Sunday Nov 8th
I wake up and hit the gym. I don't think I've described the gym yet, so I will now. It's a small room, with a treadmill, bike, elliptical, and one of those "all in one gyms" that you see on the infomercials late at night when you are feeling your fattest. The important thing to note about the gym is that I seemed to be the only one that ever used it. Not only because I didn't see anyone else in it, but because when you walk in, you have to turn on the air conditioning. It was always off when I walked in and was sitting at a feverish 90 degrees with no circulation. Needless to say when I hit the treadmill I was drenched in 5 minutes. Next to the gym is a small pool that looked much better from the photos then in real life. Since I was still working from my two suitcases I brought, there was no room for a swim suit so earlier I bought a new one. I wasn't sure what kind of swimwear was appropriate for Asia, the long board shorts I was used to in America or the banana hammock that you can find a lot of other places around the world. I chose something in between and just went for a shorter less baggy suit then I'm used to. I decided that I after being here for two weeks, it was time to hit the pool. After all, I was practically on the equator and it was stinking hot.
After getting off to an energetic start, I ended up hanging in my apartment for most of the day and feeling guilty about the fact that I hadn't done too much. Realizing that A,I didn't have any food in the apartment and it was diner time, B, I hadn't yet had any chili or black pepper crab that Singapore is famous for,and C, a seafood restaurant was the only restaurant within walking distance that wasn't fast food, I thought I would give it a try. It was about this time that I started feeling itchy around my chest but I didn't think anything of it. A short walk and a few minutes later I was sitting in front of 1 kilo of black pepper crab. Let me tell you that stuff is messy, and they don't give you enough napkins. Basically, there is this back oily pepper on the outside of the crab shell which you are desperately trying to get a good grip on to break apart. It isn't a good combo, but it's worth the effort when you get to the spicy crab meat inside. It's a bit on the expensive side, about 50 Sing, but it's a nice treat. When I finish my meal I realize that I had been concentrating so much on cracking shells that I didn't realize that my condition was getting worse. My armpits and elbows started to itch incessantly and to my surprise I saw visible hives on my arm. I paid the check and walked quickly and uncomfortably home. It was 10:00, right when the pharmacies close and the hospitals are the only place open for treatment. Despite my discomfort I decided to tough it out and see how I was doing in the morning. Luckily, my throat didn't close up and I survived the night and my rashes and hives were gone as quickly and mysteriously as they appeared.
