The Traveller pens.

So, I’ve been warned that I should brush my teeth with mineral water and stay away from anything that’s not steaming hot enough to disintegrate micro-organisms. Nevertheless, convenience got the better of me. The people here use this tap water every single day right? And that yoghurt looks too good to be left out of the chicken biryani set. Therefore, I ate.

I’m still alive. Alive enough to be sitting in the club lounge, typing this while looking out at the lounge balcony filled with pigeons twice the size of those I see at home. I thought they’d be scrawny, but no, they are absolutely not.

I caught the sunrise too, much to my pleasant surprise. An orange-red disc that rose slowly from the old building across, and slipped behind clouds dyed a sea of orange and vermillion.

I like the sun. But sunrise and sunsets always evade me. I had to do a 300m-dash to catch the sunrise at Surfer’s Paradise at 4am in the morning. I was rushing on a cab to Dan Shui, Fisherman’s wharf, Taipei, only to catch a glimpse of the orange egg-yoke of a sun disappear behind the shadows of traffic and buildings. The storm at Bondi beach totally rained disappointment on my dreams of having a sunshine beach day. Perhaps, my middle name is Rainie. Make that Rainy.

The sunrise from my room pretty much made up for the plane ride at unearthly hours, and fellow passengers who hog the plane toilet for an average of 20minutes each. Contrary to popular belief, smells seemed only to be a myth. Nevertheless, I think we do have differing concepts of personal space. Too close. Much too close.

I started queuing at the immigration at 5.16am. I collected my luggage at 6.40am. I impatiently placed my hands on my hips three times, and quickly caught myself when I remembered that was supposed to be a rude gesture here. Otherwise, I made it to the hotel pretty smoothly.

All is well. All is well.

And I remember, once upon a time, I wanted to travel, and write. That’s exactly what I’m doing. Suddenly, going on trips alone doesn’t feel so bad. I feel alive, because I'm writing!