Of Clouds and Silver linings

After dreaming for over a decade and planning for a year to travel overland, deciding to come back to Singapore after three weeks because of diarrhea was not an easy decision for me. But I just could not be sure if I had a parasite in me or not. So I came back and visited Dr Tan Chi Ciu, a specialists in this area. And to make sure that things were ok, I had to go for a scope. I had told him about my overland trip and he joked with me and said ' Just take this like a journey, but a different kind.' Dr Tan is an ACS boy, with a sense of ACS humour.

Well, the good news is that there were no more signs of any infection so there is really no medical reason for me not to continue the trip. And it sounds like I might have taken a break for no good reason.

The bad news is that after the violent diarrhea that I had, I now have irritable bowel syndrome, so whether I have an infection or not, I can get diarrhea like symptoms. So traveling on 10 hour bus rides with no toilet breaks would be a horrible idea.

The good news is that I have been given medication to control my stomach and so far I seem to be almost normal, except for feeling a bit bloated.

The bad news is that the scope and the medication cost a bomb. And I am going to carry even more medication in addition to the considerable amount of medication I am already carrying.

The good new is that the travel insurance will be paying for the expensive scope and medication.

The bad news is that aside from checking the diarrhea, Dr Tan found a polyp in my intestine which can eventually become cancerous as well as Helicobacter Pylori which leads to stomach ulcers and cancer.

The good news is that Dr Tan removed the polyp and he will be treating me for the Helicobacter Pylori infection when I return from my trip.

Well, the calculation on whether I should have come back in hind sight is way too complicated for me to compute. I really do not know. I talked to a friend of mine and she cut the Gordian knot for me. She told me that I was already back, there is no use looking back. And she is right, I cannot go back now and there is no use wondering what if. I mean this diarrhea has inadvertently helped identify two possible causes for stomach cancer in the future. I had a full health screen before leaving on this trip but without the scope, none of this was picked up. If anything, I think the diarrhea and the medical examination is a blessing in disguise. So I broke my overland trip but in life, shit happens, literally.

So tomorrow, Monday, I fly to Ho Chi Minh City to take the two day train ride along the coast of Vietnam to Hanoi. And this was the other complicating factor, the red shirt stand off in Bangkok. My original plans was to go back south from Laos to get to Ho Chi Minh City to do this train ride, but that would have meant passing through the volatile Bangkok. And if my tummy had held out in Luang Prabang, I had decided to cut west across Laos straight to Hanoi, skipping the two day train ride. But now since I am taking a few flights anyway, I am going to get to go on this exciting trip. And I am looking forward to it.

A friend of mine suggested that maybe I should remain true to the overland journey and start over again. I am sorry, at this point of time, I really do not want to go through Thailand. Things are on a knife edge there. And any train journey would take me to Bangkok, the centre of the tension. After reading Terzani's book, one other option occurred to me, to take a boat some where. And I checked it out, there is a cruise ship that would go to Hanoi and then to Hong Kong, but it would leave on the 1st of  May. It would mean that I would skip the Vietnam train ride and that I would by bypass Guilin too. This is because I have a set timing for my tour in Mongolia and if I leave Singapore later, I would have to forgo certain places. I realise that I am being way too pedantic about going 'overland'. I could be technically correct by not taking the a flight out, but I would be missing the fun exciting parts of the trip, the real adventure of the trip. My greatest lesson from Song Krang in Chiang Mai, don't take life too seriously, have fun.

I am flying out on Monday for Ho Chi Minh City. I am having dinner with my noise intern Guo Jie on Monday night and then I am going on a beautiful train ride. Life is good.

I was in Singapore for a week. I had no idea what was happening or what to do. But I managed to catch Ming Wong's installation 'Life of Imitation', 'Through the Looking Glass' at 2902 gallery which has a few really good John Clang works, the gala premier of Wild Rice's 'Animal Farm', Theatrework's 25 anniversary 'Time Capsule' exhibition, 'Kick-ass' which Kicks Asss and 'Mao's Last dancer' which made me cry.

There is so much happening in Singapore and I am so happy. But I need time for myself, to just find new horizons. I was in Singapore for a mere week with a medical situation and I was approached to participate in a civic project and to do an additional couple of shoots. While I appreciate being wanted, this time for myself is critical. This trip is part of my training, to help me find my focus again, and to re-energise myself. And I will come back to Singapore and work again, this is my home. But I believe that I will come back re-invigorated and being able to do even better work, both for myself and for people who would hire me.

The trip continues. The next post will probably from Vietnam.