Sick in SE Asia...

Okay, so the reason I spent soooo much time in KL, was not merely because I had a lot of retail therapy to catch up on (silly people, I have a backpack and can't fit very much into it...I have to be selective.) But also, because I had aquired what I thought to be Traveler's Diarhea (somewhere on the Perhetian Island)...I totally self-diagnosed myself based on the syptoms described in the lonely planet (which is so much more then a guidebook...I feel like it might actually be the key to all life...but that is a whole theory that I might expound on later.) ... I did however fail to recognize the fact that I didn't actually have the key sypmtom (Diarhea)...but was so eager to not have Dysentary (had it when I was 16...never want to have it again...but I was beginning to get paranoid, as my symptoms were reminding me of that time when I was sick and alone in Belgium)...So I used the book to self-medicate. Miraculously, the pharmacies in Malaysia don't actually require a prescription in order to buy prescription drugs...so I find myself getting better (sort of) over 3 days (the book says you will get better immediatly..).

Today, after over a week of being on and off again sick...but a lot healthier then I was when I first arrived in KL (i could barely walk then, as I had stomach cramps so bad, I wanted to cry)... I figured out why I am so sick. I am allergic to MSG...a principle ingrediant in All Asian cooking. (in the US, they rarely use it as many people have this allergy...and in Japan, I tend to only eat Sushi, miso, and western foods...so I never had it there)...So its been years since I had a reaction...and basically, the reaction feels exactly the way I have been feeling...HORRIFIC cramps and general grossness!!!...

So I guess from now on, its me and the granola bars that i brought (and I did pack some Peanut butter, so I won't starve)....I guess the best way to look at this is, that I might miss out on some really great food....but at least I will lose about 15lbs (if i'm lucky:)