Ever the optimist, I consider this visit to the International Medical Clinic as a learning experience. After a day and a half of abdominal cramping and diarrhea, I decided it was time to seek some medical help. I sit in the waiting room of the clinic as I write this using the app on my phone.

I reported to Kent Ridge Secondary School yesterday, but left after meeting several teachers and staff. The students were going on a service trip yesterday and today, so I’m not missing out on class observations.

I’ve completely lost my appetite; yesterday, I ate four pieces of toast and I couldn’t manage to eat anything this morning. 

I’m eager to learn what the diagnosis might be. I’m pretty convinced it was the food I had Sunday night from the hawker center. I don’t know whether it was something that was spoiled or if I had too much gluten. If it were the latter, this would be an extreme reaction. I thought that what I ate was made with rice flour, too. The Fulbright team seems to think I have a virus. I’ll see if I can get a definitive answer this morning.

Below is a selfie of me at the famous Merlion at the bay. If I had known how predictive that shooting water turned out to be, I may not have positioned my hand under it like that.

The other good news is that the rest of my family arrives tomorrow morning. I’d like to be well by the time they get here. I got a text from Johan that they arrived at SFO. The next leg is the tough one.

I’ll go back to mindless waiting now. I need to get ready for this next (life) lesson.