On the move again

My wellness check put a few worries to rest (Doc: Do you worry a lot? Me: Yes. Doc: I thought so.), though I need to follow up on a couple of things. I picked up a bad chest cold this week, so for someone who is "one of the healthiest people" the doc has seen, I feel like shit.

Patrick arrived for a four-day look-see at Kuching and loves it.

Today I'm heading to Ubud, where I'm going to hunker down for two months and focus on getting through my workload and eating really healthily.

The big news over the past nearly two weeks is the missing Malaysian plane, MH370. I'm leaning towards the view that it diverted from its course and towards the airport at Langkawi because of an electrical fire on board, with the crew then being incapacitated. I hope my MH flights today are incident-free. It's a tragic event for everyone involved, and also for Malaysia in "Visit Malaysia Year". 

To good health!

In two weeks when I leave Kuching and head back to Ubud, I'll have spent ten weeks here. My longest previous stay has been a month. I've been able to work with a very good physiotherapist, Ganesan, to increase the range of movement of my arm, thanks to Sam who has been ferrying me to and from my appointments. I'm also partway through a wellness check. I've had a complete health assessment here in Kuching in 2011, 2013 and now again. In addition, I'm seeing another orthopaedic specialist. Who knew this year was going to be so much about health, mine and other people's?

My workload has been heavy, so I haven't been doing much besides walking a few mornings a week with Jackie or Sam, meeting runner friends for occasional breakfasts, watching a few movies, working and trying to mend. I've had to come to terms with a big change in my life, and that's been a challenge. I've been lucky to have the support of friends here, and I hope that I'm able to give something back to them.

Sadly, two friends made since I first visited Sarawak in 2010 have died just recently: my friend Mas's husband Jun, who took me to karaoke a few times; and Molly, in Miri, whom I met twice when I went to meetings of the Society of Sarawakians Writing in English and who was a Facebook friend. On a more positive note, friends made in New York since I started my peripatetic life have had babies and weddings.

After a couple of months in Ubud, I'll be taking a mid-year break back in Oz to see family and friends.