It's one thing to go gallivanting around S.E. Asia when you are fit and healthy, but it's another thing entirely when your travelling companion is Hashi Moto. There are some positives such as the fact that you're not working, but this also means lack of a healthy routine. I am not a routine person (either way you read that!), but one of the sharpest weapons in one's armoury against thyroid disease is a good routine. Routine helps reduce the fall-out from fuzzy brain, helps in remembering to take meds at the right time, and helps give structure and control.
With my regular routine shot to bits, diet and exercise have become something of a concept rather than a practice. I am sad to say that since Cambodia, SE Asia has done miserably in the salads and fresh vegetable department (see entry Deep Fried in Malaysia). The dairy department has been abysmal as well. Since arriving in Singapore, everything on the food front has improved one thousand percent with the notable exception of salads. I've been to several rather nice restaurants whose salads descriptions have fired my imagination and my taste buds only for the first to be let down and the second, assaulted. Case in point: a pesto seafood salad with Dijon mustard dressing. What could go wrong with that, I thought innocently. First there was no Dijon dressing. Instead it was a piquant and spicy, as in chili spicy, dressing. Note that these things do not go with pesto. Big flavour grouping eff-up. Oh, and what really killed what had started out as a great idea for a salad was the MSG that ripped the surface off my tongue.
Most places I've been have not been conducive to pleasant walking with the exception of Singapore which is very walker friendly. The past few days I've been walking and walking for hours but because of the sudden onset of exercise, I've aggravated some of my bung bits. At the beginning of the trip I had loose cartilage bits in my left knee causing pain, general pain in lower left leg from pin and a burst left hip muscle which had been very painful. By Bangkok, I had aggravated an old rotor-cuff shoulder injury on the left side, then receive trauma to the lower left back through a violent bit of massage. All in all, the left side of my body was f****d and I had a lot of territory to cover getting on and off trains with some seriously heavy bags. I've managed, but only because I am now a lot stronger than I was. Even a couple of years ago, I could not have coped with a fraction of this. The healing process for muscular things seems to take longer for us Hashis, so it's a been a slow improvement but I am looking forward to some days at sea so I cannot walk very far.
The worst aggravation for me by far has been the complete disintegration of time. For the past four years I've woken between 5 and 6am without fail. Suddenly I started sleeping to mid-day and couldn't get to sleep at night. The fuzzy wuzzies came back. This probably contributed to my negligence in getting my laptop stolen and definitely to loosing my passport in Penang (thank God for nice people who find things I've lost and hold them for me as I retrace my steps looking for them). I pulled out every trick but nothing was working. Part of the problem was the change in daylight hours. Dawn had moved from 5am to 7am and this small movement threw me off completely. Then there was also the issue of a minor time zone change by one hour. You would think one hour would be a piece of cake but not for this Hashi girl. I have a problem with crossing time zones. It was actually the time shift on a flight from Italy to New Zealand some years ago that kicked off my first Hashi's symptoms, although at that time I didn't realise this. Yet another reason why I prefer slow travel. Anyway, I have started to shift back to a more normal day since arriving in Singapore. Taking the night train and therefore being woken at 6am for border procedures helped to reset the clock, as well as staying in a dorm room with Asian girls who like to get up early. Its a slow and slightly painful readjustment but worth it.
So what coping mechanisms do I use to get me through all that pain and confusion? First and foremost, don't go at things the Lonely Planet way. That's for people who leap out of bed running after 14 hour days of touristic activities and nights of binge drinking. Do your own research first. I find expat blogs and local forums to be the best sources of insider knowledge of a place. Choose what you want to do wisely and realise you can only do 1 main thing per day or even every 2 days. Take the time to explore your chosen point of interest slowly and thoroughly. Take lots of pics. Chat to the locals. This didn't work in Thailand as they were only interested in you when you had dollars in your hand, but in Malaysia and Singapore I've found many people quite ready to pass the time of day chatting to a stranger. Don't worry if you can't do everything you want to do, it'll still be there next year and if you still have a burning desire to see it you can come back. Other things, don't drink much alcohol or none...it's cheaper this way too. Do pampering activities like massages, pedicures and shampoos especially as these are all cheaper in Asia. Take cooking classes where you can find them but do check out the physical barriers. I cannot climb tight spiral staircases. I seem to lose the neurological impulse that commands my left leg to move so I have to go up backwards on my bum. Very embarrassing. People watch. Take the time to be observant. You can learn more about a place spending a quiet couple of hours this way than running around like a Lonely Planateer.
Right, I have to go repack my bags and check out. Next time, I'll be in Oz which reminds me. I'm going to have to rename this blog...
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