The Day I Followed the Sun...

Hello, from Malaysia! As you know, I’m doing an HIV/AIDS internship this summer in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. Most of you also know that the single most terrifying part of the experience for me was just getting here. A 15 hour flight to Hong Kong, then a 4 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur then tacking the KL public transit system to get to the town of Subang Jaya. Far is driving to Roshima’s house. Flying halfway across the world…simply petrifying!

I did indeed make it safely, and quite effortlessly too. I keep wracking my brain as to how time flew by so quickly (no pun intended!) For future reference, I’m hoping to patent this strategy and sell it to any student stuck in a 3 hour evening lecture, where time seems to stop altogether. I’d be a millionaire! Phase 2 of this ingenious strategy is to find Prince Charming and settle down in a castle somewhere far far away...

I’m convinced the passing of time was due to the movie selection provided by Cathay Pacific. From Bridewars to the Lord of the Rings to an array of Bollywood flicks (surprisingly none of which I had heard of -- incomprehensible given my extensive background in the genre!), it took me half the flight to figure out what to watch. The paradox of choice.

Or perhaps, time passed by so quickly because of the sheer amount of food provided by the airline. Every hour, an attendant came by with something to eat – pasta, chicken and rice, cup noodles, banana bread, chocolate biscuits, an apple. You’d think the asian population would be beyond obese by now. The best part was that it was served by a flamboyant male airline attendant with perfectly shaped eyebrows and very tight pants. Brilliant.

By hour seven, I had resorted to playing a new game. It was affectionately known as the “count the number of swine flu masks game”. I actually deliberately got out of my seat and toured the aircraft just to get a better estimate. I lost count after the eighteenth mask. The swine flu scare also necessitated my temperature be checked before I could clear immigration in Kualu Lumpur. I passed with flying colours – if there were a grading system for passing a fever test, I’d get a 12 hands down!

Daddy-o, I pulled a you! There was this super cool view of outside from the aircraft – some sort of nifty camera that passed real-time images of the surroundings to your personal tv monitor. Costa Fortuna boat camera reprised, really. I checked at hours 2, 4 and 6…the screen was completely white, inevitably because of the clouds. I didn’t bother to check again at hour 8!

I think it really boils down to one thing – the sun. With the length of the flight and the 12 hour time difference, I left Friday morning and reached Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon, totally bypassing the night. I followed the sun and it followed me for 15 splendid hours…it was beautiful! Shakespeare once wrote, “…and it must follow, as the night of the day…” Clearly, Shakespeare’s never travelled to Malaysia..

The rest of the trip flowed seamlessly. I was picked up at the train station and taken to the trainee flat. There, I met two interns from Korea, one from Austria and one from the Netherlands – all of whom I have the distinct pleasure of working with this summer.

At this, I shall say good night! Or if you’re in Toronto, good day! Or in London, good evening! Either way...

HAPPY MOTHER’S MOMMY!!