'I'm having fish tonight.'
We can all sympathize with Bruce the Shark in Finding Nemo who likes nothing better than getting back to his true nature.
When my kee allowed me to walk, I was yelling out with just as much enthusiasm as Bruce, 'I'm walking the pavement today.'
I did a few laps of a block near my hotel.
It had to be one kilometer long.
I didn't care how long it was, the knee was holding up and I was getting a good work out in the tropical sun.
Borneo had tested me and found me in need of a lucky break.
I've not been checky for days.
Ill health tends to tone down the more extravagant behavior.
I just don't like giving cheek when I know I can't walk away fast when things turn south.
It's self-preservation that dictates our moods.
But today I could have been walking on the moon.
A simple walk in my flipflops had never tasted to sweet.
Each step I caressed the bitumen.
One kilometer, two, three, fuck, I better get my phone and see how long the block is.
I pegged it at one kilometer. It was actually 800 meters, close enough.
By this stage I had five clicks under my feet and another three would set me right.
It has been a long two weeks since the knee decided to rebel.
I've been very nice to it lately. I even sing it to sleep and serve it coffee in bed.
Keep it up, I tell the lady at the back of a restaurant. She was stretching her shoulders. And why arent' you exercising, I asked the cute Iban lady who gave me a look of 'Who the fuck are you.'
Well I'm the guy who walks the back streets and says hello.
They'll get use to me, I tell them, 'if only my knee holds up.'
In God We trust and Inshallah it will hold up, I say.
They are a religious bunch in Borneo and I cover most bases after the first strike.
The older cooks laugh but Miss Iban is still trying to figure out why a tourist would walk the back streets.
There's a simple reason, it has fewer cars that want to run me over like that Chinese bitch in the Mercedes Benz.
'The fucking bitch tried to run me over,' I told the mechanics I met at the back end.
I must be feeling better. I'm not usually this mouthy.
