I woke up at 12 today. I wonder if I'm still not feeling well? That's how I feel. Even after taking medicine, I get chills at night.
At a Starbucks in Penang, "Kota" didn't get through.
For lunch I went to a nearby restaurant. I ordered chicken and fried rice. It was pretty tasty, but I don't think it's very healthy. They used plenty of oil, and the bits of fried batter on the chicken were burnt, so I thought it wasn't very good.
But the egg was really delicious. After finishing, I thought about going to a nearby Chinese dessert cafe, but I was full so I decided to save it for another time.
Then I called a taxi and headed to Starbucks. Today's Starbucks wasn't the nearby one but a different, more distant location. Since I was in Penang, I wanted to go somewhere different. When they asked my name I said "Kota," but I figured Malaysians would never believe my name was Kota.
So they wrote "Koda." But I thought that's fine — it would make a funny memento. Still, I corrected it and it ended up as "Kota." I talked with the staff a little, and it was like, "your name means 'city' in our country." Then, before I received my drink, they came to my table and asked me to fill out a Google Form, so I decided to do it. I thought it was kind of a hassle, but I went ahead and submitted it. After I sent my responses, they took a photo of it.
I didn't know what it was for, but at least it didn't seem like a scam, so I felt relieved. Still, it's possible the QR code and background color were made to match Starbucks and it could have actually been a scam, so I decided to be careful when abroad, especially in countries I've never been to, and to remember that there are places where you shouldn't just be too trusting.
Walking 6 km at night
I got a lot of work done there. Before I knew it, I was the only one left. It became 9 p.m., so I left Starbucks and decided to walk home. There was a restaurant nearby, so I went there. It felt like a Chinese canteen — interesting. The staff were very pleasant and served me with smiles.
I ordered some chicken-and-vegetable something and a jelly-like carrot drink. As for the taste, it was below average — maybe partly because I had a cold.
The staff recommended a dessert, saying it was really delicious. So I said, "Okay, I'll have one," and bought something like a Chinese or Malaysian bread. I put it in my bag and walked.
I decided to walk to the hostel, but the route was 6 km. I was a bit worried because that's really long. While walking I remembered walking this road with friends and thought back to two years ago — it felt very nostalgic. I also realized my stamina has definitely declined over the past two years. Maybe because the country changed, I was suddenly hit by anxiety. I bought and drank a Pocari Sweat while walking, but I realized my body was reaching its limit.
My face went numb.
I managed to arrive at the hostel safely, but the moment I sat down in a chair my face started to go numb and my legs went numb too. I looked it up and apparently it's because the parasympathetic nervous system suddenly became dominant and blood flow changed.
Sure enough, when I touched my fingertips they were really cold. I rested a bit and then lay down on the bed. That helped. I recovered noticeably and quickly. I thought again that pushing myself too hard isn't good.
But why did walking just 6 km make me end up like this? Is it my age? But I'm still 25, an age full of possibilities, I thought.
And so, I fell asleep while chatting with friends.
