Over time you become accustomed to the noises that fill the night, including the 4 am call and the rooster that lives just over the wall in the neighbouring kampung. Until last night. I was woken in the wee hours by a something clambering over the roof. It started above the main bedroom, climbed through the coconut palm that hangs over the pool to land on the roof opposite the courtyard. Getting up, I swear I saw something resembling a cross between a large rat and a velociraptor. Since it was most unlikely that a rat could get so big (this thing was at least as big as a dog), it could only be some undiscovered species of dragon.

Apparently my sleepiness clouded my judgment. My new friend was nothing more than a musang, or an Asian palm civet. No larger than a cat, the musang forages at night searching for fruit. It was no doubt after the palm flower sap in the palm outside my window. Apparently they are also excellent rat hunters. Now that’s a good thing wherever you live!