are too slippery, and just fall flat.  The dish was still good.  Just not nearly as tasty as Kolo Mee.  Not gonna disregard centuries of noodle knowledge so readily. Last night's dinner was much better 'Pork Rice,' like "Chicken Rice."  I selected 2 types of pork: crispy roast and Char Siew (BBQ). The Char Siew was amazing, the crispy as great but just not as flavorful. OK, back to today. When I left for brea...

Yesterday was the night of the sailing crowd's weekly dinner.  It was a very enjoyable night.  Sitting at a larger table was stressful, but I handled it.  A full Valium in the morning (my usual dose is a half; I rarely take it here) left me drowsy almost immediately. So I had breakfast (Pan Mee) and lugged 19L of water after that.  Then napped the day away. I was early, the restaurant in a hotel; I sat in the lobby to wait.  A young lady was putting up signage for the What About Kuching (WAK) festival.  It's a month long celebration in October.  And, in Kuching--800KM away.  But they have expanded.  They recently added weekend in Sibu (between here and Kuching) and Miri.  She was struggling with one of the mounts so I jumped in to lend a hand.  Gina was a delight to meet.  I have plans to attend many of the events this weekend:  https://aboutkuching.com/wakxmiri/   I suggested that What About Borneo was inevitable as ...

I have not been walking enough the last few days.  And, I know I just feel better when I get 10k steps in. I've stopped wearing my Fitbit* during the day as my phone can track my steps too.  One of the tells that the step count is low is my sleep.  When I walk a lot, I sleep well. Yesterday I reached the point where I was inclined to take a full Ambien.  Had been titrating down to 5mg instead of 10.  But it wasn't working so I took a full one.  And, I slept 11 hours.   OK, something needs to be done. Today was supposed to only be 88F and have scattered showers.  My little backpack (will be discussed at some point as it's a touchstone object from my past) was packed as always; Kindle, hat (in case it starts cloudy but does not stay so), a gym towel (i'm gonna sweat of get rained on), a packable jacket, tissue ("tisu" locally - the go to for napkins, spills, sweat, snot, and anything else you can dream of using a Kleenex for).  I decided t...