Tomorrow is Imagethief's last day in the office for a while. I'll be leaving a little early for the Labor Day golden week holiday.

Where will Imagethief be spending the week?

I am so glad you asked. I will be flying to Singapore and from there to Padang, on the big Indonesian island of Sumatra. There a buddy of mine and I will spend a week backpacking through a national park. A rainy, muddy, isolated, leech-infested, Indonesian national park.

Let's hear it for adventure!

Last week I bought RMB 7,000 worth of backpacking gear. None of it has ever been used, except for the pack itself, which I tested on a five hour walk through Shanghai last Saturday while carrying ten kilos of cat litter. I will not be taking cat litter to the national park (the humidity will make it clump up). I will be taking food, a little camping stove that I have never used,  various survival and medical supplies, and a pocket knife with which I can:

A) Fight off the tigers

B) Bribe locals for drinking water or emergency telephone usage

C) Lance my festering tropical boils so I can apply the contents of antibiotic capsules directly to the wounds (I had a friend who actually had to do this, although she was in Africa)

It should all be good fun and you can be sure you'll be hearing about it and seeing the photos after I come back. Assuming my travelling companion doesn't kill me and eat me if things get rough. He's a journalist, so it's safe to say he'll lave few qualms about killing and eating a PR man if the going gets rough. In fact, perhaps I should add to the list above:

D) Fight off hunger-crazed journalist intent on feasting on my still beating heart

 There will be no computer, no telephone and not even any basic sanitation facilities. Which makes me think:

E) Pry the leeches off of my ass (I might ask my companion to do this if he's not looking too hungry yet -- I find it's hard to do delicate surgical work on your own ass)

Anyway, if I don't have time to post tomorrow, I wish all readers in China a great holiday. See you when I get back.

-Will

 Next: The life and explorations of Dr. Imagethief