Wash

The weather lately is just the perfect recipe for a cold. The day typically begins beautifully with bright golden sunlight in the morning that almost makes you forget that you are stuck in traffic along with hundreds of other polite Malaysian drivers. As the sun climbs the temperature rises. Along with the humidity and the stagnant wind, it will feel like almost forty degrees Celsius outside in the open. Then out of nowhere comes the downpour.

Once I read a description of Malaysian weather as having two seasons – the rainy season and the rainier season. We are now coming towards the end of the Northeast Monsoon, the rainier season, stretching from October to March. The rain and thunderstorms are fine with me, and I prefer them much, much more to the dry days of the intermonsoon period.

When it rains, it pours

As it typically rains towards the end of the work day, most people would opt to stay and wait the rain out. Driving in heavy rain is dangerous, especially considering the flash floods that will just occur everywhere. But I always find the promise of a less congested road too tempting, rain or no rain.

So last weekend I had a scare of a cold, which reminded me of the last time I was down with a viral infection way back in 1998. It was the last time I went to see a doctor, not including medical check-ups. I spent two weeks in the House sickbay before they sent for my parents to pick me up. We went to the Sungai Buloh Hospital, where I spent a night under observation. That one night made me swear to never again let myself get admitted into a hospital. So when I found my body aching and heating up last Saturday night I quickly popped the pills, pulled on the blanket and turned in for an early night.

Thankfully it worked.

Now, if I can only get the car washed. I am sure that it is now easily the dirtiest car on campus.