4 am

I trash around in bed on what seems to be yet another sleepless night. I flail around for something solid to hold on to - but find myself sinking deeper instead into an indefinite abyss. I toss and turn in semi-consciousness, kept awake by the mosquitoes which feast on me. My dreams are hazy, as if glimpsed through a filmy veil. They are terribly disjointed - but have enough of a nightmarish quality for me to recall the feeling of longing, the pining for days past and for the beloved faces of people too far for me to hold on to. A stinging pain in my left eye jolts me awake - and in hasty panic, I grope my way down the staircase. I grab a bottle of Eye Mo and douse my eye with it. Thankfully, the pain ebbs. It occurs to me that some fresh air might do me good. I stumble into the vast space - and the dark night. I immediately miss the cold, cold fall nights. The moon is shining dimly and the house next door is blaring Chinese opera tunes. I realize with peculiar pride that I am back in Malaysia, back in the melting pot of cultures - where anything is possible. A gnawing hunger eats at me - and I have a sudden hankering to practice the piano.

Is this jet lag? Or am I missing this: